Part 90 (2/2)

It is not likely that the freight s.h.i.+pped into our city would come by water, as it is generally of a kind which is wanted quickly, but there is no question but that the products of our farmers, and all our mills and factories, would be sent by water, on account of cheaper rates to better markets than now.

It is only when I visited other countries and studied transportation from cities in England, Holland, Belgium, France and Germany that I realized the small rivers of those countries which have been used for centuries to such an advantage for the carriage of freight. For instance, a river of any size is dredged to a certain depth at government expense; there is a uniform depth of a little better than three feet of water on many of these rivers, and on these bodies of water barges of not less than 1,000 tons pa.s.s up and down loaded with freight. This means cheaper freight rates than we have and this in consequence makes products cheaper to the consumer and higher for the producer. Canada, during the past few years, has spent millions of dollars on its rivers and ca.n.a.ls, and it is money wisely spent; while we have spent little or nothing in any effort to help the people in the promotion of water ways, which will be the real source of compet.i.tion in freight rates in the future.

I fully believe that the survey of the Cedar should be made, and I believe that if such a survey is made that this stream will be declared navigable, and that the state or nation will step in in order to make definite plans for financing this great enterprise for the carrying on of freight steamers, carrying cargoes as far as the Mississippi, and I believe that enough tariff exists now to warrant such an enterprise. The Cedar river is an important factor now for the purpose of furnis.h.i.+ng power, and should also become a factor in transportation as well. This would be the case provided the river would be improved as demanded, which would result in re-establis.h.i.+ng heavy freight traffic by water instead of as now wholly by rail.

CHAPTER XLI

_Banks and Banking in Linn County_

The history of banking in Cedar Rapids and Linn county may appropriately be divided into three periods, designated respectively, Frontier Banking, Country Banking, and City Banking, each possessing characteristics peculiar to itself and expressive of its time.

Frontier Banking was coincident with the beginning of business in Iowa, and continuing, covered the pioneer days, prior to the coming of the railroad, and its story is most interestingly told in his own words by Dr. S. D. Carpenter, whose youthful activities were a part of that early life, and who, in his eightieth year, writes as follows:

