Rankin, Wellington Duncan, 1884-1966
Name Entries
person
Rankin, Wellington Duncan, 1884-1966
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Name :
Rankin, Wellington Duncan, 1884-1966
Rankin, Welllington Duncan, 1884-1966
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Name :
Rankin, Welllington Duncan, 1884-1966
Rankin, Wellington D.
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Name :
Rankin, Wellington D.
Wellington D. Rankin
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Name :
Wellington D. Rankin
Genders
Exist Dates
Biographical History
Wellington D. Rankin was born in Missoula, Montana, on September 16, 1884, the son of pioneer Missoula businessman and rancher John Rankin and his wife Olive Pickering Rankin, an early Missoula County school teacher. His oldest sister Jeannette was the first woman elected to the United States Congress. He had four other sisters: Harriet, Mary, Edna, and Grace.
After graduating from the University of Montana with a degree in science, Wellington attended Harvard University, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1905 and a law degree in 1909. He also attended Oxford University on a Rhoades Scholarship.
Rankin began his law practice in Helena in 1909, in the offices of Thomas J. Walsh and Cornelius B. Nolan. He opened his own office in 1911. He specialized primarily in industrial accident cases, representing many workers injured in mines and on the railroads. He thus took on as opponents many of the largest corporations in the state.
Rankin first became involved in politics in 1914 when he ran unsuccessfully for the legislature on the Progressive Party ticket. Two years later he was campaign manager for his sister Jeannette in her successful bid for the U.S. Congress as a Republican. In 1920 Wellington Rankin was elected Montana attorney general and served in that post until 1924 when he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Montana Supreme Court. After an unsuccessful run for governor in 1928, Rankin was appointed U.S. district attorney by President Calvin Coolidge, and was reappointed by Herbert Hoover in 1930. Rankin ran unsuccessfully for public office several more times, including U.S. Senate in 1942 and 1948, and U.S. House of Representatives in 1952.
In addition to his law practice and his political campaigns, Rankin was also involved in numerous business ventures. Most important were his ranching businesses. In the 1930s he began acquiring large ranches, including the Avalanche Ranch, the Birch Creek Ranch, the Stafford-Floweree Ranch, the Miller Brothers Ranch, and the 71 Ranch. At the height of his ranching success in the early 1960s, he owned about a million acres. He sold the Miller Brothers property to a Blaine County grazing association in 1964. At the time of his death he still owned about 600,000 acres.
Rankin was also a partner in the Placer Hotel and the Weiss Café/Mint Bar in Helena, the Montana Ready-Mix Company in Missoula, and numerous oil and mining properties.
In 1956, Wellington Rankin married Louise Replogle, a member of his law firm. They had no children. He died June 4, 1966, at the age of 81.
eng
Latn
External Related CPF
https://viaf.org/viaf/70162909
https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7981374
https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n00073805
https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n00073805
Other Entity IDs (Same As)
Sources
Loading ...
Resource Relations
Loading ...
Internal CPF Relations
Loading ...
Languages Used
Subjects
Bars (Drinking establishments)
Political campaigns
Carillons
Cemeteries
Clothing trade
Confectionery
Courts
Ditches
Elections
Epidemics
Gambling
Grazing districts
Horses
Hotels
Industrial accidents
Labor laws and legislation
Labor unions
Labor unions
Lumber trade
Mines and mineral resources
Mines and mineral resources
Mines and mineral resources
Montana
Music stores
Pacifism
Petroleum industry and trade
Railroads
Ranches
Ranching
Restaurants
Nationalities
Activities
Occupations
Lawyers
Legal Statuses
Places
Germany
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Kalispell (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Madison Dam (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Missoula (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Stafford-Floweree Ranch (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Birch Creek Ranch (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Sourdough Mine (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
71 Ranch (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Moss Agate Ranch (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
White Pass (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Gold Finch Mine (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Crowley Ditch (Madison County, Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Avalanche Ranch (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Golden Curry Mine (Elkhorn, Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Helena (Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Placer Hotel (Helena, Mont.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Convention Declarations
<conventionDeclaration><citation>VIAF</citation></conventionDeclaration>