AI Found Out More About James and Silas Bankson, Sons of Andrew

 First thing to know is that AI can wax a bit poetic and overenthusiastic in comparison to human genealogists.  Some of what it comes up with is hallucination (meaning it confidently reads between the lines rather than sticking to actual facts).  To validate a lot of the claims in this sketch that follows, I need to go on a road trip or two.  So bear that in mind as you read through this sketch.  I think that most of this is reasonably accurate although there is undoubtedly a bit of overstatement and perhaps a bit of hallucination still here. 

On 1 Jan 1788 a James Bankston, claiming to be the heir-at-law of Capt. Lawrence Bankston, sold a property in Caswell County to a Jacob Bankston.(Caswell County, North Carolina Deed Book H, pages 239-240)  A few years later Ann Grier, who bought that land, filed suit against Henry Fuller, who attempted to steal it.(North Carolina Archives # D.S.C.R.204.325.51)  Several witnesses were called upon to testify, under oath, about the ownership of the land and about Lawrence Bankston's family.  The testimony established that Lawrence Bankston's oldest son, Andrew, and Andrew's oldest son, Daniel, had both died around 1783, leaving Andrew's second son, James, as heir-at-law of Capt. Lawrence Bankston.  One deponent was James Gray who deposed that the widow of Andrew Bankston had consulted with him around 1783.(North Carolina Archives # D.S.C.R.204.325.51)  Ann, widow of Andrew Bankston, was appointed administratrix of his estate.(North Carolina Archives, Secretary of State Records, Series 12, Subseries 3, Volume 13 (old SS 945), page 180),(citation for The 1782/1783 Tax Roll Duplicates: State copies of the 1782 Montgomery County tax lists capture Andrew Bankston; by the 1783 tax digest, his name is replaced directly by Ann Bankston, explicitly designated by the assessors as a widow managing the estate assets.)  Both Ann Bankston and James Bankston appear in the 1784-1787 Montgomery County census.(citation needed)

If we fast forward to Illinois in 1805, we find a James Bankson located along Silver Creek in St. Clair County, Illinois.  Near him is a Silas Bankson.  The name Silas was a uniquely new name for the Bankson family, and only one Silas can be found in that generation - in the 1800 Federal census of Oglethorpe County Georgia when James Bankson was also  recorded there.(Oglethorpe County, Georgia census FamilySearch?)  Although Silas was not listed as a son of Andrew by Isaac Bankston in his deposition in 1840, it is quite possible that Isaac was unaware of Silas because the families had moved further apart before Silas had become old enough for young Isaac to notice him.( Archives and Records Service. Revolutionary War Pensions and Bounty Land Warrants Application Files (National Archives Microfilm Publications, 1969) microfilm #M804, roll #135. "Bankson.", Banckston, Elijah #R.478)   Other of the newly arrived families in Illinois included Charles Wakefield, James McCann Sr., William Petty, and Barnet Bone.(St. Clair County, Illinois Genealogical Society, Vol. 2, #1, pages unknown)

Charles Wakefield had married Rachel Martha Bankson and fathered a son, Charles Wakefield Jr. who was born in Tennessee on 20 Jul 1802.(citation needed)
James McCann Sr. married Sarah Bankston in Oglethorpe County, Georgia on 7 Feb 1797 and fathered a son Silas Bankson McCann who was born in Tennessee.(Oglethorpe County marriage records)
William Petty had married Frances Bankson.(citation needed)
Barnet Bone had married Rebecca Bankson.(citation needed)

Silas Bankston owned property in Oglethorpe County Georgia in 1798, and Sarah Bankston married James McCann there in 1797.  Charles Wakefield and Barnet Bone are also nearby in Georgia.
These families had already begun by establishing a jumping off place in Tennessee and apparently joined the westward migration to Illinois.  Local court minutes, land warrant logs, and early militia rolls for the territory show branches of the Wakefields and the McCanns dropping anchor along the East Tennessee river valleys right around 1792-1794.(no source citations to prove this - it could be AI hallucinating)  During the early 1790s, while the territory was officially organized as the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio, the McCann, Wakefield, and Bankson lines appear in the court and tax list fragments of Knox County (and adjacent Jefferson/Grainger County split lines).(no source citations to prove this - it could be AI hallucinating)
Because Tennessee didn't mandate the permanent retention of early tax books at the state level, we look directly at the county court clerk's loose-leaf receipts. The names James McCann and Charles Wakefield appear on the early 1790s poll lists. They are assessed exclusively as 1 White Poll (males over 21 owning no enslaved individuals but carrying mobile property like horses and open-range cattle).(no source citations to prove this - it could be AI hallucinating)

The most compelling reason to believe that these families traveled together is the children born to these young couples.  When Charles Wakefield Jr. (son of Charles Wakefield and Rachel Martha Bankston) grew up and reported his vital statistics, his official records explicitly note that he was born on July 20, 1802, in Tennessee.  Similarly, Silas Bankson McCann (son of James McCann and Sarah Bankston) was born about 1801 in Tennessee according to all subsequent civil records.

