DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some men live a life so full it stretches across centuries — or near enough that you stop and shake your head. Robert Rankin was one of those men.
He was born in Virginia in 1753, and before the ink was dry on the idea of America itself, he was already in the fight. By 1776, Rankin was serving as an officer in the Continental Army, Virginia Troops — and here's a detail worth pausing on — he served in the same company as his near kinsman, one John Marshall. That same John Marshall who would go on to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Sometimes history is stranger than anything you could make up, and sometimes it starts in a single company of soldiers. Rankin didn't just show up and stand around, either. He was at Brandywine.
He was at Germantown. He was at Stony Point. And he endured the Siege of Charleston.
Four engagements that tested the best men the young republic could field. Then the years rolled on, the way they do. Rankin eventually made his way toward Texas, that final destination for so many restless souls of his era.
He died in Cold Springs, San Jacinto County, Texas, in 1837. But the Rankin story doesn't stop with Robert. He raised sons, and those sons carried the weight of the family's warrior tradition right on into the next generation.
Joseph, John Keith, and James Rankin all served in the War of 1812. Three sons, one more war. And then the grief.
Joseph was massacred by Indians at Fort Mims in Alabama in 1813. A father outliving a son — and Robert Rankin lived long enough to carry that. John Keith and James, the two who made it through 1812, died in Texas.
And two more sons — Frederick and Thomas — had served in the Army of Texas, and they too died in Texas. Five sons. Five men who each answered a call to arms in their own time and place.
The State of Texas erected this marker in 1936 to make sure you'd know their names. Robert Rankin — born in Virginia in 1753, died in Cold Springs in 1837 — a man who came of age alongside the founders of a nation, and whose sons helped build another one. That's a life that earns a marker.
What the marker says
(FRONT)Born in Virginia, 1753 - Died In Cold Springs, San Jacinto County, Texas, 1837 Erected by the State of Texas 1936 (BACK) Robert Rankin was an officer in the Continental Army, Virginia Troops, 1776, in the same company with his near kinsman, John Marshall, who later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States - He participated in the Battle of Brandywine, Germantown and Stony Point and in the Siege of Charleston - Three of his sons, Joseph, John Keith, and James Rankin, served in the War of 1812 - Joseph was massacred by Indians at Fort Mims in Alabama in 1813 - John Keith and James Rankin died in Texas, as did two other sons, Frederick and Thomas, who had served in the Army of Texas