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Banks Quarters, Alabama One Place Study

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Location: Banks Quarters, Bibb, Alabama, United Statesmap
Surnames/tags: One_Place_Studies Alabama Black_Heritage
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Banks Quarters, Alabama One Place Study

This profile is part of the Banks Quarters, Alabama One Place Study.
{{One Place Study|place=Banks Quarters, Alabama|category=Banks Quarters, Alabama One Place Study}}

Marion Banks (1813-1886)

Slaves of Marion Banks, Alabama

Name

Banks Quarters is the name of the 2000-acre plantation in Vance, Alabama that was owned by Marion Banks (1813-1886), who upon his death in 1886 left it to some of his former slaves who still lived there after the Emancipation. As of this writing in 2024, some of their descendants still live there. The plantation might also have been known at that time as "The Elevens" [1], but the name Banks Quarters, or Banks, survives to this day. The freed slaves and their descendants appear to have kept the name Banks. The former plantation is now a rural area with a small number of residences, just outside of the current town of Vance, a small portion of which is in Bibb County, the remainder in Tuscaloosa County.

Geography

Continent: North America
Country: United States of America
State/Province: Alabama
County: Bibb
GPS Coordinates: 33.15200,-87.18900
Elevation: 153.6 m or 503.9 feet

History

Native History

The Creeks settled in villages mostly on the Cahaba River in what is now Bibb County, Alabama, some 300 years before white settlers intruded upon their homeland. Following the War of 1812, the Creeks were pressured to leave. Their food supplies were stolen and some of their homes destroyed. The Treaty at Fort Jackson (1814) forced them to clear the area for the white settlers. [2]

Like many of his relatives and other enslavers in the South, Marion Banks established his plantation on the land after the forced relocation of the native people -- in his case, the west side of the Cahaba River these people had previously inhabited.[3]

Plantation Years

It is not yet known how and when Marion Banks initially acquired Banks Quarters Plantation. Between 1854-1858 through the Land Act of 1820, he purchased 9 small tracts of low-cost land in Bibb County at or near the location of the plantation, a total of 523 acres. It is not clear if these 523 acres expanded or completed the 2000-acre plantation. [4]

As of 1850, Marion Banks already enslaved 57 people on Banks Quarters Plantation. See Slaves of Marion Banks, Alabama. He was an absentee owner, living and working in Tuscaloosa, Alabama throughout his adult life.

During the antebellum period, Bibb County was frontier country, mostly made up of small, isolated farms. There were relatively few plantations compared to other locations in Alabama, and Banks Quarters (at about 2000 acres) was quite large compared to other properties in the county.[5]

Early Reconstruction Period

After the Emancipation, at least some of Marion Banks' formerly enslaved people remained at Banks Quarters, as indicated in his Will written in 1886 -- see below. Perhaps they remained there as sharecroppers. This is not clear, as any post-war records from this time and place are hard to find if they exist at all; Bibb County was so remote, outside the "Black Belt," that it got little attention from the Freedmen's Bureau, responsible for supervising labor contracts, relief to newly freed people, and more.[6]

Also, it's not clear how and why 16 of the formerly enslaved families acquired and then sold more than 20 tracts of land, all before the year (1886) of Marion Banks' death, when he left the plantation to them. (See below.) [7]

Bequeath of Property to Former Slaves

Marion Banks died in 1886, 21 years after the end of the Civil War. His Will written that year refers to some of his "former slaves" still after the intervening years as "now residing" on the property.[8]

Through his Will, Banks bequeathed Banks Quarters to eleven "former slaves," entrusting two of them, Harvey and Sidney, to distribute portions of the land to all eleven men and their families. According to the probate accounting record, dated 1893, the land was distributed to these people who (seven years after Banks' death) still "were perhaps residents of Bibb County AL, near Vance Station." [9]

The eleven formerly enslaved people who inherited the plantation (along with their unnamed and uncounted family members) were named in the Will as follows:[10]

