Thatcher Brothers Banking Co. records, 1880-1970

n 1883, Logan, Utah's first bank was formed through a partnership between George W. Thatcher Sr., Moses Thatcher Sr., H. E. Hatch, W. D. Hendricks, S. T. Josselyn, and W. A. Rossiter, who organized the Thatcher Brothers & Company Banking with $58,500 in capital. Restructuring occurred within the bank in 1889, when it changed its name to Thatcher Brothers Bank Company (TBBC) and had $100,000 in capital. Within a year, the bank built a large brick structure for $70,000 dollars on Center and Main Streets of Logan (the current location of the Wells Fargo Building). This new building housed the Thatcher Brothers Banking Company on its lower levels and the Thatcher Opera House on its two upper floors. From 1889 to 1913, the Thatcher Brothers Banking Company acted as trustee for the sale of endowment lands from the Brigham Young College in Logan. With Moses Thatcher's involvement in the bank, and his status as an apostle for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some people perceived the Thatcher Brothers Banking Company as a "Mormon bank." In response, a gentile-operated bank, the First Security Bank of Logan, opened in competition to the Thatcher's in 1892. Thereafter a number of banks opened in Cache Valley, such as the Hyrum State Bank (1908), the State Bank of Richmond (1908), and the West Cache Bank (1915). With the death of George W. Thatcher in 1902, H. E. Hatch became acting president of the Thatcher Brothers Banking Company until the 1930s.

Misfortune struck at 5:00 pm on April 17, 1912 when the Thatcher Bank caught fire, consuming the entire structure. Although this was the end of the Thatcher Opera House, temporary quarters were arranged to continue banking. By 1915, a new $150,000 building was erected on the site of the burned structure. With business continuing, the Thatcher Brothers Banking Company took over the assets and liabilities of the West Cache State Bank in 1922. Financial difficulties from the agricultural depression of the 1920s hurt the banking industry in Cache Valley, and in 1928 the First Security Corporation acquired ownership of the Thatcher Brothers Banking Company, the State Bank of Richmond, and the Hyrum State Bank. In 1933, the Thatcher Brothers Banking Company changed its name to the First Security Bank of Logan.

Sources:

Mss Collection 3: Thatcher Brothers Banking Company records, box 1, Fds 25-31.

Mss Collection 43: The Cache Valley Historical Society papers, box 2, Book 2.