The Rankins of Rawlins by Zina Abbott

 

 

I am expanding on part of the Author’s Notes I included in a recent release, A Bride for Devlin.

The Rankin family, by the names I used in my story, actually did live in Rawlins during 1878, the timeframe of my story. I introduced readers to the Rankins in an earlier novel, Mail Order Blythe. I found mention of members of the family from a few historical sites about Rawlins. However, the best details I found came from the 1880 U.S. Census, Find-a-Grave, and the Wyoming Online Digital Collection editions of the Carbon County Journal and Carbon County News newspapers.

 

The first Rankins in America were Alexander and Martha Rankin who were born in Northern Ireland and died in Pennsylvania, USA). Alexander was born in the 1760s. He died before the 1850 census when his wife is shown as widowed, but after his appearance in the 1840 census. Martha’s birth year is given as 1769, her death date also unknown.

The children who ended up in Rawlins were born to his couple’s oldest son and second of six children, Robert (1800 in Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland-1874 in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, USA) and his wife, Mary Renkin Rankin (1814-1899). They were married on June 25, 1835 in Plumcreek Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. There all their children were born, as follows: John M. (1836-1900), Matthew A. (1839-1864), James G. (1841-1914), Joseph P. (1844-1919), Mary E. Rankin Browlee (1846-1926), Robert T. (1848-1917), Martha J. “Jennie,” Margaret I. (Rankin) Johnston, William D. (1856-1934), and T. Newton Rankin (1856-1936).

The second son, Matthew was killed during the American Civil War in the Battle of Petersburg, Petersburg City, Virginia, 64 days before he was to muster out. He served as a corporal in the "Morgan Guards" in Company G of the 63d Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers and fought beside his younger brother, Joe. Joseph was at his brother’s side at the time Matthew was killed.

James G. Rankin

Of the four siblings who moved from Pennsylvania to Rawlins, Wyoming, James G. Rankin was the oldest. From the historical information and 1880 census records, James was the county sheriff. Find-a-Grave says he was sheriff starting in 1878, although April, 1878, issues of the Carbon County News list I. M. Lawry as sheriff, and James G. Rankin as both a deputy sheriff for Carbon County as well as a deputy U. S. marshal. 

The first online history I found stated Isaac Lawry was sheriff, James a deputy sheriff. He was also a Deputy U.S. Marshal in 1878. This was the scenario I used in this book and Mail Order Blythe. Both the 1880 U.S. Census and newspaper articles indicate he was sheriff in 1880.

Here is what Find-a-Grave has to say:

Jim was the third of 10 children, and the third of seven sons, of Robert Rankin and Jane Rankin. He was named for James Gray, the husband of his father's sister, Mary. Jim Rankin served in Co. A, 135th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry from August 14, 1862, to May 24, 1863; as a sergeant in Co. K, 159th Regiment, 14th Cavalry from March 15, 1864 through July 31, 1865; and in in Co. B, 159th Regiment, 14th Cavalry during the Civil War. Jim was the Sheriff of Carbon County, Wyoming Territory from 1878 through 1885.

James Rankin and his wife (Ueleta on the 1880 U.S. census, but Gilleta Smith on Find-a-Grave) and children lived in Rawlins. His brother, Robert Rankin, was the jailer. One source stated Robert’s wife (Rose on the 1880 census, but Rosetta on Find-a-Grave) assisted with the jail, which was common for that time. Since Robert’s sister, Mary, lived with the family and was listed with the occupation of servant, it might be possible she also assisted with the jail.

Joseph P. Rankin

The third brother, Joseph P. Rankin, was listed as a livery keeper and unmarried on the 1880 census (per Find-a-Grave, he married Cornelia E. Vail on December 26, 1893 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

 

Joseph served as a private in the "Morgan Guards" in Company G of the 63d Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers where he fought alongside his older brother, Matthew, and saw him killed at the Battle of Petersburg on June 16, 1864. He served as a scout under the command of Maj. Thomas T. Thornburgh at Fort Fred Steele, only a few miles from Rawlins. He was famous for his twenty-four-hour ride on September 29, 1879 to alert Fort Douglas of the besieged soldiers in need of relief after the Milk Creek Massacre.

 

 

Both Joseph and a sister, Mary Rankin, lived with Robert in 1880.

 

Sources claim all three brothers allegedly owned the livery, Early advertisements in the Carbon County News indicate J. G. Rankin was the sole owner, but by late 1879, advertisements in the Carbon County Journal state Rankin Bros., proprietors.

Mary Rankin was in Rawlins in 1880. According to Find-a-Grave, she married John Brownlee, a man eighteen years her junior, in October 1903 in Encampment, Wyoming. Her death took place at Buck Creek, Tippecanoe County, Indiana and her burial was in Oregon, same place as Mr. Brownlee.

One source stated the stagecoach ran between the Rankin Livery in Rawlins to Baggs. I wrote under the assumption that the Rankins owned the stagecoach service, although that might not have been the case. The Rawlins to Baggs route appears to have been longer than the Wamsutta to Dixon run, but Rawlins was a major railroad stop. 

 

The route probably traveled through the Muddy Creek area which was well-known for its abundance of game. All these factors led me to use this stagecoach in A Bride for Devlin.