Rankin Barbee

David Rankin Barbee (October 15, 1874 — March 7, 1958) was an American journalist, a public relations writer for the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, and a researcher in American history, best known for writing on Southern history. Barbee, known by his middle name Rankin, was descended from a powerful Tennessee political family.

Biography Barbee was born on October 15, 1874, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He attended high school in Nashville, Tennessee. Barbee then studied at Emory and Henry College and at Vanderbilt University. He later claimed that he never graduated from any school. Today his papers are held in the special collections of the Georgetown University Library.

Barbee died from stomach cancer at the age of 83 on March 7, 1958 in Orange, Texas. He had moved there from Washington, D.C. in his late 70s to live with one of his daughters. Barbee was buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland, on March 10.

Family Rankin Barbee was the son of Rev. Dr. James Barbee and Margaret Rankin of Jasper, Tennessee. He was the nephew of Tennessee Attorney General George J. Stubblefield and Federal District Judge William R. Rankin. Barbee Sr., was the Publishing Agent for the United Methodist Publishing House in the 1890s and pastor of McKendree Methodist Church at the same time. Rankin Barbee's mother and uncle had moved to Nashville during the Civil War to be closer to their sister, Mary Anne Rankin, and her husband George Stubblefield. The family's political fortunes were tied to its relationship with then Tennessee Governor and future President Andrew Johnson. Rankin Barbee's grandfather, David Rankin of Jasper, Tennessee, was born in Greeneville, Tennessee, and had served in the State legislature with Johnson in the 1830s. In addition, Johnson's maternal grandfather, Andrew McDonough, had married Barbee's great-grandmother, Rhoda Sartain Roberson, in his second marriage.

Barbee's family included first cousin Thomas Turley Rankin, who was head attorney for the Home Owners Loan Corporation and the War Assets Administration. Rankin's uncle William Roberson Rankin was a Federal District Judge in Nashville from 1863 to 1865.

On April 15, 1913, Barbee married Elina Gusman. They had two daughters.