First National Bank, Lake Mills, IA (Charter 5123)
First National Bank, Lake Mills, IA (Chartered 1898 - Receivership 1927)
Town History
Lake Mills is located in Winnebago County in north central Iowa.
Lake Mills was platted in part of the northeast quadrant of Center Township in 1869. A gristmill had been built at the site in 1864. Lake Mills was incorporated as a city in 1880. The population of Lake Mills was 2,143 at the time of the 2020 census. In 1900, the population was 1,293, growing to 1,529 by 1920.
For more information on the town of Lake Mills, see their Wikipedia page.
Bank History
- Organized February 21, 1898
- Chartered June 4, 1898
- Succeeded Lake Mills Bank
- Receivership April 8, 1927
In June 1910, the case of P.M. Joice, late president of the First National Bank of Lake Mills who floated $500,000 in notes was before the federal grand jury in Ft. Dodge. The banker disappeard from his tempory home in the Twin-Cities. The grand jury returned indictments for false reports, false entries, fraudulent paper issued and other financial juggling aggregating to $360,793.83 against P.M. Joice. On June 23rd, Joice was arrested in St. Paul and would appear in federal court on the 29th. In January 1911, the trial was again continued to the regular June term of the federal court due to the critical illness of Joice in St. Paul. On the morning of March 31, 1911, Mr. Joice died at his home in St. Paul after an illness of several months, the cause of which was pernicious anemia. The deceased was aged 51 and came to St. Paul in February 1910 after being involved in serious connection with the mismanagement of his bank.
On Wednesday, April 6, 1927, a fist fight between assistant bank examiners and a depositor of the closed First National Bank of Lake Mills resulting in the presence in Cedar Rapids of William Taylor, federal bank examiner for the northern district of Iowa and his attorney, B.B. Burnquist of Fort Dodge who were conferring with federal officials. The trouble started when Irving Nelson, manager of a canning company at Lake Mills, resented being told by L.D. Donovon and M.W. Murry, assistant bank examiners, that he could not have access to the safe deposit vault of the bank. That evening a fight had to be stopped by the town marshal.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Lake Mills, IA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $624,860 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1898 and 1927. This consisted of a total of 80,764 notes (80,764 large size and 0 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 4325 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 1960 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 3200 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 2180 1882 Value Back 4x5 3201 - 3923 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 2181 - 2609 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 4575 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 2799
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
First National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1898 - 1927):
Presidents:
- J. C. Williams, 1898-1901
- P. M. Joice, 1902-1909
- Charles E. Paulson, 1910-1916
- O. V. Eckert, 1917-1917
- L. J. Paulson, 1918-1921
- O. J. Sheldon, 1922-1926
Cashiers:
- B. H. Thomas, 1898-1901
- S. H. Larson, 1902-1904
- A. E. Pfiffner, 1905-1905
- A. W. Winden, 1906-1908
- J. M. Tapager, 1909-1923
- T. J. Severson, 1924-1926
Other Bank Note Signers
- J. C. Williams, Vice President (1903-1913)
References
- Lake Mills, IA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Mills,_Iowa
- Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, A Guide with Prices. 6th Edition (Oxford, OH: The Paper Money Institute, 2008).
- Dean Oakes and John Hickman, Standard Catalog of National Bank Notes. 2nd Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1990).
- Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
- The Muscatine Journal, Muscatine, IA, Fri., June 24, 1910.
- Hospers Tribune, Hospers, IA, Fri., Jan. 6, 1911.
- The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, IA, Sat., Apr. 1, 1911.
- The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, Fri., Apr. 8, 1927.