My Genealogy Hound

John A. Rankin is accounted a prosperous farmer, and like the majority of the native-born residents of this county he is progressive in his views and of an energetic temperament. He was born on March 5, 1844, to W. W. and F. (Davidson) Rankin, the former a native of Tennessee, and the latter of Virginia. They were married in the latter State, and became the parents of four sons and three daughters, of whom the following are living: John R., William H. (see biography), J. H., Sarah, Mary E. (wife of J. C. Keogle), and Martha and Alex. (deceased). Mr. Rankin removed to Arkansas about 1830, and in Pope County, Ark., followed farming until his death, which occurred in 1874. He was a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church, was sheriff of the county when he first settled here, and was a soldier in the Mexican War. His wife died in 1881, a member of the same church as himself. John R. Rankin was brought up to a knowledge of farm life by his father, and this has been his chief calling up to the present time. He has a fine tract of farming land comprising 342 acres, of which 215 are in a good state of cultivation, and on this he erected in 1884 a large frame residence, and this handsome home, with its beautiful surroundings, makes a desirable place of abode. In 1872 Miss Exaline Albright, a Tennessean, born in 1852, became his wife, which marriage has resulted in the birth of seven children: Macey, Mary J., Lawrence, Lener, Mattie, Nora and Pearl. In 1862 Mr. Rankin enlisted in Company C, Arkansas Cavalry, serving as a private soldier in the Confederate Army until 1865. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his wife is a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church.