Harvey Banks (abt.1835-abt.1905)

"Dr" Tom Tom Banks (abt.1823-)

"Maj" Tom Tom Banks (bef.1868-)

Sidney Banks (1836-1906)

John Banks (abt.1832-)

Gray Banks (bef.1868-)

Wiley Banks (bef.1868-)

Willis Banks (bef.1868-)

Pleasant Banks (bef.1805-)

Henry Dollar Banks (bef.1868-)

George Banks (bef.1868-)

According to White descendants of Marion Banks, Harvey had been Marion Banks' foreman, and he "discharged his duty of dividing the plantation among these families...with so much equity and fairness that no dispute arose about the matter of the division." [11] Perhaps Harvey set the tone for the spirit of cooperation that prevailed in this long-term community.

"A Flourishing Colony"

With the distribution of the land, a "flourishing colony" post-war was formed.[12]

The true historical significance and uniqueness of this settlement is captured in an article from The Star of Zion newspaper, the oldest African American newspaper to be continuously published in North Carolina.[13] The article, titled "Unique Negro Colony," Published in 1896, it's worth quoting here in full.

In Alabama, not far from Birmingham, a Negro colony unique in the South, its postoffice name is, Vance, and it is settled on the former plantation of Marion Banks, a slave owner of old days, who left his land to his Negroes when he died. There were eleven heads of families among the Negroes at the time and each got a farm of 209 acres, but they have preferred to live together in community, working together and helping each other when necessary. The settlement has been prosperous and is now self-supporting, and has over 300 members, nearly all of the pure African type. But what the Negroes want more than anything else are better school facilities, for they are beginning to appreciate the fact that only with education can they keep up with the procession and they are now going to work to add the necessary school and thus secure educational advance as well as material prosperity. There are dozens of Negro settlements in the South; but this is perhaps the only one which has been thoroughly successful without the advice, assistance or guidance of white men and where the principle of co-operation, believed to be so difficult in the Negro, has been carried out thoroughly.[14]

The distribution of 209 acres each to eleven families exceeds the recorded size (about 2000 acres) of Banks' plantation, and so Banks' formerly enslaved people presumably received all of it. Note the impressive growth of the community: In just seven years from the approximate time of the land distribution to the date of this article, the community had grown to 300 people -- far more than the eleven families who initially received the land.

But most remarkable is the final sentence of this article, stating that of dozens of "Negro" settlements in the South, this one was perhaps the most successful, independent from the involvement of white men, with an emphasis on cooperation within the community.

Over time the size of the land on which they lived shrank, and it's likely that white residents forced them from the land. The residents may have decided to sell (or abandon) their separate farms not just for money, but to live together for the purpose of cooperation. And they may have stuck closely together due to the threats and dangers that surrounded them after the war. As freed Blacks began to assert their independence through such activities as forming their own separate churches and seeking voting rights, the period of terrorism began. In Bibb County the Ku Klux Klan arose, and with it a vigilante culture against Blacks. Robbery, violence and murder were rampant in the 1890s. According to the National Museum for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, between 1886 and 1933, thirteen Black men in Bibb County were lynched.[15] Undoubtedly during this time, additional people other than those recorded at the Museum were murdered, attacked, and terrorized.

Three of the thirteen murdered Black men during that period are unnamed, the others not recognizable as those we know of who lived at Banks Quarters. One can imagine the fear the people in this community felt in this environment.

As for the prosperity of the settlement referred to in the article in The Star of Zion, the land ownership may have been key. Seven of the inheritors of Banks' property sold more than 30 tracts of land (in addition to 20 tracts unexplainably sold before they inherited Banks Quarters, see above). Perhaps this significantly offset the challenges of farming in the aftermath of the failed Reconstruction, post-war appropriation of cotton by the federal government, drought, and more.

