Lane County HISTORIAN

Lane CountyHISTORIAN

FARMERS & MERCHANTS BANK OF JUNION CITY, OREGON, est. 1893

- - In this issue - -

BANKING HISTORY OF LANECOUNTY (concluding installment)

BANK NOTESLocations, Eugenepioneer banks

WHEN THE REBEL FLAG FLEW ONTHE LONG TOM

LANE COUNTY PIONEER - HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Vol. VI No. 1 Eugene, Oregon March 1961

Price 50 cents per copy

A CIVIL WAR STORYNEARLY AROMANCE

THE CHARGE, OF LANE COUNTYPIONEERS

1961 OFFICERS-1883 OFFICERSCORRECTIONS, in Vol. V. No. 2,

Sept., 1960

- CONOF LANE COUNTY, cntthued,

president 1954 to 1960

BANKNOTESLOCATIONS OF EUG

A CIVIL Wilt STORYNEARLY A BC

LANE COUNTY PIONEER-HISTORICAL SOCIETY

2161 Madison St., Eugene, Oregon

Editoiial ComtitteeDaye M. Rulin, Pauline Walton and Merle S. Moore. chairman

TENTS -Harold L. Edmunds

1

NE PIONEER BANKS 12

MANCE, clipping from OREGON STATEJOURNAL (Eugene) 13

WHEN THE REBEL FLAG FLEW ON THE LONG TOM, Elwin A. McCornack 14

THE CHARGE, OF LANE COUNTY PIONEERS, Merle S. Moore, 18

1961 OFFICERS and those of 1883 19

CORRECTIONS in Vol V No. 2 of September 1960

Oi page 33in the caption above the Oakridge schoolLines 6 and 7 are reversed.The fourth row should read, "TheLma Stanton, Hallie Hills (Mrs. Shy Huntington)".

On the hack cover, picture of Minnesota Hotel. Information by Mrs. Ethel M. Smeedis that her mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Al Montgomery were the proprietors of itfrom 1891 to about 1903 and that the owner of the building was former Gov. JohnWhiteaker. The Hotel sign reads "80 cents per day" (which included 3 meals)! A liverystable occupied the S.W. cor. of 5th and Willamette adjoining the hotel on the northat the present site of the Eugene Post Office. The Renshaw home was on the southand the Underwood House across the street. Those identified in the picture are: 3rdfrom leftRose Kissinger, the cook, Mr. and Mrs. Al Montgomery (in rocking chair);on curbFred Montgomery, Ethel Montgomery (little girl in white dress), Fred Waldand man behindHerbert Mortimer (night clerk and organist at the Episcopal Church).It was some time later that "Penny" Gaylord operated the hotel under the name of"Encore Hotel".

rn the Oakridge story entire page 31 shiould follow the left hand column of page 30;then page 32 would follc'w the right hand column of page 30SORRY!!!!

The Cover picture, Farmers & Merchants Bank of Junction City, Oregon, openedMay 2, 1893. Lf. to rt.Will C. Washburne, cashier and Fred Washburne, bookkeeper.Note bar rail and spitoon placed near teller's window to make the customers feelmore at easesome of the old timers (who were not yet used to a bank) were moreat home in a saloon. Photo furnished by Claude Washburne,

"The First Bank of Springfiekl", 335 Main St., opened Jan. 1, 1904. Until this timecitizens had travelled to Eugene by stage to make their deposits. Purchased by theFirst National in 1906, which had been established earlier that year. Photo and infor-matioa by Crystal B. Fogle

Banks of Lane County, Oregon

Among the towns and citiesof Oregon Springfield is an oldtown. The first plat of the "townof Springfield" was recordedDecember 4, 1856, in Deed Re-cord book A of Lane County,Oregon Territory. This platshows the location of J. N. Don-nell's "storehouse". A grist miiiand small saw mill were operat-ing at that time near the plattedtownsite. Not till 48 years laterwas a bank established inSpringfield. Doubtless the near-ness to Eugene was the reason

By Harold L. Edmunds(Second and Final Installment)

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why no bank began businessthere for so many years.

The first bank, which alsowas named First Bank, openedfor business in January, 1904.Elmer E. Kepner was presidentand Henry Stewart cashier. Mr.Kepner, the first banker, was aman of many talents. He was anative of Maryland and was ayoung man in Nebraska. There,in Bethany, Nebraska, he was asurveyor, a lawyer, postmasterand banker. He came West in1903 and established the Ffrst

Bank of Springfield. The bankopened in January the follow-ing year, 1904. Mr. Stewart,cashier of the bank was a bro-ther of the late Harry M. Stew-art who for many years waspostmaster of Springfield. TheFirst Bank was located in the300 block on the South side ofMain Street.

In 1906, three years after itsinception, the First Bank wassold to the First National Bankof Springfield, organized at thattime by John B. Bell, Sr., B. A.Washburne and others. At thetime the First National Bank ofSpringfield began business, CyBrattain was- president, Mr.Bell, cashier and manager. Mr.Kepner and Mr. Washburnewere directors. Claude B. Wash-burne, B. A. Washburne's son,was an employee in the bank. Asmall well built banking housewas constructed for the bank atthe northeast corner of Mainand Second Streets,; the bankoccupied that building abouttwenty years. In 1909 Mr. Bell

and the Washburnes sold theirinterests and Charley Scott be-came president of the bank. Mr.Bell moved to Eugene wherehe operated the Lane CountyAbstract Company for manyyears. The First National Bankof Springfield built a new andlarger bank building, modern atthe time, at the southwest cor-ner of Main and Fifth, in 1925,where it operated about sevenyears and till it closed in Octo-ber, 1932. The bank was in bus-iness 26 years, under variousmanagements. At the time itwas closed and was declared in-solvent Wm. G. Hughes waspresident.

