Letter: Bank history clarified
To the Editor:
The employees and directors of Peabody State Bank certainly appreciate having the bank selected as the Business of the Year by Marion County 4-H. The picture on the front page of Chuck and Susan Good is great but the information about the history of the bank included under the picture contains a few inaccuracies that need correction.
The Peabody State Bank was established in 1899 by a group of investors that have names that are still familiar in Peabody today, such as Gray, Heath, Brooks, Lathrop, and Janzen.
Orlando Jolliffe also was one of the original investors and became president of the bank in 1918 and held that office until his death in 1946. At the time of his death, Jolliffe was the principal stockholder of the bank and since he had no children his stock was distributed widely among nieces, nephews, and cousins, whose offspring still hold stock in the bank.
The Westbrook family was involved in the First National Bank but never held controlling interest. The First National Bank was established in 1874 by Frank Kollock, an attorney from Minnesota, as the Kollock and Chenault Bank. Willis Westbrook joined the bank in 1879 and became the cashier a short time later. In 1884 the bank was rechartered as the First National Bank.
After the death of Frank Kollock in 1895 the Davison family, who also owned one of the lumberyards in Peabody, became the largest shareholder group. In 1912 Willis Westbrook became president of the bank and in 1919 hired his son-in-law Robert Kurtze. By 1931 the Davison family had moved to California, the stock market had crashed and 71-year-old Willis Westbrook decided it was time to retire. The assets and liabilities of the First National Bank were assumed by Peabody State Bank at that time.
In 1931, Robert Kurtze was hired by Peabody State Bank as a teller. In 1946, Bill Avery, Robert Kurtze's son-in-law, went to work for Peabody State Bank under the GI Bill On the Job Training Program.
In 1976, Shreves Avery, Bill's son, was hired by Peabody State Bank after the retirement of Robert Kurtze. Between 1931 and 2007 each of these individuals would become president of Peabody State Bank.
So, a member of the Westbrook family has been involved in banking in Peabody for 128 years, but not in the same bank and not as principal owners.
Shreves Avery
