[2] Michael was one of the leading merchants of New York, as well as patron of art, and founder and owner of the once famous picture gallery at Number 100 Broadway.

His ancestors, driven out of France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, during the reign of Louis XIV, established themselves at Henry's Grove, County Armagh, Ireland.

Homeward bound, he stopped in New York, where he met Leah, of the old Brevoort family, of that city, and, wooing and wedding her, he remained and established a shipping business between the United States and Newry, Ireland.

[6] Bancker's early writing efforts were a series of sketches descriptive of outdoor life, appearing in the Turf, Field and Farm.

[6] Bancker produced the opera Dovetta in April 1889, in the Standard Theater in New York, in conjunction with Emma Marcy Raymond.

[6] John W. Morrissey brought a suit in the New York Supreme Court against Raymond, the composer of the music of the opera, along with Bancker and Raynaud, the authors of the libretto, for US$5,000 for an alleged breach of contract.