Thomas P. Treynor

TREYNOR, SMITH, SLYTER

Posted By: Connie Swearingen- Volunteer (email)
Date: 12/5/2015 at 23:21:30

Northwestern Iowa
Its History and Traditions
1804 – 1926

In the business development which has characterized Sioux City, particularly during the past twenty-five years, no line of activity has shown a more gratifying measure of substantial prosperity than the banks and trust companies of the community. Of these, the Woodbury County Savings Bank has attained a place in the front rank, being regarded as one of the strongest and most influential financial institutions in this section of the state. Thomas P. Treynor is the vice-president of this well known bank, with which he has been identified for eighteen years, largely assisting in its development and growth, having devoted his time exclusively to its interests.

Mr. Treynor was born at Council Bluffs, Iowa, on the 11th of May, 1869, and is a son of Thomas P. and Mary F. (Smith) Treynor, the former a native of England and the latter of Ohio. The maternal grandfather, Sylvester S. Smith, was one of the pioneers of western Iowa, coming from Ohio in 1853. He and his people made the journey by wagon, their objective being Oregon, but when they reached western Iowa the country looked so good to them that they went no farther, settling at Council Bluffs, then known as Kanesville. Thomas P. Treynor, Sr. came from England to the United States as a youth of sixteen years and located at Cleveland, Ohio, where he served an apprenticeship to the carriage-maker’s trade. At Painesville, Ohio, he met his future wife, their marriage occurring in 1852, and in the following year he joined his father-in-law on his journey westward, and located with him at Kanesville. There he worked at his trade for a time, but eventually drifted into the newspaper business as owner and publisher of the Council Bluffs Nonpareil. He also became active in politics, in the meantime serving two or three terms as county recorder of Pottawattamie County. He also acted as postmaster of Council Bluffs from 1869 to 1877, under appointment of President Grant. Subsequently he located on a farm, where he spent his remaining years, his death occurring in 1891, at the age of sixty-one. His wife passed away the following year, at the age of sixty-four.

Thomas P. Treynor, Jr., lived on a home farm in Pottawattamie County until twenty-two years of age and secured his education in the public schools of Council Bluffs. He then became associated with The Council Bluffs Insurance Company, which failed about three years later. He then entered the employ of the Union Transfer Company, with which concern he remained two years. He next came to Sioux City to accept a position with the Cudahy Packing Company, with which he remained from 1898 to 1909, serving in various responsible positions, and on June 1st of the latter year he became assistant cashier of the Woodbury County Savings Bank. A few years later he was made cashier and in 1923 was elected vice-president of this institution, which office he still occupies. Since he became identified with the Woodbury County Savings Bank it has shown a healthy and continuous growth, evidence by the fact that its deposits have increased from less than a million dollars to about three and a half million.

On June 8, 1898, Mr. Treynor was married to Miss Eugenie Slyter, of Council Bluffs. Her father, Minard R. Slyter, was also one of the pioneers of Council Bluffs settling there more than fifty years ago. His wife’s maiden name was Emma Smith. To Mr. and Mrs. Treynor have been born three children, namely; Richard E., who graduated from the Sioux City high school and the State University of Iowa, and is now a Frigidaire salesman in Omaha, Nebraska; Gertrude, who was graduated from the State University of Iowa in 1922, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts; and Marion, who gained her Bachelor of Arts degree at State University of Iowa in 1924.

Mr. Treynor is a member of Tyrian Lodge, No. 508, A.F. and A.M.; Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, A.A.S.R.; Abu-Bekr Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., and is a charter member of the Abu-Bekr Shrine Chanters. He belongs to the Sioux City Boat Club, the Lions Club, the Sioux City Ad Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of the board of directors of the Young Men’s Christian Association. He is a member and elder of the First Presbyterian Church. He has been prominently active in the musical circles of this city for many years and also takes a commendable interest in everything that relates to the welfare and betterment of this city.