A BIOGRAPHY OF ZACHARIAH WILLIS BANKS
1841 - 1906
Zachariah Willis Banks was a third generation native-born Georgian and fifth generation native-born American. Zachariah was born near the town of Forsythe in Monroe County near the center of Georgia. According to his gravestone at the Riceville (Tennessee) cemetery, he was born in 1841 and died in 1906.
Zachariah's great grandfather Thomas Banks was born in King and Queen's County, Virginia, in 1709 but he moved to Granville, North Carolina at an early age. Late in life, Thomas (of Granville) moved with many of his children to Wilkes (later Elbert) County, Georgia. Thomas died in Elbert County Georgia in 1789 and his third wife then returned to Granville, North Carolina, with their youngest son, Thomas' eleventh child.
Zachariah's grandfather William Banks (born 1766), a long-time resident of Wilkes/Elbert County, was born in Granville, North Carolina. William was the 8th of the eleven children of Thomas Banks, the 5th with Thomas' second wife Betty White Banks. Zachariah's paternal grandmother, Anne Henderson Banks, was from Wilkes/Elbert County.
Zachariah's father, William Randall Banks (erroneously called William Randd Banks in Banks of Elbert, 3rd Ed.) was a native of Ruckersville in the County of Wilkes/Elbert, Georgia. William R. Banks was the 4th of eleven children. Zachariah's mother Elizabeth Bowman Banks had grown up near Ruckersville too.
When Thomas and his children, including Ralph, James, John and William, migrated to Georgia from North Carolina shortly after the Revolutionary War, they purchased or were granted a tract of land not far from the Savannah River. They built a large farmhouse and established a plantation. The house was still standing in 1995, owned by Capt. Wm. R. Banks, U.S. Navy, Ret. Capt. Banks was a long time President of the Banks Family Association. When Thomas died in 1789, he was buried behind the house and the plantation was divided among his children. William appears to have sold his interest to Ralph and invested the proceeds in his own separate plantation near Ruckersville. William's plantation home outside Ruckersville was destroyed by fire in the 1930's and there is no remaining evidence of its existence. Much the same can be said of Ruckersville which was a thriving center of politics and commerce in the Eighteenth Century but is completely gone today. William and Anne are buried next to the First Methodist Church of Ruckersville, Elbert County, Georgia. Their grave marker indicates that William was a Revolutionary War veteran. He must have been one of the youngest Revolutionary War soldiers.
Zachariah's parents, William R. Banks and Elizabeth Bowman Banks, left Elbert County Georgia about 1829 and moved to Monroe County Georgia, obtaining land near Forsythe, Georgia. Several Banks brothers, sisters and cousins, together with members of the Alexander family (two Banks brothers were married to two Alexander’ sisters), moved from Elbert County to Monroe County together. Land was being granted to new settlers in the Forsythe area at this time. William R. Banks and Elizabeth Bowman Banks acquired or built a plantation and raised a family of sixteen (16) children. The place of William R. and Elizabeth's burial is not presently known. Elizabeth is believed to have died about 1863 and William R. about 1867.
William R. volunteered to serve in a Georgia unit during the Civil War. His enlistment papers show him to be 56 years old, Six feet three inches tall, with gray hair and blue eyes. A few months after enlistment he received a medical discharge for "exposure". Much more research is going to be necessary with respect to this family.
Zachariah was born near Forsythe, Monroe County, Georgia in the latter part of 1841. Zachariah was the 4th child of William R. and Elizabeth's sixteen (16) children. Zachariah's brothers and sisters are not known with the greatest of certainty, but the following are believed to be their names: William Jefferson Banks, John Thomas Banks, Sank Banks, [then Zach], Sallie Banks Walker, Elizabeth Banks English, Mollie Banks Leary, Mattie Banks Barkley, and Duck Banks Palmer. It is interesting that Forsythe, Georgia, has a reputation somewhat like Orange County in California. It is considered by other Georgians to represent the epitome of the South.
In essence, it is ultraconservative and has been such for 150 years or more.
