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Edna Ramseyer Kaufman (1910–2001)

Dr. Edna Geraldine Ramseyer Kaufman

18 Jan 1910 – 5 Aug 2001, died at Hesston (Kansas)

Not a direct ancestor — included for context.
Evidence: identity documented · link to parents documented

Family

Life and evidence

Al Ramseyer’s sister and the principal compiler of the 2002 Ramseyer family record. Full life story, with her writings, what was written about her, and her archives: Edna Ramseyer Kaufman - a life of service.

Highlights: B.S. Bluffton; M.A. and Ph.D., Ohio State (1956), dissertation The Role of the Home Economics Unit in Ohio Colleges in Education for Family Living; professor and dean of women at Bluffton College 1936–65; MCC relief worker in Vichy France (1940), running the children’s home at La Rouvière near Marseille; dietician at CPS Camp 13 (1941–42); founded the “C.O. Girls” at Goshen (1943); led a women’s CPS unit at Poughkeepsie where Eleanor Roosevelt visited at her invitation (July 9, 1945?); led an MCC summer unit in Germany (1948); built the Mary Alva House at Bluffton (1958–59); Operation Crossroads Africa, Gabon (1962); married Dr. Edmund G. Kaufman 1965; India (c.1966–67); Bethel College 1967–75; “Homemaker’s Notebook” column 1981–90. Her papers: MS 300, Bethel College.

The genealogist (2002 Family Record, pp. IV–VIII)

The book is dedicated to her “fifty plus years” of research: she started with the families of her great-grandparents Peter and Barbara Reich Ramseyer and widened it to all ten children of Johannes, over 45,000 names. She caught the interest at the Stark County reunions as a girl, and “traveled throughout Europe and the United States, looking through libraries and telephone books, not afraid to ask, ‘Might we be related?’” Family members recorded hours of taped “story telling” by Aunt Edna. The material that didn’t fit in the book went to “the Edna Ramseyer Kaufman files at Bluffton College Library”.

Where they lived

In their lifetime

Pedigree

%%{init: {"flowchart": {"useMaxWidth": true}}}%%
flowchart RL
  n49867489["Peter Ramseyer (1822–1880)"]
  n37384099["Daniel Ramseyer (1856–1942)"]
  n48818908["David Schrock (1858–1903)"]
  n40092133["Alvin C. Ramseyer Sr. (1880–1948)"]
  n57998085["Mary Ellen Schrock (1886–1972)"]
  n40487033["Barbara Reich (1826–1894)"]
  n71127065["Edna Ramseyer Kaufman (1910–2001)"]
  n45558266["Moses Schrock (1828–1909)"]
  n2034856["Christina Gerig (1832–1909)"]
  n16805015["Nancy Hostetler (1836–1860)"]
  n53370897["Mary Conrad (1825–1912)"]
  n36146830["Fanny H. Plank (1857–1942)"]
  n34988141["Joseph Plank (1834–1914)"]
  n33449834["Rebecca Smiley (1856–1932)"]
  n57993883["John Smiley (1822–1879)"]
  n71127065 --> n40092133
  n40092133 --> n37384099
  n37384099 --> n49867489
  n37384099 --> n40487033
  n40092133 --> n33449834
  n33449834 --> n57993883
  n33449834 --> n53370897
  n71127065 --> n57998085
  n57998085 --> n48818908
  n48818908 --> n45558266
  n48818908 --> n2034856
  n57998085 --> n36146830
  n36146830 --> n34988141
  n36146830 --> n16805015
  class n49867489,n37384099,n48818908,n40092133,n57998085,n40487033,n71127065,n45558266,n2034856,n16805015,n53370897,n36146830,n34988141,n33449834,n57993883 internal-link;

Research tasks

  • Find the title and year of her Ohio State dissertation (found 2026-10-31: The Role of the Home Economics Unit in Ohio Colleges in Education for Family Living, Ph.D. 1956)
  • Send the Bethel MLA request for MS 300 task/human

Sources

In the Washington Post, 21 January 1928 (society column)

“Miss Dorothy E. Teeple, of Akron, Ohio, is at the Grace Dodge Hotel for the week-end. She is accompanied by Mr. A. G. Teeple, also of Akron; Mr. A. C. Ramseyer and Miss Edna Ramseyer, both of Smithfield [sic, Smithville], Ohio.”
A party of four: A.C. (aged 47) and his daughter Edna (17), with Dorothy E. Teeple and A. G. Teeple of Akron (relationship not stated). Who they were (checked 2026-11-01): Aaron G. Teeple of Akron was a co-owner of The Akron Pure Milk Company (bought 1904 with O. N. Harter, H. D. Teeple, J. M. Sumner and W. Teeple), its secretary and treasurer in 1907–09 and secretary in 1920 and in A History of Akron; in 1928 he and Harry D. Teeple were directors of the Depositors Savings & Trust Co. of Akron. In 1909 his household at 236 S. Balch St. included Mary F. (wife), Beulah I. (student) and Edna P. Dorothy Elizabeth Teeple (A.B. Hiram College) was a teacher at Norton Township High School in 1925, living at 241 Merriman Rd., Akron; in 1921–22 she was librarian and Beulah Teeple principal at the Southern Christian Institute, Edwards, Mississippi (a Disciples of Christ school). So Dorothy was probably Aaron G. Teeple’s daughter (Beulah’s sister), not proved. Likely link to A.C.: in 1928 A.C. still ran his Guernsey dairy (about 200 cows until the 1932 barn fire), and Akron Pure Milk bought and bottled milk about 30 miles away; a supplier–buyer acquaintance is plausible but unrecorded. (By 1926–29 another man was listed as Akron Pure Milk’s secretary-treasurer, so Teeple’s role may have changed.) Sources: Akron City Directory 1909 (archive.org akron-city-directory-1909); American Legion 2nd National Convention program 1920; A History of Akron (historyofakron0000jame); Trust Companies of the United States 1928; Hiram College Alumni Directory 1925; World Call, Dec 1922. The Grace Dodge Hotel, near the Capitol, was the YWCA’s hotel for women. Purpose of the trip not stated. Source: archive.org per_washington-post_1928-01-21_18846.

Narratives and research

Research log

  • 2026-11-01: Washington Post 21 Jan 1928 society column read: A. C. and Edna Ramseyer with Dorothy E. Teeple and A. G. Teeple of Akron at the Grace Dodge Hotel, Washington
  • 2026-11-01: Teeples identified: Aaron G. Teeple, Akron Pure Milk Co. officer; Dorothy E. Teeple, Hiram graduate and teacher, probably his daughter (lead). Beacon Journal obituary suggested by Christopher is paywalled (not read)

Record compiled 31 October 2026.

About this research

Supporting documentation is linked throughout. This project is an exercise in AI-assisted research and development, and I haven’t manually verified every link or conclusion. All transcriptions and translations of Swiss parish records were made with AI, and their accuracy should be treated accordingly.

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