Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 41

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 1190

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THE STATE INSTITUTION FOR SAVINGS.

This well-known bank is regarded throughout the State as one of the safest. soundest and most progress- ive savings institutions in the Northwest. It has a paid-up eapital of $400,000, which is four times that

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

of any other banking institution in the State devoted exclusively to savings. It confines its business wholly to handling savings, on which it has for 25 years paid four per cent interest. These features give it special advantages in caring for the class of accounts it car- ries, and protecting those who have them. The men in charge of its business are of superior ability and well trained in this particular line of banking.

The funds of the bank's depositors are invested entirely in real estate mortgages, and the institution is under rigid State inspection and supervision. All the officers and directors are under bonds, guarantee- ing the faithful performance of their duties. The bank is wholly a Minneapolis enterprise and transacts its business in a very handsome and imposing build- ing of its own, built by Minneapolis labor, and located at 517 First Avenue South.

The bank was founded in 1888 as a mutual savings institution and in 1899 it was capitalized at $400,000. Its first officers were: Dr. W. A. Hall, president ; W. E. Johnson, vice president; H. E. Fairchild, secretary and treasurer; and they, with George E. Bertrand, Howard W. Field, James D. Shearer, C. H. Childs, James W. Blain, and John W. Knight, were directors. The present guarantee fund of the institution amounts to $200,000, and its resources aggregate more than $1,000,000.

In the management of its business and the treat- ment of its patrons this bank is up to date in every particular. Its officers are men of affairs, keenly alive to all the ins and outs of banking, and well trained in their work. They know just how to secure the largest and readiest returns from any outlay. Every employe is strictly required to show the utmost courtesy and consideration to every patron and give prompt and efficient attention to every call, whether the account involved be large or small. All are also under rigid injunctions to fully explain to inquirers all features of the business. In consequence of this policy and the general wisdom of its management, the business of the bank has grown to very large propor- tions and its reputation is high and widespread.

FARMERS' AND MECHANICS' SAVINGS BANK.

This institution has existed for forty years. Ac- cording to an official statement made by the board of trustees at its beginning, its object is "to provide a perfectly safe depository for savings and to invest such savings in the best securities. It will receive no business accounts, nor will it transact a general bank- ing business." As an evidence of the care and pru- dence with which the institution is managed, its regu- lations require that investments of deposits be made only in the authorized securities prescribed by the laws of the State of Minnesota, which investments are examined regularly by the public examiner of the State. The strict manner in which the regulations are obeyed, and the high character and ample re- sources of the men in control of the bank's affairs give proof of its strength and security that the people have found to be entirely satisfactory.

The bank was incorporated September 9, 1874, as

a mutual savings bank, without capital stock, under the general laws of the State passed in 1867. The in- corporators were H. T. Welles, Clinton Morrison, Wil- liam Chandler, Charles McC. Reeve, E. H. Moulton, Paris Gibson, W. P. Westfall, Thomas Lowry, and A. D. Mulford, and they also constituted the first board of trustees. They met and organized for business at the office of Thomas Lowry, October 10, 1874. Before the end of that year the bank began receiving depos- its. It occupied at the first a small room on Washing- ton Avenue, under the Nicollet Hotel. By January 1, 1875, the deposits amounted to the very substantial sum for that period of $17,540.55.

In April, 1875, under authority conferred by an amendment to the original savings bank law, permit- ting the capitalizing of savings banks, the board of trustees amended the articles of incorporation so as to authorize the issue of capital stock amounting to $50,000, which was subscribed for and issued. In 1879 a new savings bank law was enacted, which was substantially the same as the present law. The next year, under the provisions of this law, the bank again reorganized, retired all capital stock, and amended its articles of incorporation to conform to the new requirements. It thus once more became a mutual savings bank without capital stock.

In the meantime, however, in 1878, when the de- posits had increased to over $100,000, the bank moved into the red brick building on the southeast corner of Washington and Nicollet Avenues. The business kept on increasing more and more rapidly, and in 1886 the deposits aggregated more than $2,000,000. The great and growing volume of its transactions forced the institution to move into larger quarters, which it did by securing commodious rooms in Tem- ple Court. The move was a wise one, which was soon made manifest by the leaps and bounds with which the bank went forward in its new and better location and with its augmented facilities.

