Virginia Banks papers

Virignia Forbess Banks was born at the Longmont Hospital, Colorado, on March 7, 1911. She was born to George Madison Forbess, a thresher in Hygiene, Colorado, and Edna Davis Forbess.Virginia's grandfather, Seborn Allen Forbes, on November 10, 1836, in Carroll County Tennessee. he married America Frances Wikes on March 25, 1858 in Huntingdon, Carroll County. Madison, Virginia's father and the eldest son of Seborn and America, with their 7 children, moved to the area that later became known as Hygiene. Seborn began a steam threshing business in the area and took Madison as a partner.Seborn was a member of the United Brethern Church in Hygiene. In 1892, Madison married Ruth Ermina (“Minnie”) Davis in Mount Vernon, Washington. Madison and Minnie settled in Hygiene, and Madison continued working with his father. Their first child, Walter Allen, was born August 16, 1894. A second child, Harold Huntington, was born in October 26, 1896, and a third son, Neil Carroll, was born March 20, 1898. Minnie became sick, possibly with tuberculosis, in 1901, and her condition worsened after the birth and death of an unnamed daughter on March 25, 1902. Minnie’s sister, Eda Davis, who had come to Colorado to study at the Denver College of Music, discontinued her studies when Minnie’s illness became worse. Minnie died on April 2, 1902 in Hygiene. Madison and Eda were married on December 10, 1902, in Greeley. They spent a short honeymoon in Denver, and returned to Hygiene soon after.

Several of Madison’s siblings stayed in the Hygiene area long after they were grown. Marietta (“Mary”), married Samuel Wilson in Hygiene in 1879, and they farmed in Hygiene, Berthoud, and Greeley areas. William Benjamin (“Ben”) married Dora Webster in 1889, and owned and operated a feed store in Boulder for many years. Minta married Benjamin Franklin Early in Hygiene in 1892, and they farmed as well, in the Sunnyside district near Berthoud. William Carroll married in 1890, and spent much of his life in Texas. William began Madison Oil and Gas Co., and he and Madison both had land interests in Texas. Cordelia Frances (“Delia”) married Gyeer Andrew Hall in 1896. Delia and Gyeer owned and operated the Hall Feed Store and lived on Mapleton Avenue in Boulder. Alvin J. Forbess, the last child of Seborn and America, was born in 1880 in Hygiene, attended Boulder Preparatory School, and earned a bachelor degree and a master degree in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado. He married Correna Coe, of Denver, in 1905. Two daughters were born to Seborn and America in Hygiene – Florence in 1875 and Susie in 1877. Florence and Susie both died of diphtheria in November 1885 in Hygiene.

Madison and Eda’s first child, Ruth Evelyn, was born on October 26, 1906 and died less than a year later, on January 30, 1907, in Hygiene. Their second child, George Meredith, was born and died in January 1908 in Hygiene. Ruth Evelyn and George Meredith both died of dehydration following illness. Madison’s third son with Minnie, Neil died of a rupture appendix when he was ten years old, in 1908. Virginia, a healthy full-term baby, was born on March 7, 1911 in Longmont Hospital. Her sister, Marjorie, was born on February 25, 1913. A third daughter, Mary Elizabeth, was born in 1921 in Tempe, Arizona. She died in Hygiene in 1924, most likely of a brain tumor. Virginia’s brother, Robert Eugene, was born on June 12, 1926.

Madison belonged to the Methodist Church in Hygiene, a change from his father’s beliefs within the Brethren Church. Eda played the organ and piano for the Methodist Church for many years. In 1903, Madison and Eda bought a home and land on the St. Vrain River. Madison’s threshing business was profitable and thriving, which allowed for the family to travel a great deal in the 1920s. In between threshing seasons, Virginia attended kindergarten and first grade in Mt. Vernon, Washington and second grade in Gilroy, California. She also attended the third grade in Arizona. The family returned permanently to Hygiene in 1925. Virginia, Marjorie, and Robert attended Hygiene Consolidated #1 and Longmont High School. Madison and Eda sold their Hygiene property and home in 1950, and moved to Denver. Madison died in 1955, and Eda died in 1972.

In 1929, Virginia graduated at the top of the class from Longmont High School. She entered a secretarial program at the University of Wyoming at Laramie in 1935 and graduated in 1937. In 1940, she graduated from the Denver University School of Commerce, and began teaching in the Denver Public Schools that fall. Marjorie earned a bachelor’s degree in History in 1935, a bachelor’s degree in Education in 1936, and a master’s degree in History in 1942 – all from the University of Colorado. She taught and was an administrator within the Denver Public Schools until her retirement in 1976. She and her husband, Kenneth Stevenson, also a CU graduate (Bachelor of Arts in Education, 1933), live in Denver. Robert served in as an ensign in the Navy during World War II, and received bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He has worked as an engineer, administrator, and teacher. He and his wife, Jean, also a University of Wisconsin graduate, live in Madison.

Virginia married Edwin P. Banks, of Denver, on September 1, 1946. They settled briefly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where their son, George Edwin was born in 1948. George attended George Washington High School in Denver, and received his masters in music from Northwestern University in 1974. George is a cellist and has played with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and the Boulder Philharmonic. He is also a founding member of the Columbine Chamber Players. George and his wife, Carolyn Kuban, a harpist, live in Boulder.

In 1949, the Banks family returned to Denver. Ed worked in administration at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and was the administrative assistant for university president Roland Rautenstraus for many years. Virginia taught at the Emily Griffith Opportunity School in Denver from 1950 and 1965. Virginia then served for three years as the first full-time consultant for the Adult Basic Education program of the Colorado State Department of Education. With ABE she developed programs to aid with nutrition education among southern Colorado communities. From 1969 until her retirement in 1976, Virginia worked in the personnel department of Boulder-based Arapahoe Chemicals, a division of the Syntex Corporation. Since her retirement Virginia has been active in researching and compiling the Forbess family genealogy, as well as gathering Davis family materials. Virginia and Ed live in Boulder.