When Zachariah was about eighteen years of age, he became estranged from his family. As Zachariah's grandson Harry Edward Banks, son of William Marshall Banks (Zachariah's oldest child excepting Lowry who was his informally adopted child), wrote to his cousin Muriel Banks Anderson in 1961, concerning Zachariah's funeral, as follow:
... his brother Sank came to the funeral also his wife and one daughter. His other brother, W.W. Banks who was a President of the Fulton National Bank was in New York on a business trip and didn't get back in time to attend the funeral so I didn't get to meet him. ... Uncle Sank told us our Grandpa left home in Georgia because he would not work Negro Slaves on his daddy's plantation so he was disinherited and then he joined the Federal Army and fought throughout the Civil War as a Yankee soldier with the 10th Tenn. Calvary -- a Yankee outfit.”
While Harry Edward Banks was right
about a lot of family history, Zachariah did not go directly from his daddy's
plantation to the Federal Army, nor did he fight throughout the Civil War as a
Yankee soldier. It is really a lot more interesting, but more on that later.
However indirectly, Zachariah moved from Forsythe to McMinn County, Tennessee. He met Jane Catherine Wingo soon after which we assume to be shortly before the 1860 census. Zachariah was not listed in the 1860 census for Monroe County, Georgia, but the rest of his family was at their home near Forsythe, Georgia. Jane Catherine Wingo was the daughter of Andrew J. Wingo and Rosannah Wingo, both originally of South Carolina. Jane Catherine Wingo was about four years older than Zachariah. Jane had previously married Thomas R. Beckett at McMinn County, Tennessee, (County Seat is Athens; Riceville is in McMinn County) in January of 1856 and they had a son Lowry Beckett. No record of the termination of the marriage nor the death of Thomas R. Beckett has been found. The Wingo family is found in McMinn County Tennessee in the 1860 census. The Beckett family were residents of McMinn County in 1850.
According to records from the Old Soldiers Home in Johnson County, Zachariah was married to Jane Catherine Wingo by Justice of the Peace John Scarborough on the third Sunday in May 1861. No other record of this marriage has been found in Tennessee. Jane’s son Lowry Beckett went by the name Lowry Banks most of his life, but his burial record in McMinn County, Tennessee, shows him as Lowry Beckett. He died about the same time as his brother-in-law Nathan Lockmiller. Some said they died of the same cause at the same time (whiskey poison) but the death records do not support this story.
The children of Zachariah and Jane, excepting Jane's child Lowry, are:
1. William Marshall Banks, born 1863, died 1915 the father of nine (9) children.
2. Rosanna Elizabeth Banks, born 1866, died around 1880 at about age 14
3. Thomas born 1868, died before 1870 (age 2)
4. Thomas Alexander Banks, born about 1872, died 1930 at Ontario, California, the father of nine (9) children (the 9th of whom died in childhood)
5. Sara (Sadie or Sade) Banks Lockmiller, born 1873, died near Athens, Tennessee in 1957 or 1958, the mother of two children and stepmother to several others. She may have lived with Zachariah or Zachariah with her in 1900.
She and her husband Nathan Lockmiller (Sr.) managed Zachariah's meager probate estate.
6. Adaline Banks, born 1-August-1875 died 21-August-1893, three weeks after her 18th birthday. She is buried beside Zachariah and Jane Catherine.
The Confederate Army was assembled by pulling together "Companies" which were groups of 40 - 50 men formed in local Southern communities and then connected to larger commands. The 6th Battalion was organized in October of 1862 and Company B from Athens was attached to it upon its formation. Zachariah's "Muster Roll" indicates that he enlisted at that time and place with J.R. Neal in the 16th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion. Zachariah was a Private and in addition to paying him for his service, he also received a fee for the use of his horse. His enlistment was for three years. He was listed on the Muster Roll as continuously present from 31-May-1862 until August 1863 after which there is no record.
The Cavalry Battalion was originally commanded by Major E.W. Rucker but John R. Neal, the head of Company B, became the Lieutenant Commander when Rucker was promoted. Companies A, B and C were stationed at Post Oak Springs, Roane County, Tennessee from their formation until September or October of 1862 when they were moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. Company B stayed at Knoxville for many months, then were located at Sweetwater from 30-June-1863 to December 1864. Records indicate that they were moved to Greeneville and Kingsport later but nothing is known of them thereafter. While stationed in Knoxville, the Battalion was affiliated with certain larger entities (Rucker's Legion and Vaughn's Brigade) and they participated in raids in Kentucky and other areas.
