Lieut. Martin Kingman (Peoria, IL)
Lieut. Martin Kingman (April 1, 1844 – December 19, 1904)
Biography
- Name: Lieut. Martin Kingman
- Birth: April 1, 1844 Tazewell Co., Illinois
- Death: December 19, 1904 Peoria, Illinois
Early life and family
Martin Kingman was the youngest of a family of four boys. His father was from Massachusetts, and his mother from Virginia. They came to Illinois in 1834, and settled on a farm in Deer Creek Township, Tazewell County, where Martin was born April 1, 1844. His father, Abel, died when Martin was four years old, drowned while trying to cross the Mackinaw River on April 22, 1847, leaving his mother with a young family to rear. Mary Ann (Bingham) Kingman was married to Erisocardus "Eri" Bogardus on March 8, 1849. When fourteen years of age Martin left home to earn his living, attending school in the summer and teaching in the winter. By this means he was able to acquire a good, practical education.
On August 9, 1862, Martin Kingman volunteered at Washington, Illinois to serve in a company which was being raised in the Washington/Deer Creek/Morton area of Tazewell County by a Washington Photographer by the name of William B. Bogardus. When Bogardus had about 90 volunteers he led the Washington/Deer Creek/Morton volunteers into Peoria where they went into camp at Camp Lyon, near present day Glen Oak Park. On August 27, 1862, Bogardus and 87 of his volunteers were mustered into service as Co. G of the 86th Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Bogardus was elected Captain of Co. G by the men of the Washington/Deer Creek/Morton company. On September 7, 1862, the men of the 86th Illinois marched out the gates of Camp Lyon, through the streets of Peoria, with much fanfare, and boarded a train bound for Camp Joe Holt, Jeffersonville, Indiana. Three weeks later, the men of the 86th were in the field in Kentucky as part of Col. Daniel McCook's Brigade, in pursuit of Confederate troops in Kentucky. On October 8, 1862, the men of McCook's Brigade were engaged with those troops in the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, the 86th Illinois suffering their first casualties. There would be many more to come.
During the next two and a half years, Martin Kingman served faithfully in Co. G as the men of the 86th served in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina. During this time, Martin was witness to and a participant in numerous battles and skirmishes, some of the bloodiest fighting in the Western Theatre of the war, including the Battles of Chickamauga, Georgia; Resaca, Georgia; Rome, Georgia, Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia; Peach Tree Creek, Georgia; Jonesboro, Georgia, Averasboro, North Carolina and Bentonville, North Carolina to name a few and marched with Sherman to the Sea. A few weeks after the defeat and surrender of Confederate General Johnston's Army to that of General Sherman, the war came to a close. The men of McCook's Brigade marched on to Washington, DC where they participated in the Grand Review and where they were mustered out of the service on June 6, 1865. Shortly after that the men of the 86th Illinois were on their way home. At the close of the war, Kingman was First Lieutenant, and during the war he never lost a day or was absent from his command, a most remarkable record. Part of the time he was on detached service, being in charge of the Ambulance Corps and afterward being Assistant Quartermaster.
Martin Kingman was married to Emeline T. Shelly on May 21, 1867 in Peoria County, Illinois. They had four sons and one daughter.
After his return from the war Lieut. Kingman engaged in various lines of business until 1867 when the farm machinery firm of Kingman & Dunham was organized. This firm existed for three years when failure of health made it necessary for Mr. Dunham to go to California. The firm of Kingman, Hotchkiss & Co. was then organized, and existed for two years. The firm of Kingman & Co., composed of Martin Kingman, C.A. Jamison, and G.H. Schimpff, was then formed. The firm of Kingman & Co. prospered such that in 1882 it was deemed advisable to incorporate it with $600,000 capital. A house was established at St. Louis in 1882, and in 1884 a house was established at Kansas City. These three houses did business throughout the entire southwest, west and northwest.
Mr. Kingman has identified himself with other large and important enterprises including a successful banking career described in a section below. He was also President and a large stockholder of the Peoria Cordage Company, which was organized in 1888. He was Vice-President of the Peoria Electric Light Company and served as President of the Peoria Fair Association for two years. He was also identified with other large enterprises, among them being the Moline Plow Company, Moline, Illinois, the Marseilles Manufacturing Company, Marseilles, Illinois, the Milburn Wagon Company, Toledo, Ohio, being a large stockholder in each. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he organized a company of volunteers although they did not receive a call to overseas service.
