History of Colorado; Volume I, Part 43

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 954

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summer of 1860, when the Clark, Gruber & Company gold coins made an ap- pearance. In 1862 war time paper money was circulated in the territory, but not until 1865 did local national bank notes come into use.

The first men in Denver to buy gold dust from the miners were Samuel and George W. Brown, brothers, who came in June, 1860, and opened an office in a log building on the north side of Larimer Street between Fourteenth and Fif- teenth streets. George W. Brown continued in the business for many years after his brother had left the country and became the first collector of internal revenue in Denver.

The firm of Turner & Hobbs, bankers and brokers, also opened up for business in June, 1860. William H. Russell, of the freighting firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, was the principal owner of this business and George W. Kassler was the cashier. The place of business was first located in a building on Eleventh Street, but later was moved to a two-story brick building on the southwest corner of Tenth and Larimer streets. The firm of Turner & Hobbs may be considered as the first real banking organization in Denver, but as such its career was short, having been abandoned in the summer of 1861.

CLARK, GRUBER & COMPANY

The largest financial organization of pioneer days in Colorado was the bank and mint of Clark, Gruber & Company. This firm was composed of Austin M. and Milton E. Clark, brothers, and E. H. Gruber, the former two from Ripley, Ohio, and the latter from Hagerstown, Maryland. They came to Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1858, and entered the banking business, in the course of which they became acquainted with the Denver country through the gold coins received from there. Very soon they conceived the plan of establishing a bank at Denver, also a mint where the gold dust could be converted into coins identical with the regular Government issue. In this way, as they estimated, the cost of transpor- tation across the plains could be eliminated. They were perfectly within the law in this procedure, as no Government statute existed which would have prevented them from coining gold pieces.

In the spring of 1860 Austin M. Clark and Gruber came to Denver to pre- pare the way, while Milton E. Clark went to Boston, Massachusetts, to secure the necessary presses and dies. A tract of land was purchased at the northwest corner of Market and Sixteenth streets, and a small, two-story building erected thereon. By the middle of the summer all of the equipment had arrived and the establishment was ready for a start.

The formal opening occurred July 20, 1860. George W. McClure, an assayer from Iowa, was in charge of the minting department. The coins issued in 1860 were of the $10 and $20 sizes, made of pure gold and devoid of any alloy, which made them of greater intrinsic value than the corresponding United States coins. However, in 1861, when the coins of $2.50, $5, $10 and $20 were minted, alloy was used, but yet contained I per cent more gold than the Government coin, as a guarantee of full value. Fully $3,000,000 in gold coins were minted by this company in the two years after the opening of the bank. The organization won a high reputation in the Far West and never was there a suggestion of dishonesty or unfair dealing connected with the institution.

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In 1860, late in the year, a branch bank was established at Central City, the operation of which was identical with that at Denver. Demand notes were issued shortly afterward, for $5, made payable in local coinage at the Denver bank. These notes were at a premium in 1862, which exceeded the value of the regu- lar United States notes.

However, some doubts soon arose as to the legality of the minting business carried on in Denver and Central City. This open discussion of the status of the business came up after the Territorial Government had been established in Colorado, in the year 1861. In the summer of this year a movement was started to have the Government start a branch mint at Denver. The first territorial convention of the republican party, held at Golden July 2, 1861, passed a resolu- tion favoring the establishment of a Government mint in Colorado and, with characteristic fair play, Clark, Gruber & Company openly joined forces with this movement, and made every effort to have a Government mint started.

Proceedings at Washington were first started by Hiram P. Bennett, Colo- rado's first delegate to Congress, and Austin M. Clark. It was ascertained that the gold coins issued in Colorado were of full value and weight and that no laws had been violated, whereupon the secretary of the treasury recommended that a law be passed prohibiting the coinage of gold by private concerns in the country, that a branch mint of the Government be established in Denver, and that the property of Clark, Gruber & Company be purchased for use as Govern- ment property. Bennett prepared a bill incorporating a portion of these recom- mendations, succeeded in getting it through both the House and Senate, and it became a law by the President's approval on April 21, 1862.

By a later act, approved March 3, 1863, the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to buy the Clark, Gruber & Company property, for which purpose the sum of $25,000 was appropriated. The transaction was consummated in April, 1863. The law prohibiting private coinage was not passed until June 8, 1864, this clause not having been in the original Bennett Bill. Although the Treasury Department at Washington intended at first to create a mint at Denver, other provisions were made later. The minting machinery used by Clark, Gru- ber & Company is now in the collection of the State Historical Society.

