T his seemed appropriate subject matter for these groups; the Courier
Herald is published in Dublin, Georgia
 
http://courier-herald.com/pages/full_story/push?blog-entry-KATHERINE+BAN
KS%20&id=5022758-KATHERINE+BANKS


In honor of women's history month, I thought this article was very
appropriate. It seems as though most of the time our forefathers got all
the credit!  However, if it wasn't for Katherine Banks, we would have
significantly fewer forefathers!  Incidentally, Katherine Banks is my
common ancestor too.  Please share.

( This was sent to me by City of Fairfax Commissioner of Revenue, Page
Johnson) 


 

An American Great Grandmother

By Scott Thompson

The Courier Herald

I cannot imagine the United States of America without Katherine Banks.
You ask, who is Katherine Banks? Katherine lived around three hundred
and fifty years ago in 17th Century Virginia. So why is this Virginia
lady so significant and what does she have to do with the history of
east-central Georgia? Well, she has nothing to do directly with the
history of our area, but without her, the face of the history of
America, and the world for that matter, would have been vastly
different. What did she do? Well, I will tell you.

Katherine Banks was born into a prosperous family in Canterbury, England
in County Kent in 1627, the same year the Massachusetts Bay Colony had
been chartered to colonize the eastern coast of North America. Her
father, Christopher Banks, was one of England's most influential
commoners in his position with the Old London Company, which financed
the settlement of Jamestown and Virginia.

Sometime in the early 1640s, Katherine journeyed to America, landing in
Charles City County, west of Jamestown on the James River. It was not
long after her arrival that she married her cousin, Joseph Royall, twice
a widower and 27 years her senior. Royall had come to Jamestown aboard
the Charitie in July 1622, just after Powhatan Chief Opechancanough had
murdered three hundred and forty-seven colonists. Royall survived "the
burning fever," which killed even more settlers. By transporting
colonists to Virginia, Joseph Royall was able to accumulate a large
plantation, which he called "Doghams" after the French river D'Augham,
on the James River above Shirley and opposite current day Hopewell,
Virginia.

Joseph Royall died in the mid 1650s. As was the custom in those days,
his wife's dower from his estate passed to her during her widowhood.
When Katherine married Henry Isham in 1656, Royall's estate passed to
Isham, who immediately added another wing to his residence on Bermuda
Hundred.

From their luxurious home encircled by tall pines and a extensive
English flower garden, the Ishams became leaders of Virginia society. It
has been said that Katherine Banks Royall Isham was the wealthiest woman
in America. Her father gave her one of the first English coaches to be
used in the colonies. It was described as cumbrous and capacious. It
held six individuals, three on a seat opposite one another. Two others
could sit on stools which faced the doors. Its body was hung high on
large springs and was entered by steps. The lining was made of
cream-colored cloth. Silver trimmings, cords and tassels accented the
exquisite exterior. The driver and the footman sat on the front, while
luggage was carried in the rear.

As the fall weather began to cool the shores of the James River,
Katherine made out her last will and testament. Three hundred and twenty
three years ago today, Joseph Royall, Jr. and Francis Eppes walked into
the court of Henrico County to probate her generous and loving testament
to her children and grandchildren. Her bequests of exquisite and
valuable heirlooms paled in comparison to the true legacy of this little
known woman.

By her first husband, Katherine gave birth to six children, Joseph,
John, Sarah, Katherine and two other unknown daughters. With Henry,
Katherine had Henry, Jr. and Anne. But by far, her most famous child was
Mary Isham. Mary was a much courted belle of Virginia. Suitors swarmed
to get a glance of this charming young woman, who played the cittern, a
three-stringed early version of the mandolin. Mary captured the heart of
the wealthy William Randolph of Turkey Island. Over the next three
centuries, the couple would come to be known as "the Adam and Eve of
Virginia." Now, you will see why.

The Randolphs were the parents of ten children, most notably Isham
Randolph. His daughter Jane married Peter Jefferson. They were the
parents of President Thomas Jefferson. Elizabeth, daughter of William
and Mary Randolph, married Richard Bland. They were the great-great
grandparents of the noble and the revered, General Robert Edward Lee.
William and Mary's son Thomas was the great-grandfather of John
Marshall, the nation's longest serving Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court. In point of fact, Katherine's descendants included the wives of
both President Jefferson and General Lee. You can see why the Randolphs
are the closest thing to royalty that Virginia ever had.

I will dispense with all the begats, the great-greats and the removed
cousins and simply say that among the most well known descendants of
Katherine Banks Royall Isham are presidents John F. Kennedy and Jimmy
Carter, first lady Edith Wilson, authors William Faulkner, Willa Cather,
Robert Penn Warren and Ray Badbury. Among the most interesting name on
the list is Booker Talieferro Washington, a former slave, who became a
highly revered educator, author and political leader. There are many,
many more. Their names have not yet been entered in the files of
ancestry.com. So for now, I will stop here.

Why would anyone care about Katherine Banks? She was never memorialized
in the annals of early American history. All she did was live a good
life and have children. And, that's just the point. All of us have a
purpose on the Earth. As we go about our daily lives, we never stop to
imagine that our descendants, close and remote, can play a pivotal role
in the history of our country.

Can you imagine the Declaration of Independence written by someone else
other than Thomas Jefferson? Can you imagine the Civil War without
Robert E. Lee? Can you imagine the emergence of the Supreme Court
without Chief Justice John Marshall? I cannot.

Maybe you can conceive of the world of literature without the names of
Bradbury, Faulkner, Cather and Warren, but it would have been a far
poorer one.

I can't envision the world without the leadership and brilliance of
Booker T. Washington. I can't envision the world without John F.
Kennedy. Would there have even been a man on the moon? Would Richard
Nixon have been elected president in 1960? Would their have ever been a
war in Vietnam or the turbulent times of the 1960s?

I can't imagine a world without these exceptional Americans who
descended from the forgotten Katherine Banks Royall Isham. You see, I
couldn't visualize these thoughts at all if it were not for Katherine,
who was my eighth great-grandmother.

Study the history of your family. Learn where you came from so that you
can know where you are going. Everyone's families are no more important
than any others. It is up to you. Serve your community now. Don't rest
of the accolades of your ancestors or wait on the achievements of your
remotest descendants. Who knows what they may learn from you?





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