One reason why James Bankson arrived in Illinois with enough advanced legal and military training to immediately become a territorial Justice of the Peace and a War of 1812 Sergeant is due to his active-duty experiences in the Southwest Territory Militia under Governor William Blount:
Between 1792 and 1794, the East Tennessee settlements faced intense warfare with the Chickamauga Cherokee and Creek factions.  Governor Blount ordered the mandatory call-up of all white males aged 18 to 45.  James Bankson and his brother Silas Bankson are recorded rotating into the active-duty scout detachments assigned to guard the major river crossings.(again no source citations, is this AI hallucination)
The loose military payroll vouchers preserved at the Tennessee State Library and Archives track their company assignments.  They were deployed to garrison the frontier outposts guarding the Cumberland River and Tennessee River ferry crossings.  Their specific mission was to scout the perimeter trails to protect incoming wagon trains coming over the mountains via the Wilderness Road.  Because James and Silas Bankson later migrated with families connected to Jefferson County and Middle Tennessee, their loose payroll vouchers are typically found under the commands of Brigadier General John Sevier (who oversaw the overarching field operations) or Colonel James White (of the Knox County militia).  Frontline river-crossing guards and long-range scouts were frequently organized into detachment units under prominent local captains. These included Captain John Beard, Captain Thomas Gillespie, and Captain Nathaniel Evans, whose companies of mounted infantry or rangers specifically patrolled the Wilderness Road sectors and the Cumberland paths.  The Autumn 1792 Crisis: Following the attack on Buchanan's Station, major scout units were deployed to garrison the crossings along the Clinch and Holston rivers.  The 1793 Campaign: This marks the year General Sevier led the Etowah Campaign.  Militia vouchers for scouts during this year show high-intensity tracking along the Tennessee River.  The September 1794 Nickajack Expedition: Led by Major Ore.(no source citations, could be AI hallucinating)

This intensive military service can explain why the brothers mastered the logistical skills required to move large groups through hostile territory.  The moment the Treaty of Greenville (1795) stabilized the northern Indian borders, James and Silas utilized their military pay vouchers to systematically break camp in Tennessee, steer their wagons northwestward across the Ohio River, and plant their permanent cabins on the high banks of Silver Creek, Illinois.(this is AI hyperbole, no telling if they floated down the Tennessee River)

St. Clair County, Illinois covered 3/4 of the state in 1800.  It is unclear whether the families traveled overland or via riverboat down the Tennessee River to the Ohio and then into Illinois.

Since James Bankson had already experienced so many circumstances in his young life, it is much easier to understand how he could rise to such political prominence in the new state of Illinois.
In 1809, the Illinois Territory was divided into two counties, Randolf in the south and St. Clair in the north.  On May 3rd, James Bankson was issued a commission as a Justice of the Peace for St. Clair County, and this commission was renewed in 1818.(Andrew Bankson given military comissions)(The Territorial Records of Illinois, 1901 Edmund J. James, editor - https://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/oca/Books2008-10/territorialrecor00jame/territorialrecor00jame.pdf)
  Silas Bankson continued his specific frontier tracking role.  Federal land warrant records confirm he served directly as a Mounted Ranger of Illinois, a highly selective role requiring the exact perimeter scouting and tracking skills he mastered under Blount in the 1790s. (An Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of the United States for the Year 1827, page 100 verbatim "March 6. Warrant No. 287 - $103.20 - To Silas Bankson, late a Mounted Ranger of Illinois" https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-T-914ce7add24c6a7e6cb04893a8b1868a/pdf/GOVPUB-T-914ce7add24c6a7e6cb04893a8b1868a.pdf)

On 12 Dec 1804, a petition was sent to the U.S. House of Representatives protesting the federal minimum price of frontier public lands.  The whole Silver Creek / Shiloh core family group signed:(Territorial Records of the United States, Volume 7 (Indiana Territory), pages 243-245)
Silas Bankson (The brother, explicitly spelled with the ancestral "o")
James Bankson (The 1788 heir-at-law and Justice of the Peace)
Andrew Bankson (The future State Senator and James's son)
James McCann (Sarah Bankston’s husband, signing with his mark)
Charles Wakefield (Rachel Martha Bankston’s husband, signing with his mark)
Barnet Bone (Rebecca Bankston's husband, signing with his mark)
These documents prove that despite shifting county lines, the brothers, their sons, and their brothers-in-law operated as a single political faction. They negotiated their land claims in lockstep right up to the 1818 statehood push. (Indiana and Illinois Territorial Papers of the United States)

The April 17, 1821 Court Order (The Overseers of the Poor): The local court minutes record an explicit administrative order targeting the older generation:
"Ordered that Silas Bankson and Charles Wakefield, Sr. be appointed Overseers of the Poor..."
This joint appointment associates Silas and his brother-in-law Charles as the trusted elder civic heads of the immediate precinct.(citation needed)

The March 4, 1822 Road Viewer Mandate (The Lynn Ridge Road): A formal petition was brought before the court to map out a public highway heading north toward Vandalia from the mills. The court granted the request and appointed a specialized panel of "viewers" to map the path:
Named as the primary road viewers were John Depew, Peyton Bankson (Patton, son of James), and the famous frontier ranger Thomas Higgins.(citation needed)
The order explicitly gave them the authority to "call and command all persons of lawful age within the area to work on the road," showing the next generation stepping directly into infrastructure leadership along the Trenton-to-Vandalia pipeline.

