Obituary for Daniel Wilson Rankin printed in the Whitesboro Record located in Whitesboro, Grayson County, Texas, January 7, 1904:

MORTUARY - D. W. RANKIN

D. W. Rankin, a former resident of this county, died at his home at Durant I.T. (Indian Territory) on December 31st after a short illness.

Mr. Rankin was born in Tennessee, October in 1836 and was 67 years, two months and three days old at the time of his death. (The date calculator gives his date of birth as October 28, 1836.)

At the opening of the war between the north and south, Mr. Rankin enlisted in the Confederate army and remained until the close of the war.

He moved to Grayson county (Texas) in 1874 and settled near Whitesboro, where he resided for 28 years. He moved only two years ago to Durant where he lived at the time of his death.

Deceased leaves a widow and nine children to mourn his death.

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Daniel Wilson Rankin was born in Tennessee on November 9, 1836 and married Mary Jane Fallwell on December 31, 1865, in Panola County, Texas.

In 1900, the United States Census for Justice Precinct 6 (north part excluding the town of Whitesboro) Grayson County, Texas, states that Dan & Mary had been married 35 years and had 11 children of which 9 were living. Five children were still living at home. The oldest daughter, Nannie, was severely handicapped as the census records show that she could not read, write, or speak.

Daniel Rankin died on December 31, 1903. According to probate records for him in 1905, he died in the Central District, Durant Division, of Oklahoma Indian Territory. Bryan County, Oklahoma, the was created in 1907 from part of the Choctaw Indian Nation and the Chickasaw Indian Nation at the same time Oklahoma became a state. The county was named for William Jennings Bryan. The county seat is Durant.

Also, in his probate records is a list of his heirs. They are all names of his children. His wife, Mary Jane, is not listed as an heir on his probate records which were started from an Application for Administration by their son, John Delmar Rankin on December 14, 1905. It is believed that this probate came about shortly after the death of Mary Jane as the children wanted their share of their parent's estate. Daniel's obituary from the newspaper records states that Mary Jane and 9 children were still living at the time of his death.

The following is a list of his heirs as recorded in the Application for Administration where John Delmar Rankin applied to be Administrator of his father's estate. (His father, Daniel, died without a will.):

Nannie Rankin, age 40, residing in Roberta, I.T.
Ida Chappell, age 34, residing in Little Elm, Texas
John D. Rankin, age 32, residing in Durant, I.T.
W. Elmer Rankin, age 30, residing in Whitesboro, Texas
Mrs. Ollie Duke, age 28, residing in Roberta, I.T.
Robt. D. Rankin, age 25, residing in Whitesboro, Texas
Walter V. Rankin, age 23, residing in Silo, I.T.
Oscar T. Rankin, age 20, residing in Roberta, I.T.
Eula B. Rankin, age 18, residing in Whitesboro, Texas

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Burial: It is recorded that the Mary Rankin bought Lot #319 in the Highland Cemetery in Durant, Oklahoma, about the time of her husband's death. Daniel's grave does not have a marker. Daniel and Mary Jane's son, John Delmer Rankin, and many of his descendants are buried in the lot. According to the Bryan County Heritage Center, records for the cemetery were burned in a fire caused by a disgruntled employee in 1977 and the only records available are the lot sales records kept at the City of Durant. This cemetery dates back to 1898, several years before Oklahoma became a State in November 1907.

~ The above information compiled by Mary Ellen (Fallwell) Henderson who is a great niece of Daniel and Mary Jane (Fallwell) Rankin. Mary Jane is a sister to my grandfather, Leander Franklin Fallwell.