Banks, Jasper A.

Jasper A. Banks, born in Columbus, Adams County, Illinois, on March 6, 1852, became a highly popular and successful merchant and tobacconist in Friant, California. The son of Willis Banks, a Kentuckian farmer and mining pioneer who served in the Home Guard Army, and Eveline Thomas, Jasper was the eighth of fourteen children. At nine years old, he moved with his parents to Crawford County, Kansas, where he lived until traveling to California in 1874. He spent his early years in the state residing in Kern County and Sonoma County before settling permanently in Fresno County in 1881. His initial agricultural pursuit in Auberry Valley focused heavily on stock raising, where he dedicated his efforts to producing high average breeds until 1908.

After selling his stock raising operations, Mr. Banks moved to Friant and successfully transitioned into commerce by entering the grocery trade and opening a profitable cigar and tobacco store. He maintained diverse investments in cattle and hogs alongside his retail business while actively participating in local politics as a Democrat. In his personal life, Jasper married his first wife, Bell Davis, in 1881, with whom he had a daughter named Lola Bell before Bell passed away in 1883. He later married Mrs. Polly Blair Dillwood in 1888, a widow whose family were early settlers of Contra Costa County and Auberry Valley. Both members of the Christian Church, Mr. and Mrs. Banks became well regarded residents who contributed notably to the civic and commercial growth of Friant.