First State Bank’s Weare passes away

Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent 
With Leonard Cash
 
In last week’s installment of “History on Main,” historian Leonard Cash discussed how Newcastle’s First State Bank survived President Franklin Roosevelt’s bank holiday. Beginning this week with 1937, Cash wraps up his series on First State Bank as we discuss its final location. At the time, the bank could be found on lot 12 of block 10 (on the corner of West Main Street, across the street from Cashbox Ceramics), but in the 1950s, it moved to its present location at 24
N. Sumner Ave. 
Starting with an article from the Oct. 1, 1937, issue of the News Letter Journal, we learn that the basement of the bank was thoroughly remodeled for D.G. Ellenwood to open up
a lunchroom. 
Another construction project ensued around March 23, 1939, when the paper reported that the bank awarded Gillette contractor Fred J. Mason a bid for the construction of a one-story brick building behind the bank, according to Cash. The cost was estimated to “be in excess of $10,000,” and the project started with James Davis tearing down the buildings behind the bank, which at the time were home to Modern Cleaners, Dutch Lindberg’s barber shop and the lunchroom. Davis was hoping to be done by April, and Mason wanted to complete his part of the project by July 1.  
According to a booklet in Cash’s records titled “Fifty years with the First State Bank,” the bank opened a Savings Account Department on April 8, 1940. By the end of the year, total assets had grown to $900,000. 
“The financial picture had improved somewhat, the drought had broken and there were more jobs, wages, and more money to be saved,” the booklet says.
In 1944, First State Bank’s former president and “one of this city’s greatest civic benefactors,” H.G. Weare, passed away in the Hot Springs, South Dakota hospital. He had been suffering from gall stones and needed an operation, so he was submitted for a blood transfusion. However, things took a turn for the worse, and he died.
“Many of Newcastle’s finest business structures are evidence of Mr. Weare’s confidence in this community and attest to the great interest he took in town’s development when actively engaged in the banking business here,” his obituary says. 
He was credited for helping to organize the construction of Newcastle Mercantile, Craig Chevrolet, a gas station and the building once occupied by J.C. Penney and
Sunshine Grocery. 
Weare’s funeral was held in Spearfish, South Dakota, and in his honor, First State Bank closed at noon to allow employees and friends to attend the last rites.
In the 30 years “Sometime Ago” section of the May 8, 1975, paper, a naturopathic clinic opened in the office above the bank in 1945.
Around July 11, 1946, First State Bank appointed Andy Hansen as cashier during a board of directors meeting. He had been the assistant cashier and director for 20 years, so Wallace Smith, who had held various positions with the bank over the summer, took his place. OD Smith attended the University of Wyoming, and after graduating, he entered  the U.S. Army in 1942. After his discharge, he spent a few years in California before taking a position as teller in the Newcastle bank in 1945. At the time, Walter Cunningham and R. Hurtt served as the bank’s president and vice
president, respectively. 
The paper reported on July 8, 1948, that Lawrence Ellis’ plumbing shop, located under the bank, was bought out by Don Mirich.
By 1949, the bank successfully made it to its 25th anniversary. However, there was no time to celebrate. 
“An interesting statement appears in the 1949 proceedings — the First State Bank of Newcastle was authorized to celebrate its 25th anniversary as ‘time and duties permit.’ There is no record of the celebration. Everyone was just too busy!” the booklet says. 
But bad news was not far behind. On Tuesday, April 3, 1951, bank employees almost had a holiday because, according to a report, the vault containing all the money failed to open at its appointed time. Fortunately, it was an honest mistake that resolved itself after the bank borrowed money from various businesses on Tuesday to continue operations for the day. 
“Someone had evidently set the clocks in the vault for week-end time instead of week-day, for Wednesday morning at regular time, the vault opened again,” the article says.
With that, Cash concludes this week’s installment of “History on Main,” and next week, he will finish his series on the First State Bank in the Mondell building.