In the United States, in the year 1929, the Great Depression
wrought severe financial crisis and hardship throughout the land.
Even those previously rich awakened to meet monetary repression
and ate from soup lines, while others, too proud in them to stand,
leapt from a skyscraper, their mind’s last decision and command.
In the state of Ohio, the then tiny farming town of Westerville
is today one of the largest suburbs of Columbus, Ohio’s capitol city.
Life there continued normally in 1929, escaping the Depression, until
in late November, 1931, it finally hit the town and it wasn’t pretty,
but Westerville’s town fathers in no way simply wallowed in pity.
Beset with a multitude of problems, their local bank topped the list,
as The Bank of Westerville had run drastically short of cash
and Ohio’s banking superintendent shut it down with an iron fist,
becoming one of 5,000 US banks failing from the Depression’s bash.
But the town of 2,900 needed a bank, if it was to survive the crash.
The reality of family savings lost, essentials as clothing and food
in short supply, and paralysis the general state of commerce,
all served as a catalyst to the town council’s determined mood.
“We must have a bank” they said, “If we’re to repel this curse”,
and issued an appeal, fearing the public couldn’t afford to immerse.
At $65 a share, they sought a total of $39,000 to start a new bank,
a paltry sum by any measure, for any bank, in today’s world.
But this was 1931, when for about $1.00 you could fill up the tank,
and take your brand new $475 Model A Ford for a nice long whirl. But seeking $39,000 was almost like having a mountain to hurl.
But the 2,900 citizens of Westerville dug in and dug deep,
and though the cost of a share was more than most could afford,
they somehow found a way, though the stock wasn’t cheap.
The day came the central Ohio town found banking restored,
and the sacrifices made for community should not be ignored.
The new bank was named “The Citizens’ Bank” quite fittingly,
and for 40 years the stock bought in 1931 steadily grew.
Many investors clung to it tightly, some bought more wittingly,
the response to a civic call aiding their wealth to accrue,
though, in 1931, buying even a single share was a risky view.
Today we find, through some 56 mergers and acquisitions,
The Citizens’ Bank has been absorbed into Bank One,
among America’s largest, exceeding Westerville’s loftiest ambitions.
And the once tiny town of Westerville, Ohio, not to be outdone,
has prospered, grown to a city of 36,000, and who says it’s done?
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