Famous

(Or infamous, or at Least Noteworthy) PEOPLE NAMED "RALSTON"

This page lists many well-known Ralstons, Roulstons, Raulstons, etc. Where it is possible/known, the lineage of these Ralstons is shown, and if there is a Y-DNA connection to the family to a member or match of the Ralston Project, this is also indicated.

If you are a Ralston, Rolston, Roulston, Raulston, or similar, you may be related to these or other Ralstons. Having a Ralston male of your line do a Y-DNA test is the best way to find out. FamilyTreeDNA.com has the best Y-DNA database and by joining the Ralston Project there you will be able to connect with other Ralstons and be part of solving the puzzle of the origins of the greater Ralston family. This puzzle is especially challenging regarding Ralstons of Irish (Ulster) descent. The more Ralstons that we can add to the project, the more likely we will eventually be able to reach a solution. For more information please visit the Ralston Project and feel free to contact any of the site administrators.

The entries on this page are categorized, but listed in random order and in no way to be taken as an implication of order by importance. Lineages are best guesses and may or may not be completely accurate. Birth places, when known, are provided after dates.

Categories:

POLITICS, LAW, JUDICIARY
MILITARY
HISTORICAL, SETTLERS, AND PIONEERS
CELEBRITIES (Actors/Actresses/Authors/Artists/Athletes)
BUSINESS, FINANCE, INDUSTRY
SCIENCE/MEDICINE
RALSTON IN NAME ONLY

POLITICS, LAW, JUDICIARY

Samuel Moffett Ralston

Samuel M. Ralston (December 1, 1857 – October 14, 1925) was a Democratic politician, the 28th Governor of and a United States Senator from the U.S. state of Indiana. Born into a large impoverished family, he took many jobs as a child including working in a coal mine. He taught school and studied law, becoming a prominent state lawyer. (Wikipedia.org)

In 1924 the Democratic presidential nomination was virtually Ralston's for the accepting after a long, complex battle in the convention, but Ralston stunned the convention by withdrawing his name. His reason, though unexplained at the time, was his precarious health. (www.in.gov)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to Ralston Project members):

Samuel Moffett Ralston (1857–1925) Tuscarawas County, Ohio, USA
John Ralston (1812–1882) York Springs, Adams, Pennsylvania, USA
David Ralston (1786–1814) York Springs, Adams, Pennsylvania, USA
Andrew W Ralston (1753–1827) Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland
John Ralston (1726–1762) Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland

William Rolleston

William Rolleston (1831 –1903) was a New Zealand politician, public administrator, educationalist, and Canterbury provincial superintendent. Rolleston was born on September 19, 1831, at Maltby, Yorkshire, as the 9th child of the Rev. George Rolleston and Anne Nettleship. His brother was the physician and zoologist George Rolleston.

After saving his money from a tutoring job, William left England and arrived in Lyttelton, New Zealand, in 1858. In 1868 he was elected to the New Zealand Parliament, where he served until 1899. He served as Minister of Justice in the government of Premier John Hall from December 1880 to April 1881. He was also appointed Minister of Native Affairs in January 1881 after the resignation of John Bryce.

In 1891 he was elected unopposed as Leader of the Opposition.

In 1893 he supported women's suffrage and subsequently claimed the credit in the 1893 election.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage:

William Rolleston (1831–1903) Maltby, Yorkshire, England
George Rolleston (1792–1868) Gainsborough, Lincoln, England
Robert Rolleston (1747–1826) Derbyshire, England
John Rolleston (1705–1770) Greasley, Nottinghamshire, England
Christopher Rolleston (1680–unk) Nottinghamshire, England

(There are two descendants of William Rolleston who are R-M269 members of the Ralston Project.)

Christopher Rolleston

Christopher Rolleston (27 July 1817 – 9 April 1888) was a prominent colonial civil servant in New South Wales Australia in the mid-1800s. He served in various roles, including the Register-General of New South Wales, Commissioner of Crown Lands in the Darling Downs, private secretary to the Governor of New South Wales, and auditor-general. The town of Rolleston in Queensland is named for him.

wikipedia.org

Lineage:

Christopher Rolleston (1817–1888) Nottinghamshire, England
John Rolleston (1787–1862) London, England
Christopher Rolleston (1739–1807) Derbyshire, England
Rev John Rolleston (1705–1770) Derbyshire, England
Christopher Rolleston (1669–1736) Nottinghamshire, England

(There are two descendants of Rev John Rolleston who are R-M269 members of the Ralston Project.)

Sir John Fowke Lancelot Rolleston

Sir John Fowke Lancelot Rolleston (26 March 1848 – 9 April 1919) was a Conservative Party Member of the British Parliament in the early 1900s. He was the eldest son of Rev. William Lancelot Rolleston, vicar of Great Dalby and Scraptoft, and his wife, Mary Sophia Fowke, daughter of Sir Frederick Gustavus Fowke, 1st Baronet.

wikipedia.org

Lineage:

Sir John Fowke Lancelot Rolleston (1848–1919) Leicestershire, England
Rev William Lancelot Rolleston (1816–1890) Nottinghamshire, England
John Rolleston (1787–1862) London, England
Christopher Rolleston (1739–1807) Derbyshire, England
Rev John Rolleston (1705–1770) Derbyshire, England
Christopher Rolleston (1669–1736) Nottinghamshire, England

(There are two descendants of Rev John Rolleston who are R-M269 members of the Ralston Project.)

James Harvey Ralston
James Harvey [Hervey] Ralston, lawyer, Illinois and California state legislator, and quartermaster at the Alamo from 1846 to 1848, was born on October 12, 1807, in Bourbon County, Kentucky, the son of John and Elizabeth (Neely) Ralston. In the fall of 1828, he moved to Quincy, Illinois, where he pursued a career as a lawyer and was sworn in by the Fifth Judicial Circuit of the state of Illinois on October 21, 1830, as an attorney and counselor. In August 1836 he was elected to represent Adams County in the lower house of the Tenth General Illinois Assembly, a body whose members included Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. On January 14, 1837, he was elected judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit. He held this post until he resigned in August 1837 to pursue his private practice.
In 1849 he moved to California. In 1852 he was elected the Democratic representative of Sacramento County to the California Senate. He subsequently moved to Virginia City, Nevada, where he continued his political and legal career. In 1863 he was a representative to the Nevada constitutional convention. The next year he moved to Austin, Lander County, Nevada, where he continued his legal practice. Ralston disappeared while traveling from Austin to his ranch in Smoky Valley during the first week in May 1864. He apparently became lost in a blinding snowstorm in the desert. His body was found by Shoshone Indians, who cremated it. A search party retrieved the remains and conveyed them back to Austin, where they were laid to rest. The area in Nevada where he died was subsequently named “Ralston's Desert.”
(find-a-grave.com)
Mrs. Harriet N. Ralston, James’ second wife, claimed that Judge Ralston and financier William Chapman Ralston of San Francisco were second cousins.
(adams.illinoisgenweb.org)

Lineage:

James Hervey Ralston (1807–1864) Bourbon County, Kentucky
John Ralston (1769–1834) Botetourt County, Virginia
(Spec.) John Rolston (c1730-1800) Botetourt County, Virginia
(Spec.) William Roulston/Rolstone (c1708-1767) unknown, lived in Botetourt, Virginia

(There is no proven Y-DNA connection to this line, but many speculate they are of the William Roulston/Rolstone line, and a match to the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.)

