{"id":2949,"date":"2023-09-09T13:02:44","date_gmt":"2023-09-09T17:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/?p=2949"},"modified":"2023-12-18T20:21:58","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T01:21:58","slug":"fendell-banks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/2023\/09\/09\/fendell-banks\/","title":{"rendered":"BANKS, FENDELL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

29 April 1856\u201324 July 1914<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Last updated: 21 September 2023<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fendell (Fendal) Banks was born on 29 April 1856.1<\/a><\/sup>1900 US Census.<\/span> His entire family was enslaved on the Stagville Plantation in Orange County NC, a place where over 900 enslaved people once lived. Fortunately for him and his extended Banks family members, they were never separated. Detailed records from Stagville show family units, and from them we can put Fendell with his parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. He was also fortunate that his entire life wasn\u2019t defined by enslavement. He was about nine years old when emancipation came for all enslaved people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His family remained in the area known as Durham Township, which was part of Orange County until 1881, when Durham County was formed. In 1870, the then thirteen year old lived with his parents Abner and Emily and grandmother Sylvia.2<\/a><\/sup>1870 US Census, Dwelling 13, Family 14, Abner Banks, Page No. 2 (penned). Durham Township in Orange County.<\/span> By this time, Fendell had already entered the workforce as a factory worker. Notably, the family owned their home\u2014valued at $250\u2014a mere four years post emancipation.3<\/a><\/sup>1870 US Census<\/span> The family\u2019s neighbors were Luke and Silva Cameron and their children. Silva was Abner\u2019s sister.4<\/a><\/sup>1870 US Census<\/span> By 1880, Abner and Emily were empty nesters. Aside from Fendell, his mother bore one child who died young. It is unknown when his sibling was born and died.5<\/a><\/sup>1900 US Census, House 413, Dwelling 45, Family 49, Abner Banks, Durham Township, Durham County, Sheet 3 (penned)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fendell married Della Ray on November 27, 1882.6<\/a><\/sup>Marriage record. North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.Nov 27, 1882.<\/span> They moved west to Winston-Salem, where Fendell was a grocer. The grocery and their home were located on 727 Linden Street.7<\/a><\/sup>City Directory, Directory of Greensboro, Salem and Winston, and Gazetteer of Forsyth and Guilford Counties [1894-1895), page 103. 1899, page 206. 1891-1892, page 142. <\/span> In 1892, F B Banks was the grantee for a real estate transaction where the grantors Stephen and Lucinda Jeffries conveyed two lots: the Linden Street lot and 19 Southern Liberty. Four years later F B and Della Banks sold the Linden Street lot to Abner Banks. (M D canceled).8<\/a><\/sup>Forsyth County, NC, General Index to Real Estate Conveyances – Grantor, page 7<\/span> Between 1892 and 1907, there were several real estate transactions where Fendell and Della were the grantors, all for lots on Linden Street.9<\/a><\/sup>Forsyth County, NC General Index to Real Estate Conveyances.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appears that Fendell and Della didn\u2019t have any children. The 1910 census has no information about children born to Della.10<\/a><\/sup>US Census 1910, United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls. Forsyth County, Winston Ward, Sheet 15 (penned), Fendal B Banks, 727 house number, 305 order, 307 family.<\/span> At the time they had been married nineteen years and owned their home, mortgage free. Fendal is listed as a merchant and Della as a housekeeper.11<\/a><\/sup>1910 US Census 1910<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is probable that Della died in 1907, but because North Carolina didn\u2019t require that death certificates be submitted, a state record of her death doesn\u2019t exist. The 1908 city directory shows F Benjamin Banks, grocer, living alone at 727 Linden Street.12<\/a><\/sup>1908 City Directory, page 392.<\/span> The 1910 directory shows him at the same address with a wife listed as Ellen J.13<\/a><\/sup>1910 City Directory, page 77.<\/span> Ellen was a teacher at the Woodland Avenue school.14<\/a><\/sup>1912 City Directory, Piedmont Directory Company, Incorporated Publishers. Home Office Asheville, NC, pg 347.<\/span> Later, she worked as an agent for the Afro American Mutual Insurance Company.15<\/a><\/sup>1913 Directory of Winston, and Gazetteer of Forsyth and Guilford Counties, page 426.<\/span> Their marriage would be short-lived, as Fendell died in Lincoln Hospital in Durham on 24 July 1914. His parents, who were in their late eighties, handled the final arrangements for their only living child. They secured the services of Scarborough and Hargett for the funeral, a funeral home that is still active in Durham today.16<\/a><\/sup>Death Certificate F V Banks.<\/span> Fendell was buried in Geer Cemetery next to his grandmother, Sylvia. On his headstone, the words “Son of Abner and Emily Banks” were inscribed. In 1918, his father was buried on his other side, and in 1922, his mother joined them.17<\/a><\/sup>Death Certificate Abner Banks Emily Henderson Banks.<\/span> Their small family is resting in eternity together as they were in life. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Geer Cemetery.18<\/a><\/sup>Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), photographed by Friends of Geer Cemetery, 9 Mar 2021. Used by permission.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BORN<\/strong>: 29 April 1856.19<\/a><\/sup>1900 US Census.<\/span>

DIED<\/strong>: 24 July 1914.20<\/a><\/sup>Death Certificate F V Banks.<\/span>

BIRTH PLACE<\/strong>: Orange County NC.21<\/a><\/sup>1900 US Census.<\/span>

DEATH PLACE<\/strong>: Durham NC.22<\/a><\/sup>Death Certificate F V Banks.<\/span>

SPOUSE<\/strong>: Della Ray23<\/a><\/sup>Marriage record. North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.Nov 27, 1882.<\/span> and Ellen J.24<\/a><\/sup>1910 City Directory, page 77.<\/span>

PARENTS<\/strong>: Abner and Emily Banks.25<\/a><\/sup>1870 US Census, Dwelling 13, Family 14, Abner Banks, Page No. 2 (penned). Durham Township in Orange County.<\/span>

CHILDREN<\/strong>: N\/A.

OTHER FAMILY<\/strong>: N\/A.

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY<\/strong>: Grandmother Sylvia. 26<\/a><\/sup>https:\/\/www.findagrave.com\/memorial\/116581119\/sylvia-banks<\/span>

OCCUPATION<\/strong>: Grocer.27<\/a><\/sup>City Directory, Directory of Greensboro, Salem and Winston, and Gazetteer of Forsyth and Guilford Counties [1894-1895), page 103. 1899, page 206. 1891-1892, page 142.<\/span>

CHURCH<\/strong>: N\/A.

AFFILIATIONS<\/strong>: N\/A.

ADDRESS<\/strong>: 727 Linden Street, Winston-Salem NC. 28<\/a><\/sup>ibid.<\/span>

MILITARY SERVICE<\/strong>: N\/A.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Notes<\/h3>