W. J. BANKS

BANKS, TALBOTT, RANKIN

Posted By: Mona Sarratt Knight (email)
Date: 7/25/2009 at 11:16:55

Source: The History of Appanoose County, Iowa, Containing A History of the County, its Cities, Towns, etc., A Biographical Directory of Citizens, War Records of its Volunteers in the late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, History of the Northwest, History of Iowa, Map of Appanoose County, Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, etc.; illustrated; Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1878.

W. J. BANKS, far., S. 8; P.O. Centerville; of English descent; born in Grant Co., Ky., July 28, 1825; related to Gen. Banks of Massachusetts; his grandfather was a soldier of the Revolution; enlisted when 16 years of age and served seven years; was among the first settlers of Kentucky; moved to Putnam Co., Ind., where he was also an early settler; was a farmer; his half-brother, Linn Banks, served twelve months in the War of 1812, under Richard Johnson of Kentucky; had his horse shot from under him; was beside Tecumseh when he fell. When W.J. was 14 years of age, his father died, after which himself and elder brother, Daniel P., kept house alone until June 1846, when he and his half brother, James R., enlisted for the Mexican war, in the 1st Indiana Inf., under Col. James P. Drake; he was Corporal of Co. A; his brother died the first year; he re-enlisted as Wagonmaster and served until the close of the war; then went with a company of troops to California, as teamster; were six months on the road from the moutn of the Rio Grande, some of the time living on one and one half crackers a day; after losing the greater part of an extensive and valuable train in crossing the desert, they arrived at Los Angeles; was discharged at Monterey March 31, 1849; he kept livery stable and mined for one and one half years; returned to Indiana, Dec. 23, 1852. Married Nancy Wells Talbott, who was born in Putnam Co., Ind., in 1831; daughter of Thomas Talbott, the youngest son of Edward Talbott, who served in the Revolutionary war; afterward, a pastor of the M.E. Church; at a meeting of the relatives of her father, held at his residence in Indiana in 1851, there were 180 members of the family; her mother's maiden name was Rankin; died in September 1853. In 1864, Mr. Banks settled in this county, where he now resides; owns 270 acres of land, valued at $25 per acre; they have five children - William E., a druggist in Russell, Russell Co., Kan., born in Indiana in 1855; James W., born in 1858; Thomas W., born in 1860; Daniel V., born in 1862; Frank T., born in 1866; all at home, except the eldest. Mr. B. was a Whig; now a Democrat; held the office of Township Trustee; Mrs. B. is a member of the M.E. Church.