Jackson Harvey Ralston
Jackson Harvey Ralston (1857 – 1945), lawyer, born Feb 6, 1857, in Sacramento, California, son of James Harvey [s/b Hervey] and Harriet N. [Newell] Jackson Ralston.
Jackson H. Ralston was a prominent lawyer at the turn of the twentieth century who devoted his career to the growing fields of international arbitration, domestic taxation issues, and teaching, he argued before the Supreme Court on many occasions and his scholarly contributions were many as the author of numerous books and articles. He also lectured at Stanford University between 1929 and 1933. He represented the United States as agent and counsel in the first dispute to be submitted to the permanent court of arbitration at The Hague under the Hague Convention of 1899.
Despite his father’s untimely death when he was a young child, Jackson was committed to following in his footsteps, graduating from Georgetown University with an LLB degree in 1876 and gaining admittance to the bar. Two years later, he started a legal practice in Quincy, Illinois. In 1897, he was awarded a Doctor of Law degree in Washington, D.C. by the National University School of Law, which later merged with George Washington University Law School. While Ralston spent many years in Washington, D.C., and traveled abroad extensively, Northern California was his home. Born in 1857 in Sacramento, CA, he later died in 1945 at the age of 88 in Palo Alto, CA. The Jackson H. Ralston Prize in International Law was established at Stanford Law School in 1972 in his memory by his widow, Opal V. Ralston.
(Biographical information cited from: law.stanford.edu/directory/jackson-ralston/)
(WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA Copyright, 1901, by A. N. Marquis & Company pg 924)

Lineage:

Jackson Harvey Ralston (1857 – 1945) Sacramento, California
James Hervey Ralston (1807–1864) Bourbon County, Kentucky
John Ralston (1769–1834) Botetourt County, Virginia
(Spec.) John Rolston (c1730-1800) Botetourt County, Virginia
(Spec.) William Roulston/Rolstone (c1708 - 1767) unknown, lived in Botetourt, Virginia

(There is no proven Y-DNA connection to this line, but many speculate they are of the William Roulston/Rolstone line, and a match to the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.)

James Layton Ralston

James Layton Ralston, lawyer, politician (b at Amherst, Nova Scotia, 27 Sept 1881; d at Montréal 21 May 1948). A WWI battalion commander with a reputation for bravery and competence, Ralston was twice minister of national defence, 1926-30 and 1940-44.

James Layton Ralston, lawyer, politician (b at Amherst, NS 27 Sept 1881; d at Montréal 21 May 1948). A WWI battalion commander with a reputation for bravery and competence, Ralston was twice minister of national defense, 1926-30 and 1940-44. Intense, scrupulously honest, and an able representative of the political interests of the Maritime provinces, he was a stalwart in Prime Minister Mackenzie King's WWII Cabinet, serving briefly as minister of finance, 1939-40, before becoming defense minister. Despite a tendency to become mired in administrative detail, he was a fine judge of generalship and a devoted defender of Canada's fighting men. King forced Ralston's resignation in 1944 because of his outspoken support of overseas conscription.

(thecanadianencyclopedia.ca)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to Ralston Project members):

James Layton Ralston, (1881-1948) Nova Scotia, Canada
Burnett William Ralston (1856–1933) Nova Scotia, Canada
Thomas Atkinson Ralston (1825-1865) Nova Scotia, Canada
William Ralston (1793 or 1811–unknown) Scotland or England

John Tate Raulston

John Tate Raulston (September 22, 1868 – July 11, 1956) was an American state judge in Rhea County, Tennessee, who received national publicity for presiding over the 1925 Scopes Trial, a famous creationism-evolution debate.

Raulston, who was a member of a prominent Republican family, was born on a small farm in Marion County, Tennessee. He attended U.S. Grant University, later known as Tennessee Wesleyan College, and was admitted to the bar in 1896. He served in the Tennessee state legislature and was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1908 against John A. Moon. He was elected judge of the Eighteenth Tennessee District in 1918.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage:

John Tate Raulston (1868–1956) Marion, Tennessee
William Doran Raulston (1832–1908) Jackson, Alabama
William O Raulston (1802–1870) Jefferson, Tennessee
James Raulston (1778–1844) Henrico, Virginia
Matthew Raulston (1742–1800) Bedford, Virginia
William Roulston/Rolstone (c1708 - 1767) unknown, lived in Botetourt, Virginia

(There is a Y-DNA connection with descendants of William Roulston/Rolstone to the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.)

MILITARY

Colonel James Raulston/Roulston

Colonel James Raulston was born on 16 June 1778 in Augusta County, Virginia. He was the son of Matthew Raulston and Martha "Polly" Moore. James Raulston operated an inn in the Chestnut Mound section of Jackson County, now Putnam County, Tennessee, that became known as Raulston's Stand. He was a delegate to Knoxville in 1801 and was instrumental in enacting the necessary legislation to create the county of Jackson. He was married to Jane Simmons.

The website brazoriaroots.com states, “James met Jane Simmons about 1801 when he was working on his Uncle George's newspaper, the Knoxville Gazette.” [NOTE: James’ father was Matthew Raulston, son of William Roulston 1708-1767. George could not have been the son of William, and therefore, could not have been an uncle to James. However, this account does give credence to there being a connection between James Raulston and George Roulstone. Some believe that William Roulston was originally from Boston, which is where George Roulstone is purported to have been born. Some sources indicate William Roulston’s father to be John Roulstone, 1684–1744, of Boston. Other sources show this same John Roulstone to be George Roulstone’s great-grandfather.]

A document at ajlambert.com states that George was [James’ father] Matthew’s cousin. In Matthew’s will, the family name was spelled “Roulstone”. The name of James’ grandfather, William, is spelled by various locations “Roulston”, “Roulstone”, or “Rolstone”.

In 1809 James was commissioned into Andrew Jackson's army to fight against the Creek Indians. In 1812, Jackson again called him to serve in command of the 3rd Regiment of Tennessee. He became Colonel Raulston and served with General William Carroll in the Battle of New Orleans.

Colonel Raulston found that his log cabin was located on the line between Tennessee and Alabama when the area was surveyed in 1817. He first moved his bedroom to the Tennessee side of the cabin so that he could stay involved in Tennessee politics; then in 1828 he moved his bedroom to the other side of the cabin, declared his home to be in Alabama, and became a prominent member of the state legislature of Alabama. He died in 1844.

Lineage:

James Raulston (1778–1844) Henrico, Virginia
Matthew Raulston (1742–1800) Bedford, Virginia
William Roulston/Rolstone (c1708–1767) unknown, lived in Botetourt, Virginia

(There is a Y-DNA connection with a descendant of James Raulston to the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.)

Orville Alfred Ralston

Major Orville Alfred Ralston (1894-1942) was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories. He returned to service for World War II, only to die in a B-17 crash.