By 1891 the deposits had grown to over $4,500,000. The amount of business requiring the attention of the bank had now become so great that the trustees de- cided to erect a building for the use of the bank alone. This building was completed in 1893, and since then has been continuously occupied by the bank and used for no other purpose than the business of its owner. It was the first building erected and used exclusively for banking purposes in Minneapolis.

January 1, 1906, the number of depositors had reached a total of 51,041 and the deposits amounted to $12,674,154.54. April 1, 1913, the depositors num- bered 64,748, and the deposits were $15,940,067.05; of the deposits $41,771.19 were made by school chil- dren, numbering 24,712. During its existence the bank has paid out in dividends to depositors the sum of $7,640,453.10. The figures are striking in their magnitude; the progress of the institution is thor- oughly characteristic of the community in which it operates, in its rapidity and steadiness; the volume of business it has transacted and is now carrying on is in keeping with the spirit of the age, and of the people among whom it has had its growth. But there aretto- tals which cannot be stated in mathematical aggre-

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

gates. Among these are the benefits it has conferred on the community, the homes it has helped to build and keep in comfort for their inmates, the habits of thrift and frugality it has engendered, and the vast contribu- tions it has made to aid in the development, conduct, and expansion of great industries, to say nothing of the good it has done in moral, intellectual, and social ways.

The present officers of the bank are: T. B. Janney, president; O. C. Wyman and William G. Northup, vice presidents; N. F. Hawley, secretary ; and thesc gentlemen, with E. H. Moulton, A. F. Pillsbury, John Washburn, Cavour S. Langdon, John Crosby, C. C. Webber and Karl De Laittre, constitute the trustccs.

One of the most interesting features, and one pro- ductive of a vast amount of good, is the school sav- ing system operated by the Farmers' & Mcchanies' Savings Bank since 1908. In this department the chil- dren of the public schools throughout the city are encouraged in forming the habit of saving their pen- nies instead of spending them, and the figures are most surprising when one stops to consider the large sums that are gathered annually from this one source.

In operating this system the bank employs a num- ber of young women who are interested in the work and capable of explaining its operation to the chil- dren. They visit the schools at stated periods and receive from the children their small savings. Each child is given a stamp-card which holds brightly colored lithographed stamps ranging from one cent to one dollar, and when filled amounts to five dollars. No interest is paid upon the stamp account, but as soon as five dollars is collected, the child is advised to open a regular savings account, with some reliable savings bank in the city, the adviser making no effort to influence them to open their account with this particular bank. These accounts are subject to the control of the parents or guardians, and no child is permitted to withdraw its savings without their con- sent. A great deal might be written on this subject that would be of great interest to the people of the city. Suffice to say that since this one department of the bank has been opened, it has grown to such an extent that there are now over twenty-five thousand school children carrying savings accounts with this bank alone, and June 14, 1912, their total deposits amounted to nearly fifty thousand dollars.

Another interesting feature is the fact that the largest number of depositors are from the schools that are attended largely by the children of the working classes, and that the smallest per cent of savings is gathered from the schools where the parents are well- to-do people. Minneapolis ranks first of any of the Western cities in the number of school children with savings accounts, and this is due almost wholly to the interest that the Farmers' & Mechanics' Savings Bank has taken in this particular line of work.

SCANDINAVIAN AMERICAN NATIONAL BANK.

The Scandinavian American National Bank was organized in May, 1909, in response to a pronounced

- sentiment that the banking business of Minneapolis had become so concentrated in large institutions that there was a field for a bank of moderate size. The original capital was $250,000. Deposits came in so fast that it was immediately evident that an increase in capital was necessary, and therefore it was in- creased to $500,000 before the bank was six months old.

At this writing the surplus and undivided profits are $150,000, and the deposits are $4,500,000.

Mr. N. O. Werner, former president of the Swedish American National Bank, was the first president. He died in 1910 and was succeeded by Theodore Wold. The other officers are Chas. L. Grandin and A. Ue- land, vice presidents; Edgar L. Mattson, cashier, and E. V. Bloomquist, assistant cashier.

