First State Bank History

Larned Background up to July 5, 1896 ● Founders of the Bank - 1900 ● Larned Business - 1904 ● H. H. Reed - World War I ● John Wagner - 1933 ● 1933-1949 ● 1949-1959 ● 1959-1967 ● Reed Peters - 1975 ● New Building - 1989 ● 1986-1996 ● 100 years ● Begin the Next 100 Years ● 2000's

John Wagner - 1933

JOHN E. WAGNER

John E. Wagner became the sixth President of First State Bank in 1915 and held that position for three years. He had served as a director and Cashier for First State Bank since 1912. He became a resident of Larned on January 12, 1912, and at that time bought an interest in the bank.

Mr. Wagner was born in Jones County, Iowa, on July 13, 1868. He took a course in civil engineering and graduated from Cornell College at Mount Vernon, Iowa, in 1887. Until the age of thirty-two he lived on a farm and most of his experiences were those of the agricultural life.

In 1888 he was a correspondent of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in the Sandwich Islands. After a year he returned to Kansas and took up farming in Eudora. In 1902, Mr. Wagner became the Cashier of the Citizens State Bank at Paola. Subsequently he organized the Bank of Lecompton and was President for three years. Later he was President of the Citizens State Bank at Altoona, Kansas, and was there until he came to Larned.

He also was President of the Citizens State Bank at Cimarron, Kansas, the Ash Valley State Bank of Ely, Kansas, and the Farmers State Bank of Wichita. He was honored with the office of President of the Kansas State Bankers Association in 1915.

In the spring of 1918, he enlisted in the Red Cross and soon went overseas and took up his duties in France. It was for this reason that Mr. Wagner was off of the bank's board of directors for the year of 1918.

Upon moving to Larned Mr. Wagner purchased one of the "really fine homes" in Larned, the old Lobdell home at the southwest corner of 4th & State.

While John E. Wagner served as President of First State Bank, the motto of the bank was SAFETY FIRST. Serving on the Board of Directors in 1917 were Fred Lowrey, George W. Finney, H.H. Reed, H.M. Halloway, Mark Krouch, and John Wagner. Bobby Lee Victor was with the bank from 1921 to 1931 as First State Bank's Cashier, and was one of the very few women Cashiers in Kansas.

In 1916, Capper was re-elected Governor for Kansas, and women had the right to vote. It was in the 1917 Legislative session that marked the passage of a "bone dry" law which put a final lid on the sale of alcoholic beverages.

On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I and by 1918 the Defense Council announced a goal of two hundred million bushels of wheat to be produced as the battle cry went out "Win The War With Wheat".

Woodrow Wilson began his second term as President of the United States in 1917, while Fort Riley was named as one of the Reserve Officer's Camps to train men. Three months in the summer of 1917, 2,500 officer candidates received instruction at Fort Riley in engineering and at "aviation camp".

World War I ended in 1918. Approximately 77,000 Kansans were in service during the war and about 2,500 died serving their country.

In the Fall of 1918, Kansas faced an influenza epidemic and it took its toll on both soldiers and civilians. By the end of October more than 20,000 cases were reported. Schools closed, meetings were cancelled, and quarantines were enforced in many towns. New break outs continued until spring. More than 5,500 Kansans died of the flu during this epidemic.

The following is the Financial

Statement of First State Bank as of November 15, 1919:

Board of Directors

H. MONT REED

Upon returning from Europe in 1919, John E. Wagner sold his interest in First State Bank to H. Mont Reed.

Reed became the bank's seventh President, a position he held from 1919 through 1950. During those thirty-two years the assets of the bank grew from $757,000 to $5,185,000, loans increased from $548,000 to $1,463,000 and capital grew from $130,000 to $319,000.

Homer Montgomery "Mont" Reed was born on August 2, 1880, in Larned and graduated from Larned High School in 1897. After high school he attended State Norman at Emporia, Kansas. He started with First State Bank on November 1, 1900, when he was employed at a salary of $40 per month as "office boy, janitor, bookkeeper, and teller". He was elected Assistant Cashier on March 21, 1901, and a director on December 30, 1902. His salary in 1902 was $75 per month. He became President in 1919, and he held that position for 32 years. When he retired as President on January 10, 1951, he remained as Chairman of the Board of First State Bank until his death in 1961.