The records pertaining to Zachariah's Confederate Company become sketchy after 30-June-1863. Zacharia's last Confederate payroll was for July and August 1863. All the preceding "Muster Rolls" were effective to a specific last day of a specific month. But the final roll simply refers to July and August 1863. The unit may have simply disintegrated.
The South and the North had been locked in a struggle over slavery for many years. The Civil War nearly started in 1848 when California was admitted to the Union. War or secession were avoided by a compromise much as they were after "Bloody Kansas". It became obvious by 1860 that the North was going to successfully block the spread of slavery. The Republican platform in 1860 (for the election of Lincoln) was opposed to the spread of slavery. After Lincoln's election, fearing that the North was threatening their way of life, the South, largely under the banner of state's rights, seceded and eventually attacked Fort Sumpter. The Southern leaders thought that the North would not possess the resolve to meet their challenge and they would be allowed to cede from the Union. It seemed as though they had guessed right, for Lincoln did not fight them for months. The Northern effort was thought to be for "unity”, but it was characterized by foolish, blundering commanders for the first two years of the war. There were times when it looked very much like the North did not have the resolve to see it through. However, with lucky timing, some Northern victories and some astute political activity, Lincoln turned a lack luster fight for unity into a fight against slavery. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation became effective 1-January-1863 and helped to galvanize the resolve of the North. The North turned the war around in Vicksburg and Gettysburg in July of 1863.
Zachariah and possibly some other members of Company B travelled from Sweetwater to Wartburg, Tennessee, where, on the seventh day of August 1863, Zachariah enlisted for a term of three years in the Union Army. One Tennessee historian said Zachariah probably had to travel that far North to find a "Northern Outfit". Wartburg is in an area of Tennessee which was pro-Union during the Civil War. The County to the North of it seceded from Tennessee when Tennessee joined the Confederacy. There was a large encampment of federal troops 2 - 3 miles East of Wartburg for approximately two years during the Civil War. (Wartburg was named by a German speaking immigrant who owned 300,000 acres of land in the area.)
The Union enlistment paper says Zachariah was born in Monroe County, Georgia, that he was a farmer, he had dark hair, dark eyes, fair complexion, and his height was 6'3". Family legend had stated his height at 6’6". If the enlistment paper is accurate, family legend exaggerated his height. It may be that there was a height limit for enlistment (as there is now) and he had to slouch down to qualify. We will probably never know for sure.
Zachariah's grandson (Harry Edward Banks) was nearly correct, but Zachariah was placed with the 11th Tennessee Volunteer Calvary, Company I, not the 10th. On February 24, 1864, Zachariah's outfit was engaged in battle with the Confederate troops in a mountainous area five miles east of Cumberland Gap in northeast Tennessee, near the Kentucky and Virginia borders. This was a strategic mountain pass to the north and east of Tennessee which changed hands three times during the Civil War. The Confederate troops, under the command of William E. "Grumble" Jones, at Wierman’s Mills, surrounded the Yankee soldiers and killed or captured most of the 11th Tennessee Volunteer Calvary. Only about sixty of the 11th Tennessee Volunteer Calvary escaped, 256 were captured. Zachariah was captured and spent the rest of the Civil War in a Confederate Prison. His Union Battalion was so decimated that it was never again reformed, and its remaining members were merged into the 9th Calvary at Knoxville.
The first Banks of Elbert book, published in 1906 from the notes of Elbert Augustine Banks, M.D. and reprinted by Sarah Banks Franklin in the Second Edition, published in 1937, makes mention of "the only instance known of one of the blood fighting on the wrong side." These books suggest that the only Banks cousin who "got in with the wrong crowd" was a descendant of Thomas of Virginia's youngest son Thomas (born 23-December-1788) but all of the descendants of Thomas (born 1788) have been located and none of them ever served in the "Federal Army". Thus, there appears to be little doubt that Zachariah was indeed the "Unionist".