Ralston joined the United States Army Air Service after attending Peru State College but was attached to the Royal Air Force for seasoning in combat. He flew a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a in "Mick" Mannock's flight of 85 Squadron, and gained his first two victories there, destroying a Fokker D.VII each on 24 July and 22 August 1918. He then returned to American aviation, becoming a Sopwith Camel pilot with the 148th Aero Squadron. He teamed with fellow ace Elliott White Springs and two other pilots for his next win, and then independently destroyed two more D.VIIs—one each on 26 September and 3 October 1918.

He was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross in 1921. After the war, Orville was a dentist in Ainsworth, Nebraska, and served a term as mayor. An intelligence officer during WWII, he died in a stateside plane accident in December 1942.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage:

Orville Alfred Ralston (1894-1942) Cass, Nebraska
Charles Alexander Ralston (1859-1908) Adair, Iowa
David W Ralston (1827-1883) Christian, Kentucky
Samuel R Rolston (1799-1889) Virginia
David John Rolston (1775-1856) Augusta, Virginia
Samuel David Roulston (c1740-1807) Botetourt, Virginia
William Roulston/Rolstone (c1708+1767) unknown, lived in Botetourt, Virginia

(A descendant of Orville Alfred Ralston is a member of the project and part of the I-M223 Ulster group.)

Joseph Ralston

General Joseph W. Ralston (born November 4, 1943) served in the United States Air Force from 1965 to 2003. He became Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1996. He was favored to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1997, however, following revelations of a secret affair he remained Vice Chairman until May 2000. He then became Supreme Allied Commander for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Europe until January 2003 when he retired.

He was appointed in August 2006 by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as Special Envoy for Countering the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), responsible for coordinating U.S. engagement with the Government of Turkey and the Government of Iraq to eliminate the terrorist threat of the PKK and other terrorist groups operating in Northern Iraq and across the Turkey-Iraq border. He also holds senior positions in various defense-related corporations.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage:

Joseph W. Ralston (1943-) Kentucky
Howard Ray Ralston, (1901–1979) Kentucky
Thomas Wesley Ralston (1875–1956) Kentucky
Wesley W Ralston (1841–1910) Kentucky
Robert M Ralston (1816–1874) Kentucky
David John Rolston (1775 - 1856) Augusta, Virginia
Samuel David Roulston (c1740 - 1807) Botetourt, Virginia
William Roulston/Rolstone (1708 - 1767) unknown, lived in Botetourt, Virginia

(There is a Y-DNA connection with a descendant of David John Rolston - thus with Joseph Ralston - to the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.)

Norman William Ralston

Norman Ralston (November 28, 1916 – November 14, 2007) was an American pilot. During World War II, Ralston, known as "Swede", trained hundreds of Army pilots at the Rankin Air Academy in Tulare, California. Rankin Aeronautical Academy was a civilian flight school for the United States Army Air Corps.

As a stunt pilot, he operated a fleet of aircraft for Ralston Airshows. Ralston became famous for flying an AT-6 Texan through Naval Air Station Tillamook, a World War II Blimp Hangar, in Tillamook, Oregon. Ralston constructed the first commercial hangar at Hillsboro, Oregon, and helped found the Hillsboro Airport. He co-founded the airline company Aero Air, a successful full-service Fixed Based Operator.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to Ralston Project members)::

Norman William Ralston (1916–2007) Washington, Oregon
William Gray Ralston (1890–1970) Douglas, Oregon
Samuel David Rolston (1864–1945) Ray, Missouri
William F Rolston (1826–1897) Hart, Kentucky

John Steel Ralston

Captain John Steel Ralston MC, DFC (27 April 1887 – 25 July 1918) was a Scottish World War I war hero and flying ace. After winning a Military Cross in 1916 for lifesaving gallantry while serving in the infantry, he was credited with 12 official aerial victories as a fighter pilot before he was killed in action.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to members of the Ralston Project):

John Steel Ralston (1887–1918) Lanarkshire, Scotland
Thomas Binnie Ralston (1852–1924) Lanarkshire, Scotland
David Ralston (1820–1886) Lanarkshire, Scotland

Colonel Sir Lancelot Rolleston

Colonel Sir Lancelot Rolleston (1847-1941) was the son of Colonel Lancelot Rolleston and Eleanor Charlotte Fraser. He held the office of High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1877. He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel between 1896 and 1908 in the South Nottinghamshire Hussars Yeomanry. He fought in the Boer War, where he was wounded and was mentioned in dispatches. He was Second in command of the 3rd Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. He held the offices of Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire and Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Nottinghamshire. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1902. He was Colonel of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade, Territorial Forces between 1908 and 1912, and was awarded the Territorial Decoration in 1909. He was appointed Knight Commander, Order of the Bath in 1911. He lived at Watnall Hall, Nottinghamshire, England. His father, Colonel Lancelot Rolleston (1785-1862) was a Conservative Party Member of the British Parliament in the mid-1800s.

thepeerage.com, wikipedia.org

Lineage:

Lancelot Rolleston (1847-1941) Nottinghamshire, England
Lancelot Rolleston (1785–1862) London, England
Christopher Rolleston (1739–1807) Derbyshire, England
Rev John Rolleston (1705–1770) Derbyshire, England
Christopher Rolleston (1669–1736) Nottinghamshire, England

(There are two descendants of Rev John Rolleston who are R-M269 members of the Ralston Project.)

Watnall Hall in Nottinghamshire, home of several English Rollestons

HISTORICAL, SETTLERS, AND PIONEERS

William Henry (Harry) Ralston

William Henry Ralston (1862–1943) was a well-known cattle raiser and dealer and proprietor of probably the best-improved ranch on the Laramie River within the bounds of Laramie County, Wyoming. He was born on May 30, 1862, in Ayrshire, Scotland, a son of Andrew W. and Joanna* Ralston, farming people of Ayrshire. The father came to the United States in 1879 in the interests of the London Insurance Co. and resided in New York until his death in 1901. Harry lived in Scotland until 1879, when he went to New Zealand and engaged in farming until 1883, then coming to Wyoming by way of South America, the Atlantic Ocean, and New York, and entering the employ of the Teschemacher & DeBillier Cattle Co. He was first was given charge of the ranches but later was appointed range-manager, having under his supervision all of the stock interests, his service extending from 1884 until 1892 when the firm closed out their interests in this country and Mr. Ralston purchased their home ranch, where he lived at Uva, the ranch lying along the Laramie River. He owned about 900 acres and leased other tracts. Harry died in 1943 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

(genealogytrails.com)

* Both of Harry’s parents were Ralstons. Andrew Wyllie Ralston (1833-1901) married a distant cousin, Joan Fullarton Ralston (1838-1864). Andrew subsequently remarried, moved to Brooklyn, New York, and had three further sons born there: Andrew Wyllie, Frederick W, and Gavin Albert.

Lineage:

William Henry Ralston (1862–1943) Ayrshire, Scotland
Andrew Wyllie Ralston (1833–1901) Ayrshire, Scotland
Alexander Ralston (1808–1861) Ayrshire, Scotland
Gavin Ralston (1764–1833) Ayrshire, Scotland
Gavin Ralston (1731–1818) Renfrewshire, Scotland
William Ralston (c1679-bef 1753) Renfrewshire, Scotland
Gavin Ralston (c1655-bef 1720) Renfrewshire, Scotland

(There is a Y-DNA connection with a descendant of Andrew W Ralston (1833–1901), thus to Harry Ralston, and the R-M269 Subclade R-BY15421 group of the Ralston Project.)

