USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume I > Part 59
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The first bank to be opened in Las Vegas was established by Jefferson, Joshua and Frederick A. Raynolds under the name of Raynolds Brothers in 1876. It was located in a building owned by Frank Chapman situated on the west side of the plaza in Las Vegas. Mr. Chapman was a successor in business to Andreas Dold, a pioneer American merchant. Inis bank was conducted as a private institution until 1880, when the Raynolds Brothers organized the First National Bank of Las Vegas with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. In 1883 the capital was increased to one hundred thousand dollars, which is the present capital. Jefferson Raynolds was made president of the new bank upon its organization and has held that position continuously since. Until 1903 the bank cvonducted business in the town of Las Vegas, but since that vear it has been established in at- tractive quarters in East Las Vegas. Upon changing its location those interested in the institution organized the Plaza Trust & Savings Bank, which occupies the building for many years utilized by the First National Bank. Of the latter bank Jefferson Raynolds is also president.
Mr. Raynolds is one of the most widely known citizens of the Terri- tory. He has been actively identified with numerous projects of a public or semi-public nature aside from his banking interests. In 1882 he organ- ized the Aqua Pura Company at Las Vegas, was elected its president and
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floated the company's bonds. This company established a gravity water supply system for Las Vegas, drawing its supply from Gallinas Canyon, six miles from Las Vegas. In 1883 he assisted prominently in the organi- zation of the Mutual Building and Loan Association of Las Vegas, an institution which has been of great benefit in the upbuilding of the city. He was also one of the founders of the First Presbyterian church at Las Vegas, in which he has served many years as an elder. He has always exhibited a keen interest in the undertakings of the Republican party of New Mexico, although he has never sought political office. Nevertheless his judgment in local and territorial affairs has frequently been the de- cisive factor in the councils of the party.
The life record of Jefferson Raynolds began on the 26th of October, 1843. He is a native of Canton, Ohio, and was an intimate friend of the late President William Mckinley in his youth. On the 15th of April, 1861, when only seventeen years of age, he enlisted in Company F, Fourth Ohio Infantry, as a private, and served with the army of the Potomac throughout the Civil war, participating in the battles of Rich Mountain, West Virginia, Winchester, Harrison's Landing, Second Bull Run, Antietam and first Fredericksburg. After the beginning of the year 1864 he served on de- tached duty until the end of the war and was mustered out with the rank of second lieutenant at Washington, D. C.
Following the cessation of hostilities Mr. Raynolds became a clerk in the First National Bank of Canton, Ohio, and in 1866 went to Denver, Colorado, to act as bookkeeper in the Colorado National Bank. Soon after- ward he removed to Pueblo, Colorado, where he assisted in the organization of the First National Bank, becoming its cashier.
While residing there Mr. Raynolds was united in marriage on the 17th of May, 1871, to Martha C. Cowan. He and his wife are the parents of three sons: James W., for years secretary of the Territory of New Mexico and one of the most prominent and distinguished of the younger generations of citizens ; Edward D., cashier of the bank at Las Vegas; and Hallett, assistant cashier of the same institution.
Since 1876 Mr. Raynolds has been continuously a resident of Las Vegas. Beside his identification with the institutions of New Mexico re- ferred to above, in company with his brother, Joshua Raynolds, he organ- ized in 1882 the First National Bank of El Paso, Texas, while the history of the Central Bank of Albuquerque, which he organized in 1878, will be found elsewhere. His activity has covered a wide scope and has been of far reaching importance to the commercial prosperity and business develop- ment of the Territory. Mr. Raynolds is a member of the Ohio Com- mandery of the Loyal Legion of America, with which he has been con- nected since 1897. He actively interests himself in public affairs and par- ticipates earnestly in every effort to propagate a spirit of patriotism and of loyalty to American institutions, and wherever there is a public-spirited attempt to drive corruption or other unworthiness out of public office he is to be found working with the leaders of the movement. He deserves and is given classification with the most prominent residents of the Territory.
The San Miguel National Bank of Las Vegas was incorporated De- cember 15, 1879, by Miguel A. Otero, Jacob Gross, L. P. Brown, Joseph Rosenwald and others, with a capital stock of $50,000. Miguel A. Otero was the first president and Jacob Gross the first cashier. M. S. Otero,
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William M. Eads and Dr. J. M. Cunningham succeeded to the presidency in turn. D. T. Hoskins is cashier. The capital stock is now $100,000.
