James Harvey (J. H.) Ransom was born in Chautauqua County, New York in 1836, the son of Dr. Willard Ransom. He moved to Kansas in 1868 and farmed, coal mined, served as postmaster, and otherwise worked in a handful of locations, mostly in Douglas County, before settling in what would become Ransomville, Franklin County in 1881. There he opened a general store and operated a coal mine, and the area was named after him. He later moved to Locust Street in Ottawa, the seat of Franklin County, and for several decades served as a contractor to the Santa Fe railroad building railroad track.

Ransom served two terms in the Kansas legislature from 1905-1909 and also served on the Ottawa city council. In 1862 he married Eunice Cornelia Glidden; she predeceased him, dying in the 1890s. They had two children, Myra (Ransom) Bennett, who married B. D. Bennett, and Willard G. Ransom. In 1901 J.H. married Edith Bradford Kissenger. J. H. Ransom died in October 1914.

Willard Glidden Ransom, J. H.'s son, studied electrical engineering at the University of Kansas and then Cornell University, graduating from Cornell in 1899. He worked as an engineer with Westinghouse, a major manufacturer of power machinery of the late 19th and 20th centuries. He spent time in both Mexico City and Bolivia managing some of their operations, amongst other locations in the United States and Central and South America. He also worked for Bettendorf Axle Company of Davenport, Iowa. Ransom additionally continued farming and operating other businesses in the Franklin County area and elsewhere in the United States, typically in partnership with others. Willard Ransom married Edna Lischer in 1911; they had four children: James, Willard, John Parke, and Marian. Willard G. Ransom died in March 1950 at the age of 75.