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Ottawa County |
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The Ottawa County Bank building was constructed in 1887. It is located on the northeast corner of the Second and Concord intersection in Minneapolis, KS. In June 1991, the State Bank of Delphos purchased the Ottawa County Bank building and reopened the Ottawa County Bank as a branch of the State Bank of Delphos. The Ottawa County Bank is a full service branch offering loans and deposits of all types, safe deposit boxes, drive up window and night depository.
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George N. Billings |
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One of the cofounders of the bank, George N. Billings guided the bank's destiny for 50 years. Born near Albion, N.Y. he served in the Civil War, then studied banking and accountancy, taught business courses, and in 1867 married Grace Bedell (whose earlier letter persuaded candidate Abraham Lincoln to grow a beard). Lured by the West, he built a dugout sod house 3 1/2 miles north of Delphos in 1870. A Boston fern presented as a gift to George Billings in 1913 still flourishes in the lobby of the State Bank of Delphos and the Ottawa County Bank.
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| Grace Bedell Billings |
| When 11-year old
Grace Bedell of Westfield, N.Y. wrote Abraham Lincoln in 1860, urging
him to grow a beard, she didn't know she was making history. Lincoln
replied at once, started growing a beard, and met his "little
correspondent" four months later when his inaugural train stopped
in Westfield. Eight years later Grace married Civil War veteran George
N. Billings. They moved to Kansas (1870), ten years before the founding
of the State Bank of Delphos. Grace Bedell Billings kept Lincoln's
letter in the bank, where she often did bookkeeping for her husband and
later served as a director. She found it hard to believe that her letter
would be part of one of the more fascinating human-interest stories in
U.S. history.
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| The Boston Fern |
| John Correl was a
man of many talents, one of which was to be in the right place at the
right time. John arrived in Alaska with money to buy claims in the big
gold rush. He prospered. John settled in Delphos and hired the best
architect in Salina to build a stately 3-story house on the corner of
Custer and 6th street. In addition to the house, he bought a number of
farms and became a stockholder in the State Bank of Delphos. John did
not live to see the house completed so this task was to fall on the
shoulders of his friend and neighbor, George Billings. George persuaded
the late Mabel Ablard Childs to live in as a companion to Mrs. Correl.
For his efforts, Mrs. Correl gave Mr. Billings several items in 1913.
One of the items was a Boston fern. Offshoots of which adorn the State
Bank of Delphos and the Ottawa County Bank.
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2000-2008. State Bank of Delphos. Portions © 1995-2000. FundsXpress, Inc. All Rights Reserved. For more information, e-mail: mail@statebankofdelphos.com |
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