ILoff
Beekman Bank's
Balance Sheet
Had No loans'
Much has been related re
cently about historical Jack
sonville, particularly concern
ing efforts to restore some of
the buildings.
The Siskiyou Pioneer Sites
Foundation has a fund estab
lished to help finance restora
tion of the U.S. Hotel, and the
Southern Oregon Historical
Society now owns the C. C.
Beekman Bank of Jackson
ville. But no matter how much
restoration is made, little of
the actual life itself-the way
business was conducted, how
the people actually lived-can
be restored. That remains in
te personal touch of the past,
scattered through histories of
the town and state.
;Sora of that personal
touch, as O. K. Burrel, pro
fessor of finance, University
of Oregon, has noted, is in the
footnotes found at the bottom
of the page in a history text.
Color In History
They are the color in his
tory, the facts and stories
which make history more per
sonal, and it is some of these
facts which Professor Bur
rell has brought together as
a "footnote" to Oregon bank
ing, which has yet to be writ
ten. In the January issue of Ore-;
gon Business Review, Profes
sor Burrell writes:
."The 'footnote illustrative
epidsoes . . . contribute little
or nothing to the orderly de1
velopment of banking history.
It is hoped, however, that
they may yield something of
the savor, something of the
feel of the years when bank
ing in Oregon, at least outside
the larger cities, was small
scale local enterprise."
Such an enterprise was the
Beekman Bank of Jackson
ville. Professor Burrell
writes:
Unique In Ways
' "The C. C. Beekman Bank
of Jacksonville was unique in
many ways; the most as
tounding thing about it was
that, so far as the reports of
the State Banking department
show, it never made any
loans.
; "Beginning In 1908, the an
nual reports of this agency
show the balance sheets of
all state banks. The C. C.
Beekman Bank, from the first
balance sheet in 1908 to the
last In 1914, showed 'Loans
and discounts-none.' The as
sets side of the statement in
cluded cash items and bonds
fold
CHAIRS
- s
mom
tfUDSON'S..PHARMACY
4J 3 E. MAIN PH. SP 3-5345
Z Opwt Sundays & Holidays '
: 10 A.M. to 9 P.M.
Weekdays 8:30 A.M. to 10 P.M.
BANK INTERIOR Signs of another day
adorn the walls of the pioneer Beekman
Bank in downtown Jacksonville where it
served the financial needs of miners and
early settlers about a century ago. The bank
and warrants' only. The lia
bility side of the statement
showed the usual items of
capital and deposits. But
there was ' never any 'loans
and discounts.'
"Jacksonville, a pioneer
settlement in Oregon, was a
center . of gold mining. In
1853, as a very young man,
Mr. C. C. Beekman entered
the employ of Cram, Rogers
and Company of Yreka, Cali
fornia, as an express messen
ger. Fargo Competitor
"This company was affili
ated with Adams and Com
pany, an early competitor of
Wells Fargo. Mr. Beekman
continued in the employ of
Cram Rogers and Company
until that firm went out of
business.
"He then took the line on
his own and carried many mil
lions in gold dust and nuggets
from Jacksonville to Yreka
and Crescent City. Despite In
dian wars, bandits, and the
natural hazards of traveling
over the Siskiyou mountains
in all seasons, there is no rec
ord of any loss. Perhaps this
is because he traveled only at
night.
"In 1863 when Wells Fargo
extended their service to
Portland he was offered and
accepted the Jacksonville
agency.: He operated this
agency in connection with his
bank until his death in 1915.
"Just when he began a bank
ing business is unknown. Be
fore 1907 entry into the
banking business could be
quite casual and free of red
tape. It was not necessary to
incorporate. It was necessary
only to hang up a sign Bank
and begin operations, and it
might not be absolutely es
sential even to have a sign.