”Something over fifty years ago, as I recall the circ.u.mstance, I was greatly elated when the local printer at Cedar Rapids produced a card on which was imprinted 'Carpenter, Lehman & Co., Bankers.' At an earlier period of my life, I had read _aesop's Fables_, but if I had, the story of the a.s.s who paraded in the Lion's skin did not seem applicable, and I mingled boldly with my companions, who, with equal effrontery, wore the same apparel. The 'protoplasm' from which the bankers of that day evoluted was plentiful and the environment all that could be desired. In a technical sense, it is quite true, there was no necessity for a bank and no business for a banker; there being no commerce, there were no bills to discount; but nevertheless, we established banks and became bankers. This was possible, because we had squatted down in the midst of millions of acres of a very fertile soil, in a genial and healthy climate. The product of land could not be exported, but a large immigration was pouring into the country, hungry for land and sufficiently numerous to consume all the surplus products. Land was the basis of all the live business, and the land agent and real estate dealer evoluted naturally into a banker. Land warrants took the place of commodities, dealers in the east collected them, and sent them to their agents in the west, who sold them at a large advance to the immigrants for whom they entered the land. The western real estate dealer ordinarily did not have capital enough to buy the land warrant, but handled it on a commission for his eastern correspondent until such time as he could acc.u.mulate from his profits sufficient cash to buy it outright. The price of the land warrant as purchased from the party to whom issued, was less than one dollar per acre, and was always sold to the buyer who used it at $1.25 per acre, that is a profit of at least 25 cents per acre, and with the continual increase of immigrants the business became of great volume and was correspondingly remunerative. Often the purchaser wanted more land than he had cash to pay for; then the real estate man sold the warrant at the rate of $1.25 per acre, took the purchaser's note for the balance at three per cent per month interest and held all the land as security. At this point, the real estate man became a banker. The first real estate firm in Cedar Rapids was that of Weare, Finch & Co., consisting of John Weare, Jr., Daniel O. Finch, and George Greene. They began business either in 1850 or 1851. I was offered a one-fourth interest in the syndicate for $500.00 and would gladly have taken it, but was unable to raise the requisite capital. Although unable to break into the crib, like many others, I hung around and was able now and then to grab an ear from the overflow. In other words, I became a customer of the bank. Being in the practise of medicine, I became familiar with all the surrounding country. When I discovered a choice location as regarded timber, water, etc., I went to the bank, bought a land warrant at $1.25 per acre, gave my note at three per cent per month, with a cast iron mortgage, and took my chances in the hope of selling at an advance before the maturity of the note. I was so successful in these ventures that I soon abandoned my profession and devoted my whole time to real estate. The real estate operator took advantage of the fact that many of the immigrants brought money with them, which it required time to invest. They had to look up locations to enter or to examine tracts which they desired to buy at second hand. Meantime, they did not wish to carry their money about with them and therefore they deposited it in the bank. The trade of the local merchants also increased, and they gradually became customers, and from these sources came the deposits. The volume of exchange was small, but the bank added something to its income by acting as agent for the payment of taxes for non-residents. The firm of Weare, Finch & Co. soon merged into that of Greene & Weare, D. O. Finch removing to Des Moines to establish a branch of the same house. Greene & Weare did not long enjoy a monopoly at Cedar Rapids. B. S. Bryan, who had been a clerk in their house, and had become familiar with the business, with a brother-in-law named Ward, from New Jersey, opened a rival establishment under the name of Ward & Bryan, some time in 1852 or '53. At that time, the immigration was so large that both establishments had all the business they could manage with their limited capital. It is not probable that either concern was very conservative, but the newer firm had but little capital, and the members branched out in the way of building new residences for themselves, and Bryan went so far as to buy a top buggy and a fine horse. This was going beyond the limit; the pioneer whose aspirations in the way of a pleasure carriage did not extend beyond a two horse wagon, became suspicious. Some renewals of paper in Iowa City and Davenport were refused them, and they had to close their doors. Then ensued a mild financial earthquake, which did not affect the town itself, because no one in the town, except the merchants, had any money on deposit, and they but little, but the sufferers were those who had put their money in the bank preparatory to buying land, and the bankers of whom they had bought land warrants on credit. Wm. Greene and myself, were appointed receivers. The a.s.sets amounted to about $35,000.00 and the indebtedness to something more. It took a year or two to close up the business and there was not a very great loss to any one.

[Ill.u.s.tration: IN AND AROUND MT. VERNON]

”The town had scarcely quieted down from this excitement before it was struck by another financial cyclone of an entirely different character. We had a mail three times a week from Dubuque to Iowa City, the service being performed by four horse Concord coaches; it was before the day of the express companies. All money and other valuable packages came by mail. One day about 9 o'clock in the morning, the postmaster from Marion dashed into town at full speed, bringing the alarming intelligence that a mail pouch had been stolen from the coach in Marion, which had been found cut open and rifled and then concealed in some shavings back of a carpenter shop, near the hotel where the stage stopped to change horses and allow the pa.s.sengers to breakfast. In the sack and near it, concealed in the shavings, were letters, and a package of land warrants, amounting to several thousand dollars. What was missing was not known.