Gavin Ralston

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (1900-2002), better known as the mother of Queen Elizabeth II, spent most of her childhood at St Paul's Walden and at Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland, her father’s ancestral home. (Wikipedia.org)

Gavin Ralston (1870-1951) was factor (manager) of Glamis Castle during the early 1900s. He succeeded his father, Andrew Ralston (1831-1914), in this role. Both Andrew and Gavin were said to be dour and ‘hard-headed’, though much respected. Gavin’s brothers, Andrew Ralston (1866-1926), was factor to the Earl of Hopetoun; William Henry Ralston (1863-1943), was employed by the Strathmore family on their English estates; Claude Lyon Ralston (born 1867), worked for a time for the Earl of Airlie; and Charles Ralston (born 1864), was an employee of the Duke of Buccleuch.

(ghostsofglamis.blogspot.com)

Lineage:

Gavin Ralston (1870-1951) Forfarshire, Scotland
Andrew Ralston (1831-1914) Wigtownshire, Scotland
William Ralston (1797–1864) Ayrshire, Scotland
James Ralston (1757–1816) Wigtownshire, Scotland
Gavin Ralston (1731–1818) Renfrewshire, Scotland
William Ralston (c1679-bef 1753) Renfrewshire, Scotland
Gavin Ralston (c1655-bef 1720) Renfrewshire, Scotland

(There is a Y-DNA connection with a descendant of Gavin Ralston (1731–1818), and the R-M269 Subclade R-BY15421 group of the Ralston Project.)

George Roulstone

George Roulstone (8 Oct. 1767–10 Aug. 1804), the first printer and newspaper publisher in Tennessee, was born in Boston, Mass., where he received a fair education and learned the printer's trade. He possibly was the son of Mary and George Roulstone, sexton of the First Church of Boston between 1776 and 1780.

In 1789 he moved to Fayetteville, N.C., and worked for a newspaper until March 1791, when he and Robert Ferguson, … were induced by William Blount, newly appointed governor of the Southwest Territory (later the state of Tennessee), to found a newspaper for Knoxville, intended to become the territorial capital. This was the first newspaper west of the Appalachians. Named the Knoxville Gazette, the paper was first published in 1791, in Rogersville, before Knoxville was established. George was not only the first printer of the state from 1796 to 1804, but was the first clerk of the Southwest Territory, the first postmaster of Knoxville, and a trustee of Blount College, now the University of Tennessee. He was the printer of the "Laws of the State of Tennessee," generally referred to as "Roulstone's Laws" and considered to be the first book published in Tennessee.

(jem.cci.utk.edu)
(www.ncpedia.org)
(tennesseeencyclopedia.net)

(There is no proven Y-DNA connection to Ralston Project members.)

Annie Ralston

FAIR ANNIE RALSTON, THE OUTLAW'S BRIDE
" The loves and hopes of youthful hours,
Though buried in oblivion deep,
Like hidden threads in woven flowers,
Upon life's web will start from sleep.
And one loved face we sometimes find
Pictured there with memories rife —
A part of that mysterious mind
Which forms the endless warp of life."

(Most of this account is taken from Life and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, The Noted Western Out-laws – Joseph A. Dacus.)

Annie Ralston (1853–1944) was the daughter of Samuel Ralston (1809–1899), from Ireland. Samuel and his family lived in Independence, Missouri, and were said to be wealthy, and of culture and refinement. Annie was beautiful, talented, and intelligent, being the highest in her class at school. Her father was a southern supporter and suffered much from the war. He was visited frequently in his home by other sympathizers, including Frank and Jesse James. Many said that it was Annie who was the actual attraction for the James boy’s visits.

In 1875, without her parent’s knowledge or approval, Annie left home and met Frank James. They traveled to Leavenworth, Kansas, where they were married.

(Samuel Ralston’s lineage is unknown and there is currently no known Y-DNA connection to this family and members of the Ralston Project.)

Thomas Ralston

Thomas Ralston was born in 1827, near Campbeltown, Scotland, on the Argyle peninsula. Along with many of his family members, he emigrated to America and settled in northwest Illinois. Others of the Argyle and Kintyre Ralstons also settled in Ohio.

Based on known family history, and supported by Y-DNA results, it appears that this Ralston clan originated with the Paisley and Beith Ralstons, who in turn, arose from the "Barony of Ralstons" and the "Ralstons of that ilk."

There is an excellent summary on the Ralston/Belden Genealogy website about how and why these Ralstons settled on the peninsula.

Lineage:
The progenitor of the "Kintyre Ralstons" is felt to be David Ralston, born about 1620, presumably in or near Beith, Ayrshire.
The exact lineage is well documented on the Ralston/Belden genealogy website, which is maintained by Harold Ralston, one of the Illinois and Wisconsin descendants of the Kintyre Ralstons

Genetics: Based on multiple matches in the Family Tree DNA Y-DNA database, these Ralstons are R-M269 haplogroup, and all share a common ancestor with at least four other Ralstons in the current Ralston Surname Project.

This family is also fully documented in an excellent book, "Saga of Our Kintyre Kin" by Grace Ralston.

Jeremiah Ralston

Monument in Lebanon, Oregon:

Jeremiah Ralston (1798–1877), the son of Joseph Ralston (1760–1834) from County Antrim, Northern Ireland, was born in Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1798. The Joseph Ralston family, including Jeremiah, later relocated from Tennessee to Indiana. Jeremiah later moved to Ohio.

In Ohio, Jeremiah was told by a friend who had just returned of the good land available in Oregon. In the spring of 1847, Jeremiah and his family departed with 12 yoke of oxen and three wagons. In those wagons, besides his household goods, he brought supplies and merchandise with which to start a store. On the site of Lebanon Ralston found two squatters who had erected a cabin and made some improvements. Ralston traded $30 and a yoke of oxen for their rights.

Jeremiah had the site of Lebanon surveyed and recorded in 1851. It is said he chose the name because the many cedar trees by the river made him think of the Biblical references to the cedars of Lebanon and because of his sentiment for his birthplace - Lebanon, Tennessee..

(www.oregonpioneers.com)
(www.linncountyroots.com)

(A descendant of Jeremiah Ralston is a member of the Ralston Project and is related to the I-M223 Ulster group.)

Jeremiah Ralston

Alexander Ralston (1771 – 1827)

Alexander Ralston (1771 – 1827) was a Scottish surveyor who was one of two co-architects for the design of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. He also helped to design Washington, D.C. He was born in Scotland, parents unknown.

(Wikipedia.org)

Alexander Ralston (1779–1861)

Alexander Ralston (1779–1861) was born in Pennsylvania to David Ralston (1741-1831) from Northern Ireland and Mary Reid (1757-c1811) from Scotland. While still a child they moved to the Cumberland Settlements near Nashville, TN. During the War of 1812, Alexander was second Major under Col. Philip Pipkin as part of General Andrew Jackson’s army, and at one point placed in command of Fort Strother (Mississippi Territory, now Alabama.) During the war, Alexander penned at least two letters to General Jackson which are maintained in the US Library of Congress, national archives.