Private Banker
"A man could become a pri
vate banker gradually and
without deliberate plan. It is
quite possible that Mr. Beek
man did .not know exactly
when banking operations be
gan. "From some time in the
1880's until 1907, Mr. Beek
man was associated with
Thomas G. Reames in the
Beekman and Reames Bank,
successor to the original
Beekman Bank. No financial
was closed in 1915 when Beekman died.
The bank is furnished much as it was in
the 1850 s and 1860's, with the exception
of the electric cord. The picture was taken
by the Oregon State Highway commission.
HEAR in CROWDS
: New, hear twice
; as well WITH
: BOTH EARS!
T0WSSS
I Enjoy
: 9Enr Uanrinn
: with New
iHe(o Glasses
; HEARING AIDS BY MAICO!
820 E. Main
Henry Myhre (owner)
. Medford Phone SP 2-7418
; Conventional Hearing Aid $100 and us.
; 4 Transistor A f Hearing Glasses, for Both Ears $372.30;
; Single $205.00.
6 Transistor Hearing Glasses, for severe loss.
'. m 7 Transistor midget barrett snodel to wear in the hair,
very strong.
Behind the Ear Model. '
You are invited to come in and discuss your hearing problem.
- Mr. Henry Myhre hold a certificate of registration to practice
.' fitting and dealing in hearing aids in the state of Oregon.
Also member Hearing Aid Dealers and Consultants Assn. of Ore.
14
MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Or.
A Sunday, Feb. 28, 1960
he never turned me down
yet.'
Low Point Noted
"But the low point in the
affairs of the bank was ap
parently passed in 1893. In
the following year Reames'
letters were more cheerful.
The turn in fortune was not
so much concerned with an
improvement in the banking
situation as it was with a
betterment in their business
of buying gold dust.
"He continued to report
difficulties in collections on
certain mortgages held by the
firm; but on several occasions
he reported that the dust busi
ness was good. On May 7,
189,4, he wrote that he had
purchased $1,600 in dust in a
single day. This was evident
ly much in excess of normal.
"In 1907 Mr. Beekman be
came the sole owner of the
business and the name was
changed to Beekman's Bank
ing House. In this same year
a banking statute was enact
ed and Mr. Beekman was
compelled either to cease
banking operations or to com
ply with the new statute.
Balance Sheets
"He elected to do the latter,
and consequently annual bal
ance sheets of the bank are
available from 1908 until
shortly before the final liqui
dation in 1915.
"Just why did this bank
never make a loan? The avail
able evidence suggests that
while the bank made no loans
from 1907 until liquidation in
1915, Mr. Beekman made
many loans. Mr. Beekman
was not just a small town
banker with all of his re
sources tied up in the bank.
"He was a man of substan
tial property and affairs. He
had been defeated for the
governorship in 1878 by only
49 votes; he was a long time
regent of the University of
Oregon; he was an active par
ticipant in statewide affairs.
Interest in Bank
"He had an interest in the
Commercial National Bank of
Portland which was con
trolled by the Wells Fargo
C. C. BEEKMAN The above picture of the owner of the C.
C. Beekman Bank of Jacksonville was taken by well-known
Jacksonville photographer Emil Britt. Date of the picture is
not known.
statements of Beekman and
Reames are available since it
ceased operations before bank
regulations and examinations
began in 1907.
"But information concern
ing its affairs is included in
the Beekman Papers recently
acquired by the University of
Oregon library. Mr. Beekman
traveled extensively; he made
at least one tour of Europe
and frequently visited Cali
fornia, and his former home
in Dundee, New York.
Report on Business
"Mr. Reames wrote to Mr.
Beekman while he was away,
reporting in detail concern
ing business affairs, personal
matters and politics in Jack
son county.
"Political developments in
Jackson county interested the
firm of Beekman and Reames
because of its extensive hold
ings of 'county script,' which
in later years became known
as county warrants. More
over, the firm had land hold
ings and was concerned with
the problem of taxation.
