BANKS AND BANKERS (Cont'd)
Plate 3.
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1. W. J. HARRIS, President of the Bank of Lewis, at Lewis, Ia., was born October 13, 1841, at Harrisville, Butler County, Pennsylvania, and grew to manhood in that county. In the fall of 1879 he came to Lewis and engaged in the grain and stock business. In June of 1888, in company with R. C. KENNEDY and W. J. WOODWARD, he engaged in the banking business, purchasing the Bank of Lewis, which had been established in 1879, and was chosen as organized, Mr. WOODWARD retiring, and Peter HAPLEY [sic HOPLEY], one of the its presidents, a position he has held continuously from that time largest land owners and stock feeders of Cass County, and B. C. to the present. A year ago the banking partnership was re- HARRIS and W. B. DAVIS added. [? apparent typesetter/printing errors in the last two sentences] The officials are now W. J. HARRIS President; Peter HOPLEY, Vice-President; B. C. HARRIS, Cashier; W. B. DAVIS, Assistant Cashier. The bank building now occupied was built this year and is an up-to-date two-story building, 22 x 44, built of Bedford stone and pressed brick, with all the modern improvements and conveniences in the way of furnishings and fixtures. During the sixteen years Mr. HARRIS has been president of the bank but one person has been sued by it, and during the past fourteen years not a single dollar haas been lost on accounts or notes taken for the bank, a record which is probably without a parallel in the banking business of the state. Mr. HARRIS is one of Cass County's most progressive citizens and his hand and heart have worked together at all times for the good of his home town. He is a genial gentleman and has made hosts of friends in business and out of it by his gentlemanly bearing and business highmindedness.
2. B. C. HARRIS, Cashier of the Bank of Lewis, Lewis, Ia., was born in Grinnell, Iowa, August 10, 1865, and came to Lewis in May of 1880. He was for a number of years a member of the grain and live stock firm of W. J. HARRIS & Son, at Lewis, and was elected to the position of cashier of the Bank of Lewis in September of 1896. He is one of the number of the younger men of the county who are making their ability felt in the financial institutions. He is possessed of an unfailing fund of geniality, and this, added to strict business integrity, has enabled him to contribute in large part to the upbuilding of the bank's business. He is in line with every effort made to advance Cass County's interests and believes that Lewis is the best town of its inches between the two oceans.
3. W. J. WOODWARD, President of the State Bank of Lewis, Lewis, Iowa, was born at Lordstown, Trumball County, Ohio, in January, 1844. He came to Lewis in 1856 and in 1870 engaged in the grocery business. In 1880 he became a member of the general merchandise firm of L. O. REINIG & Co., which business was established in 1858, and in company with his son gradually acquired all the interests and merged them under the firm name of W. J. WOODWARD & Son. In 1888 he engaged in the banking business, becoming interested in the Bank of Lewis, which had been established in 1879 by L. O. REINIG, deceased. He was the vice president of the Bank of Lewis up to that time of the dissolution and the reorganizing of the divided interests into the State Bank of Lewis, August 1, 1904. The subject of this sketch is one of the solid and substantial men of Cass County and stands for all that is best in private and civic life. He divides his time between the bank and the mammoth general merchandise establishment operated by him and his son, both of which give plenteous evidences of a master guiding hand and brain, and also finds time to be genial in his intercourse with his fellow men and to take a pleasure in contributing to all that makes for the good of the bustling little city with whose fortunes he has been so long connected.
4. W. Theo. WOODWARD, Assistant Cashier of the State Bank of Lewis, was born in Lewis, Iowa, in May, 1874, and in 1892 became part of the firm of Kennedy & Woodward, and is now the " son " in the general merchandise firm of W. J. WOODWARD & Son. In 1904 he became interested in the State Bank of Lewis and is the assistant cashier of that institution, as well as one of its directors. He is another of the younger men of the county who has followed in the footsteps of his father and who is worthily carrying his part of the burden of important business responsiblities. He is popular in bank and store and is genial and courteous at all times. The officers of the State Bank of Lewis are W. J. WOODWARD, President; A. MORTON, Vice President; E. S. PHILLIPS, Cashier; W. Theo. WOODWARD, Assistant Cashier; F. J. MACOMBER, John L. WOODWARD, A. MORTON, W. J. WOODWARD, W. Theo. WOODWARD, directors. The bank is in commodious quarters, artistically furnished, and enjoys to a very satisfactory degree the confidence of the public. It is one of the solidest of Cass County's many solid financial institutions.
PLATE 2 <==== BANKS AND BANKERS ====> MORE
Transcribed by Brenda Magee, March, 2012 from:
Exposition Souvenir Album, published by Democrat Publishing Company, Atlantic, Iowa, 1904.