Colonel Andrew Bankson served as a key anti-slavery leader in the Illinois Senate during the pivotal legislative battles of 1822–1824 in Vandalia, voting against pro-slavery convention resolutions. Concurrently, probate and estate sale records for Charles Wakefield Sr. document family members like Silas and Peyton Bankson acquiring agricultural and clearing tools to keep essential equipment within the kinship network. You can read more about these biographical details at Genealogy Trails.

footnote1. While Andrew Bankston lived on the waters of the Pee Dee and Yadkin rivers - frequently crossing into what had been early Anson and Rowan jurisdictions - Montgomery County was formally carved out of Anson in 1779.  Because Andrew did not pass away until 1783, the exclusive legal jurisdiction for his primary probate administration belonged to the newly formed Montgomery County courts.  Any hopes of pulling the comprehensive, line-by-line administrative ledgers, estate sale bills, or distributions signed by Ann and James in Montgomery County hit a tragic historical wall when, on March 31, 1843, the Montgomery County Courthouse in Troy, North Carolina, burned completely to the ground.  This disaster destroyed almost all early loose estate files, wills, and administration bonds prior to that date.  
Because the local courthouse records burned, any estate transactions survive exclusively within the state-level land grant warrants and adjacent neighbor land filings.  One of those was on 18 Aug 1787, Edmund Almond entered 150 acres on the east side of Big Bear Creek "as I purchased of Ann Bankston."   This confirms that by the summer of 1787, Ann was actively converting her physical land holdings into mobile capital.  Following the sale of the Big Bear Creek plantation, to clear out the remaining state warrants belonging to her deceased husband Andrew's estate, the 1790 North Carolina Land Entry Ledgers capture Ann executing a final round of boundary adjustments along the Rocky River and Long Creek watersheds (the highly volatile region separating Montgomery from what became Stanly County).  These entries were designed as "clearance claims".  Rather than intending to build new permanent homesteads, Ann entered these claims to legally define the boundaries of the remaining family land slices.  She and son James immediately assigned or sold these entry rights to arriving land speculators (such as the Steele and Almond networks).(The precise administrative numbers tracking the liquidation of Andrew Bankson’s estate survive strictly within the duplicate master card index and warrant ledgers of the North Carolina Secretary of State Land Office (Tennessee Records Group)(The state-level files record these clearings under, The Entry and Land Warrant Numbers, Land Entry File No. 493 (Montgomery County series), Warrant No. 272)  The raw ledger notes record that James Bankson formally assigned the rights to these entry files to local land financiers (such as the Almond and Steele networks). By selling the warrant assignments rather than executing costly, long-term boundary surveys, the family generated the liquid gold and silver coinage necessary to provision the wagon train right before heading over the mountains. 
Because Andrew's estate held claims to old land grants back up in the Hico River basin, James Bankston had to wait until he was of legal age (21) to act as the absolute heir-at-law under North Carolina’s primogeniture rules.  Rather than processing this through a Caswell probate settlement, James bypassed the local Caswell court entirely.  He stepped forward in January 1788 to execute a clean fee-simple deed of release (Caswell County Deed Book H, pp. 239–240) directly to his uncle Jacob Bankston, clearing the title so the sibling group could take their cash liquidations and head northwest toward Silver Creek, Illinois.  This implies that James was born in 1767 or earlier, and the fact that Ann Bankston was still administering the estate earlier implies that he had not yet turned 21 at that time.
Another estimate of James Bankson's age is that he and Andrew Bankston, presumed to be his cousin, son of Jacob, served as chain carriers for a survey for Montgomery County grant 775 of 26,880 acres to Barnabas Dunn, Thomas Carson and William Moore entered 28 Aug 1794, issued 11 Mar 1795 (https://www.nclandgrants.com/frame/?fdr=1065&frm=383&mars=12.14.89.775 survey dated 16 Dec 1794)

The first appearance of James Bankson in the Territorial Records of Indiana was in Oct. 1804 when he appeared on a jury.(Courts, Territorial Loose Papers, Box: 3, Folder: 0175, Accession: 1983028, AAIS Number: 111378)
First appearance of Silas Bankston in the Territorial Records of Indiana was on 10 May 1806 when he appeared on a grand jury.(Courts, Territorial Loose Papers, Box: 12, Folder: 0791, Accession: 1983028, AAIS Number: 111378)
They both first bought land in St. Clair County in 1814, James two quarter sections on 9/10/1814 section 12 township 1N range 7W on meridian 3, Patent Book 23:06 and 23:171, Silas a half section on 23 Sep 1814 section 9 township 1N range 7W 3rd meridian.

Territorial Papers https://libguides.uakron.edu/c.php?g=1509819&p=11290049
Volume 7 of Territorial Records (Indiana Territory), pages 243-245 lists settlers asking congress on 12 Dec 1804 for a reduced rate on land since $2 per acre was beyond their subsistence level means.  Silas Bankson, James Bankson, Andrew Bankson, James McCann all signed, and on pages 245-247 for the same date more names appear including Charles Wakefield, James Bankson, and Barnett Bone in close succession, none of whom signed the earlier petition on 22 Oct 1803.  Another petition on pages 317-321 lists Silas Bankson, Barnet bone (his mark), James Bankson, James McCann (his mark), Charles Wakefield, Charles Wakefield (his mark), James Wakefield (his mark), Andrew Bankson.  The next petition on page 544 dated 6 Apr 1808 was for the formation of a separate state and was signed by James Bankson and Barnet Bone.  Another petition on pages 551-554 shows Silas Bankson, James Banson, Andrew Bankson, James McCan, Charles Wakfild Senr, Charles Wakfild Jur, and Barnabas Bone.
Volume 16 (Illinois Territory), page 234 Muster Roll of Illinois Militia; Muster Roll of a Company of Mounted Rifle Men Commanded by Capt Jacob Short of St Clair County Illinois Territory 29 Jun 1812 Andrew Bankston, private; page 237 duplicative; pages 301-302 company of mounted rifle volunteer to continue in service 28 Feb 1813 Andrew Bankston is listed as 2nd Lieut., John A. Wakefield and George Wakefield in company; page 392 A "petition for the Methodist Society at Shilo in the County of St Claire in Ellenois Territory" asking for public lands to be set aside for churches, signed by seven people including Silas Bankston (petition was rejected as "unreasonable").
Volume 17 (Illinois Territory), page 622 James Bankson appointed Justice of the Peace on 3 May 1809; page 660 Andrew Bankston was appointed Major in the 2nd Regiment and Peyton R. Bankson appointed Lieutenant on 5 Apr 1816; page 668 Jas Bankson was appointed a Justice for Washington County on 17 Feb 1818, Andrew Bankson appointed a Col of 10th Regiment on 3 Mar 1818; page 672 Andrew Bankson resigned 9 Sep 1818, 676 index
pages 137-139 John A. Wakefield and George Wakefield volunteered as Rangers on 1 Mar 1815; pages 651 William Wakefield appointed Justice of the Peace for St. Clair County 8 Apr 1815; 671 John A. Wakefield appointed Justice of the Peace for Bond County 7 Aug 1818

