Banks Family Cemetery

Description from 1987 DeSoto Cemetery book states: “Located on Lady Banks property on North side of Byhalia Road, East of Hernando, in Sec. 5, Rg 7 W, Twp 3 So. and containing 14 monuments in 2 sections.  Information on stones copied by Kimbrough Dilworth in 1983.”  Additional information added by Tim Harrison.



Charles M. Banks – B. DeSoto Co., Miss & died in service for his country in Pensacola, Fla in his 21st year.
Charles Meriwether Banks was the son of Henry and Judith Banks.  He is shown on the 1850 (p. 426B) and 1860 (p. 179) DeSoto County Census records.  He was born in 1839 in DeSoto County.  He enlisted in (old) Co. K (the Irrepressibles), 9th Mississippi Regiment, CSA, on March 27, 1861.  He died August 9, 1861 while the regiment was near Fort Barrancas, Pensacola, Florida.

Mrs. Judith C. Moore – 1807 – 14 Mar 1858.  Born Elbert Co., Ga., wife of Maj. William Moore.
Judith C. Moore was born Judith Oliver.  Her first husband was Henry Banks, whom she married in Elbert County, GA on February 8, 1825.  They had the following children: Lemuel (1831, GA – 1843, MS), Lucy Ann (1834, GA – 1913), Ralph (1838, GA – 1855, MS), Charles M. (see above), Joseph Henry (abt. 1840, MS – 1850, MS), and Sally Sims (1843, MS – 1909).  After her husband, Henry died in 1846, she married William Moore in DeSoto County on March 7, 1849.  The are listed in the 1860 DeSoto Census (p. 179).  Daughter, Lucy Ann, married Robert Wilkinson on October 3, 1853, and daughter, Sally Sims, married H. M. Scales on June 12, 1866.

Ralph Banks – 28 July 1838 – 25 May 1855.  Born Elbert Co., Ga., son of Henry & Judith C. Banks.

Joseph Henry Banks – [28 April 1841] – 21 May 1854.  Son of Henry & Judith C. Banks.  Age [15] years 24 days.  [The book says age 5 years but this is impossible given the death date of Henry and his age in the 1850 census].

Henry Banks – 2 Nov 1804 – 15 Sept 1846.  Born Elbert Co., Ga.
Son of Ralph Banks and Rachel Alston Jones.  Married Judith C. Oliver in Elbert Co., GA on February 8, 1825.  He was the father of at least six children (see above).  Listed in the 1830 Elbert Co., GA census (p. 137) and the 1840 DeSoto County census (p. 114).

Lemuel Banks – 22 Dec 1835 – 14 April 1843.  Born Elbert Co., Ga., son of Henry and Judith C. Banks.

Margaret Tait Rich – 18 Feb 1804 – 29 Dec 1872.  Wife of John Rich.  Born Wilkes Co., Georgia.
Married John Rich before 1830, most likely in Elbert County, GA.  The family is listed in the 1830 Elbert County census (p. 151) with the oldest child being a girl under the age of 5.  By 1840 the family was in DeSoto County (p. 114) as follows:  0100101 – 001001.  They are in the 1850 DeSoto census (p. 401) as follows: John Rich, 52, GA; Margaret, 37, GA; Bennett, 17, GA.  Living with them is a Gemima Bone, 73, NC.  Margaret’s husband died prior to the 1860 census.  In both the 1860 (p. 29) and 1870 (p. 4) census records she is living with Charles S. and Louisa Meriwether.

Tiny – May 1960 – Dec 1969.
No further information.

Lemuel Banks – Sept. 1865 – 1879.  Born Lee County, Arkansas.
Believed to be the son of James K. and Emma Banks.  James K. was the son of Lemuel Banks (see below).  Shown in 1870 DeSoto census (p. 279B) living with mother, Emily Banks, 30, NC, and siblings Charly (7, AR) and James (3, AR).  James and Emma Banks are shown in the 1860 Phillips Co., AR census, p. 363.

Lemuel Banks – 6 June 1852 – 15 July 1853.  Son of Lemuel & Louisa Banks.

Jane Watkins Banks – 21 Aug 1841 – 2 Oct 1846.  Daughter of Lemuel & Louisa Banks.

Lemuel Banks – 25 May 1806 – 10 Sept 1854.  Born in Elbert Co., Ga.
Was the son of Ralph Banks and Rachel Alston Jones, and the brother of Henry Banks (see above).  Married Louisa America Tait, daughter of James Minor Tait and Jane Watkins, on December 24, 1833 in Elbert Co., GA.  In the 1840 DeSoto Census (p. 114) he is listed just above his brother, Henry, who is just above James M. Tait.  Listed in the 1850 DeSoto Census (p. 383B) with six children:  James K. (15, GA); George T. (13, TN); Charles H. (11, MS); Richard M. (6, MS); Henry (3, MS); and Mary S. (6/12, MS).  Three of the sons are known to have served in the Confederate Army: George Thomas Banks, 1st Lt., Co. K, 9th Mississippi Regiment; Charles Banks, Co. C, 18th Mississippi Cavalry; Richard McPherson Banks, Co. K, 9th Mississippi Regiment.

Louisa Meriwether – 31 Aug 1811 – 20 Dec 1898.  Born Elbert Co., Ga.  Wife of Charles S. Meriwether.
Born Louisa America Tait, her parents were James Minor Tait and Jane Watkins.  She married first Lemuel Banks (see above) in Elbert Co., GA on December 24, 1833.  After his death in 1854, she married Charles S. Meriwether on November 10, 1857 in DeSoto County.  (Charles was born in Ogelthorpe Co., GA on September 11, 1804).  They are listed in the 1860 DeSoto Census (p. 29) along with Margaret Rich (see above) and Mary S. Banks, age 12.  During the Civil War Charles served in Co. G, 2nd Battalion Mississippi Cavalry, CSA.  Louisa and Charles are listed in the 1870 DeSoto census (p. 4).  Charles died May 20, 1871 and is buried in the Hernando Baptist Cemetery.  Louisa is listed in the 1880 DeSoto census (p. 609A) along with her son, Henry Banks (35 years of age).

Gen. Jas Miner Tait – 12 May 1791 – 3 Aug 1852.  Born in Elbert Co., Ga.
Son of James Tait and Rebecca Hudson.  Married Jane Watkins on July 10, 1810 in Georgia.  He is believed to have served in the War of 1812.  James and Jane had the following children: Louisa America (1811 – 1898, see above), Antoinette (1813), George G. (1815), Joel (1820), James M., Jr. (1828).  He is listed in the 1820 (p. 183) and 1830 (p. 153) Elbert County, GA census records, and the 1840 (p. 114) and 1850 (p. 402B) DeSoto County census records.  James M. Tait, Jr. married Prudence Oliver on April 30, 1850.  Both are living with James, Sr. in the 1850 Census.  James M. Tait, Jr. was the Assistant Quarter Master for Blythe’s Cavalry, CSA.  He and his wife are buried in the Hernando Baptist Cemetery.

Joel B. Tait – Deptd this life 15 May 1843 age 23 years.
Son of James Miner Tait and Jane Watkins.



This Page Was Last Updated Friday, 09-Mar-2018 02:40:12 CST

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