Mr. H. Mont Reed was married to Edith M. Getty, and they had three children: son Joe Getty Reed who died in 1945, Frances who married Kenneth H. Peters, and Marian who married Ralph Baird. Mont and Edith's home was on the northeast corner of 4th & State.

Reed was a 50-year member of the Masonic Lodge, a lifetime member of the Elks, and a charter member of the Larned Rotary Club.

H. Mont Reed died at the age of 82, on December 24, 1961, at St. Joseph Memorial hospital in Larned. He had been a patient there for one week.

During H.M. Reed's presidency at First State Bank, Bob Lee Victor was Cashier. H.L. Reed (father of Norma Crawford) was Assistant Cashier along with Erna S. Vogt. Vice Presidents were H.M. Halloway, H.H. Reed, and Mark Krouch. G.W. Finney was the bank's attorney. Also employed at the bank were Mabel Oroszy, daughter of H.M. Halloway, and Juanita Wagner Dixon, daughter of John E. Wagner.

THE ROAR'N TWENTIES

During the 1920's, agricultural machinery moved from the steam threshers to more sophisticated combines, and a greater number of tractors and trucks began to appear on farms.

Henry Ford was marketing a car for $295.00 in 1920, and a lot of Kansans were buying Ford's product.

Kansans were driving new cars, using their tractors, bought phonographs, and went to the movies. They adopted the radio as part of their daily life while listening and dancing to jazz music. Families also gathered around the radio to listen to Amos'n' Andy, Guy Lombardo's orchestra, Uncle Dave's Children's Club, and the Kansas Farmer Old Time Orchestra. Life was made easier for women with the introduction of the vacuum, the washing machine, and the refrigerator.

The "flapper" with fringed and shapeless dresses became a part of the Kansas scene. Americans danced the Charleston, drank homemade liquor and wore raccoon coats while following the careers of gangsters and the "G-Men". It was also at this time that the Ku Klux Klan became prominent.

The Nineteenth Amendment gave the right to vote to women across the United States in 1920.

At the end of the 1920's a box of cereal cost 10¢, a two pound box of cookies cost 25¢, a pound of sausage 32¢, and coffee was 29¢.

Larned saw many changes take place from the 1900's through the 1920's. The first phones were installed in Larned in 1897, but the phones lines didn't begin to hum until the early 1900's when Dr. Alex A. Sharp bought out Herbert Porter, a druggist, and Sharp and his associates started construction of a building on West 5th that housed the first telephone office in Larned.

Among the new school buildings erected in 1900 was the high school building at Fifth and State streets, site of the first brick school which was built in 1876. When a new and larger high school was built on Santa Fe in 1915, the old high school building became the Third Ward School. In 1954 it was replaced by the new Hillside Elementary School building.

On April 7, 1914, Larned won the location of the new state hospital after it vied with more than 20 towns in Western Kansas for the rights to house the hospital here in Larned.

In August of 1912, three of Larned's principal streets were oiled, which included State Street, Broadway, and Seventh Street.

Larned voters approved the development of a municipal light and power plant and city ownership for the water system in February of 1914.

Work on the new County Courthouse began early in September 1917. The cost of construction of the new courthouse was approximately $195,000 including the building site, and equipment. Construction was completed in December 1918.

During the 1920's Pawnee County boasted the highest per capita automobile ownership of any county in the United States. The development of the automobile caused the new auto service garages to become a part of the business community and resulted in the demise of the livery stables.

Nelle Lupfer Shiplett was with First State Bank from 1920 to 1970. She became Assistant Cashier in 1943. After fifty years of service she retired as head Cashier on April 7, 1970. Born January 19, 1901, Nelle married John David Shiplett on July 15, 1935. Nelle Lupfer Shiplett died on June 16, 1994.

The new Larned Swimming Pool, known as "Everybody's Inn" was opened on April 5, 1921. The pool was enclosed with heated water. Nine years later a new, much larger pool would be built northwest of this site. Eventually the original pool would be turned into a duck pond.

In September of 1921, Larned got a new nine hole golf course which is located at Edwards Park.