In 1911 a new and additionalbank was organized in Spring-field. The bank, The Commer-cial State Bank, a State charter-ed institution, opened for busi-ness October 11, 1911 with cap-ital of $30,000.00. A. J. Perkinswas the first president of thebank, Orville B. Kessey wasvice-president and Elmer C.Harrison, c a s h i e r. Directors

First Natiomal Bank of Springfield, N. B. Cor. Second and Main Sts. Established in1906, second bank in Springfield. Photo furnished by Crystal B. Fogle.

of Oregon. The Springifeldbranch of the system is now op-erating under the managementof Frank S. Bailly, manager,with Lowell C. Edwards, assist-

Altogether Springfield hasbeen the home of six bankinginstitutions, including the twobranch banks now operatingthere.

Were the three officers namedand Joseph J. Bryan, Welby Ste-vens, M. M. Peery and Jesse A.Seavey. In 1912 Mr. Kessey be-came cashier and vice-presidentand in that capacity managedthe bank. Mr. Kessey was con-sidered a good banker and wasa well liked person. He becamepresident of the bank in 1920.Unfortunately he died suddenlyin 1925. The management of thebank then passed to C. E. Ken-yon, cashier. June 6, 1931 afterthe bank had been in businessabout 20 years, six years afterthe death of Mr. Kessey it wasclosed and declared insolventby the State Banking Depart-ment. At the time the bankclosed Welby Stevens was pres-ident and C. E. Kenyon cashier.

The year following the clos-ing of the Commercial StateBank was the year the First Na-tional Bank of Springfield clos-ed. The great depression was un-der way, and Springfield waswithout banking facilities foreight years, till 1940, when theBank of Oregon, of Springfield,was organized, and opened Jan-uary 2, 1940, with H. L. Ed-munds as president, Harry M.Stewart, vice-president, a n dWillis N. Ekblad, Cashier. Mr.Stewart w as postmaster ofSpringfield. Willis N. Ekbladcame from Coos Bay, Oregon.The Bank of Oregon operatedunder the same managementtill June, 1946 when it was soldto the Portland U. S. NationalBank and was converted into abranch of that institution. Atthe time of the sale the direc-tors of the bank were H. L. Ed-munds, Harry M. Stewart, H. L.Lauderdale, Dallas B. Murphy

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and Guy S. Wright. The Bank ofOregon was located in the bankbuilding at the southeast cornerof Main and Fourth Streetswhere the Commercial StateBank had been in business. Atthe time of the sale and conver-sion of the Bank of Oregon, Mr.Edmunds retired, and Mr. Ek-blad continued as manager ofthe branch. The U. S. NationalBank acquired and remodeledthe former First National Bankof Springfield building at Mainand Fifth, and is now operatingat that location, with Jack Mait-land as manager and Pery D.Pullen and Wm. V. Spicer as-sistant managers.

In September, 1950 the FirstNational Bank of Eugene esta-blished a branch in Springfield,and at that time built a bank-ing house at Main and SeventhStreets, at the southwest cornerof the intersection. That bankbecame a branch of the First Na-tional Bank of Oregon when theEugene First National Bankwas absorbed into the bank sys-tem of the First National Bank

ant manager.

The growth and prosperityof Springfield has been reflect-ed in the growth of its banks. In1907 the First National Bank ofSpringfield, then the only bankin Springfield, had total assetsof just above forty thousand

:ctNt3?J$T0T

ftOCEiE

dollars. Then later the total as-sets of the two banks that oper-ated there between 1911 and1931 were at their high pointabout four hundred thousanddollars. The Bank of Oregonstarted from scratch and at thetime of its sale to the PortlandU. S. National in 1946 its totalassets were $2,600,000.00. Nowthe two banks operating inSpringfield have combined as-sets of more than $14,000.000.00.

Moving now to C ot t a g eGrove: In 1888 when the busi-ness district of Cottage Grovewas on the west side of the riv-er, Herbert Eakin and DarwinBristow established a nercar1-tile business under the name ofEakin and Bristow. They pur-chased a stock of goods from amerchant who retired from bus-iness at that time. Eakin andBristow were the principal bus-iness establishment in town andas such they were called uponat various times to care for mon-

ey for their friends, and to per-form other services in the bank-ing line. By 1890 banking hadbecome a department in thestore. In 1894 the combined mer-chandise and banking businesshad grown to the extent thatEakin and Bristow built whatwas then the most substantialbusiness block in town, at thecorner of Wall and R 1 v e rStreets, on the west side, con-tinuing the bank in the store.Frank N. McAlister of Eugenewas at one time employed as aclerk in the bank. T. C. (Tom)Wheeler joined the bank about1902. Mr. Eakin's old dog"Grant", a bird dog, was a wellknown character in the store.The dog was called the "watch-dog of the treasury", the dog'spresence facetiously being sup-posed to inspire confidence, anddiscourage burgiers.

