Article Text
BANK OF MONTPELIER The Bank of Montpelier was incoroprated May 18, 1891 80 is now in its 30th year and under the same management. Mr. S. B. Thompson, of Chicago was its first president and Mr. G. C. Gray of Ovid, New York was its first cashier, Mr. Gray coming from Iowa to build an office and take charge. Its authorized capital was $50,000, of which $20,000 was paid up and it was incorporated for fifty years both the amount and the time seeming to the founders to be figures beyond expectations. Green River was the nearest banking town on the east and Pocatello on the west had one bank, so the people were ready for a bank. The railroad boys had been in the habit of getting all their pay checks and hurrying around to various stores to get them cashed as they knew the actual currency would not last long and first come would be first served. The bank was welcomed as means to cash pay checks. As every railroad man wanted his check cashed the day it came for the full amount, by night there was little money in the bank's vault, but it drifted back in a couple of days. The people were slow about depositing, some merchants waiting until they had an amount like $500 before they would make a deposit so it was slow work getting the business on a paying basis. In a couple of years the business began to grow but is was unfortunate that it did, as it ran into the year of 1893, in which year occured the worst panic known. During nearly six months of that summer the deposits of the Bank of Montpelier were probably one quarter of the amount they had been in the spring but the officers were happy as the storm had passed and the bank was safe. There was a steady growth after this panic although there were numerous financial disturbances every year bringing on some fiancial trouble. In 1896 on the afternoon of August 13th, the Cassidy gang road into Montpelier and robbed the Bank of all the cash in sight, which however in those days was not so large being some $7200. They were experts at the business and got away although Sheriff and the citizens did good work and in an attempt to follow and arrest them. The gang had a relay of good horses and rode for the north and east and it was impossible to overtake them. The officers of the bank had sensed the danger of a day light holdup and three months before had secured an insurance polley of $5000, so the bank's loss was some $2200, but is was very discouraging after five years of panics and hard times. Then followed some ten years of slow growth coming the cash panic of 1907. The panic of 1893 was a panic of depositors, mainly the farmers and was long and serious but the panic of 1907 was a panic of the bankers starting in New York city where the banks refused to pay cash to depositors although they had plenty of actual money to do so. It spread all over the United States and although it made a lot of trouble in comparison to those who went through the panic of 1893, it was child's play. In 1904 the state legislature passed a state banking law and each leg. islature has made laws more stringent. Some time later the State Banking Department gave each State bank a number and they were numb. ered according to the date their incorporation papers were filed and it was found that the Bank of Montpel ier was the oldest in this respect and it was designated as N. 1. There are other banks older but they eith er went out of business or were pri vate banks in 1891 ,incorporating a a later date. At the present time Mr. G. C. Gray