Frederick Harrison Rankin
Ennis, Ellis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Born in Kentucky, February 15, 1795. Came to Texas in 1822 with Austin's first colony, died July 2, 1874. His wife Elizabeth Smith Rankin, born January 30, 1802, died June 1, 1882
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Kentucky in 1795, Frederick Harrison Rankin came to Texas in 1822 as one of Stephen F. Austin's first colonists—the celebrated 'Old Three Hundred' who founded Anglo settlement in the Mexican province. He and his wife Elizabeth lived out long lives in the young republic and state, dying in 1874 and 1882.
Why it matters
As a member of Austin's original colony, Rankin was among the first Anglo-American settlers whose arrival set in motion the transformation of Texas.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Frederick Harrison Rankin
- · Elizabeth Smith Rankin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Elm Branch Cemetery
Bardwell, TX
The vanished community of Elm Branch once centered on a school, a Methodist church founded in 1886, and this cemetery, serving the scattered farm families of the area. Its earliest documented burial dates to 1877, and its graves hold veterans spanning from the Civil War to the Vietnam War. Though the church moved to nearby Bardwell in 1909, the cemetery remains active as a link to Ellis County's early settlers.
Boren Cemetery
Waxahachie, TX
Kentucky-born Michael Boren moved to this part of Texas with his family in 1847, and his second wife Mary Ann, who died in 1857, is thought to lie among the cemetery's earliest graves. Boren and his son George donated the land for the use of the Reagor Springs and Bethel communities, and its stones now mark numerous military veterans and pioneer Ellis County families. The oldest legible date, 1868, belongs to a five-year-old grandchild.
Alma
Alma, TX
Settlers reached this stretch of Ellis County as early as 1848, but the town of Alma was truly born in 1871 when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad laid track through the county. Landowner C.C. Hemming gave part of his property for the right-of-way and named the new town for his daughter. A busy farming center for decades, Alma faded after the 1950s when Interstate 45 was cut straight through its heart.
Richardson Cemetery
Reagor Springs, TX
John I. Richardson, a county surveyor and Mason who rode with the 12th Texas Confederate Cavalry, married Ann Elizabeth Reagor in 1865, both descendants of the family that gave Reagor Springs its name. The graveyard began with the 1879 burial of a Richardson cousin and was formally deeded for use as a cemetery in 1890. Holding about thirty graves, it became the resting place of the Richardsons and other early Ellis County families before the couple left the area near the turn of the century.