In 1900 the bank was incor-porated as a national bank un-der the name of First National

Eakjn and Bristow Bank of Cottage Grove, Wall and River Sts., on west side of town.This bldg. erected in 1894 to care for expanding business"the most substantial build-Ing in town" at that time, it qas occupied until 1904 whem Mr. Bristow sold his interestsand moved to Eugene. Bank then moved to east side of riverthis 1894 building isnow the Cottage Grove Masonic Temple. Men in picture, left to rightDarwin Bristow,Herbert Eakin and Geo. W. McOueen. Photo furnished by Cy Eakin.4-

Bank of Cottage Grove, withcapital of $25,000.00. Mr. Bris-tow was president and Mr. Eak-in cashier. They, with StuartEakin and T. B. Hendricks ofEugene, Robert Eakin, N. W.White, J. H. Hawley and Geo.M. Hawley were the first direc-tors. The bank continued to oc-cupy quarters in the store till1902 when the merchandisebusiness was disposed of andthe bank became the sole occu-pant of the quarters.

Then in 1903 Mr. Bristow dis-posed of his interests and mov-ed to Eugene. Upon Mr. Bris-tow's retirement from the bank,Mr. Eakin was elected presi-dent, and Mr. Wheeler, cashier.In 1904 the bank moved to theeast side of the river and occu-pied quarters known as theJones building at Main and 4thStreets, then in November,1911 moved to its fine new bankbuilding at the south-west cor-ner of Main and 6th, where itremained many years servingthe banking needs of the South-ern area of Lane County. WorthHarvey joined the bank in 1907.There was no material changein the bank's affairs till 1934when Mr. Eakin passed away.After Mr. Eakin's death, Mr.Wheeler who had been cashiersince 1902 became presidentand Mr. Harvey cashier.

In 1936, Harold E. Eakin, anephew of the founder, joinedthe bank. He had for manyyears been engaged in the bank-ing business in Salem. HaroldEakin is known to his manyfriends and acquaintances as"Cy". Mr. Wheeler had retiredin 1935 and Cy Eakin took overmanagement and control of the

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bank. His aunt, Mrs. Olivia Ea-kin, the widow of th founderwas the majority stockholder.

In 1940 the bank was pur-chased by the Transamericabank holding company. Mr.Harvey retired at that time. CyEakin continued the manage-ment of the bank. In 1954 thebank became a branch by legalconversion and Cy, who waspresident, became manager ofthe branch and vice-presidentof the parent bank, the PortlandFirst National. In recent yearsthe branch moved to still moremodern quarters and is now theCottage Grove branch of theFirst National Bank of Oregon.

Cy Eakin retired this lastsummer under the bank's com-pulsory age limit retirementplan. His father was the lateRobert Eakin, at one time chiefjustice of the Oregon SupremeCourt. Robert Eakin was also amember of the first board of di-rectors of the First NationalBank of Cottage Grove. He, Ro-bert, was a brother of the foun-der, Herbert Eakin. Anotherbrother was S. B. (Stuart) Eak-in who was one of the foundersof the First National Bank ofEugene.

The Cottage Grove branch ofthe First National Bank of Ore-gon is now managed by D. C.Johnson, branch manager. Thebranch now employs 23 menand women and its deposits areover $8,500,000.00.

The First National Bank ofCottage Grove was one of thefour pioneer banks of LaneCounty that served their com-munities faithfully through theyears during good times andbad, panics and prosperity, and

are still operating as branchesof state-wide systems. The oth-er three were the First Nationalof Eugene, the Ti. S. Nationalof Eugene that absorbed theE u g e n e Loan and SavingsBank, and the First National ofJunction City.

The history of the First Na-tional Bank of Cottage Grovecalls to mind that shortly after1900 a move was started to di-vide Lane County and makeCottage Grove the county seatof Nesmith County; however,the proposed new county ofNesmith never really got offthe ground.

The pioneer First NationalBank of Cottage Grove hadcompetition from 1906 to 1931.The competition was the Bankof Cottage Grove, that openedfor business May 6, 1906, withW. H. Abrams as president. Thevice-president was B. Lurch,cashier, Geo. M. Hall. Directorsat the time the bank opened forbusiness were W. H. Abrams,B. Lurch, Geo. M. Hall, W. A.Hartung and Geo. Atkinson.

The Bank of Cottage Groveoperated at the southeast cor-ner of the intersection of Mainand 6th Streets.

Like the Bank of Commercein Eugene, the Bank of CottageGrove found the troubles of thegreat depression too intense.The bank closed its doors Dec.5, 1931. At the time the bankfailed the president was N. E.Glass; vice-president at thattime was W. A. Garroutte,cashier, Fred Hauger. T h ebank's deposits at the time ofclosing were $84,000.00. Previ-ously the bank's deposits hadbeen over $150,000.00. -6-

Coburg, in Lane County, waserved by a bank, from July,1909 to Oct., 1925. Officers atthe time of the opening of thebank, July 16, 1909 were N. J.Nelson, president; vice-presi-dent was W. H. Currier; cash-ier, 0. M. Washburn; assistantcashier, H. L. Van Duyn. (O.M.Washburn, cashier, was not re-lated to the Washburne bank-ers of Springfield and JunctionCity.) The five directors of theCoburg State Bank at the timeit opened were the four officersand J. H. Harden.

The bank was closed October16, 1925 by the State BankingDepartment. At that time as-sets had shrunk to $66,742.21.When the bank discontinuedL. F. Loncoy was president. Thevice-president at that time wasA. G. Pirtle, cashier, J. M. Sen-cenbaugh.

