Franklin Ransom

Franklin Ransom

• School University of New York?

• Born ~1805 in or near Buffalo, NY USA
• Died March 25, 1873 in Buffalo, NY USA

Biographical Information

Franklin Ransom played in one documented game for the New York Gothams on June 19, 1846. He was a medical doctor outside of baseball and is said to have earned his degree from a school simply listed as "University of New York." He had a partnership with a doctor named Lucius Comstock. Ransom was also credited with inventing an improvement for fire trucks: he installed a more effective water system within them. In 1841, he presented his innovation to the mayor of New York, NY. After this, the design began popping up elsewhere in the city, and Ransom believed that the mayor had stolen his design. In 1858, he filed a lawsuit against the mayor and took it to the United States Supreme Court, but was unable to convince them that the mayor had stolen his design. After this, he returned to the Buffalo, NY area where he grew up and died there in 1873.