After the war, Alexander lived on the Harpeth River in Williamson County, Tennessee where he had a mill and was a cabinet maker.

Alexander later moved his family to West Tennessee and settled in what is today Weakley County. He was a prominent figure in early West Tennessee and Ralston, Tennessee, was an important railroad station where he was the first postmaster. He owned vast sections of land and was very prolific in land purchases and sales. Alexander is mentioned in the book "Home In the Wilderness" by Effie Meek Maiden. From the book review: “An authentic story of a pioneer family's settlement in West Tennessee after the Indian removal. The story begins in 1848, when James A. Meek travels by horseback from his mill on the Duck River near Chapel Hill, TN to Weakley County to investigate the appeals made to him by Major Alexander Ralston to settle in the ‘Western District’ and ends in 1880.”

John Ralston (1787–1865)

John Ralston, brother of Alexander, was born in what is today, Nashville, Tennessee. He was a captain in the War of 1812 and was later a surveyor in West Tennessee, and one of the early settlers and founders of Shelby County, TN. He married Lucy Tice McDaniel (1801–1879), daughter of Colonel John Clement McDaniel (1759–1836).

John surveyed and planned the city of Raleigh, the original county seat of Shelby County. He was also one of the surveyors of the city of Memphis. John served as a justice of the peace and later became an attorney practicing in Raleigh and Memphis.

John is included in several history books and accounts of Memphis and the surrounding area. He is remembered as a pioneer of Shelby County.

(There is a Y-DNA connection with descendants of David Ralston 1741-1831 - thus with Alexander and John Ralston - to the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.)

Lewis Ralston (1804-1870)

There are many developments, businesses, a creek, a school, and a street named “Ralston” in Arvada, Colorado (near Denver). The namesake for these sites is Lewis Ralston, who in 1850, was the first person to discover gold in Colorado on what is now called "Ralston Creek".

The following is from: https://arvadapress.com/stories/the-curious-case-of-lewis-ralston,388933

.“Lewis Ralston was born in 1804 in on a farm near what would eventually become Pendleton, South Carolina. Little is known about Ralston’s childhood.

“In 1825, Ralston moved to Auraria, Georgia, a small town in Lumpkin County which is now uninhabited. Then, the area was known as Cherokee country.

“That year, Ralston met Benjamin Parks, Jr. and the two became business partners supplying horses and cows. Ralston moved to his own plot of land and married a woman of Cherokee descent named Elizabeth Kell in 1826."

After Parks found gold in Georgia in 1828 - leading eventually to the Trail of Tears - Lewis found and minded gold on his property. However, because of his Cherokee wife, the land had to be forfeited since Lewis was also on the Cherokee rolls. He joined a wagon trail to California after gold was discovered there, and made the brief stop in Colorado. Lewis wanted to stay, but the rest of the party wanted to continue west.

“He spent few days, three perhaps, looking for gold in the creek which would eventually bear his name, according to local legend. Ralston had little success in California and returned to Dahlonega, a town in Lumpkin County Georgia in about 1851.”

In 1858, Lewis Ralston joined another expedition to search for gold in Colorado, but having no success, he returned to Georgia. He became a private in the Confederate Army at age 59 in 1863. He died in Dalton, Georgia, in 1870.

Lineage:

Lewis Ralston (1804-1870) Pendleton, SC
John Tate Ralston (1774–1827) Newberry County, SC
Robert Ralston (1725–1789) Probably Ireland

There is a Y-DNA connection to a descendant of John Tate Ralston with members of the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.

CELEBRITIES (Actors/Actresses/Authors/Athletes)

Jobyna Ralston

Jobyna Ralston (born Jobyna Lancaster Raulston in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, November 21, 1899 – January 22, 1967) was an American stage and film actress. She had a featured role in the first Oscar-winning film, Wings in 1927, but is perhaps best remembered today for her on-screen chemistry with Harold Lloyd, with whom she appeared in seven movies.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage:

Jobyna Lancaster Raulston (1899–1967) Marion, Tennessee
Joseph L Raulston (1868–1940) Marion, Tennessee
Hugh Lawson White Raulston (1833–1902) Marion, Tennessee
Robert Simmons Raulston (1806–1867) Marion, Tennessee
James Raulston (1778–1844) Henrico, Virginia
Matthew Raulston (1742–1800) Bedford, Virginia
William Roulston/Rolstone (c1708 - 1767) unknown, lived in Botetourt, Virginia

There is a Y-DNA connection to a descendant of James Raulston with members of the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.

Vera Miles

Vera June Miles (née Ralston, born August 23, 1929) is a retired American actress who worked closely with Alfred Hitchcock, most notably as Lila Crane in the classic 1960 film Psycho, reprising the role in the 1983 sequel Psycho II. Other films in which she appeared include Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955), The Searchers (1956), Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (also 1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Follow Me, Boys! (1966), Sergeant Ryker (1968) and Molly and Lawless John (1972). Vera used the stage name Miles (her first husband's name) so as not to be confused with the Czech-born American actress and figure skater Vera Ralston (born Věra Helena Hrubá).

(Wikipedia.org)

Vera Ralston Miles' lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to Ralston Project members):

Vera June Ralston (1929-) Boise City, Oklahoma
Thomas Albert Ralston Sr. (1902–1979) Woodward, Oklahoma
Thomas Dempsey Ralston (1870–1931) Ray County, Missouri
John W. Ralston (1848–1878) Henry County, Indiana
Thomas Ralston Sr. (1796–1885) Bourbon County, Kentucky
James Ralston Sr. (1765–1833) unknown
(Spec.) William Rolstone (c1735-1811) Botetourt County), Virginia
(Spec.) William Roulston/Rolstone (c1708-1767) unknown, lived in Botetourt, Virginia

(There is no proven Y-DNA connection to this line, but many speculate they are of the William Roulston/Rolstone line, and a match to the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.)

Marcia Ralston

Marcia Mascotte Ralston (19 September 1906 – 23 November 1988) was an Australian-born actress who appeared in Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. Her father was well-known Australian singer and actor John Ralston. After her first marriage to Phil Harris ended in divorce in 1940, She married Bud Henderson in 1954. Henderson's sister, Betty, was married to actor Robert Young. The connection resulted in an occasional supporting role as Nurse Donnelly, in the TV series Marcus Welby, M.D. in the early 1970s. She died at Rancho Mirage, California in 1988.

