ALEXANDER TAYLOR RANKIN PAPERS

Most of the items contained in this collection were published in 1966 in a book edited by Nolie Mumey entitled Alexander Taylor Rankin, 1803-1855, His Diary and Letters: A Pioneer Minister Who Fought Lawlessness with Religion on the Prairies of Eastern Kansas and the Frontier Settlements of Denver Where Life was Harsh and Brutal. However, the correspondence in file folder 6 regarding the murder in Mexico of A. T. Rankin's son Sylvester is not contained in Mumey's book.

The Alexander Taylor Rankin Papers contain 48 letters, written primarily by Rankin to his wife in New York, and two diaries which record his daily missionary work throughout Eastern Kansas and in Denver between 1859-1861. Letters and diary entries provide detailed descriptions of stagecoach travel, encounters with buffalo, wolves, and details of life in Denver at a time when the city's "drinking saloons, billiard rooms and gambling houses occupy the most public points in the city and do a large business."

The Rankin papers describe the difficulties of missionary life, working with limited resources and awaiting word from the Presbyterian General Board of Home Missions about his next appointment. The letters and diaries record the types of church services Rankin led, where the services were held, and often give names or details of the participants. The collection is a first hand chronicle of the life of a pioneer missionary in the West. It also provides details of life during the first two years after Denver's incorporation, including descriptions of business life, observations on national politics and accounts of local crime and punishments.

Collection also available on microfilm: Mflm183.

The correspondence consists mostly of personal letters written by Alexander Taylor Rankin to his wife, Ann Smith Rankin, niece, son, son-in-law George Shaffer, Mrs. Kelly, and reports to Reverend Musgrave and Reverend Happersett offering Rankin's predictions for the future of the Presbyterian Church in Kansas Territory and Jefferson Territory (later Kansas and Colorado). A few of the letters were received by Rankin, and were written by his son Sylvester or by Reverend Musgrave and Reverend Happersett. Rankin sometimes wrote to his wife on the verso of these letters so that both letters are visible on a single page.

Rankin describes his arduous stagecoach journey to Denver and the delay of the stagecoach due to a massive buffalo crossing. He recounts a visit to the Rocky Mountain News office with General Larimer moments before the attempted assassination of editor William Byers. Letters illustrate Rankin's first impressions of Denver, lawlessness, hangings, and the progress of the fledgling Presbyterian Church. The correspondence also contains details of travel to mining towns in present-day Gilpin County.

File folder 6 contains unpublished letters written to Rankin and family members about Dr. Sylvester Rankin's murder in Mexico. Letters from his widow, Francesca Rankin, and a military friend, Lieutenant Colonel Foster, describe the circumstances of the murder and the condition of the bereaved Francesca and young daughter Anita. One typeset letter, from Clinton to John Henry Broas, has unknown provenance.

Two leather bound volumes illustrate many of the same events mentioned in the letters from Series 1. The 1860 diary describes A.T. Rankin’s first year as a missionary in Kansas and Jefferson Territories (later Kansas and Colorado). Entries, which are initially brief but become lengthier as time passes, provide a glimpse into Rankin's daily activities including church services, baptisms, marriages and ordinations, often naming participants. The diaries record details of his travels, the weather, and give expense and provision lists.

The 1860-1861 diary gives details of Rankin's travels to mining camps near Central City, describes life in Denver including the growing Presbyterian congregation, lawlessness in town, baptisms, weddings, pastoral visits to the sick and dying, funerals and the high cost of provisions. Rankin describes reactions to Lincoln’s election. Entries mention Rankin's own highly anticipated return trip to “America” or "the States" in December. Rankin's travels back to New York are outlined, as well as his observations about mounting tensions between secessionists and abolitionists, an apparent assassination plot against Lincoln, and details of Rankin's trip to Baltimore to see his daughter and granddaughter.

Transcriptions of the letters and the diaries are combined and organized chronologically in the book Alexander Taylor Rankin, 1803-1855, His Diary and Letters: A Pioneer Minister Who Fought Lawlessness with Religion on the Prairies of Eastern Kansas and the Frontier Settlements of Denver Where Life was Harsh and Brutal edited by Nolie Mumey. Wherever possible, Mumey’s printed volume should be used instead of the originals.