The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-12-16
OF HUMAN INTEREST
Is The EventfuI History Of the Merchants
and Mechanics Bank.
OUTLINED RAvAGES OF WAR AND PLAGUE
Incorporated I'm 1851, IL Has Had
But FiYe Presidents and Two
Cashiers, One of whom HAS Held
the Petition for Forty.Onc Years
Other Interesting Facts.

Forty-six years is a long time as men
count the seasons, and no other forty
Sin years was ever so long rs those, the
the last Of which Is tottering uncertainty
into the past. In that time many things
that were old have passed away, for
tunes have slipped from the grasp of
the unwary; a generation has had it's
day; institutions have vanished to be
replaced by others; old methods have
been discarded; miracles of science have
been wrought, and new conditions have
sprung up.
To have wcathered. then, the
gales of so many seasons, and to
have come forth practically unscathed.
with strength unsapped and future still
before 1t. when applied to an institution,
Is assuredly patent argument in the
theory OF the survival of the nttest
and reasoning along this line It must
be a source OF pride to those whose
names and fortunes have be allied with
the Merchants and Mechanics bank to
remember that it has almost reached
the half century mark of It's existence.
IT'S EARLY HISTORY.
This bank is by far the oldest in the
city, X not In the State, and Its his
tory is absorbing in its almost human
interest. 1t was Incorporated by an act
or the Legislature of March 18th, 1851
the original incorporators being Josiah
wills, j. III. Johnston, a. Harris, Will
liam d. Roberts, Jr., Francis l.. Hig-
gins, j. b. Hardy, James Ferguson, e.
Z. Robinson, John e. Higgins. Thomas
81. Irwin. Ignatius Higgins, Archi-
bald Briggs. William S. Camp and
Elisha G2magc--all wcll-to-do, promi-
nent and substantial men of business,
In whose dictionary there was no such
word as fail. and in whose dispositions
there were those characteristics which
enabled the Institution to pass success
fully through two of the most remarka-
BILE crises I'm the history OF the city, to
brave every storm of financial depres-
sion and to stand forth to-day a silent
monument to their worth and integrity.
They were men who. though every one
or them has passed long ago 10 his re-
ward, do not altogether die; and whose
posterity have taken front rank in the
varied business life Of a later day.
OPENED FOR BUSINESS.
A very short time after it's incorpo-
ration the bank opened for business i'm
building which was rented for the
purpose on what was then Catharine
straet, now Bank. This property, hav-
ing been found suitable, was afterwards
purchased and has been occupied ever
since by the Merchants and Mechanics
with only few minor alterations, such.
for instance, as the putting in of a new
front several years ago. The building is
about twenty-five by forty feet and
" stories high, the second floor being
NJ present occupied by law offices. Ii is
located on the west side of the street
between Main and Plume, and just OPP
posite Hill
Although one of the Oldest sections in
the city the scenes around the old bank
have shifted many times and are indeed
changed from what they were in those
good old "foh de wah" days when the
Institution was just entering upon it's
long life.
Plume street and City Hall avenue
had not been cut through; indeed. where
The latter thoroushfare extends was
then the old canal, and n man might
stand in the rear of the bank building
and toss Il shell into Il. The busy little
city with its ten or fifteen thousand in
habitants, hardly dreamed of the me-
tamorphosis that the years would bring
and, perhaps, still fewer Of them though.
that half century hence tho Mcr-
chants and Mechanics would still be
doing business lat the same old stand"
THE FIRST CRISIS.
The first president of the bank was
Mr.. Elisha Carnage, father Of Mr.. John
O. Carnage. MIR. William II. Dulaney
was the first cashier. The latter died in
1885 of the yellow fever, which was then
inflicting such terrible ravages upon
the population OF the town. About the
same time, or 4 little before. there en- ne
| l.
who was unaware of the prevalence of
the plague until he had almost reached
here, otherwise he would probably have
taken his newly wed wife into some
safer and, at that time, more agreea bic
portion Of the continent.
Mr.. Wales was appointed cashier 10
fill the vacancy caused by the death of
Mr.. Dulancy. He has held that nosition
ever since, period extending over
forty-one years, and may be found at
his desk every day. IS punc;ual and as
competent as ever, though he has grown
old with the institution, and nearly n
years have passed over his head. These
years have touched him lightly. and
though his hair has been silvered his
heart is still young. and his step buoy
ant. His health IS good and he has be-
fore him many years of usefulness yet
should Providence spare him to his
labors.
PROVFNTI.AI. EXCEPTION.
Mr.. Wales bought n house on East
Main street, where Merchants lane
enters. This house curiously enough
was. it is said, the only one in the CITY
which was not visited by the fever The
only explanation for this remarkable
exception in his favor. Mr.. Wales says
must have been the large number of
trees surrounding the house particularly
china" This opinion was concurred in
by several of the physicians.
Those We're trnubulous times Men
women and children were dying by day
and by night SO fast that they could
not receive the usual burial but were
put away in a wholesale fashion, which
was only the result of the direst nscas-