The directors are as follows: Frank G. Brooberg, Aaron Carlson, A. M. Dyste, P. C. Frazee, C. L. Grandin, G. B. Gunderson, C. J. Hcdwall, Erik Jacob- son, John Lind, 'Edgar L. Mattson, Ed. Pierce, Geo. J. Sherer, C. J. Swanson, Eugene Tetzlaff, A. Ueland, Theodore Wold.

This institution, in a period of less than five years, has attained an unprecedented growth, which has attracted the attention of the depositing public, and has demonstrated that there was a field for it. It has a number of stockholders who have used their influence on behalf of the bank, and this, together with an energetic board of directors and official staff, has made the institution a success from the start.

The quarters, at 52-54 South Fourth Street, are very attractive, the building being a high one-story structure devoted entirely to the business of the bank.

THE SWEDISH AMERICAN NATIONAL BANK.

This old-time financial institution, now merged in the Northwestern National Bank, deserves mention in the history of that bank.

The Swedish-American National Bank was organ- ized originally as a State bank, under the name of Swedish-American Bank, in 1888, and began business with a capital of $100,000. Col. Hans Mattson, at that time Secretary of State, and a long time resi- dent of Minneapolis, was the prime mover in the organization of the bank, and he associated with him Mr. O. N. Ostrom, who at that time was a banker at Evansville, Minnesota, and interested in the grain business.

The first officers of the bank were O. N. Ostrom, president : Hans Mattson, vice president, and N. O. Werner, formerly of Red Wing, cashier.

The bank gained a foothold at once, and its growth was rapid and substantial. necessitating in two years an increase in capital to $250,000. Shortly thereafter the bank moved into larger quarters at First Avenue South and Washington. Mr. Mattson resigned the vice presideney about this time and was sneeceded by Mr. C. S. Hulburt, who for many years occupied the position of City Treasurer. In 1893 occurred the death of President Ostrom, and Mr. Werner suc- ceeded him.

In 1894 the bank was reorganized under a national

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

charter. The capital was again increased in July, 1905, to $500,000. In 1908. the bank went out of ex- istence as a separate institution, consolidating with the Northwestern National Bank. At the time of the consolidation it had a surplus and undivided profit account of $400,000 and deposits amounting to $4,000,000.

In liquidation the stockholders of the bank have been paid 180 per cent, and it is estimated that they will eventually receive 200 per cent, a striking evi- dence of the conservative and enterprising manage- ment which this bank had enjoyed.

The officers of the bank at the time of the consolida- tion were N. O. Werner, president; C. S. Hulburt and J. A. Latta, vice presidents; Edgar L. Mattson, cashier; A. V. Ostrom, assistant cashier.

METROPOLITAN NATIONAL BANK.

This bank was started on its serviceable career May 20, 1907, and has had a course of unbroken progress. It has encountered some rough places on the road, undoubtedly, but it has met them with full prepara- tion for the difficulties they involved, and passed over them with no delay in its advancement and no injury to its machinery. From the beginning the management of the bank has been in capable hands and judicious in every particular. It has reached out to the limit of safety for substantial and steady re- turns, but it has risked nothing of the interests it has had in charge, and never, for a moment, endan- gered the safety of any of its patrons.

The first officers of the bank were: George C. Mer- rill, president; Murray R. Waters, vice president ; V. H. Van Slyke, cashier, and C. F. Wyant, assistant cashier. And these gentlemen, with the exception of Mr. Wyant, in company with J. O. Davis, P. M. Endsley, S. H. Hudson, F. R. Chase, J. W. Crane, Albert E. Clarke, George F. Blossom, H. G. Fertig, George B. Norris, Peter Menderfield, W. P. Cleator and Frank K. Sullivan comprised its board of direct- ors. The capital stock was, at first, $100,000, but the enlargement of the bank's operations has necessitated an increase of its capital from time to time, until it is now $300,000, and the surplus and undivided profits are $95,000.

The officers at the time of this writing (1914) are: V. H. Van Slyke, president; George B. Norris, vice president ; C. F. Wyant, cashier, and George Vollmer, assistant cashier ; and the directors are J. C. Andrews, George F. Blossom, Jay W. Crane, F. R. Chase, P. M. Endsley, H. G. Fertig, W. P. Cleator, S. H. Hudson, George B. Norris, F. K. Sullivan, Jacob Stoft, E. E. Shober, V. H. Van Slyke, Wm. J. Miller, Clinton L. Stacy, John T. Conley and C. F. Wyant.

