One of the leading banks in northern California is the Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank of Oakland which since its organization in 1893 has had a steady growth coincident with the growth and development of the city. The bank transacts a strictly savings business in all respects in accordance with the laws governing savings banks in the state of California. Its deposits are invested in interest-bearing securities of the first class and its loans are made only after careful investigation of the security offered. The greater part of these loans are made upon first mortgages in Oakland and the surrounding country and usually do not exceed fifty per cent of the appraised value of the real estate and improvements. The Farmers and Merchants Bank has four classes of savings accounts: term, ordinary, special ordinary and certificates of deposit. It also has checking accounts for the convenience of its customers. From the time of its organization in 1893 until June 29, 1910, the bank occupied rooms on Broadway, just north of Twelfth street, and in the latter year it removed to the new bank building at the southeast corner of Thirteenth and Franklin streets. This is one of the handsomest buildings of its kind on the coast and is used only for banking purposes. The construction is steel frame and absolutely fireproof, the first building of its type ever erected in Greater Oakland. Of modified Grecian architecture, the building lifts from a base of highly polished granite to the height of an ordinary three-story building. The superstructure was built of white menti stone from Utah and the facade is supported by Ionic columns having beautifully carved architraves, between which appear the name of the bank in letters of stone. The building occupies a lot fronting fifty feet on Franklin street and one hundred feet on Thirteenth street, and the interior was arranged with infinite pains to secure the best working conditions, being roomy, well ventilated and beautiful to look upon. The vaults are protected by the American District Telegraph Company's electrical devices and the safe deposit department is adequately equipped with safe deposit boxes with the new Yale changeable key locks. One of the features of the bank is its ladies' parlor, which is the finest of its kind on the coast and greatly appreciated by all the women customers of the bank.
The officers of the Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank are as follows: Edson F. Adams president; S. B. McKee, vice president; George S. Meredith, cashier; and F. C. Martens, assistant cashier. The directors are Edson F. Adams, S. B. McKee, A. W. Schafer, C. D. Bates, A. L. Stone, George S. Meredith and F. C. Martens. These are all men of insight, capacity and ability, many of whom have proven their capability in various other fields of endeavor and all of whom have by their intelligence and progressive management made the Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank of Oakland one of the leading financial institutions in Alameda county.
Past and Present of Alameda County California, Vol. II
Published in Chicago by The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1914
Pages 584-585
Transcribed by Linda Jackson 8/15/2008,
Alameda County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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