Early in our genealogy ventures I was aware that I had a ggg grandfather named Charles C. Branson who came to IL and died in south Fulton Co. in 1859. Furthermore, the 1850 census states that he was born in Canada. And that was it. We couldn't even find a tombstone We knew he had a wife Ellen and a bunch of kids who mostly went on west.

     Sometime in 1999 I somehow, using the internet, came in contact with another researcher interested in the family and an in-law. She had in her possession Branson family data compiled by her father-in-law which stated very clearly that the "C" stood for Cornwallis, and there was a grandson named Charles Cornwallis.

     Why in the world would any father name a child Charles Cornwallis when he was born in 1788 when the revolution was still so much a part of our history and politics? My guess, and the only logical one I think, was that his father had to have been a Loyalist or Tory.

     I'm not sure where I became aware that Charles' father was named Eli, but I had it from somewhere. I went looking for Tory references to an Eli Branson. Lo and behold I found one - and sort of an infamous one at that.

     Here is the saga of Eli Branson, as I have discovered it.

     Eli was born around 1734 and lived in North Carolina with wife Keziah and at least 8 children. They were Quakers. However, Eli was disowned in 1767 for whatever reason - probably because he was militant.

     Family history says he was one of the Regulators. These were farmers in the western part of North Carolina who protested the unfair taxation of the British government. The group was an active political protest group led by a disowned Quaker. They were mostly peaceful, but there was a conflict - the Battle of Alamance - in 1771. At Alamance the British governor and his militia soundly defeated a group of rag-tag Regulators. Eli Branson was one of them. All who fought in the battle and lost had a price put on their heads and a few were actually hanged. The rest could swear loyalty to the king.

     Eli seems to decide - if you can't beat them then join them. Family history says he joined the British by raising a company of men and going to fight with Charles Cornwallis as Captain Eli Branson. He was with Cornwallis at the Yorktown surrender and was taken prisoner in 1781. It would seem he was later repatriated with a prisoner exchange in New York. Records from 1793 indicate he was a prisoner on parole. All his property in North Carolina was confiscated by the new government.

     Next we find him in London, England. There he marries Jane Rankin, a minor and daughter of a William Rankin, in 1784. Around 1785 he registers for a grant of land in New Brunswick as a Loyalist who is entitled to land from the British government.

     In 1786 a daughter, Anna, was born to Jane and Eli. No one seems to know for sure where she was born, but London seems to be the best bet.

     In September 1788 Charles Cornwallis was born, according to the 1850 census in Canada. And a lawyer representing Eli Branson's claims in London says in November 1788 that Eli Branson has gone to Canada.

     Then comes the unknown part.

     Eli Branson returns to his first wife before 1796 and dies while living with her in South Carolina. His will was written 30 May 1796 and proved March 1797. In it he leaves his first wife, Keziah, a slave and states - "was one of his Majesty's subjects of the King of Great Britain, now resident of Abbeyville."

     What happened to young wife Jane? Numerous clues exist, but the story isn't complete. Seems there is a Colonel William Rankin, also a Tory and a Loyalist, who is in England after the war. Was Col. William the father of Jane? (This has now been confirmed and Col. Willliam is even a more infamous Tory than Eli Branson.)

     Both children of this second marriage ended up in Fulton County. Charles Cornwallis' sister, Anna, married Thomas Robinson and they are buried in the Quaker cemetery in Fulton County.

     Eli's son John by his first marriage also came to Sangamon County, Illinois and his children ended up in Fulton County as well - making the genealogy task interesting.

     And a final twist. I've been in contact with Linda Fawcett Long about Fulton County genealogy. She is married to Martin Long, a nephew of my Aunt Gladys Schenk. She tells me that many years ago my Uncle J. Paul Schenk remarked "We're all just a bunch of Tories". If only I'd known.

-- By Janet Van Doren May 25, 2006

On to Col. William Rankin

     As I pursued the story of Eli and Jane Rankin Branson and their two children I kept wondering. Why would any good Quaker father let his minor daughter marry a middle-aged loyalist who had been exiled to England. Then as I was scanning the Net the answer appeared. A Chester County PA history stated that Rhodes sisters had married Tory Rankin brothers. As it turns out the good Quaker father was an even more infamous Tory than Eli and, what's more, he had been exiled to England as well.

     Bits and pieces of Col. William Rankin's story are sprinkled over the world-wide web, but the best reference from the Internet sent me to Carl Van Doren's "Secret History of the American Revolution" by Dave Van Doren's first cousin once removed. What a small world it is! What follows is mostly taken from the Van Doren book.

     Early in the 1770s William Rankin was a well respected, and wealthy landowner in Chester Co. PA. He had a wife and numerous kids including two sons John and James who would join their father in the lost cause. William Rankin had over 2000 acres of land and was a justice of the peace in September of 1776.

     In June of 1776 he was a delegate to the Provincial Conference in Philadelphia. Although considered a Whig before the Declaration of Independence he did not agree that complete independence was the best route to follow.

     By August of 1777 William Rankin was a colonel in the York Co. PA militia commanding the 2nd battalion. In April of 1778 he still had that position and rank.

     In December 1778, Col. Rankin sent a secret messenger to Sir Henry Clinton in an attempt to be held harmless from all penalties set upon the "rebels" and offering to bring a complete battalion of men into the king's service. Clinton replied that they would be held harmless and for them to continue in their present positions and furnish him with "important intellligence that might come to their knowledge".

     Three months later a message came to Clinton from Rankin in which he reports a large quantity of food, powder, arms. etc. are stored at a magazine in Carlisle, PA. Rankin proposed an expedition of regular British troops and men he would recruit to take and destroy the magazine and capture weapons and munitions for the loyalist troops. Sir Henry Clinton for various reasons rejected the proposed raid.
In 1780 several messages from Col. Rankin to the British high command offered to bring numerous thousands of loyalists to aid the British cause if called upon. Rankin was sure that many of his fellow Pennsylvanians would answer his call.

     In the spring of 1781 Col. Rankin proposed to "quell the uprising" in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland by recruiting perhaps 10,000 loyalist volunteers to join the British forces. His offer was refused by General Phillips. In October Rankion took his proposal Col. John Graves Simcoe hoping he would take the proposal to London for further consideration. Again the British high officers did not accept the proposal.

     However, by this time General Washington and other "rebels" had become suspicious of Col. Rankin and his activities. Col. Rankin was arrested for high treason in May 1781 and his property seized. He escaped the York County jail and a 50 pound reward was placed on his head. Rankin fled to New York city and when the British left in 1783 he went to England. His 2100 acres of land were sold by the provincial government by auction in May 1782.

     In London William Rankin was awarded 120 pounds Sterling per annum. For an estimated loss of property valued at 8200 pounds Sterling he was granted 3,800 pound Sterling.

     On September 18, 1802 William Rankin was convicted of high treason by the new government. He could not return home, but was reported to have been a wine merchant in London for many years, dying in 1830.

     Daughter Jane marries Eli Branson in London in 1784. Eventually several children of William and Jane Rankin end up in Canada. What happened to daughter Jane is really still a mystery. We know that wife Jane Rankin married a blind elderly man, Joseph Walker, and her younger children were living with her in the 1790s. These younger Rankin children have descendants with both Rankin and Dilworth ancestry in Fulton County.

-- Janet Van Doren 28 May 2005