I have the idea highway fa-cilities between Coburg and Eu-gene had attracted businessfrom the Coburg area to Eu-gene to such an extent that thebank's operations had becomeunprofitable.

Creswell also enjoyed bank-ing facilities for some years.The Creswell Fruit GrowersBank was established July 6,1912. The president of the bankat its inception was A. C.Bohrnstedt; vice-president, L.D. Scarbrough; cashier, L. E.Ziniker. Assets at the time ofthe consolidation were $159,-751.00.

Junction City was incorpor-ated under that name in 1871,and during the following twen-ty years carried on its businessaffairs without the aid of bank-

burne was George S. Wash-burne. George was a memberof the first graduating class ofthe University of Oregon, latera law partner of A. C. Wood-

Creswell Fruit Growers Bank, First & Oregon Avenues, Creswell, Oregon. Small farm-ing community 12 miles south of Eugenepicture 1960. Established July 6, 1912, con-solidated with Bank of Commerce in Eugene, Dec. 19, 1931. Photo furnished by Mrs.Riley Petty.

ing facilities. Then its firstb a n k i n g establishment wasshort lived and unsuccessful.The name of the bank was U.S. Banking Company. It openedfor business in December 1891.Then in April 1893 the proper-ty of the bank was advertisedat Sheriff's sale. Thereafter twoseparate groups organized toestablish banks to take theplace of the defunct U. S. Bank-ing Company. One group in-cluding J. M. Howard and W. S.Lee incorporated the JunctionCity Loan & Savings Bank. An-other group organized the Far-mers Merchants Bank, and thisgroup purchased the fixtures ofthe former U. S. Banking Com-pany and opened the Farmers& Merchants Bank May 2, 1893,with directors, C. W. Wash-burne, J. P. Milliorn, T. A. Miii-iorn, J. A. Bushnell and Geo.W. Pickett. Mr. Bushnell waspresident and W. C. Washburnecashier. Apparently after theFarmers & Merchants Bank

group purchased the fixtures atsheriff's sale, the Loan & Sav-ings Bank group abandonedtheir plans. I found no record ofthe Loan & Savings Bank open-ing as a bank.

The Farmers & MerchantsBank was the real pioneer bankof Junction City. C. W. Wash-burne, one of the bank's firstdirectors crossed the plains byox team in 1853 and took aclaim of 320 acres 1- milessouthwest of Junction City.One of his sons, Wm. C. Wash-.burne was the first cashier ofthe bank. Another son, B. A.(Gus) Washburne was a stock-holder, and Gus's son, Claude:B. Washburne, joined the bankin April, 1913 when the bankmoved into its new building.Another son of C. W. Wash-

cock, and later Lane County Cir-

:

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Farmers & Merchants Bank of Junction City, N. side 6th between Front and GreenwoodSts. opened May 2, 1893, often called the Washburne Bank, as three generations of thefamily were among its officers. Nationalized in Sept. 1912 as First National Bankand purchased in 1936 by U. S. National of Portland and continued as one of theirbranches. Photo furnished by Claude Washburne.

cuit Judge. The late Carl G.Washburne, well known Eugenemerchant, was George's sonand a grandson of C. W. Wash-burne.

The Farmers & MerchantsBank prospered. J. A. Bushnellserved the bank as president

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till his death in 1902. Mr. Bush-nell was the J. A. Bushnell whoestablished the Eugene BibleCollege and served as its presi-dent 17 years. After Mr. Bush-nell's death Wm. C. Washburnebecame president and FrankMorehead, cashier. In Septem-

ber, 1912 the bank was nation-alized, and the name changedto First National Bank of Junc-tion City. Mr. Moorehead wascashier till his death in 1929when Claude B. Washburne,who had been with the banksince 1913, became cashier. Atone time the late Judge G. F.Skipworth, then a young man,was assistant cashier, before heremoved to Eugene to begin hislaw practice.

The First National Bank ofJunction City served its com-munity many years with Wm.C. Washburne as president andhis nephew, Claude B. Wash-burne, cashier. The bank wasconservative but very accom-modating. Through the years itwas known as the WashburneBank.

The First National Bank of

Junction City was sold to thePortland U. S. National Bank,in 1936. At that time W. C.Washburne retired. He hadbeen with the bank continuous-ly 43 years. At the time of thesale the bank was converted toa branch of the U. S. National,and Claude B. Washburne con-:tinued with the bank as branchmanager. He retired in 1948 af-ter 35 years with the bank, thelast 7 of which were spent onleave for U. S. Government ser-vice as Colonel in the U. S. Ar-my. The bank is now operatingas the Junction City branch ofthe U. S. National Bank, withDavid S. Montgomery as man-ager and Verne Anderson, as-sistant manager.

The Washburne Bank hadcompetition from 1921 till 1932.The competition was the June-

Interior, First National Bank of Junction City (1913). Left to rightClaude B. Wash-burne, Asst. cashier (on stool); Frank Moorhead, Cashier; Merlin P. Corbin, book-keeper. Note typical bookkeeper desks used in that period. Photo furnished by ClaudeB. Washburne,

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tion City State Bank charteredJan. 5, 1921 having been organ-ized by Portland and JunctionCity area residents.

The Junction City StateBank failed and was closed Feb.11, 1932 by the State BankingDepartment. At the time thebank closed its president wasC. F. M. Ruder, cashier SteveMogensen.

