Born: August 24, 1872, Belton, Texas.
Died: March 12, 1939, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Buried: Roselawn Cemetery, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Will was the son of Charles Crump Ramsey and Martha Ann Frances Burns. He married twice, to Virgie Celemma Statton and Willie Mannasas Lawing.
Ramsey moved with his family to northwest Arkansas as a child. He studied music in Normal schools under Ephraim Hildebrand, Stephen Oslin, and Benjamin Unseld.
He began teaching shape notes and singing while still a teenager, and became well known in singing schools throughout the American South. He went on to become president and owner of the Central Music Company in Little Rock.