Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/206

180 RANKIN, David Nevin, physician, h. in Ship- pensburg, Cumberland co.. Pa., 27 Oct., 1834. After graduation at Jefferson medical college in 1854. he practised with his father in his native town until the beginning of the civil war, in which he served as acting assistant surgeon, and aided in opening many of the largest U. S. army hospitals during the war, among which were the Mansion- house hospital in Alexandria. Va., and the Douglas hospital in Washington, I). (.'. Afterward he was made one of the thirty surgeons in the volunteer aid corps of surgeons of Pennsylvania, which ren- dered efficient service. In 1864-'6 he was medical examiner of the U. S. pension bureau, and since 1865 he has been chief physician of the penitentiary of western Pennsylvania. Dr. Rankin was a mem- ber of the British medical association in 1884, a delegate to the 8th and 9th International medical congresses, and is a member of various medical societies. He has contributed numerous articles to medical journals.

RANKIN, Jeremiah Eames, clergyman, b. in Thornton. N. H., 2 Jan., 1828. After graduation al Middlebury college in 1848, and at Andovertheo- logical seminary in 1854, he was pastor of Presby- terian and Congregational churches in Potsdam, N. Y., St. Albans,"Vt., Lowell and Charlestnwn. Mass., and Washington. D. ( '. Since 1884 he has been pastor of the Valley church in Orange. N. -I. He was a trustee of Howard university in 1870-'8, and professor of homiletics and pastoral theology there in 1878-'84. He has been twice a delegate to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in 1884 was a delegate to the Congre- gational union of England and Wales. Middlebury gave him the degree of D. D. in 1869. He has con- tributed to religious periodicals, edited the Pil- grim Press "a in 1 thf " Congregational Review ." ha ~ written several national hymns, including " For God and Home and Native Land " and Keep your Colors Flying," and is the author of the " Bridal Ring "(Boston, 1866); "Auld Scotch Mit her-" 1 1S7:|): " Subduing Kingdoms " (Washington. 1881) ; " The Hotel of God" (Boston, 1883); "Atheism of the Heart " (1884) ; " Christ His Own Interpreter " (1884) ; and " Ingleside Khaims " (New York, 1887).

RANKIN, John, clergyman. b. near Dandridge, JelTerson co., Tenn., 4 Feb., 1793; d. in Ironton, Ohio, 18 March, 1886. From 1817 till 1821 he was pastor of two Presbyterian churches in Carlisle, Ky., and about 1818 founded an anti-slavery so- ciety. Removing to Ripley, Ohio, he was pastor of the 1st and 3d Presbyterian churches for forty-four years. He joined the Garrison anti- slavery movement, and was mobbed for his views more than twenty times. About 1824 he addressed letters to his brother in Middlebrook, Va., dissuad- ing him from slave-holding, which were published in Itipley, in the "Liberator," in 1832, and after- ward in book-form in Boston and Newburyport, and ran through many editions. He assisted Eliza and her child, the originals of those characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin," to escape. He founded the American reform book and tract society of Cin- cinnati, and was the author of several books, in- cluding "The Covenant of Grace" (Pittsburg, 1869). See his life entitled "The Soldier, the Bat- tle, and the Victory," by Rev. Andrew Ritchie (Cincinnati, 1876).

RANKIN, John Chambers, clergyman, b. in Guilford county, N. C., 18 May, 1816. He was edu- cated at Chapel Hill, studied at Princeton theo- logical seminary in 1836-'9, and was ordained Mini appointed missionary to India, where he remained from 1840 till 1848, and there wrote and published in the Urdic language a reply to a Mohammedan book against Christianity. Owing to impaired health, he returned to the United States, and in 1851 became pastor of the Presbyterian church in Baskingridge, N. J., which charge he now (1898) holds. Princeton gave him the degree of D. D. in 1867. He is the author of " The Coming of the Lord" (New York, 1885).

RANKIN, Thomas, clergyman, b. in Dunbar, Scotland, about 1738: d. in London, England, 17 May, 1810. He joined the Methodist Episcopal conference, began to preach in 1761, and was ap- pointed to the Sussex, Sheffield, Devonshire, and other circuits by John Wesley, with whom he also travelled on a preaching tour in that year. He was the first in authority under Wesley, was ap- pointed superintendent, and came to this country as a missionary, arriving in Philadelphia, with George Shadford. on 3 June, 1773. Soon after his arrival he called a conference, which met in Phila- delphia in July, 1773, and was the first of that denomination ever held in this country. After preaching in New Jersey and elsewhere, he was stationed in New York, and while officiating at a quarterly meeting in 1776 he was told that he would be seized by a body of militia. He contin- ued preaching, but. although many soldiers were in the congregation, he was not molested. In Sep- tember. 1777, he fled from his post and entered the British lines. On reaching Philadelphia, which was in their possession, he declared from the pul- pit his belief " that God would not revive his work in America until they submitted to their rightful sovereign, George III." He endeavored to get the British preachers back to England. " It appeared to me," said Asbury, "that his object was to sweep the continent of every preacher that Mr. Wesley sent to it, and of every respectable travelling preacher from Europe who had graduated among us. whether English or Irish." After his return to England in 1778 he was supernumerary for Lon- don until a few months before his death.

'''RANNEY. Ambrose Arnold,''' lawyer, b. in Townshend, Vt., 16 April, 1821 ; d. in 'Boston. 5 March, 1899. He was graduated at Dartmouth, taught for two years, studied law. and was admit- ted to the bar in 1848. He established himself in practice in Boston, Mass., and attained a high repu- tation. He was corporation counsel for the eity in 1855-'6, and a member of the legislature in 1857, and again in 1863 and the subsequent session. He was elected a representative in congress by the Republicans for three successive terms, serving from 5 Dec., 1881, till 3 March, 1887, and was an active member of the judiciary committee.

RANNEY, Rufus Percival, jurist, b. in Blandford, Mass., 13 Oct., 1813; d. 6 Dec., 1891. When fourteen his father removed to a farm in Freedom, Portage co., Ohio, where Rufus was brought up with small educational advantages, yet by manual work and teaching he obtained the means to fit himself for college. He studied for a short time at Western Reserve college, which he left to study law in Jefferson, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar in 1838, and was taken into partnership by. In 1845 he opened and office in Warren, Trumbull co. He was the Democratic candidate for congress in 1846 and 1848, and in 1850 was a member of the State constitutional convention, and took an active part in the discussions. He was chosen by the legislature, about the same time, a judge of the supreme court, and in 1851 was elected by the people, under the new constitution, to the same office, which he held till 1857. In that year he was appointed United