Another Ulster-Scots dynasty in America

Browsing on the internet tonight I came across another prominent American family of Ulster-Scots descent, the Bankhead family of Alabama.

James Bankhead (1738-1799) emigrated from Ulster in the 18th century along with two brothers and settled in South Carolina.,  There he married  Elizabeth Rhea Black (1746-1837), a name that suggests she too was of Ulster-Scots descent, and they were the parents of George Bankhead, who married Jane A Greer.

In 1818 members of the family moved south from Union County in South Carolina into Lamar County, Alabama, and James Greer Bankhead, a son of George and Jane Bankhead, fought in the Mexican-American War.

He lived on the Bankhead plantation in Lamar County and around 1850 he built a fine house which is still there and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

James G Bankhead was the father of John Hollis Bankhead (1842-1920), who served in the Civil War and married a woman named Tallulah Brockman.

She was descended from the Revolutionary War hero Colonel Benjamin Kilgore (1738-1802).another Ulster-Scot whose father James Kilgore (1701-1771) emigrated from Ulster some time before 1734 along with two brothers.  Benjamin's wife Elizabeth Jack (1717-1792) was also an Ulster-Scot and so we have three lines of Ulster-Scots ancestry.

The family were originally Presbyterian but like many Scotch-Irish Americans they converted to Methodism some time in the 19th century.

John Hollis Bankhead had a long political career in both state and federal government.  He served in the Alabama House of Representatives and the Alabama Senate before being elected to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.    He was a Democrat and served in the Senate from 1907 to 1920.

His name lives on in the Bankhead Highway, Lake Bankhead, near Birmingham, Alabama, and the Bankhead Tunnel in Mobile Alabama, as well as the William B Bankhead National Forest.

His son John H Bankhead II (1872-1946) was also a United States Senator and another son William B Bankhead (1874-1940) had an even more distinguished career as a United States Congressman.  In 1934 he was chosen House Majority Leader by his fellow Democrats and in 1936 he became Speaker of the House, a position now held by Nancy Pelosi.

The actress Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968) was a daughter of William B Bankhead.

The Bankheads were one of the most notable families in the history of Alabama.

There is often a tendency to focus on famous Scotch-Irish presidents and pioneers but the Ulster-Scots influence in America can be seen in almost every area of life and the Bankheads were certainly a notable family.