Florence, Lane County's seaport, was given a big boost in1909 when its first bank wasestablished. The name of thebank was Lane County State &Savings Bank. President wasJ. C. Gray, vice-president FredHollister, c a s h i e r, John W.Bergman. Fred bluster was aNorth Bend, Oregon, attorney.John W. Bergman, cashier wasa son of Capt. John Bergman ofthe U. S. Coast Guard.

Capt. John Bergman the fa-ther had become well known inthe Coast Guard service andhad been previously honoredby the U. S. Government. Thehonor was the award of a goldmedal for bravery in saving lifeat the wreck of the steamer"Tacoma" near the mouth ofthe TJmpqua river in 1883.

John W. Bergman, cashier,and later president, managedthe bank successfully till hisdeath in 1922. Thereafter man-agement and control of thebank passed to one of his rela-tives. The relative was a manfrom good family and his wifea fine woman, but because ofwhat happened later I will re-fer to him only as "Hank".Hank became president of thebank. He was rather a keenbusiness man and the bank con-

tinued to give good service tothe community. Hank had out-side business interests and hegradually transferred the rou-tine management to a compe-tant young woman cashier.(The writer was at that time aState Bank examiner and I re-.call examining the bank in 1922and being very favorably im-pressed with the unusual abil-ity of the young lady cashier,and her nice presonality. I alsorecall Capt. John Bergman'sgold medal of honor in safekeeping in the bank's vault.) Afew years later the bank's af-fairs took a tragic turn. Hankbegan drinking, and his youngwoman cashier, after amplewarning, walked out. He thenemployed another young wo-man cashier, who, perhaps ow-ing to her personal feelings to-ward him was willing to workfor the bank under the circum-stances. The bank was not inbad shape except as the resultof Hank's outside business ac-tivities, which had not prosper-ed. About January 927 thebank was robbed of a few hun-dred dollars by a hold-up manwho escaped. The loss was paidby the insurance company, andapparently the prompt pay-ment by the insurance companygave someone the idea of fak-ing a much larger robbery withthe idea of also collecting fromthe insurance company. In lateJanuary, 1927 the bank report-ed a loss by hold-up of about$20,000.00. Thereupon detec-tives and law enforcement of-ficers, upon investigation, real-ized very quickly what had oc-cured. They conferred with the

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then sheriff of Lane County,Frank Taylor, and it was con-cluded that unusual methodswere in order to uncover theunusual fake robbery. The girlcashier had reported seeing therobber face to face, and so aspart of the method to solve therobbery the sheriff captured ahobo here in Eugene and lockedhim up, and then reported toFlorence he thought he had therobber, and would Hank andthe girl cashier please come toEugene for the purpose of iden-tification. They would, and did,and after the girl had looked atthe hobo she said to the amaze-ment of the sheriff "That'shim." The surprised sheriff al-lowed Hank and the girl toleave the courthouse, but afterleaving the sheriff's office theyevidently realized they hadbeen trapped, and they impul-sively decided on a getaway.They borrowed a car from afriend and left for other parts.The final end of that journey, asyou can easily imagine, was theOregon penitentiary for both.

To Hank's credit it is saidthat while in the pen he suc-cessfully reorganized t h e i rbookkeeping system. Also, afterrelease he married the womanhe had induced to help with thefake robbery; his former wifehaving divorced him while hewas serving time. The latestknowledge I had of him was areport he was operating a pros-perous business in anotherState.

The closing of the bank Feb.2, 1927 was a hard blow to busi-ness in Florence, and the townwas without banking facilities

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till January, 1947, when a newbank, Lane County Bank, wasorganized. Kenneth B. Spencerwas the first president, WarnerC. Waite, vice-president. A. L.Coit, an experienced banker,took the position of cashier. Mr.Coit was active in the organiza-tion of the bank and has servedcontinuously as cashier andmanager. The bank has beenvery prosperous and at thistime has over three and a halfmillion in assets. Mr. Spencerand Mr. Waite are still presi-dent and vice-president, respec-tively and Mr. Coit cashier andmanager. Two assistant cash-iers serve the bank; E. W.Compton and S. W. Dryden. Di-rectors of the Lane CountyBank are E. J. Johnston, A. E.Neilson, H. D. Peckham, Ken-neth B. Spencer and Warner C.Waite.

Eastern Lane County's Cityof Oakridge has been served bya bank since 1947. The Oak-ridge Branch of the PortlardFirst National Bank was open-ed November 4, 1947. That wasthe day following the holidaydeclared in memory of the tra-gic deaths of Oregon's Gover-nor Earl Snell, Secretary ofState Farrell, and president ofthe Senate Cornett, who allthree lost their lives in an un-fortunate plane crash.

Manager of the OakridgeBranch of the First NationalBank at the time of opening wasVernon Ricks. The bank nowoperates as the 0 a k r i d g eBranch of the First NationalBank of Oregon, with KarlKaufman as manager. The

bank has 11 employees and de-posits are around $3,000,000.00.

At the present time 12 banksare serving Lane County, in-cluding branch institutions.Two of the banks are indepen-dent local banks, one in Eu-gene, the Citizens Bank, andFlorences Lane County Bank.

