​Looking Back: Charter Number 1369, Issued in 1905

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society
 
Among the “treasurers” I found in the Oak Grove Banner, published on the 8th day of January 1926 was this “Official Statement of the Financial Condition of the Bank of Grain Valley, at Grain Valley, State of Missouri, at close of Business on the 31st day of December 1925”.

The Bank of Grain Valley was founded in 1905 with J.H. Webb as President and W.A. Cannon as Vice President. Prior to opening the Bank of Grain Valley, William A. Warren was in the hardware business with Tommy Webb. Mr. Cannon, the son of James H. Cannon, had multiple properties and business interests in Grain Valley. 

Because this statement is difficult to read, there are a few items I will highlight.

James H. Webb was the president of the bank and W. T. Webb and W. D. Warren were directors.  Larkin Webb and his seventeen children came to Jackson County in 1840 and Benjamin Warren came with his family in 1843. There were (and still are) so many Webb descendants in Eastern Jackson County I haven’t made the connection to Larkin,.

However, I can tell you W. D. Warren was the great grandson of Benjamin. William A Warren and Tommie Webb were partners in the hardware store, built in Grain Valley around the turn of the last century (1900). It makes sense that the Warrens and a member of the Webb family might have chosen a site directly across the street from the hardware to build Grain Valley’s first bank. I do not know who  H. A. Johnson was; perhaps a story for another time.

By the 1960s W. D. Warren was the owner and president of the bank and Grace Hoehn was still a cashier. And, by the way, her brother Walter Hoehn ran the hardware store!

In 1925, the total assets from loans, bonds, cash, and the bank building and furnishings equaled the total liabilities; $158,007.68. Just for fun, I looked at the inflation calculator. That money today, multiplied by the inflation rate of $18.37 would be $2,902,601.08, a ton of money in 1925!
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