http://www.wikitree.org/index.php?title=Burrel_Bannister

Biography

Burrel Banister was born 19 July 1779 in Prince William, County, Virginia, and was the son of John Banister. There Burrel resided until the age of majority, when he went to South Carolina, where he married Miss Margaret, daughter of Luke and Catherine (Sailors) Blades. Margaret Blades was born 28 February 1783 in North Carolina. By 1790, the Blades family had settled in Abbeville County, South Carolina. It is believed that Burrel traveled south with Thomas Banister who was born in the same county as Burrel. Thomas Banister was a veteran of the Revolutionary War and was found enumerated on the same page as Luke Blades in the 1810 census for Abbeville County.

After a sojourn of about six years in South Carolina, Burrel Banister left for Kentucky about 1805, settling near Georgetown in Scott County, where the family resided for nearly five years. From there they moved to Indian territory, now Franklin County, Indiana. There they dwelled in the valley of the Whitewater below Brookeville at the mouth of Blue Creek. Blue Creek was settled mostly by South Carolinians, among whom were the Blades, Stuckeys, Higgs, Lyons, Herndons, Cherrys, and Robesons. While we don’t know precisely when Burrel left Kentucky, we know that he was a resident of Indiana by June 1, 1811, since he appears on Franklin County’s first tax list and was assessed 37 1/2 cents for each of his two horses.

A description of the valley of the Whitewater before it was cleared for farming can help us better understand the environment in which the early pioneers lived. The timber kept the river more within its banks. The bottoms were weed timbered with walnut, burr oak, black and blue ash, hackberry, sugar-tree, cottonwood, sycamore, box-elder, and cherry tree, principally; with elderberry, papaw, spicewood, and leatherwood undergrowth, and any amount of grapevines, and plenty of nettles, grass, peavines and weeds in summer. There were plenty of wolves, wild cats, once in a while a panther and bear, plenty of deer, turkeys, foxes, raccoons, seed ticks, etc., rattlesnakes, black snakes and copperhead snakes. And, of course, there were there Indians!

The old hunters in the area were always on the alert and kept the Indians at bay. There were companies that went out to White and Blue Rivers and burned the Indian towns and destroyed their crops so that they had to move further back, and the settlers were not troubled much by them after 1813. The last Indian reported seen in the county was about 1819 or 1820, Burrel Banister and James Stuckey had been to Brookville, and when they got back as far as Riley Woodworth’s homestead, there were two Indians there wanting to see Woodworth about a horse trade they had made with him. They alleged he had cheated them, but Woodworth was not to be found. Mrs. Woodworth and the children were dreadfully frightened, and had sent for her father, Henry Newkirk, a heavyset man about sixty years of age, who lived near Woodworth’s on the hill. He walked right into one of the Indians without any ceremony, and down went the Indian. The latter soon got out of the old man’s clutches, and drew a large knife and flourished it about. Stuckey interfered to prevent blood being spilled on the occasion.

There were some that were called “friendly” Indians remaining on the border - the Delawares among them - but many settlers shot and killed some of them without consulting to know whether they were friendly or not.

There are many stories of Indians, and their relations to white settlers, but many of them are doubtful. One such story is the tale of how Burrel Banister was captured by a tribe of Indians. While in captivity they cut the skin and cartilage of his upper ear so that his ears “lopped” over. He later escaped from the Indians and became known as “Lop-Ear” Banister.

It was because of the Indian disturbances that the Banister left Indiana and went to Hamilton County, Ohio about 1812, where they lived within two and a half miles of the residence of William Henry Harrison. It is reported that Burrel’s name was on the lists during every draft that was made for men to serve in the war with England, which was then in progress, but he was fortunate enough to have escaped.

He afterward returned to settle in Franklin County, Indiana about 1815 and in 1818, he came to what is now known as Sand Creek Township, Bartholomew County. He is listed in the 1820 Federal census in Brookville Township, Franklin County. This enumeration was taken in November of that year. He soon returned to the Flat Rock district of Delaware County, from which Bartholomew County was later partitioned, appears in the 1820 census for that locality which was actually taken on 10 February 1821. In 1828, the family moved to Rock Creek Township of the same county. In 1833, he changed his residence to Jennings County, where remained until his death which occurred 7 February 1837. He is buried in the Clapp family cemetery near Scipio, Geneva Township, Jennings County, Indiana. A small, primitively carved marker is still in place to indentfy the spot where our forebearer is laid to rest. Burrel’s widow, Margaret, died in March of 1860 and is probably buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery near Alert, Indiana.

Burrel and Margaret (Blades) Banister were the parents of thirteen children:

1. Catherine, born 8 November 1799 in South Carolina; married William Clapp 12 February 1823 in Bartholomew County, Indiana; died 2 May 1877 at Osceola, Iowa. 2. Luke, born 2 January 1802 in South Carolina; married Sarah (Sally) Christy 30 March 1822 in Bartolomew County, Indiana; died summer of 1845. 3. Elizabeth, born 6 April 1804 in South Carolina; married Joab Padget 3 September 1824 in Bartholomew County, Indiana; died 27 July 1901 in Grundy County, Missouri. 4. William, born 16 January 1807 in Scott County, Kentucky; married Nancy Bench 31 January 1828 in Bartholomew County, Indiana; died c. 1867 in Camden County, Missouri. 5. Mary, born c. 1808 in Scott County, Kentucky; married Isaac Richardson 30 June 1831 in Jennings County, Indiana. 6. Jane, born 13 October 1811 in Franklin County, Indiana; married William J. Foster 18 November 1833 in Jennings County, Indiana; died in 3 November 1891 Hamilton County, Ohio. 7. Anna, born c. 1813 in Hamilton County, Ohio; married Michael Ely 13 May 1831 in Jennings County, Indiana. 8. Sarah, born c. 1816 in Indiana; married Elijah Pruitt 13 December 1836 in Jennings County, Indiana. 9. Matilda, born c. 1818 in Indiana; married William Ely 16 November 1837 in Jennings County, Indiana. 10. Margaret, born c. 1821 in Bartholomew County, Indiana, married James Barnes 24 July 1839 in Jennings County, Indiana. 11. James Stuckey, born 18 March 1823 in Sand Creek Township, Bartholomew County, Indiana; married Margaret Lydick Talkington 7 May 1846 in Decatur County, Indiana; died 22 December 1896 at Alert, Jackson Township, Decatur County, Indiana. 12. Malinda, born c. 1824 in Bartholomew County, Indiana; married Wilson Daily