The land warrants were addressed to Greene & Weare. A crowd gathered about the bank and it soon became known that a money package had been in the pouch, but the amount was not given. Soon the report spread about that the bank had lost five, ten, or twenty thousand dollars, the sum varying according to the guessing power of the relator. Immediately John Weare and Wm. Greene started post haste to Marion, where they found a high state of excitement. The town had resolved itself into a committee of 'Sherlock Holmeses,' all devoting themselves to detective business. As a starting point, they were told that the money consisted of bank notes, issued by the Bank of Elgin, Illinois. Suspicion soon pointed to a disreputable blacksmith, living in a small frame house nearby. The stage had arrived at the hotel just before daylight, first driving to the postoffice, where the driver thought he had thrown all the sacks from the boot, but the small one had escaped his notice. The stage stood in front of the hotel and the horses were taken to the stable and fresh ones brought to supply their places. While this was being done and the pa.s.sengers being at their breakfast, the stage was quite deserted, and it was then, it still being dark, that the thief got in his work. The stage proceeded on its way, and it was not till the carpenter shop, which stood just across the street from the hotel, was opened up for work, that a workman discovered the papers scattered about and finally the pouch itself. The alarm was at once given and the postmaster, as stated, carried the news to Cedar Rapids. It was not known that money had been stolen till Mr. Weare and Mr. Greene arrived. Soon after their arrival it became known that the blacksmith, quite early in the day, had been to the town grocery and much to the surprise of the grocer, paid up a standing account, and bought several dollars' worth of goods, for which he paid cash, with bills of the Bank of Elgin. These bills had not been in general circulation, and the grocer was making inquiries about them, which at once fixed suspicion on the blacksmith, who was immediately arrested and a guard placed about his house. He was searched, but nothing of an incriminating nature found. The house was then thoroughly gone over, and a five dollar bill of the Bank of Elgin found in the crack in the wall behind a looking gla.s.s. The man declared his innocence, and the woman said she knew nothing about the discovered bill. They had three children, a boy about thirteen, another eight, and a younger girl. In explanation of the bills paid the grocer, he said a man from Illinois, where he had formerly lived, had pa.s.sed through the town the day before, and had paid him a bill of long standing in the bank notes that he had given the grocer.

This story they stuck to, through all sorts of cross examination. Another diligent search of the house and adjacent premises was made, but nothing found. People living in the house nearest them, said that before daylight they had heard them up, and saw a light in the house, which was an unusual circ.u.mstance. The eldest boy, however, explained that he was raising a pet pig by hand, and that he was up so early because his pig was hungry and he had to feed it.

Things went on in this manner till nearly night, when a new clew was struck. A woman living at the outskirts of the village had seen the eldest boy pa.s.s her house about eight or nine o'clock in the morning, carrying a sack, which apparently had something in it. No one had, however, seen him leave or return to his father's house, and he was there when the arrest was made, but the time that he was seen corresponded to about the time the grocer was being examined about the bills, and the detectives concluded that the blacksmith had his eyes open and surmised that they were getting warm on the trail, and had then sent out the boy with the money in the sack. The boy stoutly denied that he had left the house and that the woman was mistaken. So the matter rested for the first night. The next morning two other persons were found who had seen the boy and the sack at the time mentioned. Then the boy being hard pressed confessed that his mother had sent him out to a neighboring farm to get meal, but not finding any he had left the sack.

Mr. Greene took the boy to the farm, but the people said he had not been there. Then he was brought back and again cross examined. He told numerous and conflicting stories, which I have forgotten, but succeeded in baffling the detectives the whole day. In the afternoon, Mr. Weare wrote me from Marion a very despairing note, saying that they were perfectly sure that the blacksmith was the thief, but that there was no clue to the money, which was the main thing, and suggesting that I bring three or four determined men and join him, and try by intimidation, whether it was not possible to frighten him into giving it up. I acted upon his advice and joined him in Marion about nightfall.

”I found him at the house of his mother-in-law in company with a couple of dozen of the amateur detectives. They were awaiting the return of Wm. Greene, whom the boy was leading another wild goose chase. It was the consensus of opinion that if the last effort with the boy failed, the crowd should take the old man from the jail and threaten to lynch him. This might possibly make him confess. I felt perfectly sure that the boy had taken the money in the sack and concealed it and argued that it would be more easy to intimidate him than his father, who seemed to be hardened and determined. Objection was made on account of his age, and on the score of cruelty, but they finally agreed that I might make a trial on the boy, and that in case of failure, they would deal with the old man. Pending the discussion, William Greene and the boy drove up in a buggy. The boy had added another to his many lies about the disposition of the sack. He was a st.u.r.dy chap of thirteen, and under the embarra.s.sing circ.u.mstances seemed pretty cool. When they got out of the buggy William Greene made a final appeal to him.

