In 1829, Rankin moved his wife and nine children (of an eventual total of thirteen) to a house at the top of a -high hill that provided a wide view of the village, the River and the Kentucky shoreline, as well as farmland and fruit groves that could provide sources of income. Folklore associated with the Rankin home suggested that a lantern or candle was placed in the front window to guide runaway slaves from across the Ohio River, in Mason County, Kentucky. However, ex-slave narrative recalls a pole with a light. This is a more plausible means of being seen based on the proximity of the house to the river. From there the family could raise a lantern on a flagpole to signal fleeing slaves in Kentucky when it was safe for them to cross into the free state of Ohio. [1] Rankin also constructed a staircase leading up the hill to the house for slaves to climb up to safety on their way further north.[http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/page.cfm?ID=4630] For over forty years leading up to the Civil War, many of the slaves who escaped to freedom through Ripley stayed at the family's home. According to him, "I have