The Las Vegas Savings Bank, organized in 1891, transacts business as a department of the San Miguel National Bank. W. M. Eads, the first president, was succeeded by Henry Goke, the present incumbent, and D. T. Hoskins, treasurer. The bank has a capital of $30,000, and is organized under the laws of the Territory.
The Central Bank of Albuquerque, now defunct, was organized in 1878 by Jefferson Raynolds and others, and was subsequently merged in the First National. It erected the building now occupied by the latter institution in 1882. Jefferson Raynolds was its president.
The First National Bank of Albuquerque was incorporated December 24, 1881, by Mariano S. Otero, Felipe Chaves, Elias S. Stover, Nicolas T. Armijo, Cristobal Armijo, Charles Etheridge, Louis Huning, Edward Ro- senwald, Daniel Geary, F. C. Gutierrez, Justo R. Armijo, Charles Zeiger, Horace L. Moore, Jose L. Perea and Aaron Rosenwald. The first capital stock was $50,000, which has since been increased to $200,000. Its first officers were: President, Mariano S. Otero; vice-president, Nicolas T. Armijo; cashier, Daniel Geary. After it was merged with the Central Bank it occupied the building erected by the latter. Joshua S. Raynolds is now president, M. W. Flournoy is vice-president, Frank McKee is cashier and R. A. Frost is assistant cashier. Its deposits at the beginning of 1906 aggregated nearly two and three-quarter millions.
The Albuquerque National Bank. which closed its doors in 1893, was incorporated in April, 1884, by W. K. P. Wilson, George F. Challender, Judge Joseph Bell, Louis Huning, W. B. Childers, Dr. S. Anbright, Ed- mund H. Smith and Charles H. Gildersleeve, with a capital stock of $100,000. The first officers were: President, Louis Huning; vice-president, Joseph Bell ; cashier, W. K. P. Wilson; directors, Joseph Bell, Louis Huning, W. A. Drake, Edmund H. Smith, W. K. P. Wilson, A. M. Codington and Dr. S. Anbright. The bank opened for business July 21, 1884. It was reorganized in 1887, but was compelled to close its doors six years later, paying its depositors in full.
After the failure of the Albuquerque National Bank in 1893. Stephen M. Folsom, its president, was indicted for wrecking it, by means of false entries for two years before the failure, tried and sentenced to the peni- tentiary for five years. Applications for his pardon were sent to President Mckinley, and he was finally released. Folsom was once an influential citizen of Vermont, and nearly the entire congressional delegation from that state joined in the petition for his pardon.
The Bank of Commerce of Albuquerque was organized and incor- porated May 14, 1890, opening for the transaction of business in June of that year. The incorporators were Willard S. Strickler, Mariano S. Otero, Albert Eisemann, Dr. George W. Harrison, Andrew W. Cleland, Jr., Ernest Meyers, Michael Mandell, William C. Leonard and William McIn- tosh. The original capital stock of $50,000 was increased in 1892 to $100,000, and again in 1905 to $150,000. Andrew W. Cleland, Jr., was elected first president, Albert Eiseman, vice-president, and Willard S Strickler, cashier. In January, 1892, Mr. Cleland was succeeded as presi- dent by Dr. George W. Harrison. Mariano S. Otero was elected to its presidency December 23, 1895, and upon his death was succeeded by Solo-
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mon Luna, who was elected February 4, 1904. B. P. Schuster succeeded Mr. Eiseman as vice-president in January, 1895. The latter died in 1899, and at the annual election in January, 1900, Willard S. Strickler, who had been cashier since the organization of the bank, was elected to succeed him, filling both positions. On January 1, 1906, the bank had deposits amount- ing to about one and a quarter millions of dollars. The other officers and directors are: W. J. Johnson, assistant cashier; George Arnot, William McIntosh, A. M. Blackwell, J. C. Baldridge and O. E. Cromwell, directors.
Willard S. Strickler, vice-president and cashier of the Bank of Com- merce of Albuquerque, was born in Junction City, Kansas, July 14, 1863, and has been a resident of New Mexico since the spring of 1883. He was reared and educated in Kansas and in 1879 entered upon his business career as a bank clerk in Junction City. He came to the Territory at the age of twenty years and soon after his arrival entered the old Albuquerque National Bank as teller. This institution was organized in July, 1884, and he served as its cashier from the date of its reorganization in 1887 until 1890, when he organized the Bank of Commerce. He has since figured prominently in financial circles in the Territory. His business activity has also extended to various other lines. In the spring of 1905 he purchased a controlling interest in the Evening Citisen and is now president of the company. In the same year he organized the Albuquerque Electric Power Company, which supplies the current to the city electric company, and he is utilizing the refuse from the plant of the American Lumber Company with other fuel. He also expects to be able to produce power for water for irrigation (underground) that will revolutionize irrigation and thereby contribute in large measure to the rapid and substantial upbuilding of Albuquerque.
