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Cleveland Past and Present - Its Representative Men, etc. by Maurice Joblin
page 89 of 672 (13%)
November of that year, Mr. Handy organized the Commercial Branch of the
State Bank of Ohio, with a capital of one hundred and seventy-five
thousand dollars, and took position in it as cashier, the president being
William A. Otis, and the directors, additional to Messrs. Otis and Handy,
being John M. Woolsey, N. C. Winslow, and Jonathan Gillett. Mr. Handy was
the acting manager of the institution, and so successful was his conduct
of its affairs that the stockholders received an average of nearly twenty
per cent. on their investment through nearly the whole time until the
termination of its charter in 1865, a period of twenty years. His policy
was liberal, but with remarkable judgment he avoided hazardous risks, and
whilst the bank always had as much business as it could possibly
accommodate, the tightest times never affected its credit.

Whilst the Commercial Branch Bank was having such uninterrupted success,
the Merchants Branch of the State Bank of Ohio, on the same street, was
experiencing a run of bad fortune. The failure of the Ohio Life and Trust
Company embarrassed it for a time, and other causes conspired with this to
cripple its resources. In 1861, the stockholders invited Mr. Handy to take
charge of its affairs as president, and he accepted the trust. His usual
success followed him to his new position, and the affairs of the bank were
suddenly and permanently improved.

In February, 1865, in common with most of the State banking institutions,
the Merchants Branch Bank stockholders decided to wind up the concern as a
State institution, and avail themselves of the provisions of the National
Banking Act. The Merchants National Bank was organized with an authorized
capital of one million of dollars, of which six hundred thousand dollars
was paid in, Mr. Handy assuming the presidency, and having associated
with him in the management, Messrs. T. M. Kelley, M. Barnett, William
Collins, James F. Clark, Samuel L. Mather, and William Bingham. Under this
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