Sometimes when I am working on a new branch of my tree, I get to a spot where other folks have connected my ancestor to a set of parents, but I cannot see where the connection came from. That is the case with my Bannister line. First of all, how am I connected to the Bannisters? Okay, my Great Grandfather, Roland Eugene Price married Eva Elizabeth Bannister. I have the Bannister Bible in my possession so I know a couple generations back. I have noticed that when you go back a little ways on this branch of the family that we lose one of the "n"s and the name becomes Banister. Why did they add another "n" ? I have no idea! Maybe they thought it looked more classy that way. I would actually like to know the answer, because it may tell me an important something about the family.
So here is the line as I know it.
Eva Elizabeth Bannister was the daughter of Joseph Madison Bannister and Phebe Burke. She was born January 9. 1860 in Armada, Macomb County, Michigan and married Roland Eugene Price on December 22, 1877 in Sterling, Michigan.
Joseph Madison Bannister was born December 11, 1822 in New York (the state not the city) and was married to Phebe Ann Burke September 25, 1850 in Macomb County, Michigan. His parents were Timothy Banister and Susan Adams
Timothy was born in Vermont on March 25, 1793 and married Susan Adams in New York around 1815. He was a drummer in the New York Militia during the War of 1812.
I know that Timothy had a brother named Levi Jr. who also fought in the New York Militia.
On several other trees I have found his parents listed as Levi Banister and Anna Woodworth, but I have not found any document that actually proves that as fact. What I do have is the pension file for Levi Jr in which Timothy (living in Macomb County, Michigan) gives testimony for his brother's pension. The interesting part is that he says that they were living in Genesee County, New York when they signed up. That puts them in the same county as the Levi Banister whose wife is Anna Woodworth. This is where they lived for many years until his death. Timothy's death record does not name his parents, but it does say that they lived in New York.
So it looks likely that Levi and Anna are his parents, but I can not state it with certainty until I find more. What do I plan to do? i will continue to look for an obituary for Timothy Banister; I will order Timothy's service record, which is not online yet and hope it names his parents; and maybe I will take a trip to Genesee County, New York to see if there are other documents there or even to Vermont to try to find church records for Timothy's birth. Who knows where it will lead. I do know that Levi Banister (sr) was a Revolutionary War Soldier and the next few generations back are easier to trace.
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