248 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



living meanwhile with his family at the home of Dr. 

 Adam Rankin, called "Meadow Brook Farm." Dr. 

 Rankin was the first educated physician in his district, 

 and was for many years an officer of the court. A doc- 

 tor of the older school and a genuine lover of his kind, 

 with a large heart and an open hand, he made his home 

 a hostelry where anyone in need could find refuge with- 

 out money and without price. No doubt he was at- 

 tracted to the naturalist by kindred tastes, and it is 

 known that they became life-long friends. The old 

 house, to which Audubon refers in one of his "Epi- 

 sodes," 2 was built of logs, and stood at some distance 

 from the pike, about two miles from the village in a 

 southeasterly direction. There were experienced in 

 greatest frequency, in the winter of 1811 and 1812, the 

 terrific earthquakes that repeatedly shocked the country 

 at that time; there also Audubon's younger son, John 

 Woodhouse, was born on November 30, 1812. The Ran- 

 kin farm became at a much later day the site of the vil- 

 lage of Audubon, which still later was to be incorporated 

 in the growing city of Henderson, when most of the old 

 landmarks had been obliterated. Dr. Rankin built a 

 more commodious and pretentious brick house in the 

 village itself, and was neighbor to the naturalist for 

 many years, their houses being on the same or adjoining 

 lots. He was thrice married and had many children, 

 the eldest of whom, William Rankin, became Audubon's 

 favorite companion in the field ; together they ransacked 

 the country for birds and animals of every sort. 



Audubon's unfortunate business relations with his 

 brother-in-law, Thomas W. Bake well, began in the au- 

 tumn or winter of 1811, when the naturalist was in the 



2 "The Earthquake," Ornithological Biography (Bibl. No. 2) vol. i, 

 p. 280. 



