Jean Lowry Rankin

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Jean Gillfillen Lowry Rankin (born December 1, 1795 in Jonesborough , Tennessee , † December 28, 1878 in Lyndon , Kansas ) was together with her husband John Rankin an abolitionist and escape assistant in the Underground Railroad in Ohio .

Life

Jean Gillfillen Lowry was born in Jonesborough in 1795, her grandfather was Samuel Doak , a Presbyterian clergyman, Calvinist educator and former slave owner who campaigned early for the abolition of slavery and set his slaves free. One of his students was John Rankin, who adopted Doak's attitude towards slavery while studying Greek, Latin, theology, history and composition with him. Rankin later worked as a Presbyterian clergyman. On January 2, 1816, Lowry and Rankin married, and they had thirteen children, nine sons and four daughters together. One of her granddaughters was the sculptor Ellen Rankin Copp .

The Rankins moved from Tennessee to Kentucky, then, in 1822, to Ripley , Ohio . Rankin was there for the next 45 years as a priest of the Presbyterian community. They lived in a house near the river bank of the Ohio River , which served escaped slaves as a station on the Underground Raoilroad. In 1828 they built a new house on a hill for a better view, as they were now the target of slave hunters trying to capture escaped slaves. There they could send light signals to the other bank of the Ohio River and guide the fleeing people across the river to a safe house. Together with their children, John and Jean Rankin supported about 2000 slaves on their escape to Canada. Her house is a listed building and now serves as a museum.

The character of Eliza in the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin ( German  Onkel Toms Hütte ) (1852) by the Presbyterian Harriet Beecher Stowe is based on the story of the escape of the slave Eliza, whom the Rankins helped on her flight to the north.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mary Ellen Snodgrass: The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations . Routledge, 2015, ISBN 978-1-317-45416-8 , pp. 440 ( books.google.de ).
  2. ↑ Jane Gilfillen Lowry b. 01 Dec 1795 Jonesboro, TN / NC (?) D. Dec. 28, 1878 Lyndon, KS: Miles Shute Kouns Families. In: miles-shute-kouns-families.com. www.miles-shute-kouns-families.com, accessed October 15, 2018 .
  3. ^ Borderlander of Light: Rev. John Rankin and Ripley, Ohio 1820-1850 - Reverend John Rankin's Biography. In: reverendjohnrankin.org. Retrieved October 15, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Tom Calarco: People of the Underground Railroad: A Biographical Dictionary: A Biographical Dictionary . ABC-CLIO, 2008, ISBN 978-0-313-08596-3 , pp. 244 ( books.google.de ).
  5. ↑ a b National Register Digitals on John Rankin House, Ohio (PDF) , accessed October 15, 2018

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Rankin, Jean Lowry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rankin, Jean Gillfillen Lowry (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Abolitionist and escape helper in the Underground Railroad network in Ohio
DATE OF BIRTH December 1, 1795
PLACE OF BIRTH Jonesborough , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH December 28, 1878
Place of death Lyndon , Kansas