'My boy,' he said, 'you have been lying to us all day as you well know, but I will make a last offer to you. If you will tell where you have hidden the money, I will give you $200.00 and you shall not be hurt, or anything done to you, but if you don't, I will turn you over to these men, and I don't know what they will do to you.' The boy said, 'that as true as there was a G.o.d in heaven, he didn't know anything about the money, and could tell nothing.' Then I took up the role; I seized him by the throat and threw him pretty heavily to the ground, and called for a rope; the crowd had a rope prepared for the old man, which was immediately put about his neck; then I raised him up and told them to throw the rope over the limb of a tree under which we were standing. They did so and drew it taut, and I said, 'now you lying young rascal, we are going to hang you instantly, and if you have anything to say, this is your last chance.' The suddenness of the attack, and the jar he received in falling sort of dazed him; at all events he cried out, 'don't hang me and I will tell.' He at once confessed that he had the money in the sack, and had buried it in a clump of bushes within three hundred yards of where we were. I led him by the rope, followed by the crowd, and in a few minutes a couple of the men unearthed the sack. We then returned to the house, the money was counted and only a few hundred dollars was missing from the original $6,000.00 which the package contained. The boy in the meantime had regained his courage, and on being asked to explain who gave him the money, said that while going with the sack for the meal early in the morning of the robbery, he had met two men, who gave him the money and told him to bury it and they would call in a few days and pay him $200.00 for his trouble, and that his father had nothing to do with it, and knew nothing about it. Asked to describe the men, he looked at the crowd and gave a very accurate description of myself and John Weare, who stood beside me. The bystanders appreciated the joke, and inquired whether Weare and I were not the men. He gave us another look and said he was not quite certain, but they were men who looked mightily like us, if we were not the very men.

”The old man was kept in jail but the boy was left with his mother. In a few weeks the prisoner escaped, the boy having with an axe one night dug a hole in the wall of the jail. He and his father were heard of no more, and were never brought to justice. I have always had a sneaking sort of an admiration for that boy and feel certain that he must have reached distinction in some way or another.

”The above episode took place, if my memory is not at fault, about 1854-5, and at that time and on till 1857, the real estate dealers and bankers throve apace. Personally I had arrived at a position that I thought ent.i.tled me to become a financier, and in company with L. H. Lehman, of Wooster, Ohio, and E. C. Kreider, of Lancaster, Ohio, we opened our doors and proclaimed ourselves bankers under the firm name of Carpenter, Lehman & Co. Soon afterwards another bank was started, the firm name of which I have forgotten, but of it Henry Wood, an early settler of the town, was a member. Thus Cedar Rapids, with a population of less than 2,000, could boast of three banks. Meantime Greene & Weare grew apace, and besides the home inst.i.tution, within a few years they established branches in Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Omaha, Ft. Dodge, Sioux City, and it may be at other places, and in almost every county seat that I can think of there were two or three banks. Cook & Sargeant, of Davenport, were the Pierpont Morgans of the day, and had even more branches than Greene & Weare.

”I cannot remember that there were any banks of issue in Iowa, nor do I know what the banking laws of Iowa were at that time, but if there were any, they were not so favorable as those of the territory of Nebraska. Cook & Sargeant, I believe, were the discoverers of the new field, and organized a bank at an obscure town in that territory named Florence, and very soon currency of the Bank of Florence was in active circulation; to keep abreast of the times, Greene & Weare started a bank at Fontanelle, a still more obscure place in the territory, and bills of the Bank of Fontanelle were greatly in evidence. I do not remember what provisions were made for the redemption of the notes, but imagine that the holders had a pretty tedious journey to get to the places of issue. They however did duty as money, made times good, and stimulated speculation. When the land office was opened at Fort Dodge, I made a trip to that place with John Weare, Jr., who went, I think, to establish a branch there.

