Clinton National Bank
Opened Doors to Public in 1865: First Located on FirstStreet
In another 10 years, the Clinton National bank also will pass its 100th birthday.
Now located at 6th Ave. S. and 2nd St., and planning to move atan early date into its modern new home at 235 6th Ave. S., the bank opened itsdoors to the public May 1, 1865, at the southwest corner of 5th Ave. S. and 1stSt.
In the intervening 90 years, it has provided a service to thepublic which has made possible the development of many of Clinton's mostthriving and industrial institutions.
Out of the original group which organized the bank came theindividuals responsible for such organizations as the Clinton Water company, theClinton Gas, Light & Coke Co. (now Interstate Power Co.) and the ClintonStreet Railway Co.
Back of the organizers, too, was a history of the building ofsubstantial pioneer business structures which formed the foundation of Clinton'shistory...for instance, W. F. Coan, W. J. Young and Chauncy Lamb.
Mr. Coan, born in Seneca county, N. Y., in 1820,came to Clintonin 1856 and almost immediately engaged in the banking business. Associatedwith him later were Mr. Young and Mr. Lamb, pioneer lumbermen of the period,who, with others, founded what is now the Clinton National Bank.
Mr. Young, whose family has been identified with the bankcontinuously ever since, was born Feb. 27, 1827, in Belfast, Ireland, and cameto Clinton in 1858. In 1860, Mr. Young built the first of the great lumbermills with which the family name became identified. Mr. Lamb institutedthe Lamb mills in 1857, when he built the first unit in that family's expansivelumber manufacturing activities.
Subsequently, there came into the history of the bank suchsturdy pioneers as Major E. S. Bailey, Oliver Messer and Artemus Lamb, and thefirst meeting of the organization was held Jan. 21, 1865, and formalsubscription for stock was made Feb. 27 of the same year.
Original stockholders included Coan, Young, Lamb, Isaac B. Howe,John C. Bucher, Samuel Rand, Pitkin C. Wright, James A. Townsend, Thomas F.Butterfield, Loring Wheeler, Deloss W. Eldred, William Fuller, George Beach andWilliam Campbell, the last six men being residents of DeWitt.
Directors elected at that time were Rand, Coan, Bucher, Howe,Young, Wheeler, Lamb, Townsend and Wright. The directors in turn electedCoan as president and Townsend as cashier.
Organization papers were filed and approved by the comptrollerof the currency, March 9, and charter No. 994 issued April 8, 1865, authorizingthe bank to open for business after publication of the certificate, which wasdone April 15, in The Clinton Herald. The same issue of The Herald alsocarried news of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, which had justbeen received in Clinton.
The new banking firm was successful from the start, a four percent dividend being declared payable Dec. 1, 1865, only six months after theopening day.
In May, 1868, after studying the leasing of a corner room ofwhat is now the Ankeny building, it was decided to buy the present site at 6thAve. S. and 2nd St., and in July of that year, construction was started.
In 1935, an extensive remodeling program was carried through,both inside and out. Many citizens will remember watching the installationof the new vault, with its 36-inch walls of concrete and steel, and its 18-inch30-ton door, one of the largest in the nation.
W. J. Young Jr., then president of the bank, died in May, 1935,in Tucson, Ariz., where he had lived for a number of years, and was succeeded inoffice by L. J. Schuster, present chairman of the board of the institution.
W. F. Coan, Jr., son of the founder of the bank, died Feb. 13,1918 and his brother, C. C. Coan, died five years later, Feb. 3, 1923. Hewas succeeded by C. H. Young who had been vice-president, W. J. Young Jr. becamepresident following the death of C. H. Young in February of 1932.
Present officers are listed below.
There was an ad on a separate page with the following info. You mightalso want to look at the A. C. Root ad as there arepictures of Clinton's first banks there, but no reference to Clinton National.
Located at the corner of Sixth Ave. S. andSecond St., they have been in business since 1865. The originalstockholders were Willam F. Coan, William J. Young, Samuel Rand, WilliamCampbell, Loring Wheeler, William Fuller, Isaac B. Howe, Chauncy Lamb, John C.Bucher, Pitkin C. Wright, Thomas F. Butterfield, Deloff W. Eldred, George Beachand James A. Townsend. Original officers and directors were Samuel Rand,W. F. Coan, President, John C. Bucher, Isaac B. Howe, W. J. Young, LoringWheeler, Chancy Lamb, James A. Townsend, Cashier and Pitkin C. Wright.
Current Directors are L. J. Derflinger, President, E. C. Halbach, Attorney,F. O. Kershner, Surgeon, Alfred L. Mommsen, Farmer, Peter H. Petersen, Attorney,and L. J. Schuster, Chairman of the Board, President and General Manager W. J.Young & Co. Officers are L. J. Schuster, Chairman of the Board, L. J.Derflinger, President, F. O. Kershner, Vice-President, W. J. Wengener, Cashier,Fred W. Stampe, Assistant Cashier and Trust Officer, A. W. Poffenberger, Ass'tCashier and Robert J. Burns, Ass't Cashier.
[ I just have one question -- what does a bank need a 'Surgeon' for?]
SOURCE: Centennial Edition, Clinton Herald, Clinton Iowa, 18 June 1955
