Clatsop-Marion County OR Archives Biographies.....Patton, Frank 1861 - 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com February 6, 2011, 3:02 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 857 - 858
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     FRANK PATTON.  Among the men who have in very large measure been 
responsible for the growth and development of Astoria stands Frank Patton, 
president of the Astoria Savings Bank and one of this city's most progressive 
and successful business men. The Astoria Savings Bank was organized on 
December 18, 1890, with the following officers: I. W. Case, president; J. Q. 
A. Bowlby and C. H. Page, vice presidents; and Frank Patton, cashier. Mr. Case 
served as president until his death, in 1894, and was also the owner of a 
private bank which he had established in 1865, being the pioneer banker of 
Astoria. He was succeeded in the presidency by Mr. Bowlby, who served until 
1896, after which C. H. Page was president until 1900, when he sold out and 
was succeeded by Mr. Bowlby, who served for four years. O. I. Peterson was 
president from 1904 to 1923, when he died and was succeeded by Asmus Brix, who 
died six months later. Frank Patton then became president and has served in 
that capacity to the present time, the other officers and directors being: P. 
J. Brix and Austin Osburn, vice presidents; M. E. Masterson, cashier; A. W. 
Stine and Harry Knokey, assistant cashiers; G. C. Fulton and T. S. Cornelius, 
directors. The original capital of the bank was one hundred thousand dollars, 
which was increased to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in 1907 and to 
two hundred thousand dollars in 1923. Its surplus and undivided profits now 
amount to over two hundred and twelve thousand dollars and its total resources 
are over three and a half million dollars. The bank building was destroyed in 
the great fire of 1922, but the vault was unharmed and the present splendid 
structure was immediately erected, at a cost of two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars. This bank has always been regarded as one of the strongest and most 
influential financial institutions of this section of the valley and has stood 
as one of the bulwarks of the commercial prosperity of the community which it 
serves.

     Frank Patton was born in Marion county, Oregon, in 1861, and is a son of 
Thomas William and Julia A. (Dickens) Patton, who crossed the plains from 
Missouri to Oregon in 1848. The father took up a donation land claim, on which 
he successfully followed farming and stock raising, and which is still in 
possession of the family. Both parents are now deceased.

     Frank Patton attended the public schools and was a student in Willamette 
University four years. In 1881 he came to Astoria and entered the employ of J. 
O. Hawthorne & Company as a bookkeeper, remaining with that concern during two 
summers. He then went to work for the government on the survey of eastern 
Oregon, being thus employed for two years, and on his return to Astoria went 
to work in the private bank of I. W. Case, with whom he remained for five 
years, when he became one of the organizers of the Astoria Savings Bank, with 
which he has been identified continuously since. In 1893 Mr. Patton engaged in 
the canning business, but seven years later he sold out to the Libby-McNeil 
interests for five hundred thousand dollars. He also became one of the 
officers of the Clatsop sawmill, which he later sold for two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars. He is the president and a director of the Fellman 
Manufacturing Company, makers of furniture and employing fifty men, and is the 
owner of extensive timber interests. He was a member of the committee of ten 
who had in charge the rehabilitation of Astoria after the fire of 1922 and set 
a worthy example by having his bank ready for business in temporary quarters 
five days after the fire. For eight years he was a member of the port of 
Astoria and he helped to finance the construction of the fine system of docks 
at Astoria and in countless ways has shown foresightedness and clear-headed 
judgment which have enabled him not only to realize large personal prosperity, 
but also to contribute to the commercial and civic welfare of the community.

     In 1891 Mr. Patton was united in marriage to Miss Maude Saffarrans, who 
was born and reared in Oregon City, and is a daughter of Dr. Henry Saffarrans, 
who located in that city in 1844. Mr. Patton is a member of Astoria Lodge, No. 
180, B. P. O. E., the Chamber of Commerce and the Astoria Golf and Country 
Club. A man of strong character and marked individuality, he is at the same 
time cordial and unaffected in manner, and throughout the community which has 
been honored by his citizenship he commands uniform confidence and respect.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/clatsop/bios/patton1461gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/

File size: 5.2 Kb