ST. ANTHONY FALLS BANK.

This valued financial institution, which has been of great service to many persons in the city of Minne- apolis, and a highly appreciated aid in pushing for- ward the progress and improvement of the city, espe-

cially that part of it which lies on the eastern side of the river, was founded in July, 1893, by Joseph E. Ware, who has been its cashier from the time when it opened for business. The other officers at the be- ginning were: Hiram A. Scriver, president, and Wil- bur F. Decker, vice president; and they are still holding the positions in the direction of the bank's affairs to which they were elected when its history started twenty years ago.

The capital stock of the bank was originally $35,- 000, but the business of the institution has grown so great in the course of its operations that the amount has been raised by successive stages to its present aggregate of $200,000, of which $75,000 was earned. The surplus and undivided profits have grown to $110,000, and the deposits to a total of $2,000,000. The bank is a State corporation, and is therefore under State supervision and control. But the spirit of enter- prise and liberality which it has displayed; the prudence and strict discipline which have controlled its management, and the vigor and success with which it has met every financial crisis or panic in the coun- try since its organization would give it a strong hold on the confidence and regard of the community in which it is located, even if there were no outside or official safeguards of its soundness.

The board of directors at this time (1914) is com- posed of: Aaron Carlson, Henry R. Chase, Wilbur F. Decker, Henry T. Eddy. Theodore A. Foque, An- drew M. Hunter, Arthur H. Ives, Hiram A. Scriver, Joseph E. Ware, William P. Washburn, William F. Webster and John F. Wilcox. These are all men of high standing in the city, who have proven their right to public confidence by their success and prog- ress in the management of their own affairs, and their very connection with the institution is in it- self a guaranty of wisdom, great care and the utmost circumspection in reference to every detail in the direction of its business. The bank carries on a general banking business, including every department of the industry as at present conducted, and makes a specialty of its savings department, which pays three and one-half per cent interest on deposits, the interest being compounded four times a year.

NATIONAL CITY BANK OF MINNEAPOLIS.

This highly valued and rapidly progressive finan- cial institution, which is one of the best of its capac- ity in the Northwest, was organized on March 14, 1914, with a capital stock of $500,000. Its first official staff consisted of H. R. Lyon, president; George F. Orde, C. B. Mills, vice presidents ; S. E. Forest, vice- president and cashier. Mr. Orde, prior to his con- nection with The National City Bank was vice presi- dent of the First National Bank of Minneapolis four- teen years.

The officers and directors are now (1914) : Officers --- H. R. Lyon. president; Geo. F. Orde, vice presi- dent; C. B. Mills, vice president; S. E. Forest, vice president and cashier. Directors -- S. E. Forest, H. R. Lyon, Geo. F. Orde, Geo. H. Rogers, C. B. Mills, J. S. Mitchell, S. H. Bowman, S. J. Mealey, Douglas

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

A. Fiske, M. B. Cutter, R. W. Akin, G. H. Hcegaard, A. E. Walker, II. S. Ilehm, Harry B. Waite, Stewart W. Wells.

The bank purchased the fixtures of the Commercial National Bank, which was merged into The National City Bank and is located in the Lumber Exchange. Its capital stock is $500,000 and its surplus is now $100.000. It carries deposits amounting to over a million dollars,. Its growth has been rapid but steady and wholesome, and its standing in public estimation has been continuous and always well sustained; for it has been wisely managed and all its affairs have been conducted with its own welfare and that of its patrons clearly in view.

Business in this bank was begun at once and the institution is therefore less than one year old.

THE GERMAN AMERICAN BANK.

Organized by men of brain, capital, and wholesome enterprise, for the purpose of founding and building up a strong and conservative banking institution, which was to be conducted for the benefit of all whose interests it might have in charge and also for the gen- cral and special welfare of the community in which it is located, as far as its opportunities might allow, the German American Bank of Minneapolis has fully carried out the purposes of its founders and has been a great power for good to many business institutions and hosts of people of many classes in the territory subject to its steadily expanding operations.