The firm of Clark, Gruber & Company remained in business about a year longer. This was a large concern, the "home office" being at Leavenworth and branch banks at Denver, Central City and Salt Lake City, Utah. On March 10, 1864, E. H. Gruber left the firm and the Clarks continued under the name of Clark & Company until May 9, 1865. Then the business was transferred to the First National Bank. The branch at Central City was purchased by George T. Clark, first cashier of the First National Bank of Denver, and Eben Smith. This business was perpetuated under the firm name of George T. Clark & Company, also a branch was established at Georgetown.

OTHER PIONEER BANKING BUSINESS

In the year 1859 Dr. John Parsons came into the South Park country from Quincy, Ill. In 1860 he brought out dies and presses and established a mint at Tarryall. Here he coined gold pieces of the $2.50 and $5 denominations which were in free circulation in Denver and surrounding country.

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Another banker was Warren Hussey, who came to Denver from Des Moines Iowa, in the spring of 1861 and on April 14th opened a general banking, or gold-buying business under the firm name of Warren Hussey & Company. His office was located in the William Graham drugstore, on the northwest corner of Larimer and Fifteenth streets. He later started a branch bank at Central City and about the same time employed Frank Palmer as manager of the Denver office.

In January, 1863, the office having been moved to the Ford building at the northeast corner of Fifteenth and Market streets, Joseph A. Thatcher was made a partner, having the position of cashier and manager of the Central City branch. In 1865 Palmer became a partner in the business, which had been con- siderably enlarged and now constituted general banking of all kinds. However, in 1867 Palmer sold out to Hussey, but retained his position. Thatcher pur- chased the Central City branch entire in 1870 and, with Joseph Standley, organ- ized the banking firm of Thatcher, Standley & Company, with a capital stock of $50,000. This firm was succeeded January 1, 1874, by the First National Bank of Central City, Thatcher being the first president. The Denver house was succeeded in 1872 by the City National Bank. Hussey went from Colorado to Washington Territory and then to New York City.

C. A. COOK & COMPANY

In September, 1859, there arrived in Denver two merchants, C. A. Cook and Jasper P. Sears, hailing from Leavenworth, Kan. These men established their mercantile business on the north side of Blake Street, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets, and quickly developed an excellent trade. In the course of their business they accepted a large amount of gold dust, which naturally led them to establish the gold-buying activities as a side line, using part of their store for this purpose. In 1860-61 this developed into a regular banking busi- ness, which in turn brought up the necessity of some medium of making small change. To supply this need the C. A. Cook & Company, as the firm was known, issued small notes, engraved, which were popularly called "scrip." These were in denominations of ten, twenty-five and fifty cents, and $1, and were redeem- able at the store and bank. Until 1863, when all of them were redeemed by the company, these small notes formed a great part of the common exchange in the territory.

So large did the banking business become, that C. A. Cook & Company, in 1864, discontinued the mercantile part of their establishment. However, the business was discontinued entirely in 1865, Mr. Cook later becoming one of the stockholders of the First National Bank of Denver. Cook died in 1878 and Sears in 1899.

THE EXCHANGE BANK

In May, 1860, Dr. O. D. Cass, a native of New Hampshire and a California '49er, came to Denver from Leavenworth, Kansas, and engaged in the banking business. He established his business in Hinckley & Company's office on Blake Street, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets, and in the spring of 1861

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was joined by his brother, Joseph B. Cass, and G. H. Wilcox. The brother had previously been engaged in the banking business at Leavenworth, with the firm of Carney & Stevens. These three men formed a partnership and named their bank the "Exchange Bank." After a time the business was transferred to a building erected on Blake Street, near Cherry Creek, but the flood of 1864 demolished this property. The Henry C. Brown building was constructed on the southeast corner of Sixteenth and Market streets in 1868, and to this the Exchange Bank was moved. A branch office was opened in Central City when the business justified and the agency for the Holladay Overland Mail Stage Company was added. In 1865 Holladay purchased the banking business, but did not continue long after. Dr. O. D. Cass remained a citizen of Denver until his death in 1894. .

