# Alexander Ramsey House *Historic house museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota, operated by the Minnesota Historical Society* The Alexander Ramsey House is a house museum at 265 Exchange Street South, in the Irvine Park area of [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]]. It was built between 1868 and 1872 as the home of [[Alexander Ramsey]], the first governor of Minnesota Territory and the second governor of the state. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and counts as a contributing property to the Irvine Park Historic District. The Minnesota Historical Society has run it as a museum since the family's 1964 bequest.[^1] The Society's main page for the house presents it as "one of the best-preserved Victorian homes in the world" and cites more than 14,000 original family objects. According to the project's at-issue record, that page does not mention the Dakota War, the extermination declaration, the bounties, or a land acknowledgement.[^2] The documented record of the house's namesake includes his September 9, 1862 address to the [[Minnesota Legislature]] calling for the Dakota to be "exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of the State".[^3] It also includes a July 1863 order, issued at his direction, that paid bounties for Dakota scalps.[^4] Ramsey was the Society's first president, and he began donating his materials to it in the 1860s.[^5] In December 2024 the Society scheduled four "Victorian Christmas" tours of the house for December 26, the anniversary of the mass hanging of 38 Dakota men. It first said the tours would go ahead with the date noted. It cancelled them the same week, after the *Star Tribune* asked for comment.[^6] ## Who Alexander Ramsey lived in the house with his family. His wife, Anna, furnished it. Their daughter Marion married Charles Furness in the parlor in 1875. The family held the house until 1964, when Anita, Ramsey's last surviving granddaughter, died.[^1] The Minnesota Historical Society, which received the house and its contents, operates it today. Ramsey had been the Society's first president.[^5] Before he built the house, Ramsey acted as a U.S. commissioner for the [[Treaty of Traverse des Sioux]] and the [[Treaty of Mendota]].[^7] The dossier names Adjutant General Oscar Malmros as the official who issued General Orders No. 41 at Ramsey's direction.[^4] ## What The house was designed by the Minnesota architect Monroe Sheire. It is a 15-room Victorian residence finished in carved walnut, with marble fireplaces and crystal chandeliers. Much of its original furniture remains in the house. When it was built, the house had hot-water radiators, gas lighting, and running hot and cold water. The Society gives tours throughout the year. It also runs a holiday program, *A Victorian Christmas at the Ramsey House*, in which the dining table is laid with the family's china and crystal and the tree is hung with the family's own ornaments.[^1] ## When - **1851.** Ramsey served as a U.S. commissioner for the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux on July 23 and the Treaty of Mendota on August 5. Under the treaties, roughly 24 million acres were ceded at about seven and a half cents an acre. A document called the Traders' Paper was presented alongside the treaty; MNopedia describes it as "not read aloud or translated". The Traders' Paper redirected roughly one-third of the Dakota's cash payments to fur traders.[^7] - **1854.** Dakota signatories alleged intimidation and fraud, and Ramsey was a principal figure among those accused. Congress investigated him, and the U.S. Senate exonerated him in 1854. MNopedia records that the exoneration came "despite evidence uncovered in its own investigations suggesting improprieties."[^8] - **September 9, 1862.** Ramsey addressed a special session of the Legislature. He said: "The Sioux Indians of Minnesota must be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of the State." The Society notes that the sentence was not in the prepared manuscript but appeared in all published versions. A publication of the [[Minnesota House of Representatives]] calls the speech "notorious." It also states that the speech "provided political justification for the subsequent forced removal of Dakota people from Minnesota in 1863 and the execution of 38 Dakota men in Mankato."[^3] - **1860s.** Ramsey began donating his materials to the Minnesota Historical Society.[^5] - **July 4, 1863.** General Orders No. 41 paid scouts $1.50 a day plus $25 per Dakota scalp. The payments came from the State's Military Contingency Fund by executive order, not by legislative appropriation. Later orders raised the bounty to $75 and then to $200.[^4] - **1868–1875.** Construction began in 1868 and was finished in 1872. Marion Ramsey's wedding took place in the parlor in 1875.[^1] - **1964–1969.** After Anita Ramsey died in 1964, the house passed to the Society. It was listed on the National Register in 1969.[^1] - **July 1, 2023.** The house reopened after a three-year closure. New interpretation was added and placed in the carriage house.[^9] - **December 2024.** The Society scheduled, and then cancelled, the December 26 tours.[^6] ## Where The house stands at 265 Exchange Street South in Irvine Park, one of Minnesota's earliest fashionable neighborhoods. It lies within the Irvine Park Historic District.[^1] The interpretation added in 2023 is housed in the carriage house rather than the main residence.[^9] Online, the fuller historical record sits on a separate page from the Society's main page for the house, and visitors must choose to open it.[^2] ## How much - **Construction.** The house cost nearly $41,000 by its completion in 1872. Anna Ramsey brought Renaissance-revival furniture from the A.T. Stewart Company Store in New York in two boxcars.[^1] - **Bounties.** Scouts were paid $1.50 a day and $25 per scalp, later raised to $75 and then $200, from the Military Contingency Fund.[^4] - **Treaty land.** The 1851 cession was priced at about seven and a half cents an acre.[^7] ## How many - The house has 15 rooms.[^1] The Society's main page cites more than 14,000 original family objects.[^2] - The Society scheduled four December 26 tours. That date is the anniversary of the hanging of 38 Dakota men.[^6] - The 1851 treaties ceded about 24 million acres. The Traders' Paper diverted about one-third of the cash payments.