By Ronald S. Beatty, 18 Sept. 2026 

Jacob Bankston b. ca 1740 by Myra Vanderpool Gormley

Jacob Bankston: son of Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks; father of Araminta

Find-A-Grave Memorial ID 86844870
To: Jean Roberts: jeanlroberts@comcast.net
From: Myra Vanderpool Gormley

and shakingfamilytrees.blogspot.com

From the website:

Jacob Bankston, birth 1731, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA

•   No evidence is provided for this date and/or place of birth, although few of the Find-a-Grave websites provide any sources/references. It seems to be that only when a correction or suggestion is made that a “source” is required by the submitter.

•   However, the above information appears to have been taken, directly or indirectly, from “A Genealogy of the Bankston (Bankestok) Family,” compiled by Edna Augusta Robertson Vacher and printed in 1947. This 79-page family history manuscript was microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1971 and is available at its Family History Library as Film No. 858672 (item 7). It is now also available online at familysearch.org in digital version — #7814870, starting with image #445 (of 1,044).

•   In 2013 in Bankston Erratta, the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde-Beatty, the Swedes Colonial Society’s genealogist, issued a report disproving many of Vacher’s claims and advising researchers to have a healthy skepticism about the accuracy of the genealogy presented in that manuscript and to verify any published material. Additionally, some of Vacher’s genealogy was used in “The Direct Lineage of Young Peter Bankston [Eight Generations, 1640-1878] and The Descendants of Young Peter and Louisa Magee Bankston (Six Generations, 1823-1988),” [hereinafter, Young Peter Bankston] compiled by Jesse Homer Bankston in 1988.

•   On page 14 of a microfilmed version of her manuscript, Vacher says a Jacob Bankston, son of Lawrence and Rebecca Hendericks [sic] Bankston, was “born in Philadelphia, Pa., abt. 1731, died abt. 1817 in Clark [sic] Co., Ga, He married 1753 to Elinor Cock (Cox).” [No evidence or citation to any reference was provided — see rebuttal below.]

•   She then listed four children as being their children: John 1754-1823; Elijah 1765-2-22-1849; Elinor [no dates] and Jacob Jr. [no dates] without any evidence for her assertion. She also claimed “Jacob Bankston and his family moved (from Philadelphia) about 1758 to North Carolina where they remained until just before the Revolutionary War, moving on to Wilkes Co., Ga. He enlisted in the Georgia Continental Army and was in the service until the close of the war.” [No proof is provided for a son John, daughter Elinor or a Jacob Jr. (she did not provide any for Elijah, but more recent research has confirmed this kinship — you’ll note there’s no mention of a daughter, Araminta either).

•   In Young Peter Bankston (p. 11), three children are listed as belong to Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks: 1. Peter, born in Philadelphia, died in Georgia; 2. Jacob, 1731-1817; and 3. Daniel, 1733. The compiler provided no references or citations.

 

Page 1 of 9

Jacob Bankston: son of Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks; father of Araminta

•   On page 18 of Vacher’s manuscript [image 462 of DGS 7814870] says “Their [Lawrence and Rebecca] children: 1. Peter, born in Philadelphia Pa.; died in Georgia, Jacob, born 1731-1817; Daniel, born 1733; [Lawrence] married 2) Ann Major of Virginia, about 1747; their children: 1. Lawrence Jr., born in N.C. 1748-1844 in Georgia; 2. John, born 1750; 3. Richard, born 1752; 4. Andrew, born 1754-1837; 5. Mary, born 1756; all children born in North Carolina.

•   There is no proof that Lawrence had a second wife named Ann Major and modern researchers are unable to find a woman of this name].

•   There are so many errors in this, that each child has to be dealt with separately — Vacher provided only one “source” for all this information found here, and it is impossible to distinguish what she is referencing. That “source” is listed as (Genealogical and Historical Society Vol. 3, p. 96) — it has not been identified or found by modern-day researchers of this family.

•   Starting with the first and foremost problem of this genealogy — the marriage to Elinor Cock (Cox), which is widely quoted and even the National Society of Daughters of American Revolution (NSDAR) accepted it many years ago (back in the 1950s), along with its accepting a John Bankston (b. 6-11-1754—9-15-1823) as this Jacob’s son (This John married a Henrietta Coates). There are least 13 Ancestor Files at NSDAR utilizing this erroneous information and all that I’ve seen used the same Patriot (Jacob) and the same Child (John), with the birth of Jacob listed as circa 1733. All the DAR papers I’ve seen for this Patriot cited Vacher. Many DAR members, of course, used a short form, claiming Jacob as their Patriot and only providing generational links from themselves to wherever the line connected to a John and Jacob.