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to Ralston Project members):

Marcia Mascotte Ralston (1906–1988) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
John Morgan Ralston (1882–1933) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
John Ralston (1850–1908) Montrose, Scotland

T. W. Rolleston

Thomas William Hazen Rolleston (May 1, 1857 - 1920) was an Irish writer, literary figure, and translator, known as a poet but publishing a wide range of literary and political topics. He lived at various times in Killiney in South Dublin, Germany, London, and County Wicklow; settling finally in 1908 in Hampstead, London, where he died. Approximately 168 books are associated with Rolleston, some as writer or editor.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to Ralston Project members) (We are actively recruiting male Rollestons to participate, so that we can clarify this surname, in addition to the more common Ralston, Roulston, Roston spellings. We do have a handful of Rolleston surnames in the project, but we need more.):

Thomas William Hazen Rolleston (1857-1920) Kings County, Ireland
Charles Rolleston (1808-1888) County Offaly, Ireland
Charles Rolleston (1768-1820) County Offaly, Ireland
James Frank Rolleston (1742-1800) County Offaly, Ireland

Gilbert Ralston

Gilbert Alexander Ralston (January 5, 1912 – March 18, 1999) was an American screenwriter, journalist and author. He was a television producer in the 1950s and a screenwriter in the 1960s. He created the television series The Wild Wild West and wrote scripts for Star Trek, Gunsmoke, Ben Casey, I Spy, Hawaii Five-O, and The Naked City. He wrote the screenplay for the 1971 movie Willard.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to members of the Ralston Project):

Gilbert Alexander Ralston (1912–1999) Los Angeles, California
Alexander Gilbert Ralston (1876–1935) Montana
William A Ralston (1845–1914) Pennsylvania
Samuel Ralston (1816–1876) Pennsylvania

J.K. Ralston

James Kenneth "J.K." Ralston (March 31, 1896 – November 26, 1987) was an American painter of the Old American West whose primary topics were the American West and images of cowboys and American Indians. He also did commercial artwork.

Ralston's family moved to Colorado from Independence, Missouri in 1859 by ox team, then Idaho in 1863, and finally Montana in 1864, seeking gold each time. Ralston's father, William R. Ralston, "arrived in Highland, a settlement on Alder Gulch" on July 4, 1864, settling on a ranch "about 12 miles" from Choteau, Montana in 1877.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to members of the Ralston Project):

James Kenneth Ralston (1896–1987) Montana
William R Ralston (1858–1932) Missouri
Samuel Franklin Ralston Sr (1835–1904) Kentucky
Matthew Ralston (1805– ) of Kentucky

Aron Lee Ralston

Aron Ralston (born October 27, 1975) is an American outdoorsman, mechanical engineer, and motivational speaker known for having survived a canyoneering accident in southeastern Utah in 2003 during which he amputated his own right forearm with a dull pocketknife in order to free himself from a dislodged boulder which had him trapped in Blue John Canyon for six days. After he freed himself, he had to make his way through the remainder of the canyon, then rappelled down a 65-foot (20 m) sheer cliff face in order to reach safety.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to Ralston Project members):

Aron Ralston - born in Marion County, Ohio
Lawrence Eugene Ralston
Pearl Kendall (P K) Ralston (1925–1996) Hardin County, Ohio
Paul Thomas Ralston (1898–1973) Hardin County, Ohio
Pliny Kendall Ralston (1875–1938) Wyandot County, Ohio
William Ralston (1853–1904) Richland County, Ohio
Joseph Ralston (1827–1865) Pennsylvania
William Ralston (1796–1869) Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Paul Ralston (1741–1813) Ireland

Dennis Ralston

Richard Dennis Ralston (July 27, 1942 - December 6, 2020) is an American former professional tennis player whose active career spanned the 1960s and 1970s.

As a young player, he was coached by tennis pro, Pancho Gonzales. He attended the University of Southern California (USC) and won NCAA championships under their coach George Toley. He and partner Bill Bond captured the NCAA doubles title in 1964. He was the highest-ranked American player at the end of three consecutive years in the 1960s; Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph ranked him as high as world no. 5 in 1966 (Ralston was also ranked world no. 3 by the magazine Reading Eagle in 1963).

Ralston was a member of the Handsome Eight, the initial group of players signed to the professional World Championship Tennis tour. He won 27 national doubles and singles titles, including five grand slam doubles crowns.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to members of the Ralston Project):

Richard Dennis Ralston (1942-2020) Kern County, California
Robert LeRoy Ralston (1915-1992) California
Roy Dixon Ralston (1887-1968) California
Robert Ralston (1855-1935) Ontario, Canada
William Ralston (1812-1879) Scotland
Petter "Peter" Ralston (1768-1820) Scotland

Frances Rolleston

Frances Rolleston (1781-1864) was a painter, writer, poet, astronomy enthusiast, linguist, and student of geology and medicine. She is best known for writing Mazzaroth. The Constellations, which was her theory based on Egyptian astronomy that the signs and constellations were designed to represent Messiah according to the prophecy in Genesis 3:15. In addition, Frances worked to help abolish slavery in England and was a pioneer of infant schools in England by helping to locate building sites, finding people to underwrite the costs, preparing curricula, and training teachers.

rancesrolleston.com

Lineage:

Frances Rolleston (1781-1864) London, England
Robert Rolleston (1747–1826) Derbyshire, England
Rev John Rolleston (1705–1770) Derbyshire, England
Christopher Rolleston (1669–1736) Nottinghamshire, England

(There are two descendants of Robert Rolleston (1747–1826) who are R-M269 members of the Ralston Project.)

John Ralston

John R. Ralston (April 26, 1927 – September 14, 2019) was an American football player, coach, and sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Utah State University (1959–1962), Stanford University (1963–1971), and San Jose State University (1993–1996). He also coached the Denver Broncos of the NFL from 1972 to 1976, and the Oakland Invaders of the short-lived USFL in 1983 and 1984. Additionally, he served in the San Francisco 49ers front office (1979 to 1980) and served as a special assistant to the athletic director at San Jose State from 1997 until 2013. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1992.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to members of the Ralston Project):

John R. Ralston (1927-2019) Oakland, California
Milo J. Ralston (1901–1975) Indiana
George W Ralston (1875–1917) Michigan
Andrew Jackson Ralston (1846–1925) Ohio
Paul Ralston (1809–1885) Pennsylvania
John D. Ralston (1779–1865) Pennsylvania
Paul Ralston (1741–1813) Ireland

Jesse Buel Ralston

Jesse Buel Ralston was born September 16, 1910, in Alfred, West Virginia, the eldest of three children born to Jesse Hugh Ralston and Ica May Goff. At about age three, his family moved to Marion, Ohio.

Jesse was recruited in the US Army in 1929 and lived for some time in the Philippines. On April 3, 1933, Jesse married Eladia Gatchallian de la Pena, a native of the Philippines, in Las Pineas, Cavite, Philippines. Jesse later worked as a Civil Servant for the US Navy. By 1940 the couple and their children moved to South Carolina and, by 1951, the family moved to Vallejo, California. It was there Jesse authored the fiction novel "Red Ravage," published in 1953 by Vantage Press of New York. It was an Anti-Communist Novel set during a Jungle Insurrection in the Philippines. Likely inspired by his time spent in the country and stories from his wife's family.

Jesse retired from the Civil Service in 1964 when he was age 54. In retirement, he returned to college and earned his bachelor's and then master's degrees. They moved to Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, where Jesse taught at the University of Arizona for eight years before retiring once again. He and his wife then moved to Arizona, where Jesse, 88, died February 17, 1999. He is buried in the McNeal Cemetery in McNeal, Cochise County, Arizona.