In his political views Mr. Strickler is a stalwart Republican, recognized as one of the able leaders of the party. He served as treasurer of Berna- lillo county for two terms, and was city treasurer for several years. He is now a member of the Republican territorial central committee, and a member of the executive committee that secured the location of the Amer- ican Lumber Company in Albuquerque. He is a very public-spirited and active citizen, who never indulges in fantastic theorizing as to matters of general progress, but utilizes practical methods and the means at hand to produce the desired results in the line of advancement and improve- ment. He is a charter mmber and now one of the directors of the Com- mercial Club.
Solomon Luna is president of the Bank of Commerce at Albuquerque and also a heavy real estate owner, his possessions including the Luna grant in Valencia county and eighty thousand acres in Socorro county, held under sixty-five government patents. He is the largest individual sheep owner in New Mexico, and his business affairs are of great magni- tude and importance.
Mr. Luna is a descendant of one of the oldest and. most prominent Spanish families of New Mexico. His great-great-grandfather, Domingo Luna. received what is known as the Luna grant of land from Spain in 1716, and it has been handed down from generation to generation, and comprises eighty thousand acres, extending from the Rio Grande on the east to the Puerco river on the west. The town of Las Lunas was established on this grant shortly after it came into the possession of the
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Luna family. Here the great-grandfather of Solomon Luna was born, as were the grandfather and father. The last named was Antonio J. Luna, whose birth occurred in Las, Lunas in 1810. There he lived and died. Although he had but limited educational privileges, he was a very active man in his time and became an extensive sheep raiser. During the fifties, while sheep were very cheap in New Mexico, he drove large flocks to Cali- fornia, where they brought a high price. His first trip was made in 1855, and he went again in 1856 and 1857, realizing extensive profits from this industry. He died in 1881, a very wealthy man. Gurrique Luna, the grandfather, however, had lost all he had in the way of stock through the depredations of the red men. A. J. Luna was married to Tranquilino Otero, who was born and reared in New Mexico and was descended from another of the old and prominent Spanish families. They became the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters, all of whom are now deceased with the exception of Solomon Luna and one sister. The mother departed this life in 1901.
Of the Luna grant, owned by Solomon Luna, thirty thousand acres lies in the irrigation district and is bottom land, capable of high cultivation. His business interests are extensive, making him one of the most prominent residents of the Territory. He is the largest individual sheep owner of New Mexico and figures in financial circles as president of the Bank of Commerce of Albuquerque, in which city he also has large real estate interests.
In politics Mr. Luna is a stanch Republican, having been reared in the faith of the party, while since attaining his majority he has given to it his unfaltering and loyal support. He has often been called to fill public office. He has no desire for the emoluments connected therewith, but is glad to utilize the advantages which office holding gives him to promote the wel- fare of his party and the community. He has been a committeeman of the Territory for the past twelve years. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks of Albuquerque.
In 1882 Solomon Luna was married to Miss Adelaide Otero, repre- senting one of the most prominent families of the Territory and a recog- nized leader in its social circles. He is a man of affairs in the Territory, wielding a wide influence, and the extent and importance of his business operations are proving an element in agricultural and financial development and prosperity.
The State National Bank of Albuquerque is one of the relatively new financial institutions of the Territory. It was incorporated March 17, 1904, chiefly through the efforts of J. B. Herndon. Those associated with him in its organization were O. N. Marron, Dr. Julius E. Kraft, I. A. Dve, Frank Ackerman, W. J. Cardwell, Dr. D. H. Carns, D. A. Macpherson, Dr. M. K. Wylder and Roy McDonald. The first officers were: President, O. N. Marron; vice-president, D. A. Macpherson ; cashier, J. B. Herndon ; assist- ant cashier, Roy McDonald. William Farr was elected to succeed D. A. Macpherson as vice-president in January, 1906. The other officers have con- tinued to fill the positions mentioned. The directors are: William Farr, I. A. Dye, J. A. Weinman, F. H. Strong, Dr. D. H. Carns, Jay A. Hubbs. E. A. Miera, O. N. Marron and J. B. Herndon. The bank has a capital stock of $100,000, with deposits aggregating about half a million. of dollars.