P. P. WILCOX & COMPANY

In 1861 the first Legislature of the Territory of Colorado passed a law providing for the organization of the "Bank of Colorado," by P. P. Wilcox, E. C. Jacobs and E. W. Cobb. Certain stipulations were made by the Legis- lature governing the organization and administration of the proposed bank. However, the Bank of Colorado failed to materialize, but very soon afterward Wilcox formed the P. P. Wilcox & Company banking firm. Inferior scrip was issued, most of which was redeemed just after the fire of 1863, which destroyed the remainder. Scrip was against the Territorial law at this time, but very few cases were prosecuted. Wilcox was one of the latter few, but nothing definite was ever accomplished against him.

KOUNTZE BROTHERS' BANK

Luther Kountze came to Denver from Omaha in the spring of 1862 and opened a gold-buying business in one corner of the Walter S. Cheesman drug- store on the southeast corner of Blake and Fifteenth streets. He used for his business, the firm title of Kountze Brothers, for the reason that his three brothers, Augustus and Herman in Omaha and Charles B. in Ohio, were as- sociated with him in banking and they had agreed to transact all business con- ducted by any of them under the name of Kountze Brothers.

After the fire of 1863, when the Cheesman drugstore was destroyed, Kountze transferred his business to the general store of Tootle & Leach, on the south side of Blake Street between Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets, where it remained until the spring of 1864, then moved to the Kountze Brothers' own new brick building on the northwest corner of Fifteenth and Market streets. At the same time Charles B. Kountze joined Luther at the Denver office, and in 1866 became a partner, at which time the business was reorganized as the Colorado National Bank. The Kountze Brothers became bankers of national reputation and had large banks in New York City, Omaha, Cheyenne and Denver.

BANKS NOW DEFUNCT

The City National Bank, the business of which was purchased by the Amer- ican National Bank on June 21, 1894, was the outgrowth of the Warren Hussey

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& Company banking firm. The business started June 10, 1872, on the northeast corner of Fifteenth and Market streets, with a paid-up capital of $200,000. The last location of the institution was on the northwest corner of Sixteenth and Lawrence streets. The first officers were: Henry Crow, president; Frank Palmer, vice president ; John R. Hanna, cashier; and Hyatt Hussey, assistant cashier.

A bank known as the Colorado Savings Bank was started on July 20, 1872, with John W. Smith as manager. This bank was not incorporated and con- tinued in business until January, 1880, when the depositors were paid in full and the doors closed.

In 1872 Henry C. Brown and C. D. Gurley opened up a banking business, known as the Bank of Denver, on the southeast corner of Sixteenth and Market streets. In 1873 Brown sold out his share to William H., J. H. and F. D. Hager, and then the firm became the "Bank of Denver, Hager, Sons & Company, Bankers." In 1876 the bank discontinued business after paying all the de- positors.

Collins, Snider & Company was a banking firm, started in 1873, by Samuel G. Collins, Frederick J. Ebert, J. H. Jones, Jacob F. L. Schirmer, Jacob Snider and Hiram Witter, with a capital stock of $90,000. In January, 1876, the bank was sold to the stockholders of the Exchange Bank, which then was beginning in business.

The People's Savings Bank was another concern established in the year 1873, by John W. Blackburn, Dr. R. G. Buckingham, Dr. H. K. Steele and H. C. Donnell. The business was opened in the Evans Building, on the south- west corner of Fifteenth and Lawrence streets, with Blackburn as president and Donnell cashier. This bank came to a disastrous end in January, 1878, nearly all of the depositors suffering total loss.

On March 3, 1874, the German Bank of Denver was incorporated, with paid-up capital of $100,000. Those principally interested were: Joseph L. Bailey, L. F. Bartels, M. D. Clifford, J. M. Eckhart, John Good, John J. Rieth- mann, Walter A. Stuart, George Tritch and Conrad Walbrach. Riethmann was elected president, Tritch vice president, and C. F. A. Fisher cashier. Henry Suhr became cashier within the year.

The bank opened for business May 4, 1874, in the Fink building, southeast corner of Fifteenth and Market streets. In 1877 the institution was made a national bank, with George Tritch as president. The organization had been moved in the meantime to the Good building on the northwest corner of Six- teenth and Larimer streets, and here, in April, 1877, the German National Bank opened. Until the panic of 1893 this bank maintained its business in apparently creditable manner, then the storm broke. On July 19th of that year the bank was closed, but reopened on August 19th to provide depositors with time cer- tificates. In this condition the bank continued until June 6, 1894, then closed definitely and passed into the hands of a receiver. The Riethmanns, John J. Sr. and Jr., were president and vice president respectively at this time.

