Banta, William

BANTA, WILLIAM (1827-?). William Banta, Indian fighter, Civil War soldier, and autobiographer, was born in Warrick County, Indiana, on June 23, 1827, the son of Isaac and Abiah Banta. The family immigrated to Texas in 1839 and settled briefly at Clarksville in Red River County. The following year they moved to Lamar County; they finally settled on Bullard Creek, not far from Bonham in Fannin County, where Isaac Banta was the county's first justice of the peace. In 1843 he sold his headright and moved to South Sulphur, where he assisted in organizing Hunt County. William Banta moved to Austin in 1849, then to Burnet, where he married Lucinda Hairston on March 4, 1850. They had fourteen children.