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J. B. Herndon, cashier of the State National Bank at Albuquerque, has been identified with the banking interests of New Mexico since February I, 1904, when he came to Albuquerque to organize the State National Bank. Born in Lafayette county, Missouri, January 28, 1867, he is a son of Dr. G. P. Herndon, of that county, and has spent most of his life in Texas. In 1889 he became assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Dublin, Texas, and afterward cashier of the People's National Bank of Ennis, Texas. His next position was that of cashier of the First National Bank of Comanche, Texas, whence he came to Albuquerque. In March, 1906, he assisted in organizing the American National Bank at Silver City, New Mexico, of which he is the vice-president. He is also interested in lumber yards at Deming, Silver City and Las Vegas; in a sawmill erected at Manzana in 1906, and is a stockholder in the O'Reilly Drug Company.
The Montezuma Trust Company, of Albuquerque, was incorporated May 8, 1903, and is the outgrowth of the Montezuma Savings, Loan and Building Association. The original company was capitalized at $2,000,000. The charter of the present company authorized a capital stock of $250,000, and of this $100,000 is paid in. A. B. McMillen, J. C. Baldridge, M. W. Flournoy and W. H. Gillenwater were the incorporators, and the latter has been president since the organization of the concern. It transacts a general banking business.
The New Mexico Savings Bank and Trust Company of Albuquerque was chartered February 24, 1887, with a capital stock of $50,000. This in- stitution afterward became defunct.
The first banking concern to transact business in Deming was a private institution established in 1882 by Henry Raynolds, who conducted it as a private bank about eight months, when he sold it to Mr. Kinkaid. In 1883 C. H. Dane founded the Commercial Bank of Deming, purchasing the Kinkaid interests. In 1884 Mr. Dane organized the First National Bank of Deming, with a capital stock of $50,000, which was doubled in 1888. The career of Mr. Dane as a banker left its mark upon all with whom he came in contact. He exhibited no conservatism, but, on the contrary, used the deposits in his bank to promote various uncertain enterprises, notably an immense rauch located on the Vermejo in Colfax county, and a big cattle company in Sierra county. His bank was closed by the controller of the currency February 3, 1892. His chief partners in the first organization were citizens of Lyndon, Vermont. When he increased his capital stock he associated with him Colonel J. P. McGrorty, John Corbett, Gustav Worm- ser, Charles Poe, Charles Jones and a few others residing in Deming and vicinity. Dane was the first postmaster at Deming and a very public-spirited and enterprising citizen : and had he possessed sound business principles he probably would have become a potential factor in the development of the southwest.
For four months following the closing of Dane's bank, Deming was without banking facilities. On June 10, 1892, the Bank of Deming, oper- ating under the laws of New Mexico, opened for business, with a capital of $30,000, and with Jonathan W. Brown, of Sioux City, Iowa, as president and his son, Lou H. Brown, as cashier. Jacob Sloat Fassett, of Elmira, New York, succeeded Mr. Brown as president, and still holds that office. John Corbett is vice-president. The bank owns and occupies the building for- merly the property of the First National. Lou H. Brown, who manages
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the concern, was chiefly responsible for its organization. He came to the Territory in 1884 as manager of an extensive cattle ranch owned by Mr. Fassett, his father, himself and others, and has since remained a resident of the Territory.
John Corbett, banker at Deming, Luna county, was born in New York city, April 4, 1848, and came to New Mexico in 1879, settling in Las Vegas. In 1882 he removed to Dening. He took up government land in the eastern part of the present town and established a soda bottling business, later ex- tending the scope of his activity by embarking also in the ice business. For some time he was a partner in the Deming Ore Sampling Works and has also had some mining interests in New Mexico and in Chihuahua, Mexico. He is vice-president of the Deming National Bank. His business interests are thus extensive and important and show careful discernment as to in- vestment and also as to the operation of the various interests with which he is connected. He is a man of resourceful ability, carrying forward to suc- cessful completion whatever he undertakes.
Mr. Corbett is a prominent Mason, having attained the Knight Tem- plar degree of the York Rite, while he is also a member of the Mystic Shrine at Albuquerque.
