The progenitor of the Banker family of the Mohawk Valley region was Gerrit Bancker, who came from Amsterdam, Holland, where he had a brother Willem, who was a merchant there as late as 1700. Gerrit Bancker was in New Amsterdam before 1655 and two years later was in Beverwyck, where he continued to reside until his death in 1691. His home lot in Albany was on the south side of Yonkers, now State street, the third east from Pearl. When Arent Van Curler began the settlement of Schenectady in 1662 he became one of the original fifteen proprietors of that settlement, and had a village lot and farm land allotted to him. His son Evert held this property until 1702. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Dirch Van Eps, and sister of Jan Van Eps, one of the first settlers of Schenectady. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Bancker removed to New York and engaged in trade. She died July 3, 1693, aged seventy years, leaving a large property for those times to her only son Evert, who was born in Albany, January 24, 1665. Gerrit and Elizabeth Bancker had a daughter also, Anna, who married Johannes De Peyster, of New York, September 21, 1688.
Evert Bancker became a merchant of Albany and held several important offices: justice of the peace, 1692; mayor of Albany, 1695-96 and 1707-09. He retired to his farm in Guilderland, Albany county, during the latter years of his life. In his will he left his son Johannes 50 pounds, provided "he continues to live with me till my decease, or till I dispose of my farm where I now live." He married Elizabeth, daughter of Stoffel Janse Abeel, September 24, 1686. They had five sons, three of whom, Christopher, Adrian and Gerardus, settled in New York, the other two Willem and Johannes, settled in Albany county, as farmers, and from these two sprang the Bancker-Banker families of Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady and adjacent counties.
Albert M. Banker, son of Henry and Mary Elizabeth (Smith) Banker, of Cherry Valley, Otsego county, New York, was born in that town, May 19, 1868. He was the youngest of three sons, the others being: George, married Luella Horton, and Nicholas M., born in Cherry Valley, January 10, 1864, read law and was admitted to the bar in 1887. Albert M. Banker was educated in the public schools of Cherry Valley, and prepared for college at the Clinton Classical Institute, Fort Plain, New York. He entered Union College, where he was graduated in class of 1892. After graduation he became interested in the subject of the disposal of the sewage of cities and towns. Later he became a contractor for the construction of sewers and disposal plants. He carries on an extensive business in that line and is very successful. He became interested in the manufacture of gloves and established at Gloversville a factory which he operates in addition to his contracting business. His special line of manufacture is silk gloves. He is a member of the Colonial, Lotus and Eccentric clubs, the latter of Gloversville, the Delta Phi fraternity of Union College. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and in politics a Democrat. He married, March 10, 1897, Mary E. Argersinger; children:
- Frank Fraser, born July 8, 1901, died July 29, 1901;
- Ann Miller, born June 17, 1904.