•   Being previously accepted by the DAR does not prove or guarantee that any of the information is correct. I belong to the DAR also and am a former registrar for my local chapter. However, as I understand it, the only way to “correct” information that the DAR has is to submit a supplemental ancestor using Jacob and providing the more recent research proof and references. I simply have not had the time or desire to spend $80 on this to do so. But I may at some point.

   More confusion: Since Lawrence and Rebecca, had removed from Pennsylvania (not Philadelphia, by the way) to North Carolina by 1744, why would a purported son named Jacob, return to Philadelphia in 1753 — about 500 miles away — to wed?

   The main problem for researchers to recognize is there was a Jacob Bankston who married an Elinor Cock (Cox), which is cited on the website with thanks to Deborah Myer linking to:

  https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89061958997;view=1up;seq=18

 What has been overlooked by most researchers is that this Jacob Bankson who married in Philadelphia in 1753 is NOT the son of Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks. This is a common problem in all genealogies — the assumption that someone of the same name is the same person.

 

Page 2 of 9

Jacob Bankston: son of Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks; father of Araminta

•   This link above is to a secondary and derivative source — Old Swedes Church Marriage Records compiled from the original records by Park M’Farland, jr. [sic] and published in Philadelphia in 1879 by M’Farland & Son, Printers. On p.10, under 1753, therein under June, it lists: Jacob Bankson [sic] and Elesnore [sic] Cox, by license, 14th June, 1753. This same information can be found in Glori Dei [Old Swedes Church, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania] Marriages, Baptisms and Burial, 1750-1789, #31, page 11 and on microfilm No. 511,806, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

•   Additional research reveals that the Jacob Bankson who married Elesnore [Elinor] Cox in 1753 is the one who wrote a Will 2 August 1757 and died there 5 August 1757, buried 6 August, aged 37 years [meaning he was born 1720] and additionally, this Jacob and Elinor had no children.

•   It’s impossible to be an ancestor when there are no descendants.

•   For proof that the Jacob Bankson who married Elinor Cox in 1753 is the one who died in 1757 and was born, not in 1731 [Vacher], but in 1820, see Gloria Dei, Old Swedes Church, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Burials, 1750-1878, p. 17 Microfilm No. 511,822, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. This Jacob Bankson’s Will was written 2 August 1757 and probated 10 August 1757. See FHL microfilm No. 21,724, Wills, Vol. I-K; Will Book K, pp. 557-559 #345 (which has now been digitized and is available at familysearch.org/ DGS 7726374 (image 645). An extract of this Will is also found Ancestry.com:

  Name: Jacob Bankson
  Residence: Philadelphia Co.
  Description: Decedent
  Date: 2 Aug 1757
  Prove Date: 10 Aug 1757
  Title: Yeoman, Jr.
  Book/Page: K:557
  Remarks: Bankson, Jacob, Jr. Co. of Philadelphia. Yeoman. Aug 2, 1757. Aug. 10, 1757. Wife: Elinor. Brothers: Andrew, Peter and John. Sister: Deborah. Mother: Elinor. All relatives are legatees. Exec: Brother John and cousin Andrew Bankson, shopkeeper

  Actually, the Jacob Bankson who died in 1757 in Philadelphia and left a Will, was a son of a John Bankston (1681-1739) — not the son of Lawrence and Rebecca. That Jacob (d. 1757) was a first cousin to Lawrence. This can be determined by examining the names of his relatives mentioned in his Will and studying the more scholarly genealogy prepared by Dr. Peter S. Craig of the Colonial Swedes Society.

   Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks did have a son named Jacob, but he was not the Jacob who married an Elinor Cox and who died without issue — and their Jacob was not born in 1731 in Philadelphia.

Page 3 of 9

Jacob Bankston: son of Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks; father of Araminta

From the website:

Jacob married Jemima (maiden name unknown) in North Carolina in 1753.

 Jacob, son of Lawrence (for brevity’s sake), did have a wife named Jemima [—?--] but date and place of their marriage has not been determined. Jemima, his wife, is mentioned in a deed dated 10 February 1798 in Hancock County, Georgia, and in the original minute book of the Mars Hill Baptist Church (Frances W. Reid and Mary B. Warren, Mars Hill Baptist Church (Constituted 1799), Clarke-Oconee Co., Georgia (Athens, Georgia: Heritage Papers, 1966), pp. 1- 4, 9.) appears the names of Jacob Bankston and Jemima Bankston (listed separately under males and females. They were dismissed by letter from this church in 1803.

From the website:

He [Jacob] was a Revolutionary Patriot from Georgia.

 Correct, although Vacher’s claim that he was in the “Georgia Continental Army” is in error. He was in the Militia. The same is true of his brothers — none served in the Continental Army.

From the website:

Information pertaining to Jacob’s grandfather, Andrew Bankson and great-grandparents, Anders Bankson Sr. and Gertrude Rambo is basically accurate.

 However, the nine children listed for Jacob are riddled with misinformation and only four of these nine are proven to be his children, towit: 1. Elijah Bankston (1765-1848, Butts County, Georgia); 2. Henry Bankston (1773-1811, Clarke County, Georgia); 3. Araminta Bankston (1782- 1861, DeKalb County, Georgia); and 4. William Bankston (1767-1807 Clarke County, Georgia) recently proven by DNA.

