In 1805, Banjo was born into slavery on a plantation in Scott County, Mississippi. He grew up on the Cedar Bend Plantation owned by Jebediah Patrick. At the age of five, Banjo began to work in the cotton fields. In the deep south of Mississippi where slaves experienced more back-breaking work and harsher punishments. Banjo endured many hardships such as beatings, brandings, and witnessed many slaves burned alive, since the government allowed it. Even when his slave master dug a hole for his pregnant wife, beating her near death was heart breaking.