David Rankin (1745 - 1802)

Descendants

Died 1802 at about age 57 in Greene County, Tennessee, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Paul Carson [send private message]

Biography

David Rankin was born about 1745.

He enlisted for 21 days to serve in the 8th Battalion of the Pennsylvania Militia from Chester County during the Revolutionary War. He entered service on 9 January 1776 in Captain David Denny's company. He was on a list on 8 December 1777 of men who received arms and accoutrements.^[1]

David received two North Carolina Land Grants, one for 200 acres at the "Head of Stories Creek" ^[2]

He received a second land grant on 17 November 1790 for 100 acres in Green County, North Carolina.^[3]

The Rankin, Moore, and Galbraith families moved to what became Green County, Tennessee.

On 1 November 1790, David was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Greene County, Tennessee.^[4]

In February 1791, David attended a Session in Greene County.^[5]

David was involved with numerous real estate transactions in Greene County, Tennessee between 1785 and 1802 (Greene County Deeds, Book 2:145; Book 3:205, 360, 386, 508, 575)..^[6]

Death & Legacy

David prepared a will on 27 February 1802.

"Whereas I David Rankin Senr of Greene County & State of Tennessee farmer being sick and weak in body but of perfect mind and memory blessed be God and calling to mind the mortallity of my body knowing that it is once appointed for all men to die do make and ordain this my last will and Testament in order following that is to say I give and recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God that gave it and my body I recommend to the earth to be decently intered at the discretion of my executors and touching such worldly Estate which it hath pleased God to bless me with, I give and bequeath in the following manner & form and first I will that all my Just debts be paid out of my Estate

Secondly, I give and bequeath unto my eldest son James Rankin at my decease one dollar, my black Suit of cloaths, my great coat & my cupboard to be by him possessed and enjoyed forever

3rdly I give and bequeath unto my eldest daughter Mary Williams at my decease one dollar & her mother's clock and that by her to be possesses and enjoyed forever.

4thly I will and bequeath to my second son Robert Rankin at my decease two hundred acres of my land below the knobs runing between the upper & the lower meadows excepting the use of the ten acres of the fresh cleared land for my third son David Rankin for three years in case the girls live with the said David Rankin after which time to be possessed and enjoyed by said Robert his heirs and assignes forever also I give to my second son Robert Rankin one hundred acres of land adjoining the land of William McAmis to be taken of the part nest to Sd McAmis the whole width of the survey to be possessed and enjoyed by him as afforesaid.

5thly I give and bequeath unto my third son David Rankin Junr at my decease all & singular lands & tennements, houses, improvements orchards &c which are not expressed in former legacies left in this my last will and Testament to be by him & his heirs &c.

6thly I give and bequeath unto to my second daughter Ann Rankin at my decease two hundred dollars in cash to be by her possessed forever, also one horse called White head side saddle and bridle, two cows & two yearlings, four sheep two beds & furniture also my loom and tackling one fourth part of my household furniture & also all of the books all which by her to be possessed and enjoyed forever

7thly I give and bequeath unto my third daughter Elizabeth Rankin at my decease two hundred dollars in cash, also one mare called Gale, side saddle and bridle, two cows and two yearlings four sheep two beds & furniture, also one fourth part of my household furniture & one fourth part of the books to be by her possessed & enjoyed forever.

Eighthly I give and bequeath unto my fourth daughter Jane Rankin at my decease two hundred & thirty dollars in cash, also one horse called Pompey, one side saddle & Bridle two cows & two yearlings four sheep, two beds & furniture, also one fourth part of my household furniture & books I give to my third son David Rankin to be my heir enjoyed & possessed forever) the above legacy to my fourth daughter by her to be enjoyed forever

9thly I will that a certain mare called Bond with her colts with all the rest of my cattle that are not possessed in this Testament together with all my farming utentials stay upon the plantation where they be, excepting that my waggon be for the use of my two sons Robert & David by them equally enjoyed

10thly I give unto my two daughters Elizabeth Rankin and Jane Rankin at my decease the sum of thirty-eight dollars in cash to purchase each of them a case of drawers when they come of lawful age by them to be possessed forever

11th I give and bequeath to my grandson David Wilson Williams the sum of fifty dollars in cash to be by him possessed & enjoyed when he arrives at the age of twenty one years by him Then to be enjoyed forever.

12th I give and bequeath unto my grandson David Rankin fifty dollars in cast to be put to interest for him until he arrives at the age of twenty one years, by him then to be enjoyed forever.

Item- I likewise constitute make and ordain that my two sons Robert Rankin & David Rankin, Jun. the sole Executors of this my last will & testament..."

Thomas Doan, James Dinwiddle, and David Moore witnessed the document.^[7]

David Rankin's house on Snapps Ferry Road in Greene County, Tennessee is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[8]

Research Notes

1). Some sources state that David's wife Ann Campbell was the daughter of General William Campbell. This is incorrect, the General was born in 1745 a few years before Ann Campbell.^[9]

2). DNA studies have shown that David Rankin cannot be the son of William Rankin and Mary Huston. That couple's son David moved to Des Moines, Iowa.^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ David Rankin Revolutionary War Records, Compiled Service Records, Fold3.com
2. ↑ http://greenecountytngenealogicalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/WEBSITE-Rev-War-David-RANKIN-pdf-file.pdf
3. ↑ North Carolina (Revolutionary War) Land Grants > Roll 14: Book 3: "North Carolina and Tennessee, U.S., Early Land Records, 1753-1931"
   North Carolina (Revolutionary War) Land Grants > Roll 14: Book 3 > image 294 of 326
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Image (accessed 1 April 2022)
   David Rankin
4. ↑ The Territorial Papers of the United States, Volume 4, edited by Clarence Carter and John Bloom (1936) U.S. Government Printing Office, page 435; https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Territorial_Papers_of_the_United_Sta/lhZPAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22david+rankin%22+greene+tennessee&pg=PA435&printsec=frontcover
5. ↑ The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighthteenth Century, by James Gettys McGready Ramsey (1860), Lippincott, page 543; https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Annals_of_Tennessee_to_the_End_of_th/RXMOAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22david+rankin%22+greene+tennessee&pg=PA543&printsec=frontcover.
6. ↑ http://www.copies1918.com/greene2.html; http://www.copies1918.com/greene3.html
7. ↑ http://greenecountytngenealogicalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/WEBSITE-Rev-War-David-RANKIN-pdf-file.pdf
8. ↑ https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/29dbc658-cdcc-4f12-8c30-8dc877e7fdb4
9. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Campbell_(general)
10. ↑ http://digupdeadrelatives.com/2021/08/07/update-rankin-dna-project-families-august-2021/

• Add additional sources here