Fonds F2004 - W.H. Rankin family fonds

The Rankin family traces its ancestry in the Kingston district to one Captain Daniel McGuin, U.E.L. He was one of the leaders of the Associated Loyalists who settled Kingston Township in 1784. McGuin's son, Anthony, established the family at Collins Bay in 1806 when he bought land out of the "Mile Square" from the Reverend John Stuart. Anthony McGuin and his son, also named Anthony, established a prosperous milling business on Collins Creek and over the years built three fine stone houses along the "Bath Road" near the mills. Anthony Jr. never married and passed on his estate, two of the stone houses and the mills, to his nephew David Rankin. Dr. William Henry Rankin was a grandson of David Rankin. After graduating from Queen's University, M.D. 1889, and studies in Scotland, Dr. Rankin established a successful medical practice near New York City. His wife the former Jennie Reid, purchased the western most of the three Rankin houses in Collins Bay, now 4111 Bath Road, for use by their family. The house was extensively renovated to become a rich man's summer home and the family spent most of their summers there from that time on. The house and these Fonds passed through inheritance to Dr. Rankin's son Reid and from him to the Diane Kennedy the former wife of Mr. Robert Kennedy a grandnephew of Dr. Rankin.