Austin
Travis County, Texas
30 15.930' N 97 43.643' W

Texas: Born in Virginia 1753. Died in Cold Springs, San Jacinto County, Texas 1837. Robert Rankin was an officer in the Continental Army, Virginia Toops, 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 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.