Robert March Hanes was born in Winston-Salem (Forsyth County), North Carolina, on September 22, 1890. Hanes was a prominent banker who for twenty-five years was president of the Wachovia Bank & Trust Company. Hanes additionally had a lengthy career as a public servant, serving three terms in the state legislature, among other state government appointments. In the aftermath of the July 1916 flood, he served as chairman of the Winston-Salem Relief Committee. Hanes died in Winston-Salem on March 10, 1959.