The bank was opened for business on August 16, 1886. It was organized by Edmund Eichhorn, George Huhn, Henry Winecke, John Heinrich, Anthony Kelly, Robert Pratt, Robert B. Langdon, John C. Oswald, A. H. Linton, A. W. HIenkle, John A. Schlener, J. M. Griffith, Henry Doerr and Charles Gluek, with a capital of $50,000. In 1904 the capital was increased to $100,000, and in 1910 it was raised to $200,000. Its present surplus is over $200,000, and its deposits aggregate $2,800,000. It is the larg- est bank in the city of those not centrally located, and its strength and the wisdom of its management are amply demonstrated by the fact that it has regu- larly paid dividends on its stock, even during the panic period of 1893. Since April, 1905, it has occu- pied its own Georgia marble front banking house, which is one of the handsomest distinctively banking buildings in Minneapolis.

The directorate of the bank at this time (1914) consists of : Francis A. Gross, president; Charles Gluek and Henry Doerr, vice presidents; George E. Stegner, cashier; Jacob A. Kunz, assistant cashier ; and Charles Gluek, J. M. Griffith, Henry Doerr, Ar- thur E. Eichhorn, Francis A. Gross, I. V. Gedney. Jacob Kunz. Peter J. Scheid, George M. Bleecker, William J. Von der Weyer, George Salzer, Charles J. Swanson, William P. Devereux and William P. Clea- tor, directors. These gentlemen arc all widely and favorably known in the Northwest and many other parts of the country as men of extensive resources, fine business ability and genuine interest in the wel- fare of their home community and its residents. They

have conducted business enterprises of their own to conspicuous prominence and success, and the qualifi- cations that have made them prosperous and influen- tial in their own affairs are well known to have been applied by them to the management of the business of the bank.

An interesting feature in the history of the Ger- man American Bank is the fact that only three men have held the office of president during the twenty-seven years of its existence, and as each has combined a wise conservatism with an enlightened progressiveness, the original policy of the institution has remained unchanged. Edmund Eichhorn held the executive chair in 1886 and 1887. He was succeeded by George Huhn, who filled the office until his death in 1903, when Francis A. Gross was elected to it, and he has held it since. Another executive officer who was known to fame was the late Robert Pratt, who was vice president for a number of years.

The rapid growth of this bank since its opening affords matter for gratification and serious thought. At the close of the first four and a half months of its business the total deposits amounted to $36,000. Five years later the deposits had increased just ten fold. At this time the terrible panic of 1893 swept over the country, and although the German American Bank weathered the storm with flying colors, it being one of only three in the city which paid dividends during this period, deposits fell off to $319,000 in 1896. In the next five years, however, the deposits were more than doubled, amounting to $644.000 in 1901. Public confidence rewarded the concrete expression of finan- cial integrity, and another hundred per cent was added by the end of 1906, when the deposits reached $1,396,000. Since then the same phenomenal pace forward has been maintained, until now the total has mounted to the lofty altitude of $2,800,000.

EAST SIDE STATE BANK.

This enterprising, progressive and highly service- able fiscal institution was opened for business on Octo- ber 8, 1906, witli a capital stock of $100,000. Its first directorate was composed of Fred E. Barney, presi- dent; F. E. Kenaston and I. Hazlett, vice presidents ; Howard Dykman, cashier; and W. E. Satterlee, Rob- ert Jamison, Louis Andersch, E. J. Couper and H. R. Weesner, directors in addition to the officers named above.

Mr. Dykman continued to serve as cashier until May 1, 1907, at which time he resigned and D. L. Case was appointed his successor. F. E. Kenaston was one of the vice presidents until January, 1908. when he also resigned. The present officials and directors (1914) are the following : Fred E. Barney, president; Isaac Hazlett, vice president; D. L. Case, cashier; and these gentlemen, with- W. E. Satterlce, Robert Jamison, Louis Andersch, H. R. Wecsner. W. C. Johnson, John Schmidler, J. F. Wilcox and S. L. Frazier, directors. C. L. Campbell is assistant cashier ..

The bank is under careful and capable manage- ment and has made rapid progress. Its capital stock

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

is still $100,000, and its deposits now aggregate $675,000 .. Its policy is liberal as well as prudent, and it has been of great service to institutions, industrial and other kinds, to individual patrons and to the public generally, in aiding to keep the wheels of progress in motion and promote improvements of all kinds, especially in the section of the city in which

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Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 41

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co. Number of Pages: 1190

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 1190