John Banister (lawyer)

John Banister (born December 26, 1734 on Hatcher's Run near Petersburg , Dinwiddie County , Colony of Virginia , † September 30, 1788 ibid) was an American lawyer, politician and officer during the American Revolutionary War .

Career

Banister studied at the Middle Temple in London , England and was admitted to the bar on September 27, 1753. He was a member of the Virginia Convention in 1776 . He also worked in the House of Burgesses from 1765 to 1775 and 1777 . He was then elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress , where he served from 1778 to 1779. It was during this time that he designed and signed the Articles of Confederation . He was also a member of the Virginia House of Representatives from 1776 to 1777 and from 1781 to 1783 .

During the American Revolutionary War he served as Major and Lt. Colonel of cavalry in the Virginia Militia. General and Commander-in-Chief George Washington held him in high regard. This is attested by a letter he wrote to him in Valley Forge . In 1781, Banister supplied his militia with supplies and repulsed the British in his state. Much of his personal belongings have been lost. The British forces under General Phillips wanted to deliver him at his home in Battersea in Petersburg, Virginia.

After his death, he was buried in the family cemetery at Hatcher's Run in Dinwiddie County, Virginia.

family

Banister was married three times. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Munford, in 1755. After her death in 1770, he married Elizabeth (Patsy) Bland, daughter of Theoderick Bland of Cawsons. The couple had three sons together, Robert, John and Nathaniel, who died with no offspring. After the death of his second wife, he married Anne (Nancy) Blair from Williamsburg (* May 1746) on February 26, 1779, the seventh child of John and Mary Monro Blair. Her father was president of the Virginia Colonial Council . The couple had two sons, Theodorick Blair and John Monro Banister.

property

His city villa in Petersburg was built in 1768 in a five-part Palladian style. A striking feature inside is a Chinese staircase. According to Dinwiddie County records for 1782, his household included 3 free men, 46 adult African American , 42 minor African American, 28 horses, 126 cattle, and a wagon. Francis and Abram Ford were registered as 'overseers'.

Web links

• John Banister in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Papers of George Washington - George Washington to John Banister - April 21, 1778 . Alderman Library, University of Virginia. 2005. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 3, 2007. 
2. ^ Stray Leaves, a James Family in America since 1650 . Eric James. January 20, 2004. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
3. ↑ Colonel John Banister . Col. John Banister Chapter, NSDAR. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
4. ^ Battersea, 793 Appomattox Street, Petersburg, VA . US Dept of Interior, Historic American Buildings Survey. VA-136. 1933. Retrieved on January 6, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Duncan Rose Gent (Ed.), A List of Tithes & Taxable Property taken by Dun [Duncan] Rose Gent the 10th day of April, 1782 for Dinwiddie County , in: The William and Mary Quarterly , Volume 26, No. 3, January 1918, pp. 196-201.