A. K. Pierce and A. L.

Rankin Papers Page 1 ()l'4

William !.. ClemeiUs Library
riie Diiiversity of Michigan
Small Collections
//. R. Pierce (ind A. L. Rankiii P(if)ers
Pierce, A. R.
and
Rankin, Adam Lowry, I<si6-is95
Papers, 1<S73 October 27-1880 January 20
10 items
Background note:
Rev. Adam 1.OVV17 Rankin accepted a call to become pastor of the
Congregational Church in riilare, Calif., in January, 1873, and under
the partial sponsorship of the American Home Missionary Society,
moved out to the eastern foothills olCaliibrnia's (ireat Valley to Join
the small and seemingly indilTerent llock. In 1873, Tulare lacked the
social coherence expected in a more settled community. A small,
primarily agricultural community situated on the Union Pacific line
between Rakersfield and Presno, it was entering into a period of rapid
growth and social disorganization as the Valley entered into a major
phase ofeconomic expansion as rail lines linked farm to market with
increasing elTiciency. Adam Lowry Rankin. the son of renowned
abolitionist minister, John Rankin, thus appeared primed to continue
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A. R. Pierce and A. L. Rankin Papers Page 2 ()r4
in the family's benevolent tradition ol vvorking lor the moral cause and
of ministering to those most in need.
Rankin's lirst duties in I ulare included building a suitable house lor
himself and making improvements to the existing church and sabbath
school, tasks he and the townspeople took to with some enthusiasm.
Within a year, though, Rankin had begun to alienate a portion of the
population -- particularly those whom he refers to as "spiritualists,"
gamblers and rum sellers ~ and he became a target for the seemingly
inexhaustible supply of "malicious tongues" in town. Adding to his
problems, Rankin faced open, unrestrained competition from rival
ministers, and his low and sporadic pay from the Congregational
Church Committee in San Francisco led him deeply into debt, fhe
Methodists constituted Rankin's biggest bloc of sectarian foes and
Rankin, at least, felt that the local Methodist preacher went out of his
way to discredit and embarrass him. In turn, Rankin considered
Methodism to be "worse than Japanese heathenism." Other opposition
to Rankin took a variety of forms, including an unsuccesslul move by
spiritualists to prevent having a Christmas tree placed in the Sabbath
school. I hough Rankin claimed optimistically that the numbers of
pupils in his sabbath school remained high and constant throughout
his tenure in fulare, his ministry clearly suffered.
Discouraged and in debt, Rankin considered leaving I ulare at the end
of his second year, but was persuaded to remain, providing certain
conditions were met, the most important of which were a raise in pay
(to $1,()()() per annum) and the construction of new chureh and
parsonage. With the financial assistance of the Union Facillc Railroad,
construction got under way, but soon became the focal point of
complaint for Rankin's antagonists. Rival ministers, who Rankin said
"care more for sect than for Christ," along with the "rum sellers" and
all of his other opponents accused Rankin of "stealing a meeting
house" and "stealing" a new house for himself. In 1878, these
opponents attempted to set up a rival ministry in town, and although
their attempt was unsuccessful, the damage to Rankin's ministry was
irreparable. Rankin decided to leave I ulare and accept a new call at an
indebted church in SoqucI, Santa Cruz Co., claiming the he could no
longer "stomach" I ulare.
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Scope and contents:
Adam Lovvry Rankiii's nine lengthy letters to his friend in Vermont,
A.R. Pieree are filled with detailed information on the l^uildings,
people, and religious life in Tiilare during the turbulent years of the
I87()s. Rankin provides unusually detailed deseriptions of both of the
houses in whieh he lived, ineluding a floor plan of one, of his garden,
the chureh being eonstrueted for him, and the town.
The true heart of the eolleetion, however, is the |)rotraeted struggle
between Rankin and his rivals. Rankin's early enthusiasm for his
mission was met with a wall of apathy by the residents of fulare, who
seem always to have been more eoneerned with malieious gossip and
mudges than salvation. Rankin eomments at length on his failing
ministry, on the religious and soeial tensions in town, and on the
frietion resulting Irom those whom Rankin considered as moral
baeksliders. Rankin's finaneial diffieulties his relationship with both
the Congregational Chureh hierarehy and the Ameriean 1lome
Missionary Soeiety also figure throughout the eolleetion.
Related materials:
I he Afriean-Ameriean I listory Colleetion eontains several letters and
an autobiographieal manuseript of John Rankin, Adam Lowry
Rankin's father. One of the letters, written in Deeember, 1845, was
sent from father to son.
M~2662 a.28
Cul. 4 91 r.\c
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