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| First Citizens State Bank |
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History:
The roots of First Citizens State Bank go back to the start of The First National Bank of Whitewater in 1863.
The First National Bank of Whitewater, the forerunner of First Citizens State Bank, was the third national bank chartered in the State of Wisconsin and the one hundred and twenty-fourth in the United States. It was organized in response to a decided demand on the part of the community for adequate banking facilities. There had been banks here before that time, banks as adjuncts to private business and banks organized for the purpose of issuing the so-called "wildcat currency", but no bank then existed for the purpose of doing a general legitimate banking business. In the summer of 1863, Mr. Sanger Marsh and Mr. C.M. Blackman believed that the provisions of the new National Bank Act offered an opportunity not before existing, began to interest themselves in the formation of a new bank.
The bank opened for business on January 2, 1864 in downtown Whitewater.
During the twenty years from 1863 to 1883, the First National Bank had operated without competition in Whitewater. However, in the spring of 1883 the Citizens National Bank was organized, with E.M. Johnson as the moving spirit, associated with J.S. Partridge, Lawrence Graham, F.W. Tratt and others.
During the winter of 1893-1894 a change of great importance was made in the banking interests of the town. Mr. E.M. Johnson, who had succeeded to the Presidency of the Citizens National Bank upon the death of Mr. Partridge, wished to retire from active business, and as it was an unpropitious time to sell a bank, he proposed to Mr. Blackman that the interests of the two local concerns be consolidated. After considerable negotiation, this was accomplished; each shareholder in each bank becoming, by exchange, a proportionate shareholder in the other institution; this stock was in neither case trusted, but issued and held independently. As there was at that time a good deal of doubt as to the authority of a National Bank to accept savings deposits and as a National Bank was not allowed to accept real estate security for loans, the Citizens Bank surrendered its National Charter, reorganizing as a State Bank.
In 1931, the First National and the Citizens State Bank were merged into The First Citizens State Bank. National Bank regulations on loans secured by real estate mortgages were restrictive to the point that operation under a state charter appeared to offer opportunity of greater service to the community. Combining the assets of the two banks provided a broader base of usefulness to the community.
In the financial crisis of 1933, the newly merged bank was able to again "weather the storm", immediately reopening after the nation-wide bank moratorium. The confidence earned in the past resulted in a minimum shrinkage of assets and management's confidence in the bank's borrowers was substantiated as the "depression" slowly ebbed away.
At the completion of over one hundred and forty-five years of existence in Whitewater and with assets now exceeding $200 million, a view of the past gives a clue to the future. If management looks backward and "views with pride" it also looks forward to the opportunities that surely lie ahead. |
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Formerly known as:
The First Citizens State Bank Of Whitewater, Wisconsin |
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