The following verbatim information was originally published in the Baldwin Bulletin on December 19, 1963, and was accompanied by news of the Bank’s open house event for its then new First National Bank Building. Read about robberies, the bank panic of 1907, what occurred during the Great Depression and more.
We are very much indebted to Mr. N.L. Swanson and Mrs. Cora Heebink for the early history of the bank, which started out as the Bank of Baldwin in 1883; then for a few years was known as the State Bank of Baldwin, and in 1911 was changed to the First National Bank of Baldwin.
They have both very willingly and gladly given of their time so that the later generations might have some information about the people who started the bank and took part in its management in its early years. We are also indebted to Mrs. Ervin Quilling, the daughter of Mr. James A. Decker who was one of the original incorporators of the bank, for the information regarding the Decker family.
We are also fortunate that the original minute books showing the incorporation of the bank are still available except that no minutes are shown from the time the bank was incorporated in 1883 to the year 1899. If minutes were written during those years, the book is not available but more than likely none were kept as supervision of banks at that time was very limited and possibly it was not required that minutes of directors’ meetings be kept. Since 1899, however, minutes appear at fairly regular intervals, so we believe that the information from that time on is fairly accurate.
The Village of Baldwin was incorporated in 1874 but its history, of course, started some years before this, as in 1871 the Railway was extended from Menomonie to Hudson and was responsible for the buildings in the then Village of Baldwin being moved from the original site, which is approximately where the cemetery is now located, to its present location.
The President of the Railway was H.E. Baldwin and that is where the name of Baldwin originated. Beginning in 1873 many people from the eastern states, as well as immigrants from Norway, Germany, Holland, and other foreign countries came to this community, and a rapid increase of the population occurred.
The chief industries at that time were farming and lumbering but there was also a cannery and a brewery established near the village. Most of the land on which the village now stands was owned by Mr. E.R. Bailey and he was also responsible for platting part of the present Village of Baldwin.
A bustling and growing community at that time was very much in need of a financial institution and the first bank was, therefore, established as the Bank of Baldwin and opened for business on September 24, 1883.
James A. Decker and Armstrong Taylor were the sole owners of the bank. The first minutes show that they were the only stockholders, and Mr. Decker was elected as President and Mr. Taylor was elected as Cashier. Mr. Decker originally came from New York State and settled in Menomonie in about 1875. Several years later he sold his interest there and decided to come to Baldwin and establish a bank as there was no bank between Menomonie and Hudson at the time and he felt that this was an excellent opportunity to begin a business here. We believe that succeeding years have verified his judgment in this matter. Very little is known of the Taylor family as we understand he was a very minor stockholder in the bank and evidently left its employ sometime before 1899. Mr. Decker relinquished his management position in the bank about that time and moved to Menomonie again. He, however, retained a stock interest in the bank until 1905 and served as a director during those years. Mr. John Graslie, who later became managing officer of the Bank of Spring Valley, received his early apprenticeship in banking with Mr. Decker. Sometime before 1899 he moved to Spring Valley and took up banking connections there.
From 1900 on we have minutes at fairly regular intervals and the minutes show that in January of 1900 the following people were elected directors of the bank: Mr. F.E. Settergren, C.N. Gorham, L.A. Christensen, and George H. Pittman. The President of the bank, however, was A.H. Barber, who we understand, was the father of Mr. Bailey. We do not believe that he ever took an active part in the bank and neither did he serve as a director of the bank. Mr. Settergren and Mr. Gorham were Vice Presidents and Mr. N.B. Bailey was the Cashier and managing officer. There was little change in the directors of the bank until 1909 at which time Mr. Bailey and Mr. Gorham moved to Hudson and started a bank there. When they resigned as officers of the Bank of Baldwin, Mr. Henry Anderson, who had served as a director for a number of years, was elected Cashier. This was also about the time that Mr. N. L. Swanson started his employment at the bank, as in January 1906 he was elected Assistant Cashier and he served the Bank of Baldwin and its succeeding organizations from that time until 1929, most of the years being as managing officer of the bank.
During the period that Mr. Bailey was the managing officer, the first stenographer ever employed in the Village was engaged by the bank by the name of Mae Betts, who later became Mrs. S. Swenumson.
In 1907 there was a severe nationwide panic and the Bank of Baldwin was adversely affected like many other institutions. Some of the officers of the bank were also connected with the Blue Grass Land Company, which Company became rather deeply involved and seriously affected the condition of the Bank of Baldwin. The minutes show that, in order to correct certain conditions, the Bank of Baldwin ceased doing business; a new bank called the State Bank of Baldwin was organized to take over the assets of the Bank of Baldwin. No depositor suffered any loss from this transfer, but several of the stockholders of the old Bank of Baldwin assumed very substantial losses in the process. This and other problems were probably responsible for the tragic death of Mr. Henry Anderson, the Cashier, who passed away in December of 1909. After his death a man by the name of A.M. Shimo served as Cashier until June, 1910 at which time he resigned and Mr. Swanson was elected the Cashier.
