Thrifty Thursday: Frederick Asbury McMurray- Bank Director
McMurray Family (Click for Family Tree)
Previous posts have discussed that Frederick Asbury “F.A.” McMurray was a farmer and auctioneer, and at one point also owned a second-hand store. (Convenient for leftover auction items!) Recently finding that he was also involved in the banking business in Newton, Iowa, however, was quite a surprise!
F. A. may have wanted to use the bank as a good investment and thus income during retirement, as he was about 62 when this book was published in 1912. In the census just two years earlier, he listed his occupation as “Auctioneer” and under the next column for “Industry” it stated, “country & city”- no mention of his interest in the bank.
Back in those days, farmers or skilled workers or immigrants, etc. often banded together to provide a bank friendly to their own group, or sometimes they would form an insurance company. Since this bank was initially called “Farmers and Merchants State Bank,” catering to those groups may have been the impetus to form the new institution. Farmers and merchants have unique needs for capital up front to purchase seed and fertilizer, or a shipment of goods, respectively, however they do not realize income until harvest or the goods are sold. Their income is cyclical, unlike others who get paid weekly for their labors. So a bank that was formed by farmers and merchants may have given a bit more leeway on a loan to either of these groups.
Those who follow this blog may also have noticed the Horn name in this section of the book about Jasper County. Joe Horn was a descendant of our own Henry Horn, the Hessian soldier captured at Trenton and who then enlisted in the Patriot forces and fought for our freedom from Great Britain. Joe was a real estate agent in Newton, and his father, Frederick Monroe Horn, was the brother of our own Mary Ann Horn, who married Henderson McMurray. So actually Joe Horn and F. A. McMurray were cousins!
Definitely need a scorecard for all these folks! But always good to see if there is a familial relationship, as is often the case with business associates back in the day.
Notes, Sources, and References:
- “Past and Present of Jasper County, Iowa,” 1912, page 260-1, via archive.org
- Previous posts on Frederick A. McMurray include– “
Friday’s Faces from the Past: The McMurray-Benjamin Family
Sunday’s Obituary: Frederick Asbury McMurray
Click to enlarge any image. Please contact us if you would like an image in higher resolution.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.Original content copyright 2013-2018 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly. Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave