John Banister (lawyer)

For other people named John Banister, see John Banister (disambiguation).

John Banister (December 26, 1734 – September 30, 1788) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, planter, and slave owner from Petersburg, Virginia. As a member of the Second Continental Congress, he assisted in framing the Articles of Confederation, which became the nation's first constitution in 1781.

Colonel John Banister
Portrait in The History of the Blair, Banister, and Braxton Families Before and After the Revolution by Frederick Horner, 1898
Virginia House of Burgesses
In office 1765–1769
In office 1772–1775
Virginia House of Delegates
In office 1776–1778
In office 1781–1784
Second Continental Congress
In office March 1778 – September 1779
Mayor (1st), Petersburg, Virginia
In office 1785–1786
Personal details
Born	(1734-12-26)December 26, 1734 Hatcher's Run near Petersburg, Virginia, British America
Died	September 30, 1788(1788-09-30) (aged 53) Battersea Plantation, Petersburg, Virginia
Resting place	Hatcher's Run near Petersburg, Virginia
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Munford (married 1755-70; her death), Elizabeth (Patsy) Bland (married 1770-75; her death), Agan (Nancy) Blair (married 1779-88; his death)
Parents	Capt. John Banister (father) Wilmouth (mother)
Education	Middle Temple, London, England
Occupation	Politician Lawyer Continental Army Officer

Life

Coat of Arms of John Banister

The son of John Banister and grandson of John Baptist Banister the naturalist, he was educated at Middle Temple in London, England, admitted on September 27, 1753. Banister served in the House of Burgesses (1765–1769, 1772–1775), Virginia House of Delegates (1776–1778, 1781–1784), and Second Continental Congress (1778–1779). While a delegate to the Continental Congress, he was a framer of the Articles of Confederation, which he signed on July 8, 1778. Banister also had served as a member of the Virginia Convention, which declared Virginia an independent state in 1776. He was appointed the first mayor of Petersburg in 1785. He was well informed on current affairs and an established writer.

Battersea Plantation, Petersburg, Virginia

Banister was married three times. His first marriage was to Elizabeth Munford in 1755. After her death in 1770, he married Elizabeth "Patsy" Bland, the daughter of Theodorick Bland of Cawsons and the sister of Colonel Theodorick Bland.^[1][2] His second wife died in 1775, and four years later Banister married Agan (Scottish for Anna) Blair of Williamsburg, daughter of John Blair Sr.^[3]

Banister's suburban villa in Petersburg, Battersea, was built in 1768 in a five-part Palladian style. In 1782, Banister was listed in Dinwiddie County records with three free males, 46 adult slaves, 42 slaves under age, 28 horses, 126 cattle, and one chariot.^[4]

Revolutionary War

During the Revolutionary War, Banister was a major and lieutenant colonel of cavalry in the Virginia line militia (1778–1781). General and Commander-in-Chief George Washington regarded him highly, as witnessed by a letter he wrote to him from Valley Forge.^[5] In 1781, he aided in supplying his militia and in repelling the British from his state. Much of his personal property was lost. British forces under General William Phillips would commonly stop at his home in Battersea.^[6]

Death

Banister is buried in the family plot at Hatcher's Run, the family estate in Dinwiddie County, Virginia.^[7]

Namesake

A distinguished Pennsylvania jurist, John Bannister Gibson (1780-1853), was named after John Banister, although using a slightly different spelling of the name.^[8]

References

1. "Stray Leaves, a James Family in America since 1650". Eric James. January 20, 2004.
2. "Colonel John Banister". Colonel John Banister Chapter, NSDAR. Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
3. Horner, Frederick (1897). The history of the Blair, Banister, and Braxton families before and after the revolution: With a brief sketch of their descendants. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company.
4. "A List of Tithes & Taxable Property taken by Dun [Duncan] Rose Gent the 10th day of April, 1782 for Dinwiddie County". The William and Mary Quarterly. 26 (3): 196–201. January 1918. JSTOR 191801.
5. "The Papers of George Washington – George Washington to John Banister – 21 April 1778". Alderman Library, University of Virginia. 2005. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
6. "Battersea, 793 Appomattox Street, Petersburg, VA". US Dept of Interior, Historic American Buildings Survey. VA-136. 1933.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
7. • United States Congress. "John Banister (id: B000109)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
8. Samuel Dreher Matlack, "JOHN BANNISTER GIBSON. 1780-1853" in William Draper Lewis, Great American Lawyers (1909), pp. 351–404

Sources

• Johnson, Allen, ed. Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936.

External links

• Marquis Who's Who, Inc. Who Was Who in American History, the Military. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1975. ISBN 0837932017 OCLC 657162692
• "National Register of Historic Places, Registration form for Battersea" (PDF). 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-11-13. Retrieved 2007-12-03.