The community's interest in education, as cited in the article (see above), is reflected in the history of Bibb County, where the son of former slaves named Henry Damon Davidson at that time led a movement to establish reputable schools for Black children. Though this met with considerable resistance by White leaders, Davidson did manage in 1900 to open an industrial school for Black children: Centreville Industrial Institute, later Bibb County Training School. [16] In 1975 the school -- now the Centreville Elementary School -- was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.[17] Living descendants of the Banks community say that some of their ancestors attended the school, and Banks family members have attended reunions and served in leadership roles there.[18]

Because Banks Quarters was located in Vance, Alabama, and the newspaper article in 1896 (see above) celebrates the community there, it's not clear why federal and state census records for 1866, 1870, 1880, and 1900 show Harvey Banks (abt.1835-abt.1905), Sidney Banks (1836-1906), and other Black families by the last name Banks living close together in towns called James and Kingdom. No such places can be found in current and historical locations in Bibb County.[19] [20]

Modern Times

Near the location of the old Banks Quarters is the Banks Chapel Community Church, on Banks Chapel Road, still in operation. In 2017, the minister at this Church at that time, Rev. John Banks, was said to be related to the Banks of Bibb and Tuscaloosa Counties. [21] Buried in the church cemetery are Sidney Banks (1836-1906) and Harvey Banks (abt.1835-abt.1905), along with other Banks descendants who were born after the Civil War.

Living descendants of Sidney Banks (1836-1906) and Pleasant Banks (bef.1823-) say that other members of their family still live on some of the land left by Marion Banks. Reports are that through the years residents have experienced land losses and continued mistreatment by whites in many ways, such as their arrival at the home of a loved one right after his funeral, with the intent of taking this home right away. It's also reported that the owner of a paper mill is buying up forested areas, and he has told a resident that he wants the area to be occupied only by whites. [22]

Other land from the old plantation may have been purchased by Mercedes-Benz in Vance -- the only American factory for this car maker -- for expansion to make electric cars.[23][24]

Thus far no attempts at historic preservation of Banks Quarters are known to have been made.

Research Notes

  • This study of the surviving community of people previously enslaved by Marion Banks is dedicated to their living descendants.
  • The alternative name for Banks Quarters, "The Elevens," has not been confirmed through sources. One wonders if this might be a reference to the eleven "former slaves" who inherited Marion Banks' plantation.
  • It is not known why Marion Banks gave all his land to his former slaves. It's possible that he had fathered children with one or more of them, possibly the "Mulatto servant" (Lucy Banks) who lived with him in Tuscaloosa for many years, and possibly others.
  • It's recommended that additional research be conducted for records explaining the sales of land that several people in the community made from 1870-1889, much of it before Banks Quarters was distributed to them through Marion Banks' bequest. It's not yet known what the reason(s) are, but the possibilities might be that Marion freed the former slaves and gave them money thereby enabling them to acquire land; or Marion Banks sold them shares if they worked for him; or (through Freedmen's Bureau efforts as of 1865) they received certificates for land that Marion did not attempt to reclaim when then-President Johnson reversed government allocations of land to freed slaves.