Note: I, too, started with this old genealogy by Vacher, but when an 1800 Family Bible of Isaac Autry/Awtrey and Araminta Bankston who married that year was found in a descendant’s trunk in the attic, it revealed that my 4-great-grandmother, Araminta Bankston, was the daughter of a Jacob Bankston, and I needed to figure out which one because Vacher claimed, without proof, that there were two Jacobs (father and son) and she gave dates of birth (without any proof ) that they were born in 1731 and 1760.

Hypotheticially either could have fathered my Araminta who was born in 1782.

 I was able to eliminate the childless couple — Jacob Bankston (1720-1757) and Elinor Cock, of Philadelphia, which evidently is the Jacob that Vacher claimed was born in 1731 (again no evidence or any references) — as the parents of my Araminta Bankston’s father, Jacob, or the father of Elijah Bankston because they were childless and in any case had died long before my Araminta was born.

Page 4 of 9

Jacob Bankston: son of Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks; father of Araminta

 I turned to sorting through Georgia records looking for clues and evidence. Three records proved to be most helpful. Two appear in The Early Records of Georgia, Volume I, Wilkes County. (Abstracted and compiled by Grace Gillam Davidson, published 1933 in Macon, Georgia) and now available online at:
http://www.giddeon.com/wilkes/books/early-records-of-ga-vol 1/index.shtml

1. There is a 1786 deed in Wilkes County, Georgia, which mentioned that Peter, Daniel and Jacob Bankston sold 400 acres in Pennsylvania, which was “from our father, Laurence Bankston.” (Wilkes County, GA, Deed Book AA — 1785-1787 p. 127.)

2. This same trio also sold 37.5 acres in Philadelphia, mentioning that it was “willed to our mother, Rebecca Hendricks.” (Wilkes County, GA, Deed Book AA — 1785-1787 p. 125)

3. On 9 June 1811 in Clarke County, Washington, the following record was recorded regarding a Creek Indian Depredation Claim of 1782 [emphasis mine]:
   “Whereas I Jacob Banckston is about to remove to the Missippi state [sic] this to sertyfy [certify] that I have bargind and sold unto Elijah Banckston, my son all my right[s] and title to the claim that I did againstt the Creek Nations of Indians for property taken at McNabs Fort Wilk[es] County 1782 which property was valued to five hundred and fifty five dollars and I do hereby give over all my right[s] and title to the above mentioned claim unto to above Elijah Banckston or sum written and hereby in power him to Recept for the same in my name and this my order shall recept to whom may be impowerd to pay of [off] the claim. Signed Jacob Banckston.

•   So, there was a Jacob Bankston who was the son of Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks and he had a son, Elijah Bankston, and he planned to leave Georgia for the “Missippi state” [sic] which would have been the Mississippi Territory in 1811 as Mississippi was not yet a state, and he was a candidate as the father of my Araminta Bankston who married in 1800 to Isaac Awtrey.

•   The Reconstructed 1790 Census of Georgia (De Lamar and Rothstein, 1985) lists only one Jacob Bankston. It had been an early indicator that there might be a problem with the old Vacher genealogy.

•   Georgia Tax Digests (Volume I-V) cover the years from 1789 to 1817 (“An Index to Georgia Tax Digests” (five volumes) published for the R. J. Taylor Jr. Foundation, Atlanta, GA. The Reprint Co., Publishers, Spartanburg, SC 1986.) And, in order to keep track of the many Bankstons and the numerous counties in which I found them in northeast Georgia during these years, I created a spreadsheet. There were never two Jacob Bankstons listed the same year in these records. My conclusion is there was only one Jacob Bankston, and he was not born in 1731, and he was not

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Jacob Bankston: son of Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks; father of Araminta

the son of the childless Jacob Bankston and Elinor Cox — the Jacob who died in 1757 in Philadelphia.

•   A thorough search was conducted in pre-1850 Georgia probate, land, and tax records and none turned up a Jacob Bankston Jr. (purportedly born ca 1760).

•   The designation of Jr. and Sr. does not necessarily indicate son and father; sometimes it was just used to distinguish men of the same name (usually for the benefit of the taxman); they could have been nephew/uncle — or not related at all.

•   Figuring out where the Jacob Bankston fit into the household of Lawrence Bankston (1704-1771) and Rebecca Hendricks (1710 -before 1786) required some in-depth research and a number of cousins working together.

  How we figured out approximately when this Jacob was born:

1. His parents, Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks were married about 1725-6 in Pennsylvania and lived there first, but by 1744 Lawrence was listed as a taxpayer in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Land and court records pertaining to Lawrence’s estate reveal that he had five sons, and at least one daughter — she married James Lea.

2. In a 1793 a deposition of James Lea pertaining to land owned by Lawrence Bankston in Caswell County, North Carolina, he said that Andrew was his (Lawrence’s) eldest son, Peter was the second son, Lawrence (Jr.) was the third, Daniel was the fourth and Jacob was the fifth and youngest son. So now we had the birth order of the five sons.

3. Children in this time and locality were frequently born about two years apart, so based on the eldest child, probably a daughter, being born within a year after the couple was married, say 1727, this couple (Lawrence Sr. and Rebecca) could have had six children born from ca 1727 to about 1739, using an estimated time frame of about two years between each child (six children x 2 years apart = 12 years). There also is possibly another daughter that researchers believe is part of this family, but critical evidence is lacking.

4. If Jacob is the youngest child (we only know he is the youngest son) of Lawrence and Rebecca, his date of birth could range from about 1739 to 1743. Of especial interest in figuring out the ages of the sons of Lawrence is the 1755 tax list of Orange County, North Carolina, where is listed Lawrence Bankson [sic], Esq. and sons — 5 white polls. To be counted in the poll, each son had to be 16 years of age or older, which verified that Lawrence had four sons in 1755 — all born before 1739, but his fifth and youngest son, Jacob, evidently was born after 1739 or he would have been included on this tax list.

