Legal and financial career Ramsey entered the practice of law in 1877, maintaining a law practice in
Cleburne from 1877 to 1909. Between 1900 and 1908, he was serving as president of three separate banks—the Cleburne National Bank, the First National Bank at
Covington, Texas, and the Farmer and Trader's Bank at
Rio Vista, Texas.
Judicial and political career In 1907, Governor
Thomas Mitchell Campbell appointed Ramsey to chair the board of commissioners of the Texas prison system, and in 1908, Campbell tapped Ramsey to fill a vacancy on the
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, in
Austin, Texas. Ramsey won the election to that seat in November 1909, and served in that capacity until 1911, when he resigned to accept an appointment from Campbell to the Texas Supreme Court. Ramsey "served conspicuously on the bench, some of his rulings handed down in the higher courts of Texas attracting considerable attention". On May 29, 1912, Ramsey resigned from the Supreme Court to become a candidate for
Governor of Texas, running for the
Prohibition Party, but losing to the Democratic candidate,
Oscar Branch Colquitt. Ramsey remained in Austin, where he resumed the practice of law, in partnership with his son, S. D. Ramsey, until 1916, when he moved to
Dallas, Texas to accept an appointment as Federal Reserve Agent of the Eleventh District, and chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. ==Personal life==