Capt Thomas

RS Capt. Thomas Rankin  (1745-1787)
and his wife
Mary Crawford (c1758-1791)

Compiled & Copyrighted by Linda Sparks Starr  May 2010

Thomas, baptized 22 September 1745 by the Rev. John Craig serving the Augusta Stone Church congregation, was the second child and eldest son of George and Martha Rankin.   .

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He grew up along the banks of the meandering Middle River several miles north of Staunton. Although boys became men earlier on the frontier, adult responsibility was thrust onto Thomas at the age of 15 when his father died.  Suddenly his mother and five younger siblings looked to him for their livelihood. Per George’s will Thomas received the upper one-third of George’s 328 acres plantation when his mother remarried or died.  Martha married her second husband in 1768; thus Thomas was around 23 years old when he came into his inheritance.    However, George also instructed the plantation remain intact for the maintenance and education of his youngest children.  This is the land:

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Late fall 1771 Thomas paid £100 to Hugh and Elizabeth Donaghe for land on the head of Buffalo and Diver’s Lick Drafts.  [Chalkley vol. iii p. 515 citing Deed Book 18 p. 2.]  Chalkley’s abstract doesn’t give the acreage, but does provide the 7 July 1763 patent date. A grant for 380 acres in Augusta County with the same boundary lines was patented to Hugh Donoho that same day. [C&P vol.  vii p. 20 citing PB 35 p. 208]  Later records indicate this is where Thomas built a home for his family.  Thomas’s land appears as an adjacent boundary line in several surveys, deeds and in one or two patents entered into the record books in the 1770s.  He was appointed appraiser of his deceased neighbor’s estates in the 1780s.

Near neighbors of the senior Rankins were George and Elizabeth (Poage)  Crawford who lived “across the river and around the corner” as this writer remembers the caravan tour through the Augusta countryside.  Some researchers think George Crawford and Thomas’ mother, Martha Rankin, were siblings.  More importantly, Thomas’s future wife, Mary Crawford born about 1758, was the third child of these neighbors.  Although the difference in their age and gender negates thoughts of Thomas and Mary as childhood friends, it is safe to say the two knew each other all their lives.  Miss Dice was adamant their marriage bond was filed in Orange County, Virginia; but to date a marriage bond has not surfaced in either Orange or Augusta Counties. Although the bond could well be lost, we can also reasonably assume they took the alternative route to the ceremony.  Marriage banns had been and continued to be the customary practice in Europe for years.  A statement of a couple's intention to marry was read at an appropriate time during the service in their parish church for three consecutive Sundays. If no obstacle arose, the wedding could then be held. Miss Dice linked Thomas and Mary to Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church.  1778 is the year given by most researchers for their marriage; perhaps Woodworth is their source: “153.  Mary Crawford, Augusta County; (born 1758) married 1778 Thomas Rankin, farmer, captain Augusta County militia, justice of the peace in 1781, who died 1787; six children.”   [p. 700 Descendants of Elizabeth Poage – P 15] They were married by the summer of 1779 for George Crawford’s will names his daughter Mary Rankin. [Chalkley vol. iii citing Will Book VI p. 140]

1778 was a momentous year for Thomas. That spring he was among those nominated to fill openings for Commissioners of the Peace.  The handpicked list was forwarded to the Governor for him to make the choice.   [Chalkley vol. i p. 198 citing Order Book March 19, 1778 p. 300]  Two months later the results were announced at the 21 May 1778 session. Thomas was made the Vice-Commissioner of Peace; an attached note explained: “John [Davidson] lives more convenient to the people”.  [Ibid p. 199 citing p. 331]   A year later Thomas was recommended to be Captain of a militia company with James Rankin his Ensign.  [Chalkley vol. i p. 205 citing Order Bk 18 May 1779 p. 449]  James is generally thought to be Thomas’s brother; but the James whose daughter married Thomas’s son George, should be considered a candidate too.  Thomas must have been in court that same day, for the clerk noted on the next page of the Order Book that Thomas Rankin qualified Captain. [Ibid citing p. 450]  James Rankin was replaced as Ensign in Capt. Thomas Rankin’s Company March 1780  by George Anderson.  [Ibid p. 213 citing Order Bk 21 March 1780 p. 191]  Thomas’s appointment as Justice for Augusta County was signed 29 May 1781 by Governor Thomas Jefferson at Charlottesville. [Chalkley vol. i p. 483 citing District Court Executions, September 1794 (A-J)]  Other Justices commissioned that same day were Zachariah Johnston, George Poage and Thomas Hughes.  Thomas was identified as Captain March 1783 when his name was entered among the Members of Court setting at a session of Court Martial.