At the annual meeting in January of 1910 the following directors were elected: F.H. Welcome, President, who was also President of the Union Investment Company, O.K. Hawley, B.H. Nibbelink, Edward Stronks, L.A. Christensen, N.L. Swanson and A.M. Shimo. This was the second term for O.K. Hawley, as he had previously been elected January 12, 1909, and he served as a director and President of the Bank until his death in 1933. In June of 1910 Oscar Swenby was elected the Assistant Cashier and also a director of the bank and he served until March of 1919 at which time he resigned and moved to New Richmond to enter into a business of his own. On October 16, 1911, the bank requested a change of their charter from a State charter to a National charter and they became the First National Bank of Baldwin at that time. This charter has remained in force until the present time. The first board of directors of the First National Bank was O.K. Hawley, George B. Heebink, N.L. Swanson, Oscar Swenby and F.H. Welcome. After the resignation of Mr. Swenby the board consisted of only four members who were the four surviving of those elected in October 1911. In 1921 Mr. Russell Rudesill, who is still an active director, was elected to the board. In 1923 Mr. Frank Guiser was elected as an additional director at the annual meeting. The same men served as the board of directors until the annual meeting of 1929 at which time A. A. Willink was added as an additional director.
In 1928 the bank experienced its first holdup. The bandits at that time obtained the sum of approximately four thousand dollars which was all the cash the bank had in its vault at that time and was considered quite a substantial sum of money. In addition to the employees of the bank, two of our customers, which we are very happy to still have as very valuable customers, Mr. John F. Van Someren and Mr. Jake Gordon, were in the bank at the time of the holdup. The bank experienced a second holdup in the summer of 1931 at which time Mr. Ole Aamodt was making a deposit and had the pleasure of being forced to lie flat on the ground with the other men employees and later herded into the vault. None of the bandits were apprehended for this holdup although we know that some were sentenced for other crimes later on but were never brought to trial for their part in the holdup of this bank.
In May of 1929 Mr. N.L. Swanson, who had served the bank for over twenty-three years resigned his position as manager as he wished to be relieved of some of the responsibilities and also to enter into the insurance business. This bank is very much indebted to him for the long years of service he gave and his excellent management for approximately twenty years. He was retained as a director until 1933 and his judgment during these years was very valuable as the management of the bank. In March of 1933 he resigned as director and Mr. W.H. Guiser was elected to fill the vacancy. At the time of his resignation Mr. A.A. Willink, who was elected Assistant Cashier in 1919 was made the managing officer and has continued such to this date. Mr. Guiser served until January 1, 1936 at which time he requested that he not be re-elected.
In March of 1933 this Bank lost the valuable services of Mr. O.K. Hawley due to his death. He had served as a director of this bank since 1909 and, in addition, he held the office of President from 1918 until the time of his death. Mr. George B. Heebink, who was Vice-President at that time, was elected to the office of President and Mr. R. R. Rudesill was elected Vice- President to fill the vacancy created by the advancement of George B. Heebink to President. Also in October of 1933 Mr. W. E. Hawley was elected a director and he has continued to serve in this capacity to the present date.
In the years of 1934 and 1935 there were no changes in the directorship or management of the bank, but several things of interest were taking place. This, as many of you remember, was the beginning of the worst depression the country has ever experienced and in March of 1934 the bank sold twenty-five thousand dollars ($ 25,000.00) of preferred stock to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to give them additional capital to protect the interest of the depositors. Also in July of 1934 the assets of the First National Bank of Knapp were purchased and the deposit liability of this bank was assumed. No doubt, many of you remember when we used to circulate currency which had the name of the First National Bank of Baldwin and also signed by the President and Cashier. The currency was circulated the same as any currency we now have. However, on April 1, 1935, the privilege of circulating currency was withdrawn and currency was retired as it became worn and it was presented to the treasury.
On August 1st of 1939 a merger was consummated whereby the Security State Bank and this bank merged and C. O. Dahl, who was an Assistant Cashier of the Security State Bank, came to this bank in the same capacity. He served this bank until 1956 at which time he resigned after putting in 50 years of banking service. Also in the process of the merger the stock held by the Northwest Bank Corporation was purchased by local residents and management then was centered entirely in the local board of directors and officers.
In 1947 our President, George B. Heebink, died and again we lost one of the outstanding businessmen in the community as well as a President who was very valuable to the management of this bank. Mr. Heebink was elected as a director in 1911 and he served continuously until the time of his death. In January of 1945 Mr. Frank Guiser requested that he not be re-elected and Mr. Joe Huenick was elected in his place, and still serves as a director. Mr. George Vande Berg was elected as a director in January of 1949 and upon his death in November, 1962, L. J. Snoeyeenbos was appointed to fill the vacancy of the board.
The article concludes with a list of directors and employees. Thank you to the library and the Baldwin Bulletin for their help tracking down this article.