The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 166

FRANK CARPENTER.

Frank Carpenter, president of the Cle Elum State Bank, was born upon a farm near
Girard, Illinois, June 5, 1871, a son of Charles and Lottie (Peak) Carpenter.
The father, a native of Iowa, was a son of a pioneer settler of that state. He
crossed the plains to California in 1864 and spent three years in that state and
in Oregon, after which he returned to Illinois by way of the Isthmus of Panama.
He then settled near Girard, Illinois, where he resided until 1906, when he came
to Cle Elum, Washington, where he is now living retired. He assisted in opening
the first coal mine at Girard, Illinois, and was there engaged in merchandising
as well as being a mine owner and operator. His wife was born in Illinois.

Frank Carpenter acquired a public school education in his native state and in
September, 1888, became connected with the United States land office at Lamar,
Colorado, where he remained for five months. He then went to Pueblo, Colorado,
where he was with an abstract firm for two months, and on the 30th of April,
1889, he arrived in Tacoma, Washington. On the 9th of May of the same year he
became messenger boy in the Merchants National Bank of Tacoma and remained with
that institution until 1893. He was afterward employed along various lines of
business until 1896, when he went to Spokane, Washington, and was connected with
W. H. Adams & Company, commission merchants, for a period of two years. In 1898
he became a resident of Libby, Montana, where he took a position as accountant
with the Northwest Mining Corporation of London, having charge of the business
in his line in connection with the Snowshoe mine of Libby, Montana. There he
continued until 1901. In 1902 he again became connected with the banking
business as cashier of the Bank of Edwall in Washington, with which he was
associated until October 31, 1904, when he came to Cle Elum and organized the
Cle Elum State Bank. This was the first banking institution to become a
permanent factor in the business life of the town. The Cle Elum State Bank was
opened November 2, 1904, the first officers being: Frank Carpenter, president;
Thomas L. Gamble, vice-president; and R. R. Short, cashier. The bank had an
authorized capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars, with fifteen thousand
dollars paid in, and at the end of the first year they had only twenty-nine
thousand dollars on deposit. From that time forward, however, the business
steadily grew and at the end of the second year they had eighty-five thousand
dollars on deposit. In 1906 they erected a substantial brick building, in which
the bank was soon comfortably housed. In 1908 Mr. Gamble passed away and the
following year Henry Smith was elected to the vice-presidency of the bank,
continuing in the office until his death in 1915. In 1916 he was succeeded by
William Rees, who is still in that position. Walter J. Reed was elected a
director in 1905 but has also departed this life. The other directors aside from
the president and vice-president are M. C. Miller, Joseph Smith and Charles
Carpenter. Today the Cle Elum State Bank has a paid in capital stock of fifty
thousand dollars, with a surplus of ten thousand dollars and undivided profits
of about five thousand dollars, while its deposits amount to almost eight
hundred thousand dollars. The capital stock was increased in 1909 and was all
paid in at that time. Mr. Short retired as cashier in March, 1905, and L. R.
Nelson succeeded him: In 1906 the bank established a branch, known as the
Roslyn Branch of the Cle Elum State Bank, with D. G. Bing as its first cashier.
He was succeeded by L. R. Nelson as cashier and in July, 1918, Joseph Smith was
appointed to the position. A modern brick bank building was erected at Roslyn
in 1908.

On the 3d of June, 1908, Mr. Carpenter was married to Miss Norah Carr, a native
of Girard, Illinois, and a daughter of Harmen and Margaret (Bowersox) Carr,
natives of Miami county, Ohio. The father opened the first exclusive clothing
and men's furnishing goods store in Girard, Illinois, in 1868, in which business
he remained until he passed away in 1897. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter were
schoolmates, so that their acquaintance dated from early life. They have one
daughter, Margaret.

Fraternally Mr. Carpenter is a Mason, belonging to Cle Elum Lodge No. 139, A. F.
& A. M., and he also has membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks, while his wife is a member of the Universalist church. In politics he is a
republican and he served as mayor of Cle Elum for a year. He has been chairman
of the Liberty Loan drives here, doing splendid work in that connection, raising
the quota for the town during the honor week. He is interested in the promotion
of every public enterprise that has for its motive the upbuilding of the
community and the betterment of humanity. This characteristic with marked
patriotism entitles him to stand in the class of the highest type of American
manhood.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.