Phebe Davis Ward married William Alexander Rankin on February 2, 1852 in Columbus, Ohio. They were both Congregationalists. They came to Kansas in 1857 and took a farm claim near Black Jack, Douglas County. He was active in the passage of the emancipation resolution, declaring that slavery should not exist in Kansas.

The Rankins had daughters. Mrs. Rankin died in August of 1909. Mr. Rankin died in 1896. They are both buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. This picture was given to the library by their daughter Lou (Mrs. John T. Moore) in 1932.