Background
Rankin, William Durham was born on February 12, 1876 in Onarga, Illinois, United States. Son of William A. and Mary (Durham) Rankin.
Rankin, William Durham was born on February 12, 1876 in Onarga, Illinois, United States. Son of William A. and Mary (Durham) Rankin.
Educated Grand Prairie Seminary. Student Rush Medical College, Chicago, 1896-1897.
Clerk Onarga Bank, 1899-1910. Organized drainage district, Iroquois County, Illinois, 1910. President Iroquois Canning Company, 1912-1916.
Succeeded father in live stock business at Tarkio, Missouri, 1916.
Widely known for demonstration of sweet clover as a medium for increasing fertility of soil and for fattening cattle. Also known for extensive use in tiling of a system of checks by which workmen may verify surveyor’s figures and for erosion control in hilly country through certain types of dams.
Mason.
Married Nellie May Atwood, February 21, 1914.