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7/21/2005 |
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In this 1882 photo, the
bank occupied the front of
the first floor, a
kindergarten class occupied
the rear of the first floor,
and the second floor was
offices and apartments.
Additions have been made to
the building, but the ground
floor had always been
occupied by a bank until
1963. You will note the
small wooden structure
attached to the rear of the
building. This was a
two-story toilet. The
occupants of the second
floor used the upper toilet,
and those on the first floor
used the lower one. |
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The People's Bank
(second in a series)
Pat Baker
The Peoples Bank was started in 1881,
at the same time the Humboldt County Bank
was building its stone structure in the
center of the block across the street.
Humboldt Kosmos June 15, 1881: "A new
banking firm represented by Mr. (G.L.)
Tremain has this week broken ground for a
building which will be second to nothing in
town. It is located on the (SW) corner of
Lovejoy Street (6th Street) and the (Sumner)
Avenue. The structure will be 20x65 feet,
two full stories and done in the best of
style." (Actually it was 24 x 70 feet, two
stories high, with a full basement.)
"The name of our new bank is to be
the Peoples Bank. Temporarily under
present arrangements, it will headquarter in
the Kosmos Building, but will have a
permanent home of its own as soon as it can
be completed. Business will not open just
yet, however, not until the safe arrives at
least."
The Peoples Bank in this 1882 photo
(photo of bank) occupied the front of
the first floor, a kindergarten classroom
occupied the rear of the first floor and the
second floor was offices and apartments.
Additions have been made to the building,
but the ground floor had always been
occupied by a bank until 1963. You
will note the small wooden structure
attached to the rear of the building. This
was a two-story toilet. The occupants of the
second floor used the upper toilet and those
on the first floor used the lower one.
The new bank did well, rising with
the tide of Humboldt's economy after the
arrival of the railroads. Mr. Tremain was
successful in getting local stockholders. In
August, 1882, the Kosmos reported that "S.K.
Winne was elected vice president of the
Peoples Bank. The paid-up capital
stock of the bank had handsomely
swelled by the subscriptions of John
Johnston and E.E. Colby, thus adding two
more stockholders to the already large list
of the solid men of the county."
Many businessmen in Humboldt had stock in
both banks, including John Johnston,
E.E. Colby, Parley Finch, and S.K. Winne.
G.L. Tremain (photo) was born in 1833 near
Chautauqua, NY. His father was a lawyer. He
moved to Strawberry Point, IA, with his
parents in 1850. In 1954 he married Romania
(Minnie) Blake, daughter of a prominent
businessman. They had six children. Mrs.
Tremain was one of the leading ladies in
Humboldt society, in contrast to Mrs.
Dickey, who had a minimal education, no
children, and quietly kept house.
Mr. Tremain was no youngster when he came
here in 1881 and started the Peoples Bank.
He had worked as a traveling salesman for 19
years, then engaged in the manufacture of
machinery in Minneapolis, MN.
In 1884, the officers of the Peoples Bank
were G.L. Tremain, president; S.K. Winne,
vice president; J.W. Foster, cashier; and
N.R. Jones, William Larrabee, S.B. Zeigler,
and J.N. Prouty, directors. Tremain's
leadership skills were recognized by his
colleagues, who elected him the first
president of the Iowa Bankers'
Association after he organized it in 1887.
J.W. Foster (photo not available), cashier
of the Peoples Bank, came to Humboldt
in 1865 from New York State, following
service in the Civil War. He was married in
1866 to Angie V. Hart, daughter of Samuel
Hart, Rev. Taft's brother-in-law. He
purchased an interest in the Humboldt Mills,
then farmed. In 1874 he served as deputy
county treasurer under Ira L. Welch. After
that time Foster was in the banking
business.
G.L. Tremain's oldest daughter, Emma,
married W.W. Sterns of Strawberry Point in
1881. The Sterns family moved to Humboldt in
1882. He was in the furniture business under
the name of Sterns and Phelps. To them three
children were born, Don, Grace and Harry.
Mr. Sterns went into the Peoples Bank
in 1893 and served for 20 years.
