Editing Benjamin Banneker (section)

===Early life===
Banneker was born on November 9, 1731, in Baltimore County, Maryland, to Mary Banneky, a free black woman, and Robert, a [[Freedman|freed slave]] from [[Guinea (region)|Guinea]] who died in 1759.<ref name=Bedini2008>{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/mathematics-biographies/benjamin-banneker|title=Benjamin Banneker &#124; Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref name=Heinegg>{{cite web|first=Paul|last=Heinegg|date=December 11, 2016|url=http://freeafricanamericans.com/Adams-Butler.htm|access-date=May 6, 2020|title=Banneker Family|work=Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware: Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware: Adams-Butler|archive-date=June 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624200755/http://freeafricanamericans.com/Adams-Butler.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

There are two conflicting accounts of Banneker's family history. Banneker himself and his earliest biographers described him as having only African ancestry.<ref>(1) [https://web.archive.org/web/20150122021054/http://etext.virginia.edu/images/modeng/public/BanLett/B24073e.jpg Banneker, 1792b, p. 6]. "Sir, I freely and cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of the African race, and in that color which is natural to them of the deepest dye"<br />(2) McHenry, pp. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435073185951&view=1up&seq=193 185]-[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435073185951&view=1up&seq=194 186]. "BENJAMIN BANNEKER, a free Negro, has calculated an Almanack for the ensuing Year, 1792, ..... . "This Man is about fifty-nine years in age; he was born in ''Baltimore county''; his father was an ''African'', and his mother, the offspring of ''African'' parents."<br />(3) [https://archive.org/details/memoirbenjaminb00socigoog/page/n12/mode/1up Latrobe, p. 6]. "His father was a native African, and his mother the child of natives of Africa; so that to no admixture of the blood of the white man was he indebted for his peculiar and extraordinary abilities."</ref><ref name=Perot>[http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1215&context=theses Perot, full text], pp. 5, 19–21, 33–36, 67.</ref><ref>(1) {{cite journal|last=Russell|first=George Ely|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32FmAAAAMAAJ&q=Molly+Welsh%3A|title=Molly Welsh: Alleged Grandmother of Benjamin Banneker|journal=National Genealogical Society Quarterly|volume=94|issue=4|publisher=[[National Genealogical Society]]|date=December 2006|pages=305–314|oclc=50612104|issn=0027-934X|lccn=17012813|access-date=June 7, 2015}}</ref> None of Banneker's surviving papers describe a white ancestor or identify the name of his grandmother.<ref name=Perot/> However, two lines of later research both suggest that Banneker's mother was the daughter of a white woman and an African slave, <ref name="Heinegg" /><ref name="Perot"/><ref name="johnson">{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Richard |date=18 January 2018 |title=Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610193716/https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/banneker-benjamin-1731-1806/ |website=Black Past |quote="Benjamin seems to have served as an indentured laborer on the Prince George’s County plantation of Mary Welsh, who had dealings with the Bannaky family and in 1773 executed her dead husband’s instructions to release several of her labor force including “Negro Ben, born free age 43.” Walsh was surely not Banneker’s grandmother, as argued by many biographers, but she did leave him a substantial legacy. He then lived alone as a tobacco farmer near the Patapsco River."}}</ref><ref name="tyson">{{Cite web|last=Tyson |first=Martha (Ellicott) |date=June 30, 1854 |title=A sketch of the life of Benjamin Banneker; from notes taken in 1836 |url=http://archive.org/details/sketchoflifeofbe00tyso |publisher=[Baltimore] Printed by J. D. Toy |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|4}} although they differ as to whether the Banneker surname came from his mother or father and the origin of the name, which could be from [[Banaka]], a small [[village]] in the present-day [[Klay District]] of [[Bomi County]] in northwestern [[Liberia]] that had once participated in the [[History of slavery#African participation in the slave trade|African slave trade]]<ref name="Heinegg" /><ref>(1) {{cite web|url=http://www.maplandia.com/liberia/bomi-terr/klay/banaka/|title=Banaka Map — Satellite Images of Banaka|work=maplandia.com: [[Google Maps|google maps]] world [[gazetteer]]|year=2016|access-date=May 6, 2020|quote=This place is situated in Klay, Bomi Terr., Liberia, its geographical coordinates are 6° 49' 44" North, 10° 46' 21" West and its original name (with diacritics) is Banaka.