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Scarcely any form of industrial enterprise is more
generally or more unostentatiously useful in a community than a bank or banking
institution. It is at once a conservator and a promoter-a storage battery and a
motive power-the depository and safe-guard of the bread-winner, the homemaker,
the business man and the manufacturer-the vital breath of trade, the inspiration
of commerce, the strong sinew of productive enterprise.
The history of the
strong and conservative banking institution whose title appears at the head of
these paragraphs dates from the 1st day of December, 1883, on which date D. A.
Blodgett, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and D. F. Diggins, of Cadillac, formed a
private banking house under the name of D. A. Blodgett & Company, Mr. Diggins
assuming the active management of the concern. Both partners were men of wide
influence and unquestioned financial standing and the banking house of D. A.
Blodgett & Company soon commanded a large and profitable business. The business
was conducted under the control of the gentlemen named until in June, 1892, when
Mr. Diggins withdrew from the active management of the business to enter the
lumber firm of Blodgett, Cummer & Diggins, and upon his retirement Henry
Knowlton was selected for the position of cashier.
On the 1st day of
November, 1895, the private organization was succeeded by the Cadillac State
Bank, which was organized under the laws of the state of Michigan, with a
paid-in capital of fifty thousand dollars. Upon organization the following
officers were chosen and have continued since to serve in their respective
capacities: President, F. J. Cobbs; vice-president, S. W. Kramer; cashier, Henry
Knowlton. The bank has conducted a regular banking and savings business, having
by their efforts to accommodate their patrons in the several commercial
departments acquired a splendid reputation as a reliable and trustworthy
financial agent. The following comparative statement of the condition of the
bank shows a very satisfactory and substantial growth, the figures given being
from the regular statements issued by the bank and taken at about equidistant
periods since the bank's organization: Surplus, December 13, 1895, none;
September 20, 1898, $12,500.00; September 30, 1901, $25,000.00; September 15,
1902, $25,000.00. Undivided profits, December 13, 1895, $1,026.47; September 20,
1898, $2,252.03; September 30, 19O1, $16,283.36; September 15, 1902, $24,371.I6.
Deposits, December 13, 1895, $228,842.05; September 20, 1898, $4.03,347.32;
September 30, 1901, $4398,858.85, September 15, 1902, $658,4.40.89. The
personnel of the present board of directors is as follows F. J. Cobbs, S. W.
Kramer, W. W. Mitchell, D. F. Diggins, Fred L. Reed and Joseph Murphy. It would
be difficult to pick out in the city of Cadillac another body of men equal in
number better qualified to direct the affairs of a financial institution than
the gentlemen just mentioned. All are successful and prominent business men,
careful and conservative in their methods and their names would add strength to
any commercial institution with which they might become connected. The banking,
company owns the building in which the bank is situated, it having been erected
in 1901. It is a handsome and commodious structure, complete in all of its
appointments and reflects credit upon the bank itself. The interior is finished
with mosaic floors and mahogany woodwork throughout, the office fixtures also
being of selected mahogany. The bank is equipped with a heavy steel
burglar-proof vault and two well-arranged fire-proof vaults, in which to store
the securities, money, books and supplies and such papers as may be confided to
their trust.
The unqualified success of the
Cadillac State Bank has been in the main largely due to the careful and
judicious management of its officers. Each of them is thoroughly versed in his
business and each of their financial careers has been such as to gain the
confidence of business men throughout the community.
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