One of the interesting phases of the history of this bank was the activities of Walter A. Stuart, one of the directors when the institution was organized in 1874, and who proved to be one of the cleverest bank criminals in the country. More of him is related elsewhere in this chapter.

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In the summer of 1881 the Denver Bank was organized, capitalized for $50,000. A. E. Pierce was the chief organizer of this bank, and the first officers were: G. W. Gildersleeve, president ; D. C. Wyatt, vice president; and A. E. Pierce, cashier. The bank was located on the northeast corner of Larimer and Twelfth streets. For the reason that the business center of Denver gradually withdrew from the west side to the east, the bank discontinued operations in the winter of 1884-85, settling all obligations in an honorable manner.

The State National Bank was organized in the spring of 1882 with a capital stock of $120,000. Those interested were: Elias R. Barton, C. E. Billings, J. A. Chain, Charles Hallack, Charles F. Hendrie, Julius C. Lewis, George N. Wheeler and E. P. Wright. Wheeler was the first president. The bank opened for business on May Ist in the Mcclintock building, northeast corner of Six- teenth and Larimer streets. The State National, after a more or less successful career, suspended payments on July 19, 1893, resumed on August 31st, but on June 25, 1894, transferred its entire business to the Union National Bank and closed.

The Merchants National Bank was also a product of the spring of 1882. Samuel N. Wood was the chief organizer of this institution and associated with him were: William M. Bliss, D. C. Dodge, A. W. Waters and Henry R. Wolcott. The last named gentleman was the first president. This bank opened for business on May Ist in the Mcclintock building, Sixteenth and Larimer streets. On December 31, 1882, the business was taken over by the First National Bank.

On July 2, 1887, the second bank, known as the Colorado Savings Bank, opened for business. The capital stock was $250,000 and the stockholders were: F. K. Atkins, E. M. Battis, J. G. Benkelman, John A. Clough, William G. Evans, C. S. Howard, B. Lombard, Jr., James L. Lombard, W. B. Mills, Jacob Scherrer and Walter J. Wildman. John A. Clough was the first president. Business was first started at the southeast corner of Larimer and Fifteenth streets. On July 17, 1893, the Colorado Savings closed its business and was never revived, the majority of the stockholders undergoing a total loss of their money.

In the year 1888, during the spring, Mortimer J. Lawrence came to Denver from Cleveland, Ohio, and organized the People's Savings and Deposit Bank. M. J. Lawrence, W. W. Porter, Scott J. Anthony, J. J. Joslin and F. A. Knight were others interested. This bank opened its doors July 9, 1888, at 1644 Arap- ahoe Street. with Charles A. Raymond as president.

In the summer of 1889 the Peoples National Bank was organized by the same men as the above institution, with a capital stock of $300,000. On July 31, 1889, the People's Savings and Deposit Bank was renamed the People's Savings Bank and became an adjunct of the national bank. An office building was con- structed on the southwest corner of Sixteenth and Lawrence streets and the capital stock of the national bank increased to $600,000. However, in spite of the prosperity which came to these allied institutions, the financial panic of 1893 proved fatal. The Savings closed on July 17th of that year and two days later the national bank followed. The Savings Bank resumed business June 1, 1894, but continued only a year longer. Much litigation resulted between the receiver and the stockholders, the result of which was a judgment of $475,000 against the national bank, to which the greater part of the funds of the Savings Bank had been diverted prior to the 1893 panic. This, with other assets, enabled the

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depositors to recover their money in 1900. The national bank itself had resumed business after its suspension in 1893, but finally liquidated and, after the suit against it, was closed out. The stockholders suffered complete loss, although the depositors were paid in full.

The Commercial National Bank started business September 12, 1889. at 906-8 Sixteenth Street, with a capital stock of $250,000. The officers were: C. H. Dow, president ; C. D. Cobb, vice president ; F. H. Dunleavy, assistant cashier, later cashier. This bank, with many others, was smothered in the panic of 1893, entailing a great loss to the stockholders.

The North Denver Bank was an institution incorporated August 15, 1889, established at Fifteenth and Central streets, with C. F. Ray president. This bank closed July 18, 1893, paying depositors in full.