The Bank of Deming was organized as a national bank in 1892, chiefly by Jacob Sloat Fassett, of Elmira, New York, through the agency of Lou H. Brown, a native of Eimira, who came to New Mexico in the fall of 1884 as superintendent for the Alamo-Hueco Ranch & Cattle Company, which had been organized by Mr. Fassett and other eastern capitalists. The directors of the bank are Jacob Sloat Fassett, John Corbett, A. C. Brown, Seaman Field and Lou H. Brown. Mr. Fassett is president, Mr. Corbett, vice-president ; L. H. Brown, cashier, and Arthur C. Raithel, as- sistant cashier. The bank is capitalized for thirty thousand dollars. At the close of business July 3, 1905, its books showed deposits, subject to check, to be $251,317.03, and loans and discounts $126,132.83.
The Deming National Bank at Deming, Luna county, was organized in October, 1903, with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars. The first president was T. M. Mingo of El Paso, who was succeeded by A. J. Clark of Deming, on the 1st of January, 1905. J. J. Bennett has been cashier and general manager of the bank since it was organized.
Mr. Bennett is a native of Mississippi, but was reared and educated in Texas. Early in life he engaged in the mercantile business in Elgin, Texas. He is recognized as a sagacious young financier, and through his efforts the Deming National Bank is rapidly taking a position among the substantial and progressive financial institutions of New Mexico.
The early history of the financial institutions of Silver City illustrates the "plunging" proclivities of some of the early financiers of the Territory. In 1880 Henry M. Porter and C. P. Crawford, under the firm name of Porter & Crawford, established a private bank, which soon afterward went into the hands of Mr. Crawford. This bank failed, after a meteoric career, in which a number of local investors lost heavily, in 1883. Soon after the opening of this institution Bradley & Son established the grant County Bank, which also failed, after a brief career. In July, 1886, the mercantile firm of Meredith & Ailman founded the Silver City National Bank, prin- cipally for the purpose, as it afterward appeared, of securing funds for the promotion of some of their private enterprises. H. M. Meredith was the
1889
THE BANK DE DEMING
THE BANK OF DEMING
The Bank of Deming,
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president and George D. Goldman was cashier. Meredith & Ailman's failure, on December 8, 1887, created intense feeling in Silver City, the depositors feeling that the management of the institution had been unneces- sarily lax, and that no attempt had been made to protect them or the stock- holders.
In 1885 C. H. Dane, who also conducted a bank in Deming, organized the First National Bank of Silver City, which failed at the same time that the Deming bank was forced to close. In September, 1892, he was indicted by the United States grand jury for wrecking the two concerns by the illegal use of their funds to the extent of $181,000.
The Silver City National Bank has weathered all the financial storms which have fallen upon Silver City. It succeeded to the business of Mere- dith & Ailman, electing John Brockman as president, to succeed Meredith, and George D. Goldman as cashier. Brockman was succeeded as president by James W. Gillette, and he in turn was succeeded by W. D. Murray of Central City in 1901. John W. Carter, the present manager of the bank, has been its cashier since 1888. John C. Cureton is vice-president, T. L. Lowe is assistant cashier and Harry H. Kelley is teller. The bank has a capital stock of $50,000, owns the building it occupies, which cost $60,000, and is rated among the solid financial institutions of the Southwest.
The Silver City Bank, which operated about a year prior to the organ- ization of the Silver City National Bank, was organized by Henry Lesinskey, who was chosen its president. Samuel Freudenthal was cashier and Harry Booth was assistant cashier. The bank went into liquidation immediately prior to the organization of the existing bank.
John W. Carter, cashier of the Silver City National Bank at Silver City, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1854, and is a descendant of the well known Virginian family of Carters. His parents were Walker Ran- dolph and Rebecca (Shreve) Carter. The father of Mrs. Carter was the founder of Shreveport, Louisiana.
John W. Carter was reared and educated in his native city, pursued a three years' course in the Episcopal institute at Burlington, Vermont, and attended Washington University, in which he completed a course in 1873. He entered upon his business career in connection with the Belcher Sugar Refining Company, of St. Louis, and was afterward with the Simmons Hardware Company of that city. He came to New Mexico in 1879, locat- ing in Silver City with the intention of entering the hardware business here, but, instead, turned his attention to banking and was identified with various banking interests until 1888, when he became cashier of the Silver City National Bank, acting since that time as cashier and manager. He is a well known representative of financial interests and has inaugurated a safe, conservative policy in this bank which has awakened uniform confidence and gained him a large patronage.
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