John Rankin 1790

John Rankin (c1750-1790)
of Augusta County, Virginia


Compiled and copyrighted  June 2010 by Linda Sparks Starr

John, the third son but fourth child of George Rankin and Martha, lived all his life on his father’s plantation on the banks of Middle River.  His baptism wasn’t entered into Rev. John Craig’s extant birth register (ended in 1749) which is the basis for John’s estimated birth of “from late 1749 through 1751” which seems to be accepted by all researchers. He was thus around ten years old when his father died early in 1760.  Per his father’s will, John received “the Lower third of the Plantation together with a Childs part of the moveables.”   George’s will continued:  “I appoint that the Plantation with proper Instruments for tillage be undivided till the Children is of age and the Benefit the place to before the use of the family and Education of the younger Children.” 

As the youngest of the three sons who each received one-third of the undivided plantation, it fell to John to live up to this clause.  John paid the 1787 personal property tax for his brothers James and Robert; thus we can reasonably assume they lived on the tract John inherited per their father’s 1760 will.  Brother William lived nearby, if not with them, for all four were visited by the tax collector the same day. [Schreiner Yantis-Love page 125; 141]   

John is a more interesting subject than one first expects. Militia duty was required of all able-bodied males between the ages of roughly 16 and 50.  But John Rankin’s name doesn’t appear on any of the extant lists found by this researcher. Is this a simple omission by the recording officers or was there a physical reason he was excused from duty?  Yet he seems the nominal head of this family after the death of eldest brother Thomas in 1787.  William was older, but perhaps his wanderlust was already apparent to the court officials. As early as 1783 John, not William, was appointed to value the estate of Samuel Hamilton along with neighbors George Crawford and John Crawford.  [Chalkley vol. iii p. 165 citing Will Book VI p. 282]  And then when brother Thomas died without a will, the Augusta County Probate Court appointed John and Thomas’s widow, Mary, administrators of the estate. [Chalkley vol. i p. 251 citing Order Book 18 September 1787 p. 398; Lloyd Rankin cites Order Bk 20 for this]  In connection with the lawsuit Young vs Patterson  Thomas Patterson in his deposition  assured everyone that John fully complied with all requests made to him with respect to his father’s estate. Thus John seems to be the person everyone deemed the head of this Rankin family.

Between 1782 and 1789 John paid the Land Tax on his 110 acre legacy from his father.  The Alterations and Partitions Section of the 1790 land tax list reflects the transfer “by John Rankin to James Rankin  55 acres [and] by John Rankin to Robert Rankin 55 acres.”  [Sparacio pages 22; 68; 13; 55; 106]   John, by his will dated 4 January 1790, gave “my brothers, James and Robert Rankin, my land, negroes and personal estate equally divided ... they shall clear my  brother Thomas’ heirs of what debt his estate is in at present to my father’s estate or heirs and pay ten shillings [each] to ... my brother William, my sister Jane Bell, my sister Mary Young or her heirs.”  [Prichard p. 20 citing Augusta Co. Will Book 7 p. 200]  He appointed James and Robert executors and they entered the will for probate at the 16 February 1790 Court Session.  The Court appointed his neighbors, John Craig, Jno Crawford and James Craig to appraise the estate; their report was returned to the Court session of 26 March 1790.  [Chalkley vol. iii citing Will Book VI p. 187; 215]



SOURCES

Augusta County Chancery Suit  Young vs Patterson, dated Nov. 1793, located in Draw 448 Judgment.

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/

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.

Wilson, Howard McKnight, author / compiler.  The Tinkling Spring: Headwater of Freedom.  1954.  Appendix F:  Record of Baptisms 1740-1749.
   


Home: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lksstarr/
Linda Sparks Starr    copyright (c)  2010