|archive-date=May 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506154928/http://www.maplandia.com/liberia/bomi-terr/klay/banaka/|url-status=live}}<br />(2) {{cite web|url=http://www.getamap.net/maps/liberia/bomi/_banaka/|title=Banaka / Bomi County|work=getamap.net|year=2020|access-date=May 6, 2020|quote=Banaka (Banaka) is a populated place ....  in Bomi County (Bomi), Liberia (Africa) .... . It is located at an elevation of 117 meters above sea level.|archive-date=May 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506155156/http://www.getamap.net/maps/liberia/bomi/_banaka/|url-status=live}}<br>(3) {{cite web|url=http://www.gomapper.com/travel/where-is/banaka-located.html|title=Where is Banaka in Liberia Located?|work=GoMapper|year=2020|access-date=May 6, 2020|quote=Banaka is a place with a very small population in the country of Liberia .... . Cities, towns and places near Banaka include Bonja, Kuodi, Wuefa and Fassa. The closest major cities include Monrovia, Freetown, Conakry and Daloa.|archive-date=May 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506155431/http://www.gomapper.com/travel/where-is/banaka-located.html|url-status=usurped}}<br>(4) Coordinates of Banaka: {{coord|6.828698|-10.7719071|scale:20000|format=dms|name=Banaka}}</ref> or "Banaka", the home of the [[Vai people]], who have lived there since about 1500 when they left the [[Mali Empire]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Paul|last=Heinegg|year=2021|url=http://freeafricanamericans.com/Adams-Butler.htm|access-date=September 14, 2021|title=Banneker Family|work=Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware: Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware: Adams-Butler|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914230106/http://freeafricanamericans.com/Adams-Butler.htm|archive-date=September 14, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>[[File:Ellicott City, Maryland (7391807448).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|View of the Patapsco Valley from Ellicott City (June 2012)]]

In 1737, when he was 6, Banneker was named on the deed of his family's {{convert|100|acre|km2|abbr=on|adj=on}} farm in the [[Patapsco Valley]] in rural Baltimore County.<ref name="Bedini148">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/lifeofbenjaminba00silv|title=The life of Benjamin Banneker|first=Silvio A.|last=Bedini|date=June 30, 1971|publisher=New York, Scribner|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref name=Hurry>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Hurry|first=Robert J.|editor-last=Hockey|editor-first=Thomas|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-BF1CHkc50C&pg=PA91|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-BF1CHkc50C&pg=printsec|title=Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers|chapter=Banneker, Benjamin|year=2007|pages=91–92|location=New York |publisher=[[Springer Publishing|Springer]]|isbn=9780387310220|oclc=65764986|access-date=July 29, 2020|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Glawe |first=Eddie |date=13 February 2014 |title=Feature: Benjamin Banneker. |url=http://www.xyht.com/professional-surveyor-archives/feature-benjamin-banneker/#sthash.AWoRGOoZ.dpuf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818211453/http://www.xyht.com/professional-surveyor-archives/feature-benjamin-banneker/ |archive-date=18 August 2015 |access-date=26 March 2025 |website=xyHt |quote=This indenture made this tenth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred thirty seven between Richard Gist... of the one part, Robert Bannaky and [his son] Benjamin Bannaky... of the other part}}</ref><ref>Facsimile of handwritten deed conveying property from Richard Gist to Robert Bannaky and Benjamin Bannaky. &nbsp;''In'' {{cite web |last=Clark |first=James W., Maryland Commission on Afro-American and Indian History and Culture, Annapolis, Maryland |date=June 14, 1976 |title=Benjamin Banneker Homesite |url=http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/004000/004300/004382/pdf/msa_se5_4382.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818203231/http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/004000/004300/004382/pdf/msa_se5_4382.pdf |archive-date=August 18, 2015 |access-date=November 15, 2015 |work=Maryland State Historical Trust: Inventory Form for State Historic Sites Survey |publisher=[[Maryland State Archives]] |page=16 |location=[[Annapolis, Maryland]]}}</ref> 

