Robert Rankin

Ancestor Number

A094373

Date of Birth

1753

Place of Birth

Virginia

Date of Death

November 13, 1837

Place of Death

St. Landry Parish, Louisiana

Spouse(s)

Margaret (Peggy) Berry

Children

Joseph, William Marshall, John Keith, Frederick Harrison, Margaret Williams

Service during the American Revolution

Third Regiment of the Virginia Line

State of Service

Virginia

Donor

Texas Society, DAR

Robert Rankin’s career encompassed both military and civil service. He was born in Virginia in 1753 and joined the Third Regiment of the Virginia Line in 1776, participating in the battles of Germantown, Brandywine and Stony Point, as well as the siege of Charleston, where he was captured.

After being exchanged, he was promoted to Lieutenant, serving until the war’s end. He married Margaret (Peggy) Berry, on October 1, 1781, during a furlough. Their children were Joseph, William Marshall, John Keith, Frederick Harrison and Margaret Williams.

The Rankins continue to move west: finally to Mexican Texas. Robert Rankin’s name is on the Texas State DAR Patriot Monument, Texas State Cemetery, Austin, Texas

Robert Rankin was an early member of the Society of the Cincinnati due to his service Under George Washington. Pictured is an early membership pin of the Society.

Rankin participated in the Siege of Charleston 1780, here painted by Alonzo Chappel

Rankin participated in the 1777 Battle of Germantown; here American forces lay siege to the Chew house during the battle.

Robert Rankin’s name is on the Texas State DAR Patriot Monument, Texas State Cemetery, Austin, Texas. Courtesy Martha Hartzog.

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In 1784, the family moved to Kentucky. Two years later, Rankin was named by the Virginia Legislature as one of nine trustees for newly established Washington, Bourbon County (later Mason County), Kentucky.

In 1792, he served as a delegate to the Danville Convention, which drafted Kentucky’s First Constitution. He was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati founded in 1783 to preserve the ideals and fellowship of officers of the Continental Army.

The Rankins moved to Mississippi Territory in 1811. In July 1828, at the age of 75, Rankin applied for a Revolutionary War pension. In the mid-1820s, Mexico began to approve colonization contracts in Texas for various empresarios. In 1832, the Rankins moved to Joseph Vehlein’s Colony in East Texas. In October 1835, Rankin received a land grant of a league (4,428 acres) and a labor (177 acres). He became a prominent citizen in the affairs of the nascent Republic of Texas, assisting Sam Houston with relations with the American Indians in East Texas during the Runaway Scrape of 1836.

Toward the end of 1836, when he was 83, Rankin became ill. He and his wife moved to St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, where he died on November 13, 1837. His body was brought back to Texas, some 250 miles, a 20-day trip by wagon. He was buried in the Old Butler Cemetery in Cold Spring, San Jacinto County. On June 11, 1936, Rankin’s body was moved to the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, as part of the Texas Centennial. His name now also appears on the Texas DAR Patriot Monument in the State Cemetery.