Country Facts and Folklore
By Andy Reddick

CANTRIL BANKERS

Ben Casady graduated from Cantril High School in the Class of 1901 and became one of Van Buren County’s leading bankers. He was born in Cantril on September 13, 1883 to John H. And Emma Powell Casady.

Ben started out as a clerk in Manning’s General Store in Cantril from 1901 to 1904. During this time, he married Stella E. Wilson on September 16, 1903. Stella was from Red Oak. From 1904 to 1906, Ben was a clerk in Gibson’s Grocery Store in Red Oak.

Ben’s father offered him a partnership, so Ben brought his new wife to Cantril. He and his father operated J H Casady & Son Produce from 1906-1914.

Ben and Stella had five children: sons Clyde S. And Carl B., and daughters Helen D. (Mrs. Lloyd Jemison), Blanche R. (Mrs. Charles Martin, and Pauline A. (Mrs. Marion F. Parker.)

A very fortunate opportunity developed for Ben when he started working as a cashier at the State Bank of Cantril in 1914. In 1930 The State Bank of Cantril merged with the Cantril Savings Bank and became the State Savings Bank. After 16 years as cashier, he became one of the bank’s leading executives.

Ben was on the Cantril town council, was town treasurer, and belonged to the Board of Education. A Democrat, he was a member of the Cantril Methodist Church, and belonged to the Iowa and American Bankers Associations, MWA, and AF&AM.

Carl B. Casady worked for the Whitney Paper Co. Of Chicago, became Assistant Manager of Piggly Wiggly Store in Cedar Rapids, and then was an employee of the Keosauqua Creamery in 1933-1934. In 1934, he became the Branch Manager of the State Savings Bank in Milton. He was a member of the Board of Education, the Methodist Church and several banking organizations.

Both of these men were listed in the Des Moines Register’s Who’s Who in Van Buren County in 1940. (www.iagenweb.org/vanburen)

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Contributed to the Van Buren Co. IAGenWeb Project by Andy Reddick
http://iagenweb.org/vanburen/