Oregon law permittingbranch banking was adopted bythe Oregon legislature follow-ing the great depression of theearly 1930's and since that timethe trend has been towardbranch banking. Some states

As an additional note to thevery complete and thoroughstory of "Banks of Lane Coun-ty", by Harold L. Edmunds, aspublished in the September1960 number of the HISTOR-IAN, it is interesting that allthree of the first banks foundedin Eugene were located inbuildings within an area of lessthan 100 feet apart. The LaneCounty or Hovey bank first op-ened (1882) in building whichis now 832 Willamette St.*; theHendricks and Eakin (First Na-tional) started the next year(1883) at 856 Willamette St.about 80 feet to the south.Across the street at about 837Willamette St. in the DunnBlock, the Bank of Oregon (nowthe U. S. National) was estab-lished in 1887. In later years asthe banking business was ac-cepted and expanded each ofthe three moved outward to new

prohibit branch banking. Manypermit that form of banking insome degree. Oregon law limitsbranch banking to communitiesno t served by independentbanks.

This brief history of LaneCounty banks has been possibleonly with the help of many in-dividuals, including r e t i r e dbankers. The archives of the li-brary of the University of Ore-gon has also been the source ofmuch of the information. Mysincere thanks to all who help-ed in the project.

Bank Notes - LocationOf Eugene Pioneer Banks

buildings erected for the pur-pose. Hovey put up a fine 3-story building on the N. E. cor.of 8th and Willamette in 1888;the First National remodeledthe 1866 "Bristows' Corner" orHendricks store on the N. W.cor. of 9th and Willamette(1898); and the Bank of Oregonmoved to its new 2-story blockon the S. E. cor. of 8th and Wi!-lamettenow the three wereonly 360 feet apart!

An anecdote concerning ear-ly banking was related to thewriter by the late M. S. Barker.He was wanting to build ahome up on Pearl St. on thesoutheast side of Skinner'sButte. He lacked the funds sowent to Mr. A. G. Hovey presi-dent of the Lane County Bank(first in the county) and madehis wants known. Mr. H. askedhim how much he thought hewould need and was told that

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handed her a package of paperswith the request that she keepthem until the battle was over,and then, if he (the officer)

he would want about $1,900.00.Mr. B. was then handed a checkbook and told to pay his billswith the checks. Being surpris-ed at this simple act he askedthe banker if he didn't wanthim to sign a note or something."No," Mr. Hovey replied, "justwrite checks for your expendi-tures, then when the house iscompleted come in and we willfigure up what you owe me"!

* Records in the Lane CountyCourthouse reveal that A. G.Hovey purchased the east 80feet of the lot at the N. W. cor.of 8th and Willamette Sts. fromEugene Masonic Lodge No. 11,AF&AM, in 1886, intending to

A CIVIL WAR STORY, fromthe files of the Oregon StateJournal (Eugene)*

This item entitled"Nearlya RomanceAn Episode in thelife of Mrs. Marshall Wheeler,"appeared in the Eugene news-paper, edited by Harrison R.Kincaid, on Nov. 30, 1889.

"During the late Civil War,Mrs. Wheeler, the E u g en eHealer, served as a nurse in theUnion Service. She had manyt h r ill i n g experiences andamong them we have heard thefollowing:

She was present at the battleof Spotsylvania. At the com-mencement of the battle, a Un-ion officer rode up to her and

erect a 3-story brick buildingthere. The Masons retained thewest end (80') of the lot (to thealley) and planned to erect a2-story brick lodge hail. Thesale contract contained the pro-viso that in building eachwould share the width and ex-pense, 50-50, of the commonbrick wall between the bulid-ings. The picture shown on thecover of the Sept. 1960 HIS-TORIAN bears the date of1888. Old timers will rememberthe Eugene Post Office thatwas located on the first floor ofthe above mentioned MasonicTemple, from about 1888 untilthe "Pioneer" Post Office wasoccupied in 1909.

A Civil War Story - Nearly A Romanceshould not live to call for them,to deliver the package to head-quarters.

In the course of the fight aflank was turned, and Mrs.Wheeler and the rest of thenurses were captured by therebels. Upon searching her per-son, of course the papers werefound and proved to be thework of a Union spy, who hadbeen inside the rebel lines. Shewas at once arraigned before acourt-marshall composed of reb-el officers, and not withstand-ing the statement of how shecame by the papers and repeat-ed protestations of innocence,she was formally convicted ofbeing a spy and sentenced to behanged at sunrise the nextmorning. She was then takenby a guard of three soldiers andconfined in a small guarci-

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house, which had but one aper-ture admitting light and airand through that aperture shesaw the gallows on which shewas to perish. What a grim per-spective!

Inside the guard-house therewas nothing but the bare floorof earth and two dry-goods box-es standing against a wall; nochair, no bed.

That night the guards enter-ed the Guard-house with apiece of corn-bread and a cup ofcold water for her supper. Mrs.Wheeler spoke, the guard stop-ped. He then retired and lockedthe door up on her again. Lateron in the night she heard av o i c e at the aperture say"move the small box!". Shemoved the box and discoveredan aperture which proved tobe a tunnel. Through this tun-nel she worked her way on herhands and knees for about onequarter of a mile, when sheemerged and found a man andtwo saddle horses w a it i n gthere. Mrs. Wheeler mounted

as told by Elwin A. McCornaekWhen the Rebel Flag Flew on the Long Tom

It was harvest time on theAndrew McCornack farm inthe year 1862. The farm wassome three miles west of Eu-gene on the Old Elmira Road.The men of the family and thehired hands had just seatedthemselves for the eveningmeal. Someone glanced outthrough the open door and star-tled the group with an exclama-tion of surprise and disbelief.The eyes of every man at the

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one horse and the man who wadisguised, the other. For sixmiles they rode on in darknesswithout speaking but at the endof that time the man spoke andsaid: "You are now safe in theUnion lines; ride right on." Theman disappeared in the dark-ness like a shadow.

