He gained prominence as a young defense lawyer involved in highly-publicized events such as the Scottsboro Case. He was nominated for Federal Judgeship in the early 1940's. His only child, Marian Rankin Lowing , an award-winning columnist and former editor of the Mobile County News, has written memoirs about her life in this house, where she was born in the front bedroom in 1918. They were secreted out of their country at the end of WWII to work with Werner Von Braun on developing rockets at Redstone Arsenals. Not only does this house retain many of its physical features, but its location also still has the ambience of a quieter and simpler era.
Neighbors stop by to visit on the porch swings or share produce from their gardens.
A variety of age groups comprise the neighborhood where children ride bikes and rollerblade along sidewalks. One can walk to town, to schools, to the University two blocks away. And the train whistle is just near enough for nostalgia and far enough away for undisturbed sleep. Portions of this 2-story frame antebellum farmhouse may date from as early as 1830 or before. Good example of typical smaller Madison County plantation dwelling.