Information Sheet

 

 

R         Bank of Carthage (Carthage, Mo.).

736                  Minute book, 1896-1913.

                                    One volume.

 

MICROFILM

 

 

 

This volume contains minutes of the Board of Directors and related papers for the Bank of Carthage in Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri, from 1896-1913.

 

Although the Bank of Carthage proudly traced its founding to 1868 as “the oldest bank in southwest Missouri,” this volume begins with an apparent re-certification and reorganization in 1896.  On 8 June 1896 stockholders Frank Hill, H. C. Cowgill, G. A. Cassil, J. A. Mitchell, and Charles A. Blair met to adopt bylaws and elect a Board of Directors (themselves) and officers.  At that time Frank Hill was elected President and J. A. Mitchell was named Cashier of the financial institution.

 

These records indicate that the Bank of Carthage was a successful and prosperous enterprise.  Dividend payments on outstanding shares began in 1898 and continued through the period in­cluded in this volume.  Resources, profits, and dividends peaked around 1908, but at no time did the bank appear to have been in financial difficulty.

 

For the most part, these minutes are routine in nature, consisting of summary financial re­ports and matters involving the membership and financial relationships of the Board of Directors.  In 1906 J. A. Mitchell resigned as Cashier, being replaced by W. H. Thompson.  When Thompson left in 1909, Wilbur F. Maring was selected to take his place.  In both instances the resignations appear to have been amicable.  Frank Hill retired from the presidency in 1908, being given a “gold headed ebony cane, properly engraved,” by the Board in cordial appreciation for his service.  His successor as President was Carthage Mayor J. P. Leggett, who was soon joined on the Board by C. B. Platt, his business partner at the Leggett and Platt Spring Bed and Manufacturing Company, one of Carthage’s major manufacturing firms (SEE WHMC-Rolla collection R250.).

 

For a continuation of the corporate minutes of the Bank of Carthage, 1913-1935, see WHMC-Rolla collection R693.

 

 

 

Index cards for this collection
Questions? Use our Researcher Registration Form
Return to WHMC-Rolla's home page.