Blair County PA Archives Biographies.....Bankart, Robert F. ???? -
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Judy Banja http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00004.html#0000757 July 19, 2025, 7:06 pm
Source: Pen Pictures of Friends and Reminiscent Sketches, Altoona, PA: William F. Gable & Co., Mirror Press, 1911
Author: J. N. Tillard
Soldier, Citizen and Friend
ROBERT F. BANKERT Has Always Stood in His Place,
Performing The Work of The Hour Without Reference to Reward
WHAT old resident of this county does not know the genial "Bob" Bankert?
The great vote given him for the office of county commissioner at the
primaries last spring without any effort on his part to speak of seems to
indicate that his acquaintance is large and his friends many.
Mr. Bankert is not a time-server or a seeker for popularity, but he can no
more help being friendly than the flower can avoid turning to the sun. He was
born with a great flow of the milk of human kindness in his system and it has
been exuding ever since as naturally as juice flows from the grape. Geniality
only comes to some men as the result of patient and long-continued
cultivation, but with Robert it is spontaneous. And, after all, the
cultivated brand of good fellowship is apt to be a good bit of a counterfeit
with so much of interested self-seeking in its composition as to reveal the
fraud everytime the fur is stroked the wrong way. It don't wear well and
breaks down at critical junctures. Stress and strain tries it out and only
the man who has been through the rough places of life with his attitude
toward his fellows unchanged, and the kindly smile still on his face, is
entitled to be regarded as a lover of his kind.
The subject of this sketch has seen the rough places, all right. He started
the rough house business when he was quite a young fellow by enlisting in the
army of the United States when there were things doing. There was mighty
little time for dress parade, and even had conditions been otherwise, he was
not that kind of a soldier. He did not go to war because he was struck on his
shape or was hunting trouble because of his size, but when fighting men were
wanted he felt as big as anybody else, or at least figured that an army
musket would shoot as straight, hard and effectively for a little fellow as a
big one, and not being loaded down with an excess of avoirdupois, he could
probably carry the aforesaid musket farther on a day's march in pursuit of
the enemy than the other fellow. In any case, he fought it out, and his
children and children's children may be proud of his record. He did not go
into the conflict blindly, but knew what he was contending for, and every
minute of the time he knew what he was at. If you have any doubt about that,
just ask him about any particular battle of the number in which he was
engaged and you will be impressed with the idea that he was master of the
situation and probably looked it over with just as much intelligence as did
his commanding general.
But he was essentially a man of peace, and when the unpleasantness was over
he came home to play the part of the good citizen, and he has been no more of
a fake in that capacity than he was as a soldier. Life with him was real and
earnest, and in his sphere he has lived up to its possibilities. He never
assumed anything, but day by day "hoed his own row" with diligence and
intelligence.
As an employe in the railroad shops, he performed his work in a way that
won the esteem and respect of his superiors and the hearty good will and love
of his associates. And he is still at it, neglecting nothing, shirking
nothing. Though the election is but a short way off, and he is a candidate,
the duty of the hour in the railroad shops has the first call and his head is
not swelled by the idea of political preferment. He stands in his place,
performing the duty that claims his attention with the feeling that his
fellow-citizens have sufficient good judgment and common sense to pick that
kind of a man to serve them, knowing that he who is faithful to his trust in
an humble capacity will not be found wanting in larger fields. It is not the
most eager man that always makes the best public official, though
unfortunately for the community he not infrequently picks the plum. The man
who does his work well today in the obscure place is the fellow who can be
depended upon to stand firm amid the temptations of public life, serving his
fellows with the same fidelity and zeal that characterizes all his efforts.
The man who wants a public office because he has been a good bit of a failure
in other pursuits is apt to show the yellow streak when the pinch comes in
the public place.
The writer hereof saw Mr. Bankert at work among the dead and helpless
immediately after the Johnstown Flood. He was not there for reward, but as a
volunteer in the hour of need. While others were scheming to get out of it
what might be had; he was day and night - scarcely stopping for food or sleep
- working with might and main to relieve the suffering, rescuing mangled and
horribly distorted bodies from that awful wreck and ruin and preparing them
with the meager means at hand for decent burial. He was a mighty big man
there, even though he was small of stature. Never for a moment losing his
head, he always knew the next thing to do and could devise the ways and means
out of the chaotic conditions to do it.
Whenever a distracted relative on the verge of madness had utterly failed
to find the poor comfort of the lost body of the loved one, we always told
them to see "Bob" Bankert, and he could generally give the desired
information. It was nasty work for the squeamish, and most of the multitude
were only there to look on in idle curiosity, but Mr. Bankert had gone to
render aid and he was a most effective helper. It was a good place to get the
proper perspective and accurately measure the size of a man, and he measured
up to the requirements. So long as he lives on the earth, he is not likely to
ever fall down in a matter of trust.
He has never dabbled in politics very much. He was not particularly
attracted by the game. While he served the city well and faithfully for four
years in city council two decades ago, his ambitions never set that way. He
didn't like the spot-light well enough to make strenuous efforts to get into
it, and so far as the emoluments were concerned he was making a living at
pursuits that were more congenial.
Mr. Bankert is a good example of the type of citizen that has given the
country stability. Always concerned more about his duties than his rights, he
has given freely of his best efforts for the good of his kind, and when the
end comes he will be entitled to have written above his name by the angel who
records the deeds of mortals, "He Loved His Fellow-Men."
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