The ancestor of the Banta family in America, Epke Jacobse, was a farmer who lived in the vicinity of Harlingen, an important seaport of Friesland, the most northern of the provinces of the Netherlands. Upon arrival in America, Epke Jacobse probably settled in Flushing, Long Island, NY and was an innkeeper according to New York records. About 1671 he had a mill in the adjoining town of Jamaica, NY.
Subsequently, Epke Jacobse removed to New Jersey, settling at Bergen, (Now Jersey City), probably prior to 1675. In 1681 he purchased land at Hackensack, Bergen Co., NJ. A deed, not recorded, for property at what is now called Ridgefield Park, on the east side of the river, two miles below Hackensack, was in existence a number of years ago. It was dated 17 June 1685 and was made by Epke Jacobse to Hendrick Joris Brinckerhoff, in the possession of whose descendants the land remained for 200 years. (The deed was kept in an old oaken chest in the Brinckerhoff homestead.) The late James Riker examined this deed for the signature of Epke Jacobse.
The descendants of Epke Jacobse came to be known by the surname Banta. The first appearance of the surname Banta, as far as is known, is 22 August 1696, when Jannetie Cornelese Banta married Johannes Meyer.

from Donna Speer Ristenbatt