"Mr. Reames evidently
took a dim view of politicians
and taxation, especially dur
ing the period of populist
control of Jackson county in
the 1890s. On one occasion,
after reporting failure to get
assessments reduced he wrote,
'Damn the taxes. XXX.' On
another occasion he reported,
'the equalization board re
fused to reduce the assess
ments on the Bybee land,
hence we will have to grin
and pay it.'
Felt Depression
"The firm felt the effects
of the depression of the 1890s
although it was apparently
never in real danger. On Oc
tober 22, 1893, Mr. Reames
wrote, 'Our business contin
ues about the' same as when
you left. Collect very little;
think about as fast as we are
losing deposits. Making no
loans. Have not sued the My
ers family yet, but will soon
if they do not walk up and
pay-'
"On November 29, 1893, he
again . reported a decline in
deposits, 'Our deposits are
growing less day by day-yet
I am meeting the decrease as
fast as it comes . . . When tax
paying time comes perhaps
we can sell our county script
. . . have no fears of us get
ting cramped.
"Borrowers and prospective
borrowers may have regard
ed Mr. Beekman as a more
generous lender than Mr.
Reames. The latter wrote on
November 28, 1893, that a
would - be borrower whose
loan application was denied
was more than a little indig
nant and said, 'Where is Old
Beek? I know if he was here
I could get it from him . .
Pickin' Pears
News and Notes
From Camp White
By WALTER TOWNSEND
Daryl s School of Dancing
recently presented a variety
show in the station theater.
Some 20 performers of the
junior department of the
dancing school werw brought
from Grants Pass under the
sponsorship of VFW post at
Camp White.
The children were - young,
and serious actresses. Each'
; was well trained for her danc
j ing part, but a few of them
! made mistakes.
Another group of DarvTs
Dancers will come from
northern California March 18
and entertain at the station
theater at 8 p.m.
The show will be sponsored
by the Veterans of Foreign
Wars, Camp White.
There will be an election
of officers in VFW Post, it
Camp White, Tuesday, March
1, at 7 p.m.
For all members there is
bowling at 1:30 and 4:30 pjn.
Sundays, Frank J. Glonning
chief of special services has
announced.
Former Professor
Likes Janitor Role
Westerville, O h i o (UPD
Former Professor John
Franklin Smith is now a jani
tor at Otterbein College here
and enjoying it.
Smith, 79, once an instruc
tor in speech and drama, re
tired m 1950 after a 33-year
academic career. But he did
not want to leave the school.
Tm busy earning the de
gree of master of mainten
ance," he explained. "I think
a man can dignify any job."
Agile, alert, cheerful and
friendly, Smith takes care of
the college gym. Students pre
sented him with a red sweater
carrying a big white Otter
bein "O" on it and he wears
it while he shines the floor
with a big mop.
though unfortunately not as
well protected as it would be
in a museum. There is a vault
and long counter more remi
niscent of a gold rush express
office than a bank; on the
walls are such signs as 'Gold
Dust Shipped to the Atlantic
States:' 'Gold Exchanged
Here for Coinage,' and 'Wells
Fargo Drafts on Paris'; on the
counter are the large gold
scales that have weighed out
many millions in gold dust
and nuggets."
Professor Burrell noted
that general background in
his "footnote" is from stand
ard sources of Oregon history,
especialy A. G. Walling'
History of Jackson, Joseph
ine, Douglas and Coos coun
ties, 1884. Other sources were
a brochure published for tho
Jacksonville Gold Rush Jubl
le, 1953; the Beekman Papers
at the University of Oregon,
and reports of the Oregon
State Banking department,
.1908-1915.
BANK TODAY Standing much the same
as it did. about 100 years ago when it served
southern Oregon as the area's leading finan
cial institution is the Beekman Bank of
Jacksonville. The bank building is now own
ed by the Southern Oregon Historical So
ciety. The picture was taken by the Oregon
State Highway commission.
company. When this bank
was reorganized in.the 1890s
he was one of those consid
ered for the presidency of the
institution. The Commercial
National bank later became
part of the United States Na
tional Bank of Portland.
