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Foresight of F. H.iWhitney Monument To City’s Foundert Idffsensn.aPiy»rn!-n3,r-Foresight of Franklin H. Whitney, Atlantic’s founder and an empire builder, has proved a perpetual monument to him. Mr.Whitney not only wae Inspired by his faith in the tarritory which he developed and to which he devoted his personal wealth and a lifetime of effort, but the community is profiting today by the far-reaching vision of this Iowa pioneer.After the coming of the railroad, Atlantic, founded in October, 1868, by Whtiney, B. F. Allen and John P. Cook, began its rapid growth and in 1870 it had a population of 1,200 which grew to 1,883 in 1880 and by 188S is was nearing the 6,000 mark. The present population exceeds 6,000.The first house in Atlantic was started by Henry Miller Sept. 9,,1868, on the sito of the Park Rev* Macrae, pastor of the At-rwhere he started the town « Whitne'*ville. In 1866 he movM to Lewis, where he engaged itf various enterprises, raiiglng 1nm keeping a store and printing,.* newspaper to running a hotel, ^gt the same time buying and selling land. He not only founded Atlhe* tic, but also Griswold and 4*1$* and built hotels at Anita Wiota in their early history. .■ Ho saw Atlantic as a commit* cial city of importance if it were I in I red by rail with Kansas City and Minneapolis and St Paul, and with consummation of this dream almost within his grasp, he was defeated by failure of Grant A Mo .e Co. and the consequent panic tn Wall Street The railroad company had been organised under the name of the Kin-is City, Atlantic A Northern with:ais»-tsnr-ni;tsLL8,r,yI-18ra(8yitthdit.hotel at Sixth and Chestnut streets and in 1931 a monument commemorating the site waserected there by the Atlantic D. A. R.For a few days Atlantic was named Avoca, the civil engineer who made the plat bo designating it for his own satisfaction, but Mr. Whitney went to Des Moines and had it changed. Some stories are to the effect that the name Atlantic was chosen because the first Atlantic cable, the seventh wonder of the world, was laid at the same time Atlantic was founded, while another legend is that, as the town was located nearly midway between the two oceans, a coin was flipped to determine whether it should be named for the Atlantic or the Pacific, with the former finally'favored when the founders decided it best in view of the fact that there were many other towns in this-section of the country with the name Pacific.The town was incorporatedi in 1870 and first officers were D. F. Hawks, mayor; A. 8. Churchill,lantic United Preabyterian church, as president, and was to have connected Atlantic with the Wabash on the south and with the Milwaukee at Bayard to tho north. Mr. Whitney had purchased a locomotive and tie* contracted for right-of-way and surveyed the route up the Troublesome valley to Bayard, while the grade for the southern route through the Nishnabotna valley was actually built as far aa Griswold and remains today as a relic of a blasted hope.Mr. Whitney had put $1*0,008 of his own znonsy into the venture and arranged for floating boads for Its completion, when thepahk and placing of the Wabash and Milwaukee railroads in the hefe^li of receivers defeated his efforts-He sold his locomotive ult;|to the -Bock Island and aoce his loss and disappointment a smile. a-To the far-repching vision utd planning of this, empire builder, much of the suecees of Atlantic and Cats county may bo attributed. Tho grounds for tho Cassrecorder; S. A. Martin, W. W.1 court house and tho beeo-f‘hthn-Parker, John Reynolds, S. W. W. Straight and J. C, Yetier, trustees; I. W. Dickerson, treasurer and I. W. Whitman, corporation counsel.Eggleston’s store, moved overnight from Grove City, was the first opened in Atlantic, followed immediately by resumption of business here by others moving from Grove City. As the city made steady growth, business flourished and many new merchants and professional men located in the Cass county seat during the next decade and aided in £ the development of the community. The first banking institution of Atlantic was opened in 1869 by Loring and Bennett, who built up a remunerative business, but in December, 1870, they fled, presumably to South America, taking the funds of the bank with them.Early in 1871, Franklin H. Whitney opened a bank as successor to the Loring and Bennett establishment, but later in the year this was reorganized as the First National bank with Mr. Whitney as president, John P. Gerberich as cashier and Whitney, Isaac Dickerson, Charles Kelly, Wilkins Warwick and S. J. Applegate as directors. In 1876 the charter was relinquished and it once more became a private bank, known as the Bank of Atlantic and under the ownership of Mr. Whitney, whose s-n, James G., became a partner upon reaching young manhood ana from this foundation grew the present Whitney Loan A Trust Co., of which the latter is now president.On his deathbed, Franklin II. Whitney made an assignment of his assets for the benefit of his creditors in 1896, admonishing his son to pay all in full. By 1911, James G. Whitney had paid all of his father’s creditors both the principal and interest on all indebtedness. The Citizens Savings bank was organized in 1897 by J. G. Whitney, J. H. Marshall and other local men and continued with Mr. Marshall as president until 1907, when the Whitney Loan and Trust Co. was founded. Thomas H. Whitney, who died in September, 1929, was for many years associated with his father and older brother in the banking business.The senicr Mr. Whitney, th3 real empire builder of Cass county, was born in Oswego county, N. Y., in 1832 and came west in 1856, lived for a short time in Adair county, then moved to Massena township in this county,k.ofofn-ldinide-e-n-IO-,n-inofO.inlishetiful city park ware his donationto the city and the county and,as the old grade for his railroad, south from Atlantic stands as a. memento of an unsuccessful enterprise, the Whitney Loan A Trust Co. and the Masonic Temple in Atlantic, the first throe* story structure in this part of til# country and a show place f,or some years after it was completed in 1882, remain m monuments to his integrity end enterprise.Furthermore, the foresight of this pioneer has given Atlantic complete train service, for in ceding lend to the Rock Island, he stipulated that all trains must stop in his town. This explains why Rocket service is provided Atlantic, while the streamliner passes up larger cities on its route.Another landmark of early Atlantic history is the Park hotel, built in 1870 by L. Anderson on the site of the first house !n Atlantic and used for several years as a court house prior to the erection of a building for that purpose. The latter building was destroyed by flre in March, 1831, and replaced by a modern county building in 1884 at a cost of $2 30,000. The Occidental hotel, a three-story frame building erected at Third and Walnut streets In 1878, was razed last year to make way for the Soth-mun Implement, building. The first brick building in Atlantic, built in 1868 at Fourth and Walnut attests and now occupied by the Comer Inn, and the first house built in Atlantic are othef old landmarks still remaining. The latter building was moved to Seventh end Cedar streets when the Park hotel was built and later wea moved to 407 Birch street, where it continues to serve as a residence property.ANlTA-r-The town ef Anita was surveyed and platted in 1869 by Lewis Besson, who sold the town site a year later to the founders of Atlantic. The town was named for Anita Cowles of San Francisco, a niece of Mrs. Lewis Beeson of Anita, at whose home, then the stage coach station, a group of railroad officials discussed a name for the new town during dinner gathering. The name Bear son was first suggested, but Mr, Besson, out of modesty, objected and finally at the suggestion of his wife, her niece was honored by having the town named for her.The first dwelling in the town was erected by the late C, D.(Continued on Page Tyro)
Newspaper Details
Atlantic News Telegraph
Atlantic, Iowa, US
Thu, Jul 11, 1946
Page 32
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 18 Apr 2019
Other Publications Near Atlantic, Iowa
Atlantic Cass County Democrat
Atlantic Bruces Optimist
Atlantic Advertiser
Atlantic News Telegraph
Atlas of Cass County Iowa