In 1791, a letter writer stated that Banneker's parents had sent him to an obscure school where he learned reading, writing and arithmetic as far as double position.{{what|reason=What is double position|date=November 2022}}<ref>(1) McHenry, pp. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435073185951&view=1up&seq=193 185]-[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435073185951&view=1up&seq=194 186]. "This man is about fifty-nine years of age; he was born in ''Baltimore county''; his father was an ''African'', and his mother the offspring of ''African'' parents. His father and mother having obtained their freedom, were enabled to send him to an obscure school, where he learned, as a boy, reading, writing, and arithmetic, as far as double position.<br />(2) {{cite web|url=http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/Double+position|title=Double position|work=Webster's 1913 Dictionary|access-date=June 14, 2020|quote=(Arith.) the method of solving problems by proceeding with each of two assumed numbers, according to the conditions of the problem, and by comparing the difference of the results with those of the numbers, deducing the correction to be applied to one of them to obtain the true result.|archive-date=June 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614192843/http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/Double+position|url-status=live}}<br>(3) {{cite book|first=Daniel|last=Adams|year=1807|chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044096989686&view=1up&seq=225|chapter=Section III. § 10. Position: Double Position|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044096989686&view=1up&seq=11|title=The Scholar's Arithmetic; or, Federal Accountant|edition=4th|pages=201–202|lccn=38021948|oclc=1153971636|location=[[Keene, New Hampshire]]|publisher=Printed by and for John Prentiss, (proprietor of the copy-right) and sold at his book-store, wholesale and retail.--Sold also by the principal booksellers in New-England, and at the Rensselaer book-store, [[Troy, New York|Troy, N.Y.]]|access-date=June 22, 2020|via=[[HathiTrust|HathiTrust Digital Library]]}}</ref> In contrast, unverified accounts, first appeared in books published more than 140 years after Banneker's death suggest that, as a young teenager, Banneker met and befriended Peter Heinrich, a [[Quaker]] who later established a school near the Banneker family farm.<ref>(1) [https://archive.org/details/yourmosthumblese00dubo/page/45/mode/1up/search/school Graham, 1949, p. 45.] Not until all the tobacco was in and "the Christmas" over was the school opened. Among the boys who sat on the smooth log facing Peter Heinrich was the dark boy. .... The dark boy's name seemed rather long. For Peter Heinrich wrote "Benjamin Banneker". .... And thus the spelling was changed from that in the earliest records.<br />(2) [https://archive.org/details/lifeofbenjaminba00silv/page/300/mode/1up Bedini, 1972, p. 300.] "Martha Tyson's posthumous book was the last work about Banneker to be based on original materials. During the next several decades, numerous articles in periodicals and newspapers mentioned Banneker's life and works, but each was based on earlier publications without contributing new materials. .... Finally, in 1949 another biography of Banneker appeared. This work by Shirley Graham was highly fictionalized and written for young people. It became popular, but the lack of distinction between fact and fiction in its presentation, while a compliment to the writing skill of Shirley Graham, has resulted in yet more confusion concerning Banneker's achievements and their importance."</ref><ref name=Cerami24>(1) [https://archive.org/details/banneker00char/page/24/mode/1up Cerami, 2002, pp. 24–28.]<br />(2) [https://web.archive.org/web/20120905204059/http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=7440 Corrigan, 2003, p. 2] "Cerami constructs a credible narrative of Banneker's life, but fails to document his research."</ref> These accounts state that Heinrich shared his personal library and provided Banneker with his only classroom instruction.<ref name=Cerami24/><ref>[https://archive.org/details/yourmosthumblese00dubo/page/52/mode/1up Graham, 1949, p. 52.] "The school was now housed in a building all its own and was supported by the Society of Friends. Though Ben was no longer a regular attendant he still considered himself a pupil. Very often when his days work was done he rode over to Master Heinrich's house for talk or to exchange a book"</ref> Banneker's formal education (if any) presumably ended when he was old enough to help on his family's farm.<ref name=Latrobe7>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/memoirbenjaminb00socigoog|title=Memoir of Benjamin Banneker: Read Before the Maryland Historical Society, at ...|first=Maryland Historical Society|last=John Hazlehurst Boneval Latrobe |date=June 30, 1845|publisher=Printed by John D. Toy|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>