These two photographs show George Lovell Banks, (1839- 1924), Civil War veteran, legislator and civic leader of Independence, Kansas. During the Civil War, Banks severed with the Company C of the Fifteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was involved in several battles that included: Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Chattanooga. On November 25, 1863, Banks was severely wounded and eventually removed from service, on June 25, 1865, due to these injuries. For his bravery and distinguished service during the Battle of Chattanooga, Banks was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on February 18, 1891. After the war he returned to Indiana to farm but migrated to Kansas in 1871 and settled in the Fawn Creek Township in Montgomery County. In 1886, Banks returned to Indiana to engage in business ventures only to move back to his farm in Montgomery County, Kansas, in 1896. He resumed his involvement in the community through farming, real estate and banking all while serving the Thirtieth District of Independence in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1905-1907. As a civic leader he also held memberships in the McPherson Post No. 4, Grand Army of the Republic, in Independence, Kansas. the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Anti-Horse Thief Society. Banks died on August 20, 1924 at age of eighty-four. Burial was conducted at the Mount Hope Cemetery in Independence, Kansas.

Date: Between 1905 and 1907