"It seems probable that
Mr. Beekman simply elected
to make loans from his per
sonal resources rather than
from bank funds. After 1907
banking operations were sub
ject to regulation and exami
nation and it is entirely pos
sible that Mr. Beekman want
ed to avoid more than mini
mum scrutiny by bank exam
iners. .
"Only an individual with
ample personal resources
could operate in this fashion.
Moreover, it is possible that
he regarded the banking busi
ness as only an adjunct to his
gold buying and express
business. He was willing to
accept deposits as a conveni
ence to customers but they
were not essential to his oper
ations. "Deposits declined rapidly
after 1912 but this in no way
reflected a loss of confidence
in Mr. Beekman or his bank.
On this year he issued a public
statement of his intention to
retire from the banking busi
ness and asked customers to
withdraw their deposits. But
apparently he did not insist
upon withdrawal of deposits
by old and valued customers
and the bank was not formal
ly liquidated.
"When Mr. Beekman died
on February 22, 1915, the
bank doors were closed and
locked, and to this day the
building and fixtures remain
as they were on the day of
his death.
"Since there were no loans
36 Democratic Party
Representatives File
For Precinct Posts
to collect, liquidation was
simple, and those in charge
of the estate quickly sold the
assets, chiefly 'bonds and
warrants,' and paid off the
depositors. As a matter of
fact, payment to depositors,
which was completed on May
1, 1915, probably did not ne
cessitate liquidation of 'bonds
and warrants.' The final bal
ance sheet for 1914 showed
cash items in excess of de
posits.
"The "banking office' re
mains a museum piece al-
I1J.B. COFFEE
Instant
6-or. i m
hUl
I ttifft I Jar
S Vacuum Pack
2-lbs. 35
l ib. 68c
Christian's Market
Corner Stewart & Lozier Lane
Thirty-six Democratic party
precinct representatives have
filed for precinct committee
man or committeewoman to
have their names appear on
the primary ballot.
The closing date for filing
for the post is March 11, K.
C. (Swede) Wernmark, organ
izing chairman, said.
Jackson county has 1 13 pre
cincts which will require 226
men and women to fill the
offices.
Precinct committeemen are
the official party representa
tives and spokesmen for their
districts and are voting mem
bers of the Jackson County
Central committee, which for
mulates policies of the party.
The precinct committeemen
and committeewomen organ-
Vets Have Options for
Dividends on Policies
More than a million veter
ans who have GI life insur
ance policies are using their
regular annual dividends to
guard against the loss of their
insurance, S. T. Brannock,
contact representative, VA
Domiciliary, Camp White,
said Friday.
The VA insurance center
recently announced that
$253,500,000 i n dividends
would be paid during 1960 to
more than 5 million veterans
and servicemen who hold par
ticipating GI insurance.
The proportionate share of
the national 1960 dividend
total to be paid to Pacific
Northwest veterans is $4,011,
150 to an estimated 79,626 in
Washington; $2,893,800 t o
57,582 in Oregon; $936,000 to
18,743 in Montana; $834,600
to 16,714 in Idaho; and $148,
200 to 2,989 in Alaska.
Dividends Held
GI policyholders may have
the annual dividends held
with interest-by the VA as a
credit to pay premiums
monthly if the policyholders
fail to pay them before the
end of the 31-day grace per
iod, Brannock stated.
This procedure is followed
automatically if the policy
holder does not request other
disposition of his annual divi
dends, Brannock explained,
but the policyholder has two
other options.
He may use his annual div
idends to pay policy premiums
in advance, or he may request
the VA to pay his dividends
in cash.
Holders of permanent plan
policies have a third option.
They may authorize the VA
to hold annual dividends on
deposit with interest and sub
ject to withdrawal on request.
If not withdrawn, the money
and accrued interest will in
crease the value of the policy,
Brannock added.
A policyholder who wishes
to change his dividend option
should write to the VA dis
trict office which services his
policy, Brannock said, mak
ing sure to include his insur
ance number and to state his
new option.
ize committees In their dis
tricts to get all eligible per
sons registered and to get out
the vote on election days.
