Josiah Jesse Olikoye Ransome-Kuti was born on June 1, 1855, in Igbein, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
His family were of Egba origin and his parents, Kuti (c. 1820 – 1863) and Anne Ekidan Efupeyin (c. 1830 – July 1877), [3] were both born in Abeokuta as well.
Josiah's paternal grandparents, Jamo and Orukoluku, were originally from the town of Orile Igbein in the Egba forest, but had nevertheless been two of the earliest inhabitants of Abeokuta when it was founded in 1830.
[5] Shortly after completing his education at the Church Missionary Society Training Institute, Lagos, Ransome-Kuti was employed as a teacher at St. Peter's School, Ake, Abeokuta, and then left in 1879 to teach music at the CMS Girls School, Lagos, where he met his wife Bertha Anny Erinade Olubi.
As a traveling minister often posted in the CMS outstations, he was in charge of founding new churches in remote areas.