townsite by J. A. Percival of Devils Lake, who also purchased the three adjoining forties entered by H. C. Davis.

June 2, 1884, the county was divided into school districts and the following were appointed as judges of school election: District No. 1, J. L. Miller, J. H. McCune and Frederick Lemke-election at A. S. Gibbens'; district No. 2, Frank Blair, C. C. Edwards and J. W. Hardee-election at the county building.

The county was divided into commissioner districts in October, and voting precincts and judges were ordered as follows: At the store of W. H. Lane, T. W. Conyers, A. S. Gibbens and T. F. Hesse, judges; at the county building, John Smith, C. C. Marks and Mike Rocke, judges; at Richard D. Cowan's, James Dunphy, George Edmonson and J. Pinkerton, judges.

The county officers elected that fall were H. C. Davis, J. S. Conyers and R. D. Cowan, commissioners; W. E. Pew, register of deeds; W. H. Lane, superintendent of schools; J. W. Hardee, judge of probate; Edward Gorman, sheriff; T. W. Conyers, coroner; James Dunphy and John Nelson, justices of the peace; John Rocke, treasurer; R. J. Cowan, assessor; R. D. Cowan, constable. A. M. Powell continued to act as clerk of the court.

A prominent factor in the early settlement of Towner County in 1883 was the Missouri Colony. They came largely from Pike County, which has furnished many immigrants for all portions of the North and West, and is famous from once having been the home of Joseph Bowers and his red-headed rival, who married Joe's sweetheart when he was off in California trying to raise a stake.

This colony consisted of about forty men, and they had seventy carloads of stock and immigrant movables. Among them was Capt. P. P. Parker, Frank L. Wilson, Col. John Ely, J. H. McCune, James H. McPike, A. H. Riggs, George W. Clifton, A. H. Steele, William Steele, Wilson Williams, Guy M. Germond, C. B. Riggs, T. W. Conyers, Ed Preist, James M. Hanson, Joseph Grotte, John Crow and Amos Glasscock.

Vol. 1-25

CHAPTER XXXIV

HISTORY OF BANKING IN NORTH DAKOTA

The Dakotas claim the distinction of the oldest State Bankers Association in the United States, the Dakota Bankers Association having been organized in 1885, with D. W. Diggs as president; R. C. Anderson, first vice president; M. P. Beebee as treasurer, and Eugene Steere as secretary.

The first convention was held at Aberdeen, in May, 1885. At that meeting eighteen members, coming from different parts of what was then the Territory of Dakota, were enrolled as the original membership of the Dakota Association.

May 24th and 25th, 1887, the annual convention of the Dakota Bankers Association was held at Watertown, and the membership at that time numbered eighty-two. The officers of the association in 1887 were: President, Charles E. Judd, cashier of the Dakota Loan & Trust Company of Canton; R. C. Anderson, as vice president, cashier of the Bank of St. Lawrence, with twenty-four vice presidents coming from various parts of the territory. M. P. Beebee, president of the Bank of Ipswich, was still treasurer of the association and Eugene Steere, cashier of the Citizens. Bank of Pierre, secretary.

One of the interesting features at the convention of 1887 was a historical paper covering banking in Dakota, by Frank Drew, at that time cashier of the Bank of Highmore, from which the following sketch has been taken.

"The first banking institution, in the then Territory of Dakota, was located in the City of Yankton, which at that time was a rival of her now more popular neighbor, Sioux City, which city in 1872 numbered a population of but 3,000. Mark M. Palmer, a young man of twenty-three years of age, at that time, was the first person to open a bank in Dakota. In the fall of 1869 this bank was opened on Second Street in Yankton, as a private bank, the partners being S. Drew, who later on was cashier of the James River Bank of Frankfort, Dak., and Frank Drew, later cashier of the Bank of Highmore. Mr. Palmer failed and retired from the banking business in January, 1878. At that time no railroad had entered the domain of the great commonwealth of the Territory of Dakota, and business transactions were necessarily slow to accommodate the old-time Concord coach, which daily drove up to the postoffice, and deposited the mail, and delivered to the bank such currency, specie, etc., as it received from the outside world."

In 1873 the locomotive appeared in Dakota Territory and the Concord coach was relegated to the frontier. Yankton drew trade from an enormous territory and the accounts of this pioneer bank were the accounts of business men, individuals, Indian agents, post-traders, and others, furnishing the bank with a large and widely distributed business. Borrowers were then accustomed to

giving personal security only. The chattel mortgage, the popular form of security in the Northwest, being a creation of later days. A most profitable source of revenue for the bank was that of advancing officers' pay accounts. For the ready cash, a liberal discount was not objected to by officers of the Government then in the frontier service.

The second bank organized in the frontier territory was the Clay County Bank (not incorporated), organized September 21, 1871, at Vermilion, with V. C. Prentice as president, and Henry Newton as cashier. After a successful career of seven years this bank went out of existence September 4, 1878, announcing to its depositors their ability to pay all claims on demand. Mr. Prentice later on resided at Pierre, S. Dak., and Mr. Newton at Vermilion,

The third bank on the list was started at Elk Point, under the name of the Bank of Union County, in the spring of 1872, by W. Hoffman, who was also interested in the milling business at that point. He failed in business in 1875, and died in the Black Hills in 1877.

The fourth bank was started in Yankton in the fall of 1872, by P. P. Wintermute, the slayer of the brilliant Gen. Edwin S. McCook, then secretary of the territory. This unfortunate affair occurred on the night of September 11, 1873, in the hall of the St. Charles Hotel at Yankton, at a meeting called by the citizens to consider the proposition of the incoming of the Dakota Railroad. Mr. Wintermute's career as a banker then ended. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to ten years, but afterward obtained a new trial and was acquitted at Vermilion, Dak. His liberty was of short duration, however, as his death occurred in Florida in 1877, where he had gone to recuperate a shattered constitution. The bank he founded was purchased by Edmunds and Wynn, under the title of the Yankton Bank, which was succeeded by the Edmunds-Hudson Co., they being succeeded by Edmunds & Sons. Newton Edmunds, senior member of the firm, was honored by many public trusts, among others being governor of the Territory of Dakota. All of the banks mentioned so far were private institutions.

In the winter of 1872, the First National Bank of Yankton was organized with a capital of $50,000, the first of its kind in the territory and was officered by the Hon. Moses K. Armstrong, president, then a delegate to Congress, and Mark Palmer, cashier. Mr. Palmer still continuing his private banking business. In 1873 S. B. Coulson purchased the interest held by Mr. Palmer and the management fell into the hands of J. C. McVey, president, and C. E. Sanborn, cashier, Mr. Armstrong having retired.

The First National Bank of Yankton is an example of what good management will produce. It still stands among the leading financial institutions of the two Dakotas, with an uninterrupted history of prosperity covering a period of forty-four years.

The sixth bank came into existence in Sioux Falls in the summer of 1873, Jno. D. Cameron being proprietor of the bank. He failed in, 1875, and was succeeded by J. D. Young & Co., who were in turn succeeded by the First National Bank of Sioux Falls, which failed in 1886.

The seventh bank was started in 1875, at Bismarck, Dak., Hon. James W. Raymond, later territorial treasurer, and afterward president of the Northwestern National Bank of Minneapolis, being the prime mover in this work.

The Bismarck National Bank with James W. Raymond as president and William Bell cashier, was the outcome of this bank.

It was just at this time that Dakota Territory entered upon an era of railroad building, bringing into existence many new towns, and among other things, numerous banking institutions. By this time modes of doing business had somewhat changed. Loans were made on chattel mortgages, the forms of which have varied with each succeeding session of the Legislature. Dakota investments so long held in doubt were becoming prominent and sought after. The business of first mortgage farm loans had grown to a proportion far exceeding expectations, and was handled by institutions in and out of the territory. The earliest organizers of this branch of business was the firm of Foster & Hayward, who conducted a farm and loan business in Yankton from 1872 to 1876. A number of banks had sprung into existence in that part of the territory, which is now the State of North Dakota, all of which have gone out of existence with the exception of the First National Bank of Fargo, which was organized in February, 1878.

The first published statement of this bank was printed March 15, 1878, showing a paid-up capital of $61,000, deposits of $12,000, and loans and discounts, $27,000. E. B. Eddy was president, and E. C. Eddy, who still resides in Fargo, N. Dak., was cashier. The First National Bank of Fargo claims the distinction of being the oldest and largest bank in the State of North Dakota. Its present capital is $300,000, surplus and undivided profits, $250,000, and deposits, $5,500,000. Its active officers at the present time being E. J. Weiser, president; F. A. Irish, vice president, and G. H. Nesbit, cashier.

In the years of 1880-81-82 banks in the Territory of Dakota flourished like mushrooms and the first thing to catch the eye on entering a new town was a bank building and then a saloon. During these years the railroads were extending their lines in every direction, weaving into a giant cobweb the commercial interests of Dakota. Huron came into notice in 1880, and December 23d of that year the first bank was started in Huron by C. C. Hills, since deceased.

E. Steere landed in Huron January 3, 1881, with an embryo bank in his pocket, thinking he was the first man on deck, but after a night's sleep and a little investigation in the morning he discovered his mistake and upon calling at the bank already started he found an old-time friend. After a careful sizing up of the situation the conclusion was reached that Huron would not need two banks for some time to come. Mr. Steere went on to Pierre, and started the Citizens Bank, which for many years was the oldest bank in that portion of Dakota. Later on in the fall of the year 1881, Frank Stevens started the Beadle County Bank, the second incorporated institution of its kind in the territory.

The Citizens Bank of Grand Forks was organized in 1878 with J. W. Smith as president and S. S. Titus as cashier. This bank developed into the First National Bank of Grand Forks with J. W. Smith as president and S. S. Titus as cashier. The First National Bank of Grand Forks is still a flourishing institution. It's officers are: S. S. Titus, chairman of the board of directors, A. I. Hunter, president, and J. R. Carley, cashier.

In 1889 the Territory of Dakota was divided into the states of North and South Dakota, the principal cities of North Dakota at that time being Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck, Jamestown, Valley City, Grafton, Devils Lake and Minot, and other smaller towns there had flourishing banks, and the business

of banking grew to enormous proportions. At that time the Dakota Bankers Association went out of existence and the North Dakota Bankers Association and the South Dakota Bankers Association were organized.

The first officers of the North Dakota Association were Charles A. Morton, of Fargo, president; E. P. Wells, of Jamestown, first vice president; R. S. Adams, of Lisbon, treasurer; and George B. Clifford, of Grand Forks, secretary. The North Dakota Association flourished for several years, but was finally abandoned and an effort was made to reorganize the association in 1894, but after holding two meetings the organization was again abandoned, and not until 1903 was another effort made to organize a state association when through the efforts of F. W. Cathro, cashier of the First National Bank of Bottineau, a meeting of the bankers of the state was held at Grand Forks on Thursday and Friday, August 27th and 28th, for the purpose of reorganizing the North Dakota Association.

Every banker in the state was cordially invited to participate in the organization, the call being signed by twenty-one bankers located in as many different cities in the state. A meeting was organized by the election of F. W. Cathro of Bottineau, as temporary chairman; W. C. Macfadden of Fargo, as temporary secretary; and M. J. Liverman of Grand Forks, as temporary assistant secretary and stenographer. At the conclusion of the crganization meeting officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows: S. S. Lyon of Fargo, president; M. F. Murphy of Grand Forks, vice president; J. H. Terrett of Michigan City, treasurer; and W. C. Macfadden of Fargo, secretary.

In 1906 the North Dakota Bankers Association was incorporated under the laws of the State of North Dakota and in 1914 permanent offices were provided, and W. C. Macfadden elected as state secretary of the association, he devoting his entire time to the business of the association since that date. From the years 1903 to 1916 the following gentlemen have served as presidents of the association: F. W. Cathro, Bottineau, N. Dak.; S. S. Lyon, Fargo, N. Dak.; M. F. Murphy, Grand Forks, N. Dark.; L. B. Hanna, Fargo, N. Dak.; J. L. Cashel, Grafton, N. Dak.; C. E. Batcheller, Fingal, N. Dak.; C. J. Lord, Cando, N. Dak; W. C. McDowell, Marion, N. Dak.; Karl J. Farup, Park River, N. Dak.; R. S. Adams, Lisbon, N. Dak.; Lewis F. Crawford, Sentinel Butte, N. Dak.; J. J. Nierling, Jamestown, N. Dak.; W. D. McClintock, Rugby, N. Dak.; J. E. Phelan, Bowman, N. Dak. The present officers being J. E. Phelan of Bowman, president; C. R. Green of Cavalier, vice president; W. D. McClintock of Rugby, chairman of the executive council; W. F. Hanks of Powers Lake, treasurer; and W. C. Macfadden of Fargo, secretary.

At the annual convention held in Fargo, July 14 and 15, 1904, a total of 291 banks in North Dakota was shown, 79 national banks with an aggregate capital of $2,725,000, and 212 state banks with an aggregate capital of $2,357,000, or a total banking capital of $5,082,000. In 1912 the financial institutions in the state were as follows: state banks, 596; trust companies, 3; national banks, 146; total, 745. In June, 1916, the total number of banks and trust companies in the state had increased to 151 national banks, 4 trust companies, 658 state banks, making a total of 823 institutions. Nine million seven hundred thirteen thousand dollars total capital for the state banks and $5,625,000 as the aggregate. capital of the national banks, and $500,000 capital for the trust companies, with