Sources

  1. online pdf from the Archives at the University of Alabama http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalplaces/text/BibbText.pdf
  2. Ellison, Rhonda Coleman. Bibb County, Alabama: The First Hundred Years, 1818-1918. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1984. pp. 6-9.
  3. Website of the Central Alabama Genealogy: Bibb County, Alabama, 1950, East and West Sides of Cahaba River." http://alagenealogy.com/Census%20Records/Bibb%20County%20Alabama/1850/1850%20Bibb%20Co.%20AL%20East-West%20Side%20Cahaba.htm
  4. General Land Office Records," U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management. p. 4.https://glorecords.blm.gov/results/default.aspx?searchCriteria=type=patent%7Cst=AL%7Ccty=%7Cln=Banks%7Csp=true%7Csw=true%7Csadv=false#resultsTabIndex=0&page=4&sortField=11&sortDir=0
  5. Ellison, Rhonda Coleman. Bibb County, Alabama: The First Hundred Years, 1818-1918. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1984. pp. 51, 82, and 102.
  6. Ellison, Rhonda Coleman. Bibb County, Alabama: The First Hundred Years, 1818-1918. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1984. p. 143.
  7. Family Search Bibb County records of Deeds, Mortgages, and Index, 1824-1902. authors: Bibb County, Alabama Probate Court and Bibb County Court. Accessed on Family Search 3/25/2023. Film #1617363. Image #7769195. https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/440215?availability=Family%20History%20Library
  8. Tuscaloosa Estate Records: Banks, Marion, 1885-1889. Hard copy provided by Erica Eaves, Reference Archivist at the State of Alabama Department of Archives and History. p. 1, transcribed by Molly Ogro on 18 March 2023. In the possession of Sara Lively.
  9. Tuscaloosa Estate Records: Banks, Marion, 1885-1889. Hard copy provided by Erica Eaves, Reference Archivist at the State of Alabama Department of Archives and History. p. 4, transcribed by Molly Ogro on 18 March 2023. In the possession of Sara Lively.
  10. Tuscaloosa Estate Records: Banks, Marion, 1885-1889. Hard copy provided by Erica Eaves, Reference Archivist at the State of Alabama Department of Archives and History. p. 1, transcribed by Molly Ogro on 18 March 2023. In the possession of Sara Lively.
  11. Banks, Elbert Augustine; Young, Georgia Butt; Franklin, Sarah Banks, The Genealogical Records of the Banks Family of Elbert County, Georgia. Unknown publication date and location (likely self published). Volume 2, p. 180.
  12. Saunders, Col. James Edmonds with Stubbs, Elizabeth Saunders Blair: Early Settlers of Alabama, with Notes and Genealogies. Westminster, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc., 2008. Facsimile reprint of original publication, New Orleans, 1899. p. 448.
  13. Star of Zion Wikipedia site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
  14. "Unique Negro Colony," The Star of Zion, Charlotte, NC, December 3, 1896. Edition 1, Image 3. https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sf88092969/1896-12-03/ed-1/seq-3/#words=Colony+Negro+Unique
  15. "More Than 300 African-Americans Lynched in Alabama in 66 Years." List from the National Museum for Peace and Justice Memorial. Alabama News online. 26 April 2018.https://www.al.com/news/2018/04/alabamas_racial_lynching_victi.html
  16. Ellison, Rhonda Coleman. 'Bibb County, Alabama: The First Hundred Years, 1818-1918.' Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1984. pp. 209-211.
  17. "Alabama Historic Inventory: Bibb County Training School. Bibb County, Alabama. https://ahc.alabama.gov/Alabama%20Register%20Properties/Bibb%20County/AL.BibbCounty.BibbCountTrainingSchoolOCR.pdf
  18. From an email in 2023 from a living linked descendant, in possession of Sara Lively.
  19. "HomeTownLocator," Alabama Gazetteer'.'https://alabama.hometownlocator.com/counties/cities,cfips,007,c,bibb.cfm
  20. Family Search: Populated Places, Bibb County, Alabama Genealogy" https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Bibb_County,_Alabama_Genealogy#cite_note-6
  21. Video and comments on for Banks Chapel Community Church Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/BanksChapelCommunity Church
  22. Personal recollections and recorded family interviews by living linked descendants, as told to Sara Lively on May 20 and 24, 2023. Recordings of Zoom calls with them in the possession of Sara Lively.
  23. "Mercedes-Benz Plant Expansion Set for 2022 Completion." Tuscaloosa News, 11 October 2020.https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/2020/10/11/more-than-370-new-jobs-coming-mercedes-benz-plant-expansion/3621641001/
  24. "Alabama Department of Commerce: "Made in Alabama: How Mercedes is Preparing for the Future in Alabama."https://www.madeinalabama.com/why-alabama/success-stories/project-gateway-how-mercedes-is-preparing-for-the-future-in-alabama/




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