Mrs. Wheeler rode on untilshe came across a picket whotook her to Gen. Hentzel at theman's headquarters.

Last summer while on anouting on the McKenzie River,Mrs. Wheeler and her preserv-er met and recognized each oth-er after a lapse of 26 ryears. Herpreserver's name is the well-known, Dr. B. F. Russell, nowpost-master at Thurston. Hewas one of the three guards. Hewas the disguised horseman.

* Ed. noteDuring the nextfour years of the national cen-tennial of the American CivilWar, the Lane County Histor-ian will welcome for publica-tion Civil War stories that arerelated to our local history.

table followed the gaze of theman who had given the alarmand stared in astonishment, forout there on the open road rid-ing in from the west was atroop of cavalry, the blue oftheir dust covered uniforms,the yellow chevrons and legstripes, the guidon flying at thehead of the column left nodoubt in anyone's mind, it wasa troop of United States Caval-ry of the regular army. They

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wesley Washburne, Junction City, Oregon pioneers of 1853viaOregon Trail and Barlow toll road. Their eldest child was born near Chimney Rock onthe trail. Mr. Washburne wias one of the founders of the Farmers & Merchants Bankof Junction City, civic leader and served in the Oregon legislature. Photo furnished byClaude Washburne.

rode in double file and just asthey were about to pass theleaders broke into a swingingtrot and turned in at the openranch gate. The double filesplit into two columns swingingto the right and to the left ofthe buildings and in two min-utes buildings, yard and allwere surrounded by horsemen.

Surprise at seeing troops ofthe Union Army in their midstwas only equaled by the obvi-ous conclusion that the McCor-nack homestead was the objectof their immediate maneuver.The men all rose from the table,

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grandmother's good dinner foro n c e forgotten. Grandfatherwent out into the yard wherethe Captain had halted whilehis men circled the place and in-quired what brought on thestartling maneuver. The Cap-tain asked if there was a tran-sient harvest hand by the nameof Armstrong on the place. Theanswer being in the affirmativethe Captain called for Arm-strong, a deserter from the ser-vice, to come out. An extrahorse which the soldiers hadbrought along was brought up,Armstrong mounted, the bu-

open these people uniformlyheld with the South. Now it justhappened that out on the LongTom strung out along the Ter-ritorial Road there was a con-

were raised to the top of thepole. In Eugene indignation ranhigh when the report came inthat the Rebel flag was flyingat Smithfield. Word was sent

lodged in jail as an enemy ofthe Union. When word gotaround that one of the LongTom Rebels was in the Countyjail a mob of local townsmen,no doubt carried beyond theirbetter judgement, as is so oftenthe case, by partisan feelingand mob psychology, formedand marched on the jail. As themob hesitated and milled about

gler sounded recall, the troop re-assembled and rode away in thedirection of Eugene.

Now these troops were sta-tioned at Vancouver Barracks.Had they ridden one hundredand fifty miles to take Arm-strong the Deserter? No, theyhad not. They had other busi-ness in this vicinity and had or-ders to pick up the deserterwhile they were here. Theirreal business was at a small set-tlement out west on the OldTerritorial Road then calledSmithfield, (Now Franklin). Inorder to get an understandingof the situation out in thatneighborhood one must knowsomething of the community'sbackground.

In the emigration west therewere many families who camethis way from Kentucky, Ten..nesee, the Carolinas and Mis-souri. These people were ruggedhill stock and all southerners.When the war between thestates split the country wide

centration of these folks fromthe South and they organized,loyal to the Confederate cause.

At Smithfield the men cutand peeled a young fir and setit up in front of the generalstore. The women fashioned theStars and Bars, the flag of theConfederacy, and the colors

to the state Capitol, to the U. S.authorities in Portland and toWashington D. C. demandingthat the disgrace be effaced.Word came back from all direc-tions ordering local law and or-der men to proceed at once toSmithfield and pull the flagdown.

Now the law men of Eugeneto whom these letters camewere filled with as much cour-age as any other of the pioneersof that day but they also knewthat one and all the men of theLong Tom had brought theirold long barreled Kentuckysquirrel rifles with them fromthe hills of the south and hadgrown up to manhood shootingthe eyes out of red squirrels, astaple article of diet in thoseparts, and our men of Eugenealso knew these southerners tobe a determined lot who wouldnot hesitate to defend whateverthey held to be their rights. Sothe Rebel flag continued to flyat Smithfield.

About this time one of thehardy Southerners came intoEugene for supplies and wasseized by local law men and

a threehundred pound Germanrushed to the front throwinghis weight against the doorwhich gave way and crashed to

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Mr. & Mrs. James A. Bushnell (in 1860's), Oregon pioneers having arrived In theLost Wagon Train of 1853 via the Middle Fork of the Willamette River. Mr. Bushnellwas one of the founders of the pioneer Farmers & Merchants Bank in Junction Cityand served as president until 19(12. Also was the prime mover in the establishment ofthe Eugene Divinity School and was its president for 17 years. Photo furnished byClarence A. Pitney

the floor. Now our son of theSouth didn't intend to be takenwithout a fight. When he wasjailed and searched he had beenable to retain in his possessiona small pocket knife with justone blade and that broken offat about one inch in length.This blade he had carefullysharpened on the bricks of hiscell floor until it had a razoredge.