Lineage:

Jesse Buel Ralston (1910-1999) Gilmer, West Virginia
Jesse Hugh Ralston (1888-1986) Gilmer, West Virginia
William Renick Ralston (1859-1936) Highland, Virginia
Andrew J Ralston (1829–1864) Pendleton, Virginia
Samuel Ralston (1785–1840) Augusta, Virginia
Samuel David Roulston (c1740-1807) Botetourt, Virginia
William Roulston/Rolstone (c1708+1767) unknown, lived in Botetourt, Virginia

(There is a Y-DNA connection with a descendant of Samuel David Roulston (c1740-1807) - thus with Jesse Buel Ralston - to the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.)

Brian Rolston

Brian Lee Rolston is a former professional ice hockey player, born February 21, 1973, in Flint, Michigan, one of four children of Ronald Lee Rolston and Joyce Reynolds. Brian grew up in Ann Arbor and attended Lake Superior State University. He most recently played for the Boston Bruins of the NHL. He won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995, and the World Cup of Hockey in 1996 playing for the United States. Rolston has represented the U.S. three times in Olympic competitions for ice hockey. In the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, he won the silver medal. Brian retired from professional hockey on April 30, 2013.

Brian’s older brother, Ron Rolston, is a former coach of the Buffalo Sabres, and his older brother, Greg, was also a professional hockey player.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage:

Brian Lee Rolston (1973– ) Flint, Genesee, Michigan
Ronald Lee Rolston (1938– ) Sparta, Kent, Michigan
Irving F Rolstone (1910–1968) Newaygo, Michigan
Bert Silas Rolston (1877–1964) Newaygo, Michigan
David A Rolston (1844–1939) Knox, Ohio
John Moffett Rolston (1812–1869) Rockingham, Virginia
Jacob M. Rolston (1795–1845) Rockingham, Virginia
David Rolston Jr (1760–1849) Rockingham, Virginia
David Rolstone (1733–1802) Botetourt, Virginia
William Roulston/Rolstone (c1708 - 1767) unknown, lived in Botetourt, Virginia

(There is a Y-DNA connection with descendants of William Roulston/Rolstone to the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.)

BUSINESS, FINANCE, INDUSTRY

William Chapman Ralston

William "Billy" Chapman Ralston (January 12, 1826 – August 27, 1875) was a San Francisco, California businessman and financier, and was the founder of the Bank of California.

He built Ralston Hall in Belmont, California as a summer home. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is now part of the campus of Notre Dame de Namur University. He is the namesake of Ralston, California, and of Ralston Peak in the Lake Tahoe area.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to Ralston Project members):

William Chapman Ralston (1826–1875) Richland County, Ohio
Robert Ralston III (1797–1870) Hancock County, West Virginia
Robert Ralston II (1768–1854)

Joseph Stevenson Ralston

Joseph Stevenson Ralston was born near Hamilton, Ontario, in 1865. His father, Robert Ralston, was a recent immigrant from Ireland. His mother, Sarah Springer Ralston, came from a family that had been in America since 1680 but had fled to Canada during the American Revolution because of their loyalty to the crown.

Like a number of people in Canada, and certainly like many more in the United States, Joseph was a restless young man. After receiving a basic education, he went to sea on a ship called the City of Calcutta out of Glasgow, Scotland. After a four-year apprenticeship, he came home but soon was on the move once again.

By the turn of the century, Joseph was working in Chicago for a large manufacturer of railroad cars.

Working with a young engineer named Anton Becker, they developed plans for a new type of rail car. The entire car would be made of durable steel and would have a series of 16 trap doors along its bottom to permit coal or anything else to be quickly unloaded.

Beginning in 1905, Ralston and his financial backers began a process that was nothing short of amazing. Purchasing an old factory building, little of which had anything to do with building rail cars. The new company took the building and began to build rail cars. While this went on, it completely gutted the interior of the old building and then proceeded to build a brand-new building several hundred feet long to accommodate an assembly line to produce rail cars.

Between 1906 and 1911, the Ralston Steel Car Company built more than 10,000 of the new cars and soon found them shipped to all parts of the world. Over the years, the company built an entire community on the East Side of Columbus. The area sat on the north side of the rail yards to the east of Milo Grogan. It was a self-contained world with most of its residents earning their livelihoods at the great factory.

Ralston died in 1920. F. E. Simons led the company from 1920 to 1935 and he was followed by Frank Livingston in the years after World War II. Through all of those years, the Ralston Steel Car Co. was one of the great industrial businesses of Columbus.

Changes in America’s rail transport business after World War II made the company less competitive and it went out of business in 1953.

(thisweeknews.com)

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to members of the Ralston Project):

Joseph Stevenson Ralston (1863–1920) Ontario, Canada
Robert Ralston (1826–1873) Ontario, Canada
Joseph Ralston (1786–1865) Donegal, Ireland

Walter Vardon Ralston

Walter Vardon Ralston (1846-1920), banker, was born on August 12, 1846, in Melbourne, Australia, to Scottish wine merchant, Gavin Ralston and wife, Emily Anne Vardon.

Ralston worked for several banks in Australia during his career and in 1874 joined Queensland National Bank. During the Australian banking crisis of 1893, the Queensland National Bank, and many others, was forced to close. The general manager at the time, who had handled the reconstruction, did not disclose the bank's full plight. When he died in 1896, Ralston was appointed general manager. “He reported to the chairman of the board that it was impossible to carry on: nearly '£3 000 000 was locked up and earns absolutely nothing and a considerable portion … will eventually have to be written off'. He submitted a vital scheme of rearrangement to prevent the liquidation of incalculable magnitude, 'which would cause disaster'. The board placed Ralston's report and his scheme before the Premier, Sir Hugh Nelson.

“In the end, Ralston's innovative scheme of rearrangement was adopted with minor amendments by shareholders and depositors in Australia and Britain and by the government.”

Walter Ralston was thus credited with the bank’s resurgence. Ralston also occasionally was an advisor to Prime Minister Fisher. Ralston was described by Geoffrey Blainey as “perhaps the most versatile banker in Australia in his day”.

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ralston-walter-vardon-834/text14239

Lineage:

Walter Vardon Ralston (1846–1920) Victoria, Australia
Gavin Ralston (1806–1874) Ayrshire Scotland
Gavin Ralston (1764–1833) Ayrshire Scotland
Gavin Ralston (1731-1818) Renfrewshire, Scotland
William Ralston (c1679-bef 1753) Renfrewshire, Scotland
Gavin Ralston (c1655-bef 1720) Renfrewshire, Scotland

(There is a Y-DNA connection with a descendant of Gavin Ralston (1764–1833), thus to Walter Vardon Ralston, and the R-M269 Subclade R-BY15421 group of the Ralston Project.)

SCIENCE/MEDICINE

James Chester "JC" Raulston

Horticulturist for whom the North Carolina State University arboretum was named. J. C.’s biography, “Chlorophyll in his Veins,” (BJW Books/2009) was written by Bobby J. Ward.

Pictured is J.C. in his famous “Green Man” jacket.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage:

James Chester "JC" Raulston (1940–1996)
Daniel Webster Raulston Jr. (1906–1977) Garfield, Oklahoma
Daniel Webster Raulston (1860–1934 Marion, Tennessee
Evander Mckeever Raulston (1818–1870) Marion, Tennessee
James Raulston (1778–1844) Henrico, Virginia
Matthew Raulston (1742–1800) Bedford, Virginia
William Roulston/Rolstone (1708 - 1767) unknown, lived in Botetourt, Virginia

(There is a Y-DNA connection with a descendant of James Raulston 1778-1844 - thus with J.C. Raulston - to most of the I-M223 Ulster group of the Ralston Project.)