Mr. Kingman has been a strong supporter of religious objects, being an active member and Trustee of the First Congregational Church for many years. He also devoted a large amount of his time to acting as Treasurer of this church while its present handsome building was erected; he also served two terms as President of the Young Men's Christian Association, and while President conceived the idea that the Association ought to some time have a building that would be an ornament to the city and a credit to the Association. He advocated the desirability of the lot on which the building now stands, as being the most suitable place for such a structure, and to secure this lot, he, with Mr. O.J. Bailey, bought it and held it until the time came when the Association was ready to erect a building.
"Personally, Mr. Kingman stands very high in the opinion of the people of Peoria, and his reputation is by no means confined to that city. Socially, he is very affable and courteous, and makes a favorable impression. Of course, the immense business interests, in which he is the controlling spirit, compel him to be a very busy man. Mr. Kingman is a type of the keen, pushing, progressive Western merchant. He is a self-made man, and his course in life thus far has been onward and upward."
Banking career
In 1879, the private bank of Kingman, Blossom & Co. was organized, and continued until 1884, when it was succeeded by the Central National Bank, of which Mr. Kingman was President and a large stockholder.
The Tazewell County National Bank of Delavan was founded by Daniel Crabb, whose son, James W. Crabb, was its president (1890-1925). It was in 1869 that Daniel Crabb became engaged in the banking business at Delavan. He was a substantial farmer and landowner of that locality and an extensive breeder of and dealer in live stock. It was largely as a measure in the facilitation of his live stock operations that he established a bank in Delavan in 1869, in association with B.P. Orendorf and Rudolph Frey, under the name of the Tazewell County Bank, the first formal banking institution organized in that county. In 1887 this bank was nationalized and chartered as the Tazewell County National Bank, E.S. Hobart being elected president of the new organization, and Rudolph Frey, cashier, while Daniel Crabb retained the dominant interest in the bank. When Mr. Hobart retired as president, he was succeeded by Martin Kingman, who in 1889, two years after the reorganization of the bank as a national, was succeeded by James W. Crabb, son of the founder and chief stockholder.
In 1889, Lieut. Kingman organized the People's Savings Bank in Lower Peoria, and upon selling that interest, he organized the Peoria Savings, Loan and Trust Company, which commenced business on January 1, 1891, in the new Young Mens' Christian Association Building, where this bank had one of the finest banking rooms in the city.
The Illinois National Bank of Peoria, which was organized in 1900, was the successor of the Peoria Savings, Loan & Trust Company. Martin Kingman became the first president of the institution, which began business with a capital stock of $150,000. Within a year the bank had accumulated a surplus of $5,000 and undivided profits of similar amount. Upon the untimely death of Lieut. Kingman in 1904, Ira D. Buck succeeded him as president followed a year later by his son, Walter B. Kingman. Walter Kingman would be succeeded by Frank Trefzger, the long-serving cashier, in 1908. In April 1915, the capital stock of the Merchants National Bank was increased to 500,000 and the name changed to Merchants and Illinois National Bank of Peoria after effecting a consolidation with the Illinois National Bank. Since the consolidation in April, 1915, the Merchants and Illinois National Bank developed into one of the important financial institutions of central Illinois. In 1915 it had total resources amounting to more than $5 million with William C. White as president.
Later life and death
Lieutenant Martin Kingman died on December 19, 1904 at the age of 60. The leading capitalist of the city of Peoria died at his home on 203 North Perry Avenue at 7:30 in the evening. He had been ill for 6 weeks suffering from nervous prostration. Mr. Kingman had estimated his wealth at $1.5 million and held life insurance policies aggregating $350,000. His mortal remains were laid near those of his two young sons in Springdale Cemetery in Peoria, Peoria County, Illinois.
Bank Officer Summary
During his banking career, Martin Kingman was involved with the following bank(s):
- Central National Bank, Peoria, IL (Charter 3214): President 1884-1890
- Tazewell County NB, Delavan, IL (Charter 3781): President 1889
- Illinois National Bank, Peoria, IL (Charter 5361): President 1900-1904
Sources
- Martin Kingman on Findagrave.com.
- Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project
- Francis Murray Huston, Financing an Empire: History of Banking in Illinois (4 volumes) (Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1926).Volume Two, pp 393 and 418.
- "Portrait and Biographical Album of Peoria County" (1890), pp 490-493.
- "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Peoria County," Volume II, 1902.
- The Daily Review, Decatur, IL, Tue., Dec. 20, 1904.
- Mattoon Daily Journal, Mattoon, IL, Tue., Dec. 20, 1904.
- The Champaign Daily News, Champaign, IL, Mon., Apr. 26, 1915.