Charles W. Bannerman was born in North Carolina on July 16, 1806, and settled in Leon County, Florida, in 1827. He purchased 1,200 acres between the Ochlocknee River and Lake Iamonia to establish Iamonia Plantation, which produced cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane. Bannerman joined the Florida Volunteers during the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) and served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1847-1848 and the Leon County Board of County Commissioners from 1864-1865. He relocated his family to Tallahassee in 1859, leaving an overseer to manage the plantation in his stead, and lived there until his death on August 9, 1866. He is buried at Bannerman Cemetery.