Ranulf Compton (September 16, 1878, Poe, Indiana – January 26, 1974) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. He also served as commander of the 327th (345th) Tank Battalion in George S. Patton's 304th (1st Provisional) Tank Brigade on the Western Front in 1918 France. Compton attended the public schools at

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

and was graduated from the

Howe Military School Howe Military Academy was a private, co-educational and college preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Howe, Indiana Howe is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Lima Township, LaGrange County, Indiana. As o ...

Howe, Indiana Howe is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Lima Township, LaGrange County, Indiana. As of the 2010 census its population was 807. History Howe was settled in 1834. At that time, it was named "Mongoquinong", a name that th ...

in 1899. After graduation, he attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He engaged in

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and finance in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and Connecticut.Staff report (January 29, 1974). Ranulf Compton, 92, Ex-Representative. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Before and during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he served as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of infantry,

New York National Guard The New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs (NYS DMNA) is responsible for the state's New York Army National Guard, New York Air National Guard, New York Guard and the New York Naval Militia. It is headed by Adjutant General of Ne ...

, 1912-1916. He was Captain of infantry,

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, July 1916-March 1918 and Captain and Major in the Tank , American Expeditionary Forces, April 1918-August 1919. (He went overseas with the American Expeditionary Force on December 12, 1917 and was decorated with the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

and the

French Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

.) Compton commanded one of the tank battalions in George S. Patton's tank brigade (Sereno E. Brett commanding the other American tank battalion under Patton). When Patton was wounded the first day of the Meuse Argonne Offensive, Brett assumed command of Patton's brigade and Compton assumed command of "all the tanks at the front," and with some of the toughest fighting of the tank brigade still ahead. Compton retired from the United States Army on August 8, 1919, with rank of Major and then served as the military secretary to

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Nathan L. Miller of New York in 1920. Compton was the deputy secretary of state of New York in 1921 and 1922. He was the executive secretary and treasurer of the Hudson River Regulating District,

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Ci ...

1923-1929 and served as aide-de-camp to Gov. Raymond E. Baldwin of Connecticut in 1940 and 1941. He was elected as a Republican to the

Seventy-eighth Congress The 78th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 194 ...

(January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945) but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1944 to the Seventy-ninth Congress. After Congress, he was the president and owner of South Jersey Broadcasting Company from 1945 until his retirement in 1968. He resided in

Madison, Connecticut Madison is a town in the southeastern corner of New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, occupying a central location on Connecticut's Long Island Sound shoreline. The population was 17,691 at the 2020 census. Madison was first settled in 1 ...

until his death there in 1974 and was buried in West Cemetery.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Compton, Ranulf 1878 births 1974 deaths People from Allen County, Indiana Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut People from Madison, Connecticut Politicians from Indianapolis Harvard University alumni United States Army officers American military personnel of World War I