5. We also know the birthdate of this Jacob’s son, Elijah (probably his eldest child). It was 1765. [Elijah Bankston’s RW pension application is transcribed and online (under Elijah Bankcston (Bankston) R478) at http://revwarapps.org/

   

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Jacob Bankston: son of Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks; father of Araminta

6. Men seldom married before age 21 in this time and locality, so it can estimated that Jacob, son of Lawrence, probably married about 1763, and that he was born about 1740, give or take a couple of years. In making this determination, it also threw serious doubt of the claim that Jacob had a son, Jacob Jr. born in 1760. Biologically, it is possible to be a father at about 20, but highly unlikely in this instance — and no prior marriage has been found for this Jacob. For whatever reason that Vacher assumed there was a Jacob Jr., she provided no evidence whatsoever to support it, and since she was going on the erroneous assumption that the older Jacob was born in 1731 (we do not know how she made that assumption either) it appears to be a “guesstimate” on her part, based on inaccurate information to start with. Apparently, she took the 1753 marriage in Philadelphia and attributed it to Lawrence’s Jacob, but she neglected to find the additional records, which more specifically identify the Jacob who married in 1753.

7. Additionally, with a more logical birthdate of 1740 for Jacob, son of Lawrence, it throws cold water on Vacher’s other unproven contention that this Jacob had a son, John, born in 1754 — at age 14! That obviously is not likely. (Researchers are working on determining the children of Jacob and Peter, as they both apparently had sons named William and John, but that is research in progress).

The marriage of a Jacob Bankston to a Nancy Brewer in Clarke County, Georgia on 5 October 1808 has caused numerous discussions and many have attempted to make this marriage of a Jacob Bankston Jr., arguing that Jacob Bankston Sr. was TOO OLD. That argument would be credible — IF the correct date of birth of the older Jacob Bankston had been known, but everyone uses the 1731 date given by Vacher (without any evidence) or the 1733 date by DAR (also unproven). But, if this Jacob Bankston was born say 1740-43, a second marriage to a younger woman would not be out of line. After all we have a Jacob found “laying out a road” in 1800 in Georgia, when he would have been (by estimation) 60 years old.

From "The early history of Jackson county, Georgia.
"The writings of the late G.J.N. Wilson . . .
At the June Term of the Inferior Court in 1800, this "Order" was passed: "Ordered, that Gabriel Hubbard, Jacob Bankston, James Stringer, Robt. McGowen, Richard Easley, Wm. Loyd and Richard Thurmond be commissioners to lay out a road leading from the High Shoals of the Appalatchee to Jackson court house so as to cross the bridge across the Middle river
where the county may appoint.
"George Wilson, Absalom Ramsey and Jas. Pittman, Judges."

Jacob in Mississippi Territory/Louisiana.

According to the American State Papers, a Jacob Bankston was a claimant of one parcel of land in Baton Rouge Parish Louisiana by settlement in 1806. That date establishes him as a very early settler before land grants or legal records. There was very little actual government. The Spanish were in Baton Rouge

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Jacob Bankston: son of Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks; father of Araminta

but not active. In early 1800s there were many settlement claims that as many as 3 or 4 on one tract] were made by settlement. Some made 75 or more settlement claims. The American State Paper listing Jacob Bankston as a claimant in 1806 was prepared by two land office employees in the St. Helena Parish Land office on 18 Nov. 1820. This list has claimants from 1803 to 1820. The report states, "In relation to the settlements made anteriorly to 15 April, 1813, we conceive it unnecessary to make any remarks. Under the present law they are where fairly made, entitled to donations." [so the actual date of his land claim is open to conjecture, but probably before War of 1812]. When Jacob's claim was recorded it was dated 1820, He was listed with 638.47 acres in Section 49, Township 2 S and Range 9 E. It was also reported that the claim was in St. Tammany not Baton Rouge.

The patent was dated 8-6-1846. In the same Township and Range in Section 44 is George Brewer and in Section 46 is James Lea and in Section 41 is Levi Bankston. Jacob and Levi Bankston's land are adjoining. John Bankston's land is in Township 2 S, Range 8 E. Sections 13, 14, 23, and 24. So their (Jacob and John) land was not adjoining.

Apparently, Jacob returned to Clarke County, Georgia where he is found (with no evidence that he had sold or deeded away any of his property there), particularly in tax records until ca 1815. He appears to be the same man who removed to the Mississippi Territory about (by estimate) 1816-1819, although in 1811 he said he intended to go then (but perhaps the War of 1812 interfered with his plans). He appears to be the one shown in early land records of Louisiana, in Half Moon Baptist Church records of Washington Parish, Louisiana, in the American State Papers claiming land west of Pearl River, Louisiana, and in the 1820 census of Washington Parish, Louisiana.

Information in the Pearl River Baptist Association in Mississippi/Louisiana enables one to learn when Jacob Bankston showed up there. The “Abstracts from Minutes of the Mississippi Baptist Association Half Moon Bluff Baptist Church” shows the Delegates to Mississippi Baptist Association starting in 1812. In 1819 and 1820 is listed “N. Morris, (and) J. Bankston.” On 2 February 1822 (p .20) “Chose Brother Jacob Bankston, Moderator.” Jacob Bankston also was a delegate from Half Moon Bluff to Pearl River Association on Sept. 7-9, 1822 and is listed as an ordained minister in list of delegates in 1822. The last mention of him is in these church records is 1823.

