FRIGHT NIGHT 2011

Fright Night 2011-sign up at downtown library at 3:00pm

FRIGHT NIGHT 2011

Downtown Improvement District presents Fright Night 2011.  Come join the T.R.A.M.P.S at the Historic Rankin House for FREE Ghost hunts and tours on October 22, 2011.  The tours start at 7pm but you will need to sign up at the downtown library   Sign up begins at 3:00 P.M. at the library. Also a chance to meet the T.R.A.M.P.S. team members in person at the team meet & greet. Come and see the equipment that paranormal investigators use. You can also have a chance to see and listen to some of our evidence from our other investigations. Also get your picture taken with our new little mascot "Damien" Don't miss this spooky opportunity during the festive Halloween season! This is your chance to come downtown to see some history and maybe get a real chance at seeing a "ghost."   
There will also be other ghost tours.  The Fort Wayne Indiana Ghost Trackers will be conducting tours at the Mizpah Shrine.   Registration for both tours will be at the DID information booth on the library plaza from 3 to 5 or on-site starting at 7. (limited to 15 people per ghost hunt.)

Alexander Rankin House
818 Lafayette St. 

"Damien" (T.R.A.M.P.S. MASCOT) 

History of Rakin House courtesy of ARCH

The Alexander Rankin House is significant under National Register of Historic Places criterion: “Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past” and “Properties associated with prominent persons, including abolitionists who were actively involved with harboring fugitives or aiding them in other ways.
Alexander T. Rankin was born December 4, 1803 in Dandridge, Tennessee and spent his whole childhood there. He graduated from Washington College in Southeastern TN in 1826 and then moved to Ripley, Ohio. While at Ripley, Alexander lived with his brother John, who trained hi, for the Presbyterian ministry. Throughout that same year, John Rankin had become nationally known for his abolitionist views. In October of 1829 Alexander T. Rankin married Mary Merriweather Lowry. Mary Merriweather Lowry was from a family of abolitionists as well. In 1830 Alexander was hired to lead the Presbyterian congregation of Felicity, Clermont County, Ohio. Once settled in there, he became involved in Clermont County abolition activities.
In the mid 1830s, Alexander Rankin made trips to lead worship services, but many believe he visited these sites as he lectured against slavery, introducing himself to the Fort Wayne area, as an abolitionist. In 1837, the Presbyterian congregation at Fort Wayne hired Alexander T. Rankin as their pastor. In 1838 Rankin was one of the first organizers of the Indiana Antislavery Society. By this time, Alexander was gaining a reputation as an abolitionist himself, like his brother John Rankin had established.
In July 1841, Mary Merriweather Rankin died, leaving Alexander to raise their four children alone. Within a week of her death Rankin purchased the site of 818 Lafayette Street, and either constructed the home or moved into the already constructed home. Rankin’s church at the time was adjacent from the home located on 334-336 Berry Street. Rankin’s new home at 818 Lafayette Street was made of both wood and brick. The wood section of the home was figured to be built around 1835 and the brick part around 1841. The side door currently on the home was actually the front door at the time during Rankin’s tenure. Once ARCH had begun to restore the home, they found two plastered up cupboards on both sides of the fireplace mantle. These cupboards could be reached through the crawlspace of the basement.
In 1842, the Fort Wayne Sentinel quoted, “…Our pastor is likewise an abolitionist, strong and ardent in his feelings of opposition to the institution of slavery and bold and independent in the expression of his views on this delicate subject.” Alexander Rankin preached at his Fort Wayne church until 1844; then moved onto New York to continue his preaching career. Rankin’s home at 818 Lafayette Street had been converted into use as the first school for women in Fort Wayne. However, the school teacher, Matilda Wallace, had ties to the abolitionist movement. This indicates that the home was still used by abolitionists until the end of 1844, following in Rankin’s footsteps.