Urges Filing
The Democratic Central
committee has urged all can
didates for precinct posts to
file before the March 1 1 dead
line. Filing forms and infor
mation may be obtained by
calling Democratic Headquar
ters, SPring 3-4777 or by
stopping at 232 West Fifth
st., Medford.
Filings to date include:
Precinct 22, W. E. Davies,
SE Eagle Point; 25, Arthur
Lewis, Shady Cove; 28A,
Victor J. David, North Med
ford; 29, Hazel W. McMahan,
North Medford; 29A, James T.
Pool, West Medford; 31, Harp
er F. Edwards, West Medford;
32, Irene O. Ostrander, West
Medford; 34, Norma L. Pur-
cell, Northwest Medford; 35,
E. C. Tex Phillips, Southwest
Medford; 37, Charles A. Lang
ston and Inez M. Holcomb,
Northwest Medford; 41, Mar
garet McGinty and Clarence
J. Woodard, West Medford;
43, Glyndon O. Loomer, East
Medford; 46, William V.
Deatherage, East Medford;
47B, Evalyn L. Johnston and
Roy M. Johnston, Southwest
Medford; 49, Mary Greiner
Kelly, West Medford; 56,
James C. Collins, East Med
ford; 57A, Cecil M. Norris,
Southeast Medford; 58, George
H. Watson, West Medford; 59,
Zelma Heeter, South Pacific
Highway; 61, Henry A. Wil
son, Southeast Phoenix; 62,
Carl W. Timmons and Pearl
B. Timmons, Tolman Creek
rd., Talent; 64, Clarence H.
Redmond and Edith Pace
Rode, Griffin Creek; 67A, Ray
R. Picard, West Medford; 70,
K, C. (Swede) Wernmark, Cen
tral Point; 73, Walter L.
Townsend. Camp White; 74,
Norman R. Matteson, Table
Rock; 77, Henry G. Corbin,
Rogue River; 82, Boyd D.
Hamilton, Applegate; 85, Wan
da Louise Kane, Talent; 86,
E. M. Madden and Marjorie
E. Madden, Phoenix.
Last Sunday night the Cen
tral Point Community Baptist
church held religious services
in the station theater at the
request of Chaplain Roger A.
Pryor.
The American Legion aux
iliary, department of Oregon,
presents a contest called Halt
the Music every Tuesday at
1:55 p.m. on the stage in the
theater.
Polly Offut, VAVS repre
sentative; and Lela Lamb
VAVS alternate, conduct the
program.
Open For Business
We are nozv ready to serve you
with complete FUNERAL SERVICES
in our new and Modern Mortuary
MEMORY GARDENS MORTUARY
SP 3-7338
Mortuary , Cemetery Mausoleum Cremation
Phoenix Students
Compete in Tourney
Phoenix - Rod Fowler,
Phoenix High school, placed
third in the junior men's ex
temperaneous. speaking con
test during the annual invita
tional speech tournament at
Linf ield college, McMinn
ville, last week end.
Jack Hoffbuhr, also of Phoe
nix, tied for fourth place in
the senior men's impromptu
class. Students Joyce Stock
still and Kay DeMers placed
in the preliminary rounds of
humorous and serious inter
pretations. All the Phoenix
students took part in the de
bate. Phoenix speakers are now
preparing for the district
tournament held in March,
according to Bob Myrick,
Phoenix High school speech
coach. The students will enter
debate, extemperaneous, im
promptu, after-dinner speak- j
IRRIGATION
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to 60 H.P.
From
29
50
up
H.P. Shallow
Well $ggoo
12 H.P. DEEP WELL
With 42 Gallon Tank
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Ph. SP 2-2939 22S W. Main
MEDFORD, OREGON
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Trowbridge & Flynn
159
214 West Main
Ph. SP 3-6241
Big Y Appliance Center
Ph. SP 3-3052