Arthur Rankin (1816 – March 13, 1893) was a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

, entrepreneur, militia officer, and political figure in

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

. Rankin was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1816, the son of Irish immigrants. He ran away from home at the age of 15, and became a cabin boy on a New York-to-London packet boat. In 1835, he returned to Canada and apprenticed with his brother,

Charles Rankin Charles Rankin, (1797 − 1886 or 12 October 1888) was an early Irish-born and Scottish-descended settler and land surveyor in Upper Canada (the predecessor to the province of Ontario, Canada). He is significant due to his role in the survey ...

, to be a surveyor in the Windsor area. In 1837, Rankin moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

where he received a commission as an ensign for the 2nd Queen's Light Infantry. While on leave in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, Rankin attacked two

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for a bail bondsman who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as a bail enforcement agent or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated ...

s who had captured an escaped slave from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Rankin smuggled the man from

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Ohio, to

. Rankin transferred to the 2nd Battalion of Provincial Volunteer Militia and, in 1838, took part in the Battle of Windsor, fighting to recapture Pelee Island from the

Patriots A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

. Later that year, a group of patriots attacked Windsor, killing four militiamen, and setting fire to the British barracks, the steamer ''Thames'', and several houses. Rankin mustered a company of 60 men who helped chase the American Patriots from their position at a local farm. In 1840, Rankin married Mary McKee, great-granddaughter of

Alexander McKee British Indian Department#Rank structure, Deputy Superintendent-General Alexander McKee ( – 15 January 1799) was a British Indian Department officer and merchant who served the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War. He achie ...

, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. They had two sons: George Cameron and Arthur McKee Rankin. After his discharge in 1843, Rankin organized nine

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

s from a reserve along the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, forming part ...

into a "wild west" show that toured the British Isles with a special performance for

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. He sold his show to

George Catlin George Catlin ( ; July 26, 1796 – December 23, 1872) was an American lawyer, painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the American frontier. Traveling to the Wes ...

in 1844 and returned to Canada where he established the ''Sandwich Wester Standard and Western District General Advertiser'' with himself as publisher and editor. Rankin returned to surveying and, in 1846, discovered a large

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

deposit at Bruce Mines, along the north shore of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

. He sold his share to the Montreal Mining Company in 1847. In 1851, Rankin ran for a seat in the Legislative Assembly in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

but was defeated by

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * Ge ...

. He was elected to the

5th Parliament of the Province of Canada The 5th Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in August 1854, following the general election for the Legislative Assembly in July 1854. The number of seats in the Assembly had been increased by the 4th Parliament of the Province of Ca ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

in 1854. He was implicated in an 1857 scandal involving the construction of a new railway line in south-western Canada West; Rankin was defeated in the election that followed. Shortly after that, he helped launch successful copper mining operations along

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

and

. In 1861, Rankin was elected again in Essex. Later that year, he attempted to raise a regiment of Canadians, the 1st United States Lancer Regiment, to serve in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Rankin's proposed regiment was controversial in Canada; the ''Detroit Free Press'' praised him and predicted the popularity of the regiment, while the ''Montreal Gazette'' criticized him as a "Reckless soldier of fortune". He was arrested under the Foreign Enlistment Act and forced to resign from the Union Army; in 1863, his election was declared invalid. He was elected again in the general election of 1863. He was a strong supporter of the forming of a

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

but did not win a seat in the election held in 1867 for the

1st Canadian Parliament The 1st Canadian Parliament was in session from November 6, 1867, until July 8, 1872 (4 years and 252 days). The membership was set by the 1867 federal election from August 7 to September 20, 1867. It was prorogued prior to the 1872 election. ...

. Rankin died in Windsor in 1893 after a long illness. He is buried in the Sandwich Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rankin, Arthur 1816 births 1893 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Politicians from Montreal Canadian people of Irish descent Ontario candidates for Member of Parliament Candidates in the 1867 Canadian federal election