[^7] ## In the at-issue record The project's record holds three at-issue pairs on the house. Each pair sets a documented fact beside a federal anchor document. The record does not establish the reasons for any decision described. - **AI-Ramsey-029 (2024).** This pair covers the December 26 "Victorian Christmas" tours, which were scheduled, first defended with the date noted, and then cancelled after the *Star Tribune* asked for comment.[^6] It is paired with a March 2025 presidential action on information silos.[^10] The pair's stated basis is that the correction came when an outside party asked, not when the calendar was set.[^6] - **AI-Ramsey-030.** This pair covers the Society's main page, which presents the house as "one of the best-preserved Victorian homes in the world" and omits the Dakota War, the extermination declaration, the bounties, and a land acknowledgement. The fuller record is on a separate page.[^2] It uses the same anchor, on information that exists but is kept apart from the point of contact.[^10] - **AI-Ramsey-031 (2023).** This pair covers the July 1, 2023 reopening, with new interpretation placed in the carriage house.[^9] The site manager said on the record: "He has a very controversial history. It's very complex." A program associate said: "The state, as it is today, is the way it is partly because of decisions he made."[^9] The pair is anchored to a January 2025 presidential action on government DEI programs.[^11] These pairs belong to a wider record that also covers federal actions against the State. On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] issued release No. 26-21, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance. The release concerns the State's current statutes, not the house.[^12] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages finds no other U.S. state so described. That is the project's own finding. ## Omissions in official accounts - **The Society's main page.** The page presents the house through its Victorian preservation and its 14,000 objects.[^2] It does not mention the September 9, 1862 extermination address[^3] or the 1863 scalp bounties issued by General Orders No. 41.[^4] - **Ramsey County's history page.** The county's official history page states its 1849 founding and original boundaries. It does not name Alexander Ramsey or explain the county's name.[^13] - **Ramsey County's land acknowledgement.** The county government's acknowledgement runs three sentences, states no board adoption date, and does not name Ramsey.[^13] - **The Ramsey County Historical Society's acknowledgement.** Its Dakota Land Acknowledgement names Ramsey and quotes the extermination line. It lists six commitments, with no adoption date, no budget line, and no metric for any of them. The Society keeps the Ramsey name.[^13] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Alexander Ramsey House* (rev. 1372273118, retrieved 2026-10-27), CC BY-SA 4.0 — location, architect, construction 1868–1872 and cost, furnishings, 1875 wedding, 15 rooms, 1964 bequest, 1969 National Register listing, Irvine Park Historic District, year-round tours and the Victorian Christmas program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Ramsey_House [^2]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, *Pair AI-Ramsey-030* (from *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier*, 2026-09-02, §VI) — the Society's main-page wording, 14,000 objects, what the page omits, and the separate record page. The underlying mnhs.org pages are not in the pack's allowed URLs. [^3]: Minnesota wiki project, *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier*, §VI (validated, 2026-09-02) — the September 9, 1862 address, the Society's manuscript note, and the Minnesota House publication's wording. The House publication's URL is not identified in the pack. [^4]: Minnesota wiki project, *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier*, §VI (validated, 2026-09-02) — General Orders No. 41 (July 4, 1863): the issuer, the rates, the funding source, and the successor bounties. The pack has no primary URL for the order. [^5]: Minnesota wiki project, *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier*, §VI (validated, 2026-09-02) — Ramsey as the Society's first president and his donations from the 1860s. The pack has no primary URL for this fact. [^6]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, *Pair AI-Ramsey-029* (from *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier*, 2026-09-02, §VI; source kinds news and record) — the December 2024 scheduling, the Society's first response, and the cancellation after the *Star Tribune* inquiry. The mnhs.org and startribune.com pages are not in the pack's allowed URLs. [^7]: Minnesota wiki project, *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier*, §VI (validated, 2026-09-02), citing MNopedia — the 1851 treaties, the cession acreage and price, and the Traders' Paper. The MNopedia pages are not in the pack's allowed URLs. [^8]: Minnesota wiki project, *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier*, §VI (validated, 2026-09-02), citing MNopedia — the 1854 allegations, the congressional investigation, the Senate exoneration, and MNopedia's qualifier. [^9]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, *Pair AI-Ramsey-031* (from *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier*, 2026-09-02, §VI; source kinds news and record) — the July 1, 2023 reopening, the carriage-house interpretation, and the staff quotations. The kstp.com and mnhs.org pages are not in the pack's allowed URLs. [^10]: The White House, *Presidential action: stopping waste, fraud, and abuse by eliminating information silos* (March 2025) — the anchor for pairs AI-Ramsey-029 and AI-Ramsey-030. It does not itself document the house. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^11]: The White House, *Presidential action: ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing* (January 2025) — the anchor for pair AI-Ramsey-031. It does not itself document the house. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/ [^12]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — the release title and the Attorney General's certification. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^13]: Minnesota wiki project, *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier*, §VI (validated, 2026-09-02) — the Ramsey County history page, the county land acknowledgement, and the Ramsey County Historical Society's Dakota Land Acknowledgement. The underlying pages are not in the pack's allowed URLs.