George Washington Hughes (Starbuck, MN)
George Washington Hughes (September 21, 1860 – June 10, 1947)
Biography
Early life and family
George W. Hughes was born September 21, 1860 near Vinton, IA. Over the next few years, the family moved around Iowa, eventually settling in Shellsburg, IA when George was about 10 years old. There he got his education, which George described in his memoirs:
...I attended public school, which was not graded and from which there were no graduation exercises and no diplomas. But each went as long as he thought necessary, took what subjects appeared useful and let it go at that. This was my schooling.
When George was 19, he set off on his own, and worked in a printing office for a year, then spent another year learning telegraphy in the Garrison, IA railroad depot. He then took off for Dakota Territory, and filed a land claim on a quarter section near Huron, which he 'proved up' in 6 months to gain a clear title. While there, he worked in a Huron printing office, and then got into the newspaper business with a couple of small newspapers in the area for a couple of years. After selling his newspaper business, George got back into railroads, working his way up to become station agent at various depots in the area over the next 10 years, eventually ending up in Lake Preston, SD. It was there that he met his wife Daisy Ellen Perry (1880-1985), who had been teaching school there, and they were married on June 10, 1902. They had 2 children: Francis F. Hughes (1903-1996) and Gordon W. Hughes (1910-1994).
Banking career
Wanting to get into a more stable career, George decided on banking, and partnered with a friend to open up a small bank in Garden City, SD. Here is how George described his start in the banking business:
...My friend knew nothing about banking...and I had never been back of a bank counter. But I had boarded 4 years with one of the bankers in Lake Preston, and he said to me, 'You had better come into the bank and get some pointers on running a bank'. I agreed and put in eleven days at keeping the books and getting tips on various things necessary to know, and then went up to Garden City and opened the bank...I have often wondered if it was good nerve or foolhardiness that got me across. Maybe a combination of both. But I made the grade, no trouble developing of any consequence...the deposits began to come in, and we prospered.
After a couple of years, George sold his interest in the Garden City State Bank, and moved to Starbuck, MN. In partnership with banker Andrew Kopperud of Lake Preston, they organized the Farmers State Bank on June 1, 1904, with Hughes as President and Kopperud as Cashier. After a year and a half, Kopperud had a very good offer to become cashier at his old bank back in Lake Preston. So he sold his interest in the Starbuck bank to Harold Thorson, who also bought up enough other stock to become the majority owner of the bank. Thorson became President, and George Hughes stayed on as Cashier.
In 1909 Thorson and Hughes converted the Farmers State Bank to the First National Bank of Starbuck, and received Charter 9596 on December 1, 1909. On May 17, 1915, Harold Thorson sold his interest in the bank to George Hughes, G.I. Engebretson and B.C. Bergerson. Hughes became President, Engebretson VP, and Bergerson Cashier.
Hughes sold his interest in the Starbuck bank to Engebretson, Bergerson and others in January 1918, and bought majority stock in the First National Bank of Glenwood, MN, and became President of that institution. In mid 1924, the bank ran into severe financial difficulties. Here is how George described the situation in his memoirs:
...Up to this time I had never entered into any business proposition of any consequence but I had succeeded. But here came a combination of adverse circumstances all together. I could have stood up under part of them, but taking them all at once was a heavier load than I could stand. If I had been a small shareholder I could have weathered it through. But with owning over half of it, I had to put up for over half of the bank's losses. This broke me, but the bank was left in good shape so that not a depositor lost a dollar. While it was hard to lose all my life's accumulations, there was an element of satisfaction that those who had faith in me were not called on to stand a shrink in their deposits.
Later life and death
After his banking career ended, George Hughes got into the farm produce business, eventually buying a feed mill, which he built up over the next 13 years before selling the business and retiring.
George W. Hughes passed away at the age of 86 on June 10, 1947 in Minneapolis, MN.
Bank Officer Summary
During his banking career, George W. Hughes was involved with the following bank(s):
- Garden City State Bank, Garden City, SD: Cashier 1902 - 1903
- Farmers State Bank, Starbuck, MN: President 1904 - 1906; Cashier 1906 - 1909
- First National Bank of Starbuck, MN (Charter 9596): Cashier 1909 - 1915; President 1915 - 1918
- First National Bank of Glenwood, MN (Charter 7742): President 1918 - 1924
George Hughes mentions this bank note in his memoirs:
I was very much elated at the thought of signing my name on money that would go all over the U.S. The $5 bill, Serial No. 1, I put in my safety box and have never taken it out except to look at it.
References
- James E. Lund, Two National Banks and a Banker's Memoirs (Booklet issued by Pope County Historical Society, Glenwood, MN, 1987)
- George W. Hughes, Memoirs of George Washington Hughes (Family document, 1941)
- Ancestry.com and FindAGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/101703815/george-washington-hughes
- Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project