In 1923, fifty Liberal High School students made news by being suspended from school for smoking at a school picnic.

In May of 1923, it was estimated that there were 60,000 Klansman in Kansas. The Klan was involved in the railroad strikes in Kansas during the 1922. They were anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic, and anti-Negro.

In 1924, 335 miles of highways were being built across Kansas at a cost of $6,000,000.

In 1925, Kansas State College celebrated a completion of fifty years of home economics teaching. Air passenger service began between Kansas City and Wichita with a flying time of approximately three hours. A one way ticket cost $30.00.

On September 17, 1925, a hospital was opened in Larned by Dr. B.L. Gleason. The hospital's first home was in a ten room apartment in the downtown business district of Larned. Dr. Gleason built a new building at 523 Main Street which was completed in January 1928, to house the hospital. Dr. Gleason later formed a corporation for the purpose of owning, managing, and operating the hospital as a non-profit institution.

The first municipal university in Kansas was created in 1926, when Fairmont College became Wichita University.

1927 was highlighted when Lindbergh flew solo to Paris.

On April 11, 1927, the name of the Larned Business Men's Association was changed to "The Larned Chamber of Commerce" to give the group a more modern name.

The 100-foot flag pole standing on the Main Street Square for 29 years was removed on July 25, 1927. The flag pole was first erected in the summer of 1898 to commemorate Admiral Dewey's victory at Manila Bay on May 1, 1898.

The horse population in Pawnee County dropped from 10,660 in 1919 to 6,836 in 1927 due to the use of motorized equipment in the fields.

The new $65,000 Larned Community Building was opened on April 3, 1928, with a community play in the auditorium which showed for two days to 2,000 paid admissions.

The Larned Airport was opened the first week in June of 1928. Prior to its opening Larned had four airplanes and only a grass landing field west of Larned owned by Merle Johnson.

On March 4, 1929, the State Theater opened with the first talking pictures in Larned. It was also in March that a movement was begun to build a large community swimming pool in Schnack Park. A Montgomery Ward store was opened on June 29, 1929, at 117 W. 6th. J.C. Penney Company took over the former J.B. Byars Company on August 19, 1929.

On October 29, 1929, the Stock Market crash became known as "Black Tuesday" which in turn was the beginning of the Great Depression. The worst of times did not hit Kansas immediately. Grain crops were good for the next two years, although prices dropped to unheard of lows with wheat going down to an average of 32¢ a bushel in 1931. The full impact of the depression was felt in the western part of the state with the coming of the drought.

The population of Larned in 1931 was at 3,524 which was an increase of 291 over the previous year, and an increase of 613 from 1920. The population of Pawnee County was 10,505 compared to 9,323 in 1920.

The new swimming pool opened in Larned on July 27, 1930, with a record attendance of 1,500.

In May 1932, Amelia Earhart Putnam became the first women to fly across the Atlantic alone. She was an Atchison native.

A banking crisis came about in the state in 1932. Landon and the state banking commissioner agreed that a law was needed to limit deposit withdrawals to 5%. A law was passed limiting withdrawals and giving state government control over the activities of all financial institutions for two years.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated President in 1933, and the New Deal began. On March 6, 1933, President Roosevelt began "Bank Holiday" . . .in which banks closed for eight days because people began a run on their banks, withdrawing their funds, and hoarding currency.

After being without banking facilities since March 6, due to the national holiday ordered by the federal government, Larned banks reopened March 15, 1993, with $86,066.11 deposits in one day. It was also in 1933, that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was formed. Federal audits became beneficial to both banks and depositors.

Mark Krouch served on the Bank's Board of Directors from 1917 through 1942, approximately twenty-five years.

Born in Larned in 1876, the son of G. Krouch, a successful merchant. Mark's father built and occupied the building on the northwest corner of Fifth and Broadway. Mark succeeded his father in business and operated the store until he sold it to the Lischesky Company in 1926. Later he was engaged in the insurance business with Bruce Lovett.

Mr. Krouch served on the Larned City Council and as Pawnee County Red Cross Chapter Chairman. He was the first President of the Larned Rotary Club organized in 1922.

About five years before his death he and his wife, the former Anna Charles, moved to Topeka where he was employed in the office of the internal revenue department.

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