Richard E. Banks (October 23, 1794 – May 6, 1856) was an American

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

. Banks was born in

Elbert County, Georgia Elbert County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,637. The county seat is Elberton. The county was established on December 10, 1790, and was named for Samue ...

. One of thirteen children, Banks was the only one to attend college. After attending the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

(for one year), he went to the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, where Banks received his medical

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

degree. After practicing in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

for a year, he returned to rural northeast Georgia and set up practice not far from his original home. Banks eventually moved to larger offices in

Gainesville, Georgia Gainesville is a city and the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it has been calle ...

. Banks traveled to treat settlers and Native Americans of northern Georgia and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. He was especially noted for treating the Native Americans for

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

. He wrote the screenplay for the silent film The Daughter of Dawn (1920), which had an entirely Native American cast and was directed by Norbert A. Myles. Banks died in Gainesville on May 6, 1856 and was buried in Alta Vista Cemetery in that city. The

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...

named Banks County in his honor on December 11, 1858.

References

''This Day in Georgia History:October 23'', Ed Jackson and Charly Pou, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, The University of GeorgiaRootsweb Banks County bio for Richard Banks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Richard E. 1794 births 1856 deaths 19th-century American physicians Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Banks County, Georgia People from Elbert County, Georgia People from Gainesville, Georgia