Thomas’s name doesn’t appear on the list of known militiamen who served in Dunmore’s War, but he and William Wilson were the same age.  Since Thomas was recommended captain in 1779, he surely had seen some militia action.  Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume he was among those who marched through the wilderness from Staunton to near Point Pleasant, now West Virginia, late summer of 1774. But neither can we say he did so.  The Battle at Point Pleasant is said in some circles to be the first battle of the American Revolution.   William Wilson’s 1832 application for a pension based on his service in the Revolutionary War mentions this conflict:  “they assembled at Staunton and marched to Point Pleasant in August 1774, having joined  several companies commanded by Capt. John Morrison, Capt. Samuel Wilson, Capt. George Mathews, Capt. John Lewis at the Great Levels in Greenbrier; they had a severe engagement at Point Pleasant  in which Col. Charles Lewis, Capt. McClenachan, Capt. Morrison and Capt. Willson were killed; the whole number of killed and wounded amounted to 160; thence they went eighty miles to the Indian Towns, thence back to Point Pleasant; there they remained six or eight days awaiting provisions, when they set out on the return home, where they arrived and were disbanded after serving five months”.

Thomas may or may not have participated in this outing with Wilson:  “... assembled at Lexington in July 1776 and marched to Holston River, under William Christian; then returned home and were disbanded in the middle of December; Joseph Bell served with him on the tour.”   One Joseph Bell compiled the Land Tax Returns for Augusta County in the neighborhood were Thomas Rankin lived.  However, two men by that name appear on the list. Only BELL family researchers can separate the two.

Capt. Thomas Rankin is specifically mentioned in the remaining portion of Wilson’s deposition and in the following testimony of George Kellar. Thomas didn’t live long enough to record his own experiences during the war; that makes these narratives all the more important to RANKIN researchers.  “On 11th January, 1781, he [Wilson] marched from Widow Teas’s ... to Richmond, thence to Fredericksburg, thence to Portsmouth, where they joined the main body of soldiers under Baron Steuben; was in two slight skirmises with the British at this place; returned home and were disbanded about the 17th  April; was under the command of Sampson Mathews; William Bowyer was his Colonel; Alexander Robinson was Major; the Company Officers were Capt. Thomas Rankin, Lieut. Col. Alexander Scott, Ensign William Buchanan.”  [Chalkley vol. ii p. 475-6]

George Kellar's account:
“...the first or second day of October [1780] He marched with Rankin ... [with] about ninety volunteer riflemen commanded by Capt. Rankin from Staunton, accompanied by other troops in all about three hundred under the command of Col. Sampson Mathews to Falmouth and then to Hunters works a mile above where we remained a few days. We then marched through Falmouth, Fredericksburg, and down the Rappahanock, and thence crossed [the] James River at Sandy Point a mile below Cabin Point, and thence to Suffolk on [the] Nansemond [River] marching through Petersburg. Then from Suffolk we went to Camp Carson where our tents came and Col. Dicks regiments came, and a considerable number of other troops. From Camp Carson we frequently marched during the night to Portsmouth and back to camp in the day. Then about one hundred and fifty of our troops turned out as volunteers at Camp Carson to go to Guilford, where it was expected an action, our company commanded by Capt. Patterson, would take place. These men marched under Major Posey and with a day and a half travel from Guilford, we heard of the battle and returned to Camp Carson. During the winter we had several skirmishes with Arnolds troops ... That same time in the spring the volunteers were marched back to Staunton and arrived there about the last of April and [were] discharged after a service of six months ...

    “That two days after his return from Camp Carson to Staunton, he received orders again to march in the same company of volunteers commanded by Capt. Rankin, that we immediately marched, across the mountain into Amherst county to the Old Store where Cornwallis was. That a large number of troops were at this store and the enemy had moved off towards Richmond. We marched to Westham where we had a few rounds with the rear guard of the enemy. From thence we marched through Richmond to Bottoms Bridge, across a swamp where we arrived about daylight, and found the bridge destroyed. We made a bridge of rails and waited until our main force came up. We then followed the enemy to Jamestown, near which we fired on the enemy’s rear guard, and took a number of cattle from them, and had a severe skirmish. Gen. Wayne commanding. Thence we marched after the enemy to Yorktown where he remained until about three days before Cronwallis surrendered...”

    “That in January 1781 [as he omitted to mention above] the troops that had marched to Guilford, hearing that Tarlton was going to attack Morgan, Major Posey determined to join Morgan. We marched in haste and joined Morgan, and was in the battle of the Cowpens and after that engagement we marched the prisoners up to Bedford in Virginia where the county militia took charge of them. And we marched back to Camp Carson ...”  [Transcription by Nancy Dow, e-mailed 23 October 1998.  Please note: it is unclear whether Capt. Rankin specifically marched into the Carolinas or not.]