The American National Bank was established in the autumn of 1889, the capital stock being $250,000. The first officers were: I. B. Porter, president ; J. M. Armstrong, vice president ; and Howard Evans, cashier. The bank opened December 2d in the Granite building on the southwest corner of Larimer and Fifteenth streets. The bank continued in business with fair success until April 22, 1896, when the doors were closed, the depositors subsequently being paid in full.

The Union National Bank, an outgrowth of the Union Bank, was chartered June 19, 1890, with a capital stock of $1,000,000. The first officers after the reorganization were: R. W. Woodbury, president ; M. Spangler, vice president ; W. H. Trask, cashier. Located at Sixteenth and Arapahoe streets, the bank entered a period of great prosperity. In 1893 the bank temporarily suspended. but resumed business a month later. In 1894 the Union National took over the business of the State National Bank and moved to the McClintock building on the corner of Sixteenth and Larimer streets. Dissatisfaction with the affairs of the old State National eventually led to severe criticism of the Union National, although it is claimed by some that the latter was not in the wrong. The result was that the Union National ceased business July 29, 1895. Both stockholders and depositors were paid by the bank.

The Rocky Mountain Dime and Dollar Savings Bank was incorporated May 7, 1891., The first officers were: F. W. Woodbury, president; K. G. Cooper, vice president; and E. S. Thompson, cashier. The bank was located at 1515 Arapahoe Street, where it maintained a good business until the stress of 1893. On July 17th of that year the bank closed. Business was resumed a few weeks later and continued until April 20, 1894, when a reorganization was effected and the name changed to the Rocky Mountain Savings Bank. However, the new organization was compelled to suspend business indefinitely August 6, 1895. Some loss was suffered by the depositors.

The Capital Bank, the East Denver Savings Bank and the Mercantile Bank were other institutions which existed for a short time in the early '90s.

THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK

The First National Bank of Denver is the oldest of the banking institutions now in the city, having had an uninterrupted career, with the same name, since the spring of the year 1865. This was the first bank in Denver or Colorado organ-

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ized under the national banking law. The First National is the successor of the banking firm of Clark & Company, which succeeded the firm of Clark, Gruber & Company, the history of which is given elsewhere in this chapter. The First National received certificate of authority from Washington April 17, 1865. The first stockholders were: Bela S. Buell, Jerome B. Chaffee, Austin M. Clark, Milton E. Clark, Charles A. Cook, Henry J. Rogers, George T. Clark and Eben Smith. The original capital stock of this bank was $50,000 and the first officers elected were: Jerome B. Chaffee, president, Henry J. Rogers, vice president ; and George T. Clark, cashier.

The business of Clark & Company was transferred to the First National on the 9th of May, and on the 10th the doors of the new institution were opened to the public. The bank was located in the old Clark & Company room in the O. K. building on Fifteenth Street. Later in the year the bank moved into a new building on the northeast corner of Fifteenth and Blake streets. Here it remained until 1875, when a removal was made to the Mcclintock building on the northeast corner of Larimer and Sixteenth streets. In 1885 another move was made into the corner room of the Tabor building on the southeast corner of Larimer and Sixteenth, where the bank remained until the spring of 1896. In this year the bank was again moved to the Equitable building on the south- west corner of Seventeenth and Stout streets, where it remained until the erection of the present structure.

The currency of the First National Bank of Denver was the first national banking currency issued in the city or in the State of Colorado. The presidents of this strong institution have been : Jerome B. Chaffee, David H. Moffat, A. V. Hunter, H. J. Alexander. The other officers are: Gerald Hughes, C. C. Parks, vice presidents ; J. C. Houston, cashier ; C. C. Hendrie, J. M. Hauk, O. Preston, W. F. Rogers, D. E. Miller, H. M. Beatty, assistant cashiers; A. R. Milks, auditor.

COLORADO NATIONAL BANK

The second. bank organized in Denver under the national banking law was the Colorado National, at present the second oldest bank in the city. This institution was the outgrowth of the Kountze Brothers banking business, de- scribed in preceding paragraphs. The first plans toward the organization of this bank were made in the spring of 1866, and on August Ist business was begun in the Kountze Brothers building on the northwest corner of Fifteenth and Market streets. The first officers were: Luther Kountze, president; Joseph H. Goodspeed, vice president ; Charles B. Kountze, cashier ; Luther Kountze, Charles B. Kountze, Joseph H. Goodspeed, Joshua S. Raynolds and Edward Creighton, directors.

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History of Colorado; Volume I, Part 43

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 954

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 954