The documents called the Muster Roll, obtained from Union Civil War records, show Zachariah in attendance regularly from 7-August-1863 until the time of the February 1864 battle after which the Muster Roll states, "May 1864 Absent in confinement at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee." Other Banks family legends state that Zachariah's Georgia cousins protected him from the most abusive treatment as a prisoner of war. Certainly, this must have been necessary protection for somebody whose captors considered him not only an opposing soldier but also an abolitionist, a traitor and a deserter.
Yankee soldiers who were captured and imprisoned by Confederate troops must have necessarily been subjected to some degree of mistreatment. Witness Andersonville. The Confederacy could not adequately feed and clothe its regular soldiers; they could not have been humane to the prisoners of war even if they wanted to do so. No records have been found about Zachariah's captivity, but it began at a time when Sherman was already marching from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Thus, it was unlikely that Zachariah was taken directly South. Further, there was no point in taking him directly East because the mountains would have made it difficult, and the other side of the mountains would have been controlled by the Yankees. Obviously North was out. Therefore, Zachariah and the other members of the Tennessee 11th Volunteer Calvary were probably taken first to the East and then to the South.
The Banks of Elbert books make
reference to the Banks cousin prisoner being in Mississippi. Zachariah may have
been a prisoner in Mississippi. Harry Edward Banks told Muriel Banks Anderson
that Jane Catherine Wingo thought Zachariah was deceased because he was not
heard from for a long time and he did not return to Riceville for quite some
time after the hostilities ended. More research needs to be done on this point.
It is interesting to note that Zachariah's Confederate Civil War records refer to the rental of his horse and his Union Civil War records list him as a "wagoneer". His son Thomas Alexander Banks was, a generation later, enlisted in the Spanish-American War as a "wagoneer".
It strikes me that Harry Edward Banks "doth protest too much" in stressing that Zachariah went directly from Georgia to the federal army and fought throughout the war as a Yankee soldier. I think Harry knew the truth and was hiding it. He made several references to a 1913 letter which explained Zachariah's position on slavery and service in the Civil War. Yet, despite several years of correspondence, he never sent Muriel Banks Anderson a copy of that letter. That letter probably contained the truth about Zachariah's dual service and Harry was embarrassed by it. But there are many instances of brother vs. brother and father against son. Further, if you're looking for deserters, start at the top. Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston and all the great Southern leaders were educated at West Point by the Federal Government to serve the Federal Government, against which they all turned. Zachariah’s desertion after conscription is consistent with his beliefs about slavery, especially changing sides after the Emancipation Proclamation.
After the Civil War, Zachariah and his family moved to Canton, Cherokee County, Georgia, roughly fifty miles East of Rome, Georgia. They stayed there five to ten years. One of Zachariah's fifteen siblings, a sister, lived in Rome. Zachariah was close to this sister. She later went to Tennessee and lived with Zachariah's son William Marshall Banks.
Zachariah's return to Georgia after the Civil War could make him a carpetbagger. However, his situation is more precisely described as a "skallywag" which is a Southerner who deserted the South during the Civil War then returned to make his "fortune" in the South, taking advantage of the conditions the Civil War had created there. Zachariah, however, never appears to have been financially successful. Piecing together various aspects of his life, it appears more likely that he returned to Georgia for non-financial reasons. Perhaps he wanted to be closer to his sister in Rome, Georgia. He was still using some traditional Banks family names for his children. Perhaps he wanted to go back and teach his fellow Georgians that they were wrong about slavery. Perhaps he was so poor that he needed to stay with his sister. Again, we'll probably never know for certain.
Zachariah was back in the Riceville, Tennessee area not long after the 1870 census and he remained there at least through the 1900 census. In the 1870 census (for Canton, Georgia) Zachariah's name is spelled BankEs.
It reads as follows:
Bankes Zachariah 29 M W farm labor GA
Jane 28 F W keeping house SC
Lowrey 10 M W
William 6 M W
Rosanna E. 4 F W
Thomas 2 M W
(Somebody lied about Jane's age. Zachariah's birthday could have been 1842 instead of the 1841 written on his tombstone.)