Thomas appears on the Augusta County tax roll throughout the 1780s.  He is the only Rankin appearing on William McPheeter’s list of tithables in 1781 indicating he and Mary had moved some distance from their childhood residences.   [Chalkley vol. ii p. 429]  In 1782 he paid the personal property tax for himself as a white male over 21 and for 3 slaves who were of taxable age. [Fothergill]  As Capt. Thomas Rankin he paid the 1782 land tax on 380 acres and 109 acres. [Sparacio p. 22 citing p. 25]   The first is the tract he purchased from Donaghe and the second the plot he received per his father’s will.  Without the militia rank Captain, he or someone in his name, paid the land tax on the same number of acres through 1789.  [Ibid pages 68 citing 92; 13 citing page 146; 55 citing page 209]  He was still alive 20 April 1787 when the tax collector made his rounds.  Thomas was charged on the personal property list for himself, two slaves over 16 and two slaves under 16, six horses and eleven cattle. [Yantis and Love p.  126;141]   However, Thomas died sometime before mid-September that year without making provisions for his wife and six minor children. 

Administration of his estate was granted to his wife, Mary, and his brother John 18 September.  [Chalkley vol. i p. 251 citing Order Book 18 September 1787 p. 398; Lloyd Rankin cites Order Bk 20 for this]  An appraisement of his estate by neighbors James Craig, William Craig and John Givens was recorded April 1789.  [Chalkley vol. iii p. 184 citing William Bk VI p. 137]  Few records of this probate were found in the courthouse.  Thus we don’t know the specifics behind the first legacy in the 4 January 1790 will of John Rankin:  “to brother Thomas’ heirs, Thomas’ estate to be cleared of debt to testator’s father’s estate.”  [Prichard p. 20; Chalkley vol. iii p. 187 both citing Will Bk 7 p. 200]  The will of Mary’s brother, John Crawford, made  Mary Rankin’s six children  residuary heirs if his own  child did not survive.

An entry within the 1790 Land Tax Alterations and Partitions section of the Land Tax Return for 1790 reads:  “Thomas Rankin to Mary Rankin & Hairs (sic) 380 acres, 109 acres.”  [Sparacio p. 106 citing page 284]  That year Mary Rankin paid the land tax on the two tracts once owned by Thomas.  [Ibid p. 101 citing p. 276]  Mary (Crawford) Rankin died before 18 October 1791, the date James Rankin and Robert Crawford were named administrators de bonis non on the estate of Thomas Rankin deceased. [Chalkley vol. i p. 267 citing Order Book XXII p. 13]  Miss Dice reported Thomas and Mary were both buried at the Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church Cemetery. The change of administrators necessitated a new appraisement.  Appraisers October 1792 were again William and James Craig and John Givens.  Thomas’s inventory included five slaves, four horses, 21 cattle, 16 sheep and 11 hogs.  [Augusta County Will Book 7 p. 453-5]

Only five of Thomas and Mary’s six children survived to adulthood. Earlier researchers all report son John died from injuries received when he was kicked by a horse.  The date and place of his death will perhaps forever be a mystery. The last record referencing six siblings is dated April 1791. Grantor deeds showing children selling one-fifth undivided inheritance are dated after 1810.  In 1797 guardians were appointed for the three daughters of Thomas Rankin deceased:  Robert Crawford for Peggy [Margaret] Rankin; William Robertson for Betsey [Elizabeth] Rankin and William Crawford for Martha Rankin. [Chalkley vol. ii p. 386-7 citing Guardian Bond Book]  Strangely these are the only records for appointment of guardians for these minor children that have surfaced. Even more odd, no records for guardians of the boys James, George and John have been found. Mona Mattingly reports the bonds for Peggy and Martha were £3000 each, but the bond for Betsy was only £1000.  Betsy married later that year and perhaps the appointment of guardians at this time had something to do with her upcoming marriage.


SOURCES

Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt, compiler.  Virginia’s Colonial Soldiers   1988 Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore.

Chalkley, Lyman, abstracter.  Chronicles of Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia: Augusta County 1745-1800 in three volumes.  Genealogical Publishing Co. Baltimore.    Also see:   http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~chalkley/

Dice, Miss, Rankin family authority and long-time resident of Weyers Cave, Virginia.

Fothergill, Augusta B. Virginia Tax Payers

Hudgins, Dennis Ray, editor.  Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants volume Seven: 1762-1776.  Virginia Genealogical Society, Richmond 1999.

Kaylor, Peter Cline, compiler.  Abstract of Land Grant Surveys 1761-1791   Clearfield Co., Baltimore 2002 reprint.

Prichard, A. M., researcher.  Rankin Relations.

Schreiner-Yantis, Netti and Love, Florene, compilers.  The Personal Property Tax Lists for the Year 1787 for Augusta County, Virginia.  Genealogical Books in Print, 1987.

Sparacio, Ruth and Sparacio, Sam publishers.  Augusta County, Virginia Land Tax Books 1782-1788  The Antient Press.  1997.   Land Tax Books 1788-1790.

Virginia State Library, John Craig’s Record of Baptisms 1740-1749 shared by Barbara Eads.

Woodworth, Robert Bell, editor.  The Descendants of Robert and John Poage: Pioneer Settlers in Augusta County, Virginia, A Genealogy  based on the Manuscript Collections of Prof. Andrew Woods Williamson, Henry Martyn Williamson and John Guy Bishop. The McClure Printing Co., Staunton, VA 1954.


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