Banister, John, 1734-1788

John Banister (December 26, 1734 – September 30, 1788) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and an American Revolutionary War patriot from Petersburg, Virginia. He assisted in framing and signed the Articles of Confederation.

Born at "Hatcher's Run," near Petersburg, Virginia, he was educated at a private school at Wakefield, England before earning a law degree from the Middle Temple in London, England. Returning to Virginia, he commenced the practice of law in Petersburg and engaged as a planter. A member of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1765, from 1766 to 1774, and 1775, Banister was a member of the Virginia Convention in 1776 before serving in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1776 to 1777 and 1781 to 1783 and in the Continental Congress from 1778 to 1779 as a delegate, where he was a framer of and signed the Articles of Confederation.

From 1778 to 1781, Banister was a major and lieutenant colonel of cavalry in the Virginia line militia. In 1788, he died at "Hatcher's Run" and was interred in the family burying ground there.