In 1820 Washington Parish, Louisiana census, Jacob Bankston is listed with 1 white male 45+ and 1 white female 45+ and 2 white females under 10. Nancy [née Brewer] Bankston is enumerated in the 1830-1840-1850 Washington Parish, Louisiana censuses. Apparently Jacob Bankston died ca 1824-27 (the latter date is when Nancy is referred to as a widow). However, Procession (probate) records for him have not been found in Louisiana; and no probate records have been located in Clarke County, Georgia either.

 Note: The John Bankston, born purportedly about 1754 is not the son of a Jacob, born ca 1740, but rather is the son of Peter Bankston (ca 1732-1804). Peter was Jacob’s older

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Jacob Bankston: son of Lawrence Bankston and Rebecca Hendricks; father of Araminta

brother and Peter married a Priscilla [—?--], who survived him, NOT a Rachel Williams as Vacher claimed, again mixing up the Philadelphia Bankston families with those in North Carolina and Georgia.

 Relying on Ancestry trees is imprudent and irresponsible. Most of them are copied or imported from each other with no real independent research having been conducted and the compilers exhibiting little understanding of the historical documents cited or used. A search of dozens of these trees in which a Jacob Bankston appears (with various birth dates given) reveals almost everyone is copied from what’s called “Ancestry Family Tree.” An example taken from a “tree” pertaining to: Jacob Bankston, born 1760 in Guilford County, NC and who died in 1857 in Washington Parish, Louisiana. The only “source” cited is another Ancestry tree, which has no sources either. Here’s how it reads:

 When Jacob Bankston and his twin brother Jacob were born in 1760 in Guilford, North Carolina, their father, Jacob, was 29, and their mother, Elsenor, was 26. He had six brothers and five sisters. He died in 1857 in Washington, Louisiana, at the impressive age of 97.”

Twins were never (in all of the years I’ve been researching) given the exact same name. Moreover, since we’ve proven that the Jacob who married Elsenor (Elinor) Cox died without heirs in 1757 in Philadelphia; it would be impossible for them to be parents of a child born in 1760 North Carolina.

Because so many inexperienced “family historians” especially rely upon Ancestry and FamilySearch (and other online) trees and cite Find-A-Grave as their “sources” for their data, it is critical that the Find- A-Grave community endeavor not to post or publish any information that is known to be false or misleading — and to remove same when gross inaccuracies are pointed out. It is impossible for one to know everything about a particular family, but the continued posting of erroneous information is a disservice to all genealogists and historians.

Family trees are never 100% complete or 100% accurate, and as new material is discovered, and DNA results are proving or disproving old links, the flexibility to so note those finds and correct old, inaccurate genealogies at Find-A-Grave is most important to the community.

And we all owe our ancestors the best work we can do.

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BANKSTON COUSINS

A time line through 1800 for descendants of Lawrence Bankston who appears in Edgecombe County, NC by 1744

The Bankston time line is a spreadsheet with links to photos of original signatures and to document transcriptions.

Bankston Cousins: We need your help - please post citations as comments.

Rambo Books All in Print

All five volumes of the Rambo book are now in print. See the link for AuthorHouse to the right. The third volume (Gertrude Rambo m. Anders Bengtsson (Bankson) will have a revised printing as time permits.

Please click on the Bankston Family Tree website (sidebar - left) to see updated research reports. Click on the Bankston timeline spreadsheet. You can copy and paste the spreadsheet onto your computer and click on the hyperlinks to see copies of images of wills, documents, etc.

Bankston Books in Print!

The book, The Spirit in the South is also now in print and available online through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or authorHouse.com (see link in sidebar).

The Spirit in the South contains fictional history essays of ten generations of grandmothers explaining their indomitable spirit that took them through the life stressors of war, poverty, grief and loss and westward migrations from Colonial days into the 20th century. It contains documentation for membership in the DAR, War Between the States, War of 1812 and heraldic societies.

A time line through 1800 for descendants of Lawrence Bankston who appears in Edgecombe County, NC by 1744

The Bankston time line is a spreadsheet with links to photos of original signatures and to document transcriptions.

Two Things:

The Rambo Bankston website address has been changed to http://sites.google.doc/site/rambofamilytree/

The Third Volume of the series, The Rambo Family Tree, by Beverly Nelson Rambo and Ronald S. Beatty is available for purchase. Nearly all of the Rambo families in the US are descended from one common ancestor, Peter Gunnarson Rambo, who landed on the shores of the Delaware River in 1640 at what is now Wilmington, Delaware. This 2300 page history of the Rambo family describes Peter and his six children and lists their descendants which can be found in every state in the Union. This third volume of the series is the first volume published and describes the children of Gertrude Rambo Bankson, Peter's second child and eldest daughter. Up through 1850 all the Bankson and Bankston families in the US are believed to be descended from Gertrude and her husband, Andrew Bankson (spelled Andreas Bengtsson in the Swedish records. Bankston and Bankson are the primary names in this volume.

Use your credit card to order directly from the book store on http://www.authorhouse.com/ on line or telephone: 1-888-280-7715 for about $31.60 including shipping and handling. The Rambo Family Tree: Third Volume: Descendants of his daughter, Gertrude Rambo Bankson is a large print, 540 pages at 8.5 inches by 11.

The remaining four volumes of the Rambo Family Tree Genealogy will be completely proofed and should be in print by the summer of 2009.

Thanks again to all the cousins and to everyone else who contributed to this book. Wonderful cousins and new friends have turned this incredible effort into a real pleasure.

Cousin Ron Beatty