William Rankin was a founding member of Goshen Grove Presbyterian Church
in Mt. Holly, NC - he deeded property to the church for its first
building.
His cemetery marker reads:
"Wm. Rankin
A Revolutionary Soldier
Jan'y. 10th, 1761
December 9th, 1853"
Sign at base of marker reads:
"William Rankin Patriot American Revolution"
Served under Captain Robert Alexander in Revolutionary War and
expeditions against the Cherokee Indians.
Rankin, William, NC Line, S7342, sol lived in Tryon Co the part that
became Lincoln Co NC at enl & he appl there 30 Oct 1832 age 71. [Virgil
D. White, Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files,
Volume III: N-Z, (Source: The National Historical Publishing Co.;
Waynesboro, TN; 1992), 2812.]
William Rankin's Revolutionary War Pension Application, filed 30 Oct 1832
stated that he was born Jan 1761 in Rowan County, North Carolina. He
further stated that at the age of five or six, he was taken to Tryon
County, NC. This information agrees with county deed information for his
father, Samuel Rankin. [Source: A. Gregg Moore & Forney A. Rankin, The
Rankins of North Carolina, (Marietta, GA: 1997), 20.]
1835 Pension List, Lincoln County, North Carolina:
William Rankin, private, North Carolina Militia, $59.56 annual allowance,
$148.90 amount received, June 25, 1833 pension started, age 73.
Article by Minnie Stowe Puett, Gaston Co. historian, in her book "History
of Gaston County" :
William Rankin was a son of Samuel and Ellen Alexander Rankin. He
was born in Pennsylvania about 1760 and when two or three years old was
brought, in 1763, by his family to the settlement on Dutchman's Creek*.
Two years later the family moved to a large tract of land which was
granted to his father between Stanley and Dutchman's Creeks. The
settlement has long been known as Rankintown.
When just a boy, he entered military service as a private in the company
of his uncle, Robert Alexander, Colonel William Graham's regiment.
Several times he volunteered for some specific service. The first time
was in an uprising against the Cherokee Indians. Then he went to the
relief of Charleston with the Lincoln regiment. Finding that city
completely surrounded by the British army, the regiment returned home.
Again, in 1780, he volunteered to help drive the Tories from upper South
Carolina. After that he came home for a little while, but was too much a
patriot to remain idle with his country needing him so much. Therefore,
he joined the forces encamped on Colonel Dickson's plantation near
Tuckaseege (sic). Early in the morning of June 20, 1780, they broke camp
and marched to Ramseur's Mill to put down the Tories who were assembled
there in a large body under Colonel John Moore. They reached the scene
two hours after the battle had taken place. For a while he continued to
fight the troublesome Tories, and then marched with General Rutherford's
command to Camden and participated in that unfortunate battle. He
watched the movements of the British army in Charlotte, and later took
part in the battle of Eutaw Springs. After that he was sent to Salisbury
with a large number of prisoners, where he remained until discharged.
Colonel Richard Rankin, father of Rev. Frank B. Rankin of the
county, and Mrs. Kathleen Rankin Moore, of Gastonia, was a son of William
and lived in the house now occupied by Rev. Frank B. Rankin. It was
built in 1800 by William Rankin. Just to the rear of this house, still
standing in a good state of preservation, William had previously built
another house in 1789 on a three hundred acre tract deeded him by his
father, Samuel Rankin. The William Rankin house stands within a few
hundred yards of the original Samuel Rankin settlement.
In 1789 William Rankin married Mary Moore, a sister of General John
Moore. He lived to be nearly 93 years old and is said to have been the
last surviving soldier of the Revolution in Gaston County.
*Note: Kuykendall Creek became known as Dutchman's Creek because the
second name was easier to remember and pronounce.