There is no documentary proof of
it, but Thomas Alexander Banks told his son Thomas Norman Banks that Zachariah
had run for public office. This could have been in the Riceville area or in
Canton, Georgia, before the family returned to Riceville, Tennessee. During his
campaign for office, he had a heckler at a campaign speech or function. The
heckler was so adamantly opposed to Zachariah's views that the heckler
physically attacked Zachariah. Zachariah pushed him away the first time, but the
heckler got up and attacked him again. When the heckler attacked him the second
time, Zachariah picked up a board or brick or something of that sort which was
laying about the area and hit the heckler with it. The heckler died. Zachariah
was not prosecuted; the prosecutor ruled that he had acted in self-defense. The
nature of the office he sought is not known. Whether his campaign was a success
or a failure is similarly unknown, but it is probable that it was not successful
or it would be something known to the family. The lack of success and the
hostility of his heckler, if this occurred in Canton, Georgia, adds to the
thought that Zachariah held some views which were very unpopular in Georgia.
The 1880 census has Zachariah and family back in McMinn County, Tennessee. They appear in the census as follows:
Banks Willis W M 38 farmer GA
Jane W F 40
Lowrey W M 20
William W M 17
Elizabeth W F 18
Thomas W M 8
The 1890 Civil War Veterans census lists Zachariah as a resident of Riceville. It also lists his ailments which were, heart, diarrhea, liver & kidney trouble, spinal trouble. Other 1900 records show daughter Sadie residing with Zachariah or Zachariah with Sadie. Not many years later Zachariah went to live at the Old Soldier's Home at Johnson City, Washington County, Tennessee. He resided there until his death in 1905 or 1906.
Zachariah did not leave a Will. Nathan Lockmiller (Sr.), husband of Sadie Banks Lockmiller served as Administrator. Zachariah did not have much. His clothing went to his son T. B. Banks of Tellico Plains, Tennessee. At that time his son Thomas Alexander Banks (not T.B. but thought to be the same) lived at Tellico Plains with his wife Lida Lord Banks and their daughters Muriel, Elizabeth, and Leona. Sadie distributed these items to her brother Thomas. No record of Zachariah ever owning any land has been located. He left one pair of eyeglasses, a pocket watch and chain, pocket knife, two pocket books, and that's it.
Harry Edward Banks, who was born in 1897 says of Zachariah, "I remember him when he came through Austell Georgia where we lived. He was taking several car loads of mules and horses to Atlanta to sell. I was just a small kid at the time." Muriel Banks Anderson says her mother, Lida Lord Banks, spoke of meeting Zachariah. What stuck in Lida Lord's mind was Zachariah telling her about what meats to eat and what meats to avoid. She particularly recalled that Zachariah was strongly opposed to eating tongue.
Zachariah is buried next to his wife and youngest daughter in a cemetery overlooking Riceville, Tennessee. His gravestone makes mention of his status as a member of the 11th Tennessee Volunteer Calvary. Perhaps this made the marker free. Perhaps Zachariah went to his grave proud of his Union service.
The three gravestones read:
(1) Z.W. Banks
Co. I, 11 Tenn. Cav.
(2) Jane Catharine Banks
Dec. 11, 1836
June 18, 1896
"She believed and sleeps
in Jesus."
(3) Addie Banks
Daughter of Z.W. and J. Banks
Aug. 1, 1872
Aug. 21, 1893
"Though lost to sight
to memory dear."
They are buried in a beautiful and peaceful spot. The sons of Thomas Norman Banks and the sons of James Harold Banks paid for the restoration of the gravestones in 2019. The same six great grandsons are adding a "QR" to the refurbished monument foundation in 2022. The QR will refer to this biography.
FOOTNOTE: The original records are frequently ambiguous, conflicting and erroneous. Further, I am not an historian nor a very good genealogist. Accuracy cannot be guaranteed. I welcome additions and corrections to this biography. Please send any and all suggested changes to JamesBanks@gmail.com.
FOOTNOTE from webmaster: William Randall Banks family can be viewed at https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L4M9-KVQ