George Banta

Banta was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1878. He moved to Menasha, Wisconsin around 1885, where in 1901 he established the George Banta Printing Company. He remained active in the management of the company until his death on September 23, 1935.

Much of the company's early growth came from educational contracts. George Banta secured a contract to print the national magazine for Phi Delta Theta. Other national fraternities and sororities followed; the company would also publish Banta's Greek Exchange, a monthly review of fraternity and sorority news, and several editions of Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. Through his father's academic connections, the company also won orders for university catalogs and yearbooks, textbooks, and magazines.

Banta served as alderman (1890–1891) and mayor (1892, 1895, 1902–1903) of Menasha, and served on the boards of several local companies.

Banta was married to Lillian Vawter in 1882, who died in 1885, leaving a young son, Mark. After her death, Banta moved to Menasha, Wisconsin, where he later married Ellen Lee Plesants (1866–1951). They had two more children, George Jr. (1893–1977), and Eleanor Banta. Both sons became members of Phi Delta Theta. George Jr. followed in his father's footsteps and served as president of the Phi Delta Theta Grand Council from 1932 until 1934. Eleanor became a member of Delta Gamma.

He died at age 78 in 1935 in Menasha, and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in neighboring Neenah. His former home at 348 Naymut Street, known as the George, Sr., and Ellen Banta House, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.