Spencer G. Frink, cashier of the Cedar County State Bank and thus well known in the financial circles of Tipton, was called to his present position in 1885 and the fact that he has continued therein to the present time is indicative of his thorough understanding and capability in the discharge of his duties as well as of the confidence reposed in him by the other officers of the institution and his popularity with the general public.
One of Cedar county’s native sons, he was born in Dayton township on the 6th of January, 1861, his parents being Homer C. and Helen M. (Jobes) Frink. The Frink family is of English descent and was founded in Massachusetts, whence representatives of the name went to Connecticut and later to New York. The parents of our subject are both in good health, although the father is now eighty-six years of age. He was born in Albany, New York, March 5, 1824, and in 1848, when a young man of twenty-four years, became a resident of Little Rock, Kendall county, Illinois, while in 1854 he came to Cedar county, Iowa. The mother was born in Erie county, New York, March 25, 1837, and went with her parents to Kendall county, Illinois, in 1839. In 1859 Mr. Frink returned to Illinois and was married, and the same year came again to Cedar county, settling on section 1, Dayton township, where he entered two hundred acres of wild and unimproved government land. Year after year he carefully cultivated and developed the farm until he sold it March 1, 1908. Among those who entered land from the government he was the last in Dayton township to dispose of his homestead. In 1900 he removed to Clarence, where he and his wife now reside, and in 1909 they celebrated their golden wedding. Both are active and faithful members of the Wesleyan Methodist church. Mr. Frink is a prominent republican and was a delegate to the first convention of his party in Cedar county. He held various township offices, the duties of which he always discharged with promptness and fidelity. In his family were five children, of whom Spencer G. is the eldest. The others are: Sarah, the wife of Fred Decker of Dayton township; Homer and Howard, twins, who since 1907 have been residents of Alberta, Canada; and Alice, at home.
Spencer G. Frink has been a life-long resident of Cedar county and remained upon the home farm with his parents until he attained his majority. He pursued his education in the public schools and at Carthage College, Carthage, Illinois, which he attended for one year. He engaged in teaching school for three winter seasons, while the summer months were devoted to farm work. On the expiration of that period he came to Tipton and served as county auditor under E. M. Elliott in March, 1882, filling the position until November, 1883. He then worked in the treasurer’s office under O. H. Helmer until January, 1885, when he was called to the office of cashier of the Cedar County Bank. He is a popular official, always courteous and obliging to the patrons of the bank, and at the same time most loyal to the institution which he represents.
On the 8th of September, 1887, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Frink and Miss Blanche A. Dean, who was born in Tipton in December, 1863, and is a daughter of F. P. and Georgiana Dean. Their children, four in number, Helen, Gale, Margery and Lillian, are at home.
The family attend the Methodist Episcopal church, in which the parents hold membership and in the work of which they are deeply interested. Mr. Frink has served as superintendent of the Sunday school and does all in his power to promote the various lines of church work. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party, has served as a member of the city council, and for the past eleven years has been president of the board of education, during which time the interests of the schools have been greatly promoted. In all matters of citizenship he manifests a public-spirited devotion to the general good that has brought him the high regard that is uniformly entertained for him.