James Grier Ralston

For a greater portion of his life, James Grier Ralston (1815-1880) was an educator and very much concerned with the religious/spiritual life of his pupils. His interests in religious affairs and education led to the founding of a seminary for women and missionary activities in Wisconsin. He was a student of natural history and mineralogy and the discoverer of a fluoride of aluminum and calcium that was later named Ralstonite.

Lineage (no known Y-DNA connections to Ralston Project members):

Rev. James Grier Ralston (1815–1880) Pennsylvania
Samuel F. Ralston (1785–1859) Pennsylvania
John Ralston Sr. (1735–1795) Pennsylvania
James Ralston (1684–1775) Antrim, Northern Ireland

George Rolleston

George Rolleston MA MD FRCP FRS (30 July 1829 – 16 June 1881) was an English physician and zoologist. He was the first Linacre Professor of Anatomy and Physiology to be appointed at the University of Oxford, a post he held from 1860 until his death in 1881. Rolleston, a friend and protégé of Thomas Henry Huxley, was an evolutionary biologist.

Born at Maltby Hall, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, his parents were Rev. George Rolleston (rector and squire of Maltby) and Anne Nettleship; his brother, William Rolleston, became a prominent politician in New Zealand.

(Wikipedia.org)

Lineage:

George Rolleston (1829–1881) Maltby, Yorkshire, England
George Rolleston (1791–1868) Gainsborough, Lincoln, England
Robert Rolleston (1747–1826) Derbyshire, England
John Rolleston (1705–1770) Greasley, Nottinghamshire, England
Christopher Rolleston (1680–unk) Nottinghamshire, England

(There are two descendants of George Rolleston's brother William who are R-M269 members of the Ralston Project.)

Sir Humphry Davy Rolleston

Sir Humphry Davy Rolleston (21 June 1862 – 23 September 1944) was a very prominent physician. In 1891, he became a Physician at St. George's Hospital and surgeon Rear-Admiral with the Royal Navy in World War One. He remained active on a consultative board for the Royal Navy for many years after that. Humphry was President of the London Medical Society in 1904, the Royal Society of Medicine (1918-1920), and of the Royal College of Physicians (1922-1925). From 1923-1932, he was Physician-in-Ordinary to King George V. In 1925, he was appointed as the Regius Professor of Physic (Cambridge). He became President of the Medical Society of London in 1926.

wikipedia.org

Lineage:

Sir Humphry Davy Rolleston (1862–1944) Oxfordshire, England
George Rolleston (1829–1881) Yorkshire, England
George Rolleston (1791–1868) Gainsborough, Lincoln, England
Robert Rolleston (1747–1826) Derbyshire, England
Rev John Rolleston (1705–1770) Derbyshire, England
Christopher Rolleston (1669–1736) Nottinghamshire, England

(There are two descendants of George Rolleston (1792–1868) who are R-M269 members of the Ralston Project.)

John Davy Rolleston

John Davy Rolleston (25 February 1873 – 13 March 1946) was an English physician and folklorist, who published extensively on infectious diseases and the history of medicine. Overshadowed by his brother, Sir Humphry Rolleston, he established himself as an epidemiologist, gave the Fitzpatrick Lecture at the Royal College of Physicians in 1935-1936, and became involved in numerous other learned societies and medical bodies, including The Royal Society of Medicine and the Society for the Study and Cure of Inebriety.

He became the president of three sections of the Royal Society of Medicine, London, including the History of Medicine Section from 1924–1926.

wikipedia.org

Lineage:

John Davy Rolleston (1873–1946) Oxfordshire, England
Dr, George Rolleston (1829–1881) Yorkshire, England
George Rolleston (1791–1868) Gainsborough, Lincoln, England
Robert Rolleston (1747–1826) Derbyshire, England
Rev John Rolleston (1705–1770) Derbyshire, England
Christopher Rolleston (1669–1736) Nottinghamshire, England

(There are two descendants of George Rolleston (1791–1868) who are R-M269 members of the Ralston Project.)

RALSTON IN NAME ONLY

Esther Ralston

Projected as wholesome but fun-loving, Maine-born leading lady Esther Ralston enjoyed a prime silent age career and, at her peak, was packaged and publicized as "The American Venus" by none other than showman Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. after appearing as a dazzling beauty queen in the film of the same name (The American Venus (1926)). A decade later, the blonde beauty's career, however, had tapered off.

Christened Esther Worth in 1902, Ms. Ralston endured a "born in a trunk" existence as the child of parents who graced the burlesque, carnival, and vaudeville circuits. By the time she was 2, she had become a part of the family act (which included four brothers) with the billing now extended to "The Ralston Family with Baby Esther, America's Youngest Juliet."

(Wikipedia.org)

There is no Ralston lineage for Esther, as her family name was Worth.

Bob Ralston

Robert Howard Ralston (born July 2, 1938, in California) is a pianist and organist who performed on television's The Lawrence Welk Show from 1963 until 1982, when the series ended.

(Wikipedia.org)

Bob was the son of Bradford (Worth) Ralston, brother of Esther. There is no Ralston lineage for Bob, as his family name was Worth.

Ralston Purina

You have heard of it, right?

Checkerboard logo. Rice Chex cereal. Chex mix for parties. Purina Dog Chow. Animal chow for just about any animal you can name.

The fact is, there never was a person named "Ralston" associated with the Purina Feed company. It was a marketing ploy, to piggyback on the Ralstonism movement, that was popular near the beginning of the twentieth century.

But the net effect has been that everyone in America knows how to spell and pronounce the surname “Ralston". Or to put it better, we North Americans have all been brainwashed into this mindset.

There are over a dozen legitimate ways to spell the surname. There are probably at least 6 distinct ways to pronounce the variations in spelling. But the marketing efforts of the Ralston-Purina company, TV ads, and the rest, have homogenized the spelling and pronunciation of the Surname Ralston, in North America.

That is not necessarily a bad thing. It makes it easier for strangers to understand how to spell and pronounce my surname.

But other spellings and pronunciations are accepted elsewhere in the English-speaking world. So, Americans and Canadians should be aware that "RAWL-ston" is not the only way to pronounce it. That is just the way it has been pronounced in advertising for the last century.

===============================

So, in this limited context, the word RALSTON is an acronym for the following:

Regime
Activity
Light
Strength
Temperation
Oxygen
Nature

Vera Ralston

Vera Ralston (born Věra Helena Hrubá; July 12, 1920 – February 9, 2003) was a Czech figure skater and actress. She later became a naturalized American citizen. She worked as an actress during the 1940s and 1950s.

As a figure skater, she was once approached by Adolf Hitler who asked her if she would like to "skate for the swastika." As she later boasted, "I looked him right in the eye, and said that I'd rather skate on the swastika.” The Führer was furious.

She moved to Hollywood with her mother and signed a contract in 1943 with Republic Pictures. During her career, she was known as Vera Hrubá Ralston and later Vera Ralston.

(Wikipedia.org)

There is no Ralston lineage for Vera, as her family name was Hrubá.