The legend of Clarksville banks

By: 
Pat Racette

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Lewis Slimmer founded the first bank in Clarksville – the Butler County Bank.

Engineering the historical structure in 1882, the building still stands today as Butler County State Bank Antiques.

“It was a pretty strong bank,” says Wayne Rohlwing, Iowa State Bank’s longest lasting representative. “It paid out better than 80 percent on the dollar. But it closed because people wouldn’t give it a chance.”

Slimmer’s bank went out of business in 1933 during the Great Depression.

But on Oct. 1, 1935, brothers Herman and James Reints of Kesley reopened it, changing the name to Iowa State Bank. The former Kesley State Bank owners shifted headquarters to Clarksville, using their bank as a branch.

Rohlwing then came into the picture 12 years later. As a baby-faced, Clarksville High School graduate, he worked as a janitor/bookkeeper under Fred Seitz (cashier), Carl Ressler (assistant cashier) and Corinne Miller (bookkeeper).

Read full story in the Jan. 8 Clarksville Star and Tribune-Journal.

Tribune-Journal & Star

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Clarksville, IA 50619
Phone: 319-278-4641

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