As the big German rushedthe prisoner the latter, as I gotthe story, swung at the Ger-man's paunch ripping open shirtand trousers all the way downhis rotund person laying openstretches of skin. The Germanfeeling the sting of the blade

and believing himself disem-boweled fell to the floor withthe words, "My great grandfa-ther was Bleucher. Let me diever I is." With their leaderdown and uttering his lastwords the mob hesitated. Atthis moment the duly electedsheriff appeared with a posse,the mob was dispersed, the Ger-man revived and the man fromLong Tom was taken to a placeof safety.

So much for the efforts of thelocal folks to pull down theStars and Bars but loyal Unionsympathizers felt the disgracekeenly and Washington heardmuch of it. As a result camethat memorable August day17

made available to the public.The newly activated organiza-tion (since 1954) has prosperedand has had a steady growth

when a troop of United Statescavalry from Vancouver Bar-racks rode into the little townof Smithfield pulled down theflag of the Confederacy and car-ried it away. But when you tra-vel the Old Territorial Road

As late as 1953, 100 years af-ter the establishment of LaneCounty by an act of the OregonTerritorial Legislature, theSons and daughters of the foun.ding families were a 1 w a y scharging the coming genera-tions to carry-on the traditionsof our County and its communi-ties. There had been yearly (butinformal) reunions and picnics.Until the latter part of the1800's the children of the pio-neers had been steeped in thestories of "the" trips "acrossthe plains" and by sailing ship"around the Horn"; pioneer ad-ventures and hardships, steam-boating, the coming of the rail-road, gold mining, Indian upris-ings, camp meetings, etc.

Now the pioneers have pass-ed from the scene and theirsons have reached the four-score-years point in life. Thelate Cal Young, who was bornin 1871 of pioneer parents of1852, together with many oth-ers, did much to carry-on thelocal pioneer traditions in stag-ing of the OREGON TRAIL pa-geants from 1926 to 1950. Thosedays are also gone in the hustle

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t h r o u g h the settlement ofFranklin you should bare yourhead in the presence of the set-tlers there for many of them aredescendants of the men and wo-men who flew the only Flag ofthe Confederacy west of Mis-souri.

THE CHARGEOf Lane County Pioneers

by Merle S. Moore, President 1955 to 1960

and bustle of a growing com-munity.

The formal organization ofthe Lane County Pioneer Asso-ciation was made on June 4,1883. In 1954 the group decidedto join with other county organ-izations in becoming an affiliateof the Oregon Historical Soci-etythe official state historicalagency, recognized and partial-iy supported by the legislature.To broaden the scope the namewas changed to the "L a n eCounty Pioneer-Historical Soci-ety", adopted a constitution, in-corporated, as well as affiliat-ing with the state organization.Encouragement was given tothe collection of records, pic-tures and articles for the Mu-seum, monthly meetings areheld to interest the public inlocal history, an active board ofdirectors meets regularly, ju-nior historical groups are form-ed in the schools, a magazinehas been established and pio-neer diaries are collected and

during the past 6 or 7 years.Methods have been worked outand a fresh start has been madeby us of the "third generation."

Now a fine new set of officershas been elected for 1961. THE

LANE COUNTY PIONEER - HISTORICAL SOCIETY

1961 officers

Harold L. Edmunds - PresidentEthan L. Newman - V. PresidentLeah C. Menefee - Cor. Rec. Secy.Ruth E. Richardson - Membership Secy.Percy M. Morse - Treasurer

DIRECTORS

Term expires Dec. 1961Harold L. EdmundsAlfred L. LomaxPercy M. MorseEthan L. NewmanMrs. Ed Clark

OakridgeWalter E. Drury

Coburg

Term expires Dec. 1962Edward E. GrayFrank J HillsRuth E. RichardsonPauline WaltonMrs. Archie Knowles

MapletonMrs. Crystal B. Fogle

Springfield

CHARGE or torch of the LaneCounty Pioneers has been pass-ed to themto keep alive theheroic and interesting historyof our own "Empire Builders."Hold it high!!!

Originally organized, June 4, 1883

as LANE COUNTY PIONEER ASSOCIATION

Affiliated with OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1954

FIRST OFFICERS (1883)

Hon. John Whiteaker - President, (first governor State of Oregon)

A. S. Patterson - V. President, (Eugene Post Master & memberof State Assembly of 1858)

Hon. T. G. Hendricks - Recy, Secy, (Pres. & co-founder, FirstNational Bank)

Joshua J. Walton - Cor. Secy, (County Judge & member Board ofRegents, University of Oregon)

Robert B. Cochran - Treasurer, former member of the Territorial& State Legislatures for 28 yrs.)

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Term expires Dec. 1963Lester E. CalderMarche M. ChaseLeah C. MemfeeMerle S. MooreRay Nelson

Cottage GroveClarence A. Pitney

Junction City

NOTES

MINNESOTA HOTEL----Eugene---about 1898

Lane County PioneerHistorical Society2161 MadIson St. - Eugene. Oregon Non-Profit

Return Postage Gtd. OrganizationU. S. POSTAGE

PAIDPermit No. 28

Eugene. Oregon