The journey consumed several days, and on arriving we found all the buildings that had formerly been occupied by the soldiers filled to overflowing with land seekers and bankers. Not only were the old buildings full, but many were in hastily built cabins, and even in tents. There were seven banks in full operation; one in a tent which served as a background for a large sign, announcing that ten per cent would be paid on current deposits. John Garaghty, of Lancaster, Ohio, an old friend of mine, had his bank in one of the recently built cabins. I found him on the floor of the bank, diligently sewing at a bed tick, which was to garnish a bunk in one corner where he slept. He seemed cheerful, but animadverted severely on his compet.i.tor in the tent, whom he said was taking a rascally advantage in offering ten per cent interest. Things went on swimmingly for a couple of years. Immigration was large, lands advanced rapidly in price, with plenty of buyers; to make money one only had to buy real estate, so we all cheerfully used all our cash and credit in that line.

”Without much warning, so far as I can remember, the hard times of 1857 struck us, as the stringency extended over the whole country. Our supplies were suddenly cut off. We that were wearing the 'Lion's skin' began to bray, and to take to the tall timber. Our firm fortunately had not gotten entirely beyond its depth, but it was in well up to the chin. By strenuous efforts we managed to pay our depositors and then divided our lands, and went out of business, as did the other concern which had started in about the time we did. Greene & Weare were left alone in the field, but their difficulties were great, and the firm was soon dissolved by the withdrawal of John Weare, Jr., whose place was taken by Wm. Merritt, and the name changed to Greene, Merritt & Co.

That financial cyclone I should say wiped out at least one-half of the bankers of Iowa, and had they been asked why they failed, they could have answered in the laconic terms of John Thompson, the bank note reporter, to a similar question, 'for want of money.'

”For a couple of years thereafter I devoted my whole time to real estate, trying to get rid of my holdings, which were more than I could comfortably carry. In 1859, or thereabouts, having gotten my affairs into better shape, I again embarked in the banking business, having for partners John Weare, Jr., and Henry B. Stibbs, both of whom had been with the firm of Greene & Weare, the former as a partner, the latter as cas.h.i.+er. The firm name was Carpenter, Stibbs & Co. Banking had then become more legitimate. The railroad had been completed to Cedar Rapids. Commission houses had been established. Grain, hogs, and cattle were s.h.i.+pped in carloads, which furnished bills for discount; merchants were on a firmer basis and did a larger business, and the deposits were of considerable volume: real estate and tax paying still had a place, but were inconsiderable.

”Things in a commercial way went on pretty smoothly till the breaking out of the Civil war. At that time our currency consisted princ.i.p.ally of bank notes from Wisconsin and Illinois, which were based mostly upon state and other bonds held by the banks which issued the notes. As these securities fluctuated so did the value of the notes. Those who held them wanted to deposit in the banks, and when a customer came in, the banker had to refer to Thompson's Bank Note Reporter to ascertain their value, and even when so determined, the risk of the banker was great, because of their liability to depreciate. I remember going to St.

Louis, shortly after the war began to withdraw our account from a bank there, and I had to pay 13 per cent for a gold draft. Still we managed to worry along and I do not remember that many failures occurred. When the war broke out, Cedar Rapids raised a company for the first regiment, and as the state had no money, our bank furnished the funds to equip, maintain, and transport the company to Keokuk, where it was mustered into the service. From that time till I entered the army early in 1862, I had little to do with the bank. I was chairman of a committee of thirteen whose duty it was to encourage enlistments and the formation of companies for the service, and by subscription to raise money for bounties, till finally I went myself and was not mustered out till August, 1865.

”From the time I left for the war, I had nothing to do actively with the banking business and have never since been behind a banking counter in an official capacity. What little knowledge I have of the early banking in Iowa, I gained there, but as Cedar Rapids was a typical town, I imagine that the banking done there was very similar to that done in all the other towns of the state.

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