The Sterns family built a home at 409 6th
Street North. It created interest when
built, as it was the first house in Humboldt
having the timbers all cut to measurement
before being shipped, a new art in building
in those days. They often invited friends
out to their cabin, called Lazy Croft, on
the banks of Lake Nokomis. In 1904
Emma Tremain Sterns died of a lingering
illness.
In October 1907 Mr. Sterns married Emma's
sister, Elizabeth "Mira" Tremain. Mira had
been a kindergarten teacher for a number of
years, then worked in the Peoples Bank.
Together they raised Emma's children and
built the home at 611 4th Avenue North,
across from Taft Park. W.W. Sterns died in
1931. Myra lived until 1954.
Depression began to spread over the world in
1890 as a result of unfortunate
international investments, movement of gold
from the country, over-expansion of rails
and the Tariff of 1890. Beginning in 1893,
Humboldt banks were forced to call in
their loans, and many of our farmers and
merchants lost what they owned. Rev. Taft
was one who lost everything. Prosperity did
not return until 1897, to which increased
gold production and the unusual demand
abroad for agricultural products were
important contributing factors.
In 1898-1899 the Peoples Bank
officers were G.L. Tremain, president; N.H.
Knowles, vice president; J.W. Foster,
cashier, with Hugh McKinstry, Ira L. Welch,
T.W. Rogers, and E.K. Winne directors.
J.W. Foster retired as cashier of the
Peoples Bank in 1901 and President
G.L. Tremain's son-in-law, W.W. Sterns,
became cashier. The Tremain/Sterns team
worked well together until March 1913, when
Mr. Sterns got out of the banking
business. Sterns became president of the
Northern Iowa Power Company, which provided
electricity to Humboldt.
Sterns sold his bank stock to Frank
Corey, a wealthy citizen of Fort Dodge, and
F.E. Ayres of Lytton. In June, F.A. Ayres
took over the job of cashier and Homer A.
Miller was vice president. Bank
founder Tremain, then 79-years-old, remained
president for several months.
In January, 1914, Frank Corey became
president; Lawrence Winne, vice president;
F.E. Ayres, cashier; and Carl Flemmig and
H.L. Strong assistant cashiers. Directors
were Frank A. Gotch and T.W. Rogers,
followed by Charles O. Schmidt. G.L. Tremain
passed away in 1918.
The Peoples State Bank demonstrated
excellent marketing skills. They advertised
weekly in the Humboldt Republican and
Humboldt County Independent (the only one of
the three local banks to do so all
the time), ran occasional contests for local
citizens, and boasted of installing a
Borroughs Bank Statement and Posting
Machine - the latest device in up-to-date
bank work in 1915. (See clipping.)
The bank remodeled extensively in
late 1915, moving the entrance from the
northeast corner of the building to the
north, and redesigning the entire inside of
the building.
The economy following the First World War
was in a precarious state. In addition to
overproduction during the war and curtailed
foreign markets, the Federal Reserve Bank
in the summer of 1920 forced the banks
to call in all loans - suddenly and
disastrously.
The result was chaos, plunging prices,
deflation, and the price of corn dropped
from $1.86 to 22 cents in a few months. Many
of our hard-working citizens were
financially ruined. Farm prices rose for a
brief period, though land prices did not.
The Peoples State Bank was
reorganized in the fall of 1923. Charles O.
Schmidt was president, H.L. Strong cashier,
Frank Lovrien and J.K. Coddington directors.
By the spring of 1926, the Peoples State
Bank was having difficulty again and
applied for a new charter. They refused to
meet the terms the Department of Banking
of Iowa made and consequently the bank
was ordered closed June 28, 1926.
There was a general belief in Humboldt that
the bank was solvent and would be
reorganized and reestablished with
practically the same directors and officers,
and to occupy the same building, and there
would be little if any loss to the
depositors.
However, the assets were liquidated and the
banking department explained that the
Peoples State Bank owed Chicago and
Des Moines banks nearly $70,000
because of borrowed money. In addition to
this, interest was due on mortgages and
properties owned by the bank and
taxes had to be paid. They were able to pay
a dividend of only 10% to their depositors.
Their stone building was their greatest
asset. |
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