OSCAR A. SIMMONS.
Successful banking calls for qualifications somewhat different from those required in other pursuits or professions. It calls for a keen mind, decisive action, ability to pass judgment upon a proposition and its merits, and the power to judge and gauge human nature, and determine upon the honesty or sincerity of those with whom the banker is constantly doing business. Oscar A. Simmons, active vice-president and manager of the First National Bank of Atchison, possesses the qualifications of a successful banker to a considerable degree. He is unquestionably one of the rising financiers of Kansas with an ever increasing prestige in financial circles. He is one of those broad-minded men who keep abreast of progress and have the faculty of adapting their capabilities to the advanced needs of the times. Although a comparatively young man, as years measure a man’s age, his experience in banking has been such as to eminently fit him for the important position which he holds.
O A Simmons
O. A. Simmons is a native of Kansas, and was born in Jefferson county February 11, 1874. His father was Joshua Simmons, a native of Indiana, and his mother was Susan Pitcher Simmons, born and partly reared in Missouri. The parents of both Joshua and Susan Simmons were among the pioneer settlers in Jefferson county, and it is probable that they located there in about 1855. Both the Simmons and Pitcher families were prominent in the affairs of Jefferson county in the early days of the county’s growth, and were highly respected. Joshua Simmons and Susan Pitcher were married in Jefferson county. At the outbreak of the Civil war, Joshua Simmons offered his services in behalf of the Union, and enlisted in Company A, Eleventh regiment, Kansas infantry, at the age of seventeen years, and was under the command of Colonels Moonlight and Plumb. Mr. Simmons took part in some hard campaigns during his enlistment, the Eleventh regiment being a part of the division which fought General Price’s army of invasion throughout Missouri and Arkansas. On a number of occasions he showed his personal bravery in volunteering for scout duty in the Southwest. He was mustered out at the close of the war, returned home, and was married shortly afterward. After a long and successful career as a farmer and merchant, he is now living a retired life at Brondon, Colo., at the ripe age of seventy-one years. Eight children were born to Joshua and Susan Simmons, five of whom are living, as follows: Mrs. J. W. Faubion, of Anthony, Kan.; Oscar A.; Mrs. P. H. Scales, of Birmingham, Ala.; W. C. and C. T. Simmons, of Los Angeles, Cal. The mother of these children departed this life in 1886. She was a good wife and a kind and loving mother.
O. A. Simmons attended the common and high schools of his native county and town, after which he was employed in a general store at Winchester, Jefferson county, until 1899. He was then employed in charge of the gents’ furnishing department of a large department store at Leavenworth for one year. His ambitions had always been headed toward entering the field of banking, inasmuch as he believed that he could make a success as a banker. Opportunity naturally beckoned; he saw the need of a bank in the town of Potter, Atchison county. Taking what funds he could muster he went to Potter and organized the Potter State Bank, serving as the cashier of this institution for two years. He then sold his holdings in the Potter bank and organized the Exchange State Bank at Nortonville. For a period of five years he was in charge of this flourishing bank, and here had the opportunity of demonstrating his inherent ability as a financier. A wider and larger field beckoned to him and he came to Atchison in 1906. Here his genius as an organizer has had full opportunity for exercise and he organized the Commercial State Bank, which later bought control of, and was consolidated with, the First National of Atchison. Mr. Simmons was elected vice-president of the bank at the time of the reorganization and was installed as the bank manager. He has since taken an active part in the organization of other banking concerns, having organized the Farmers State Bank of Anthony, Kan., in 1910, of which his brother-in-law, J. W. Faubion, is the cashier. In 1901 he organized the Jarbalo State Bank at Jarbalo, Kan., of which T. J. Mains is cashier. Mr. Simmons disposed of his interests in the Jarbalo bank in 1911, and bought the Farmers State Bank at Effingham, selling control of this bank in 1912. His next venture was the purchase of the controlling interest in the State Savings Bank at Leavenworth, of which Mr. Mains is now the vice-president. He reorganized the Arrington State Bank at Arrington, Kan., in 1903, and is still interested in its affairs. He organized the Citizens State Bank at Elmo, Mo., in 1913, and is the principal owner of this bank, and a stockholder in the Union State Bank at McLouth, Kan. It is a noteworthy fact that every financial institution with which Mr. Simmons has been connected has prospered, and is in sound condition. In every bank in which he has been interested he has displayed ability of a high order as a financier and manager.
Mr. Simmons has been twice married, his first wife being Margaret Mains, whom he espoused in 1902, being a daughter of James Mains, of Oskaloosa, Kan. She died in 1907. His second marriage, in 1910, was with Mary Frances, daughter of J. H. Barry, a substantial and well known citizen of Atchison (see biography of J. H. Barry). Two children have blessed this union: John Barry, born December 17, 1911, and O. A. Simmons, junior, born March 9, 1913.
From farmer boy to banker and capitalist in the short period of a little over forty years, with no initial capital to begin with, but a keen mind and strong body, is the gist of the career of him of whom this review is written. When a boy he worked for fifty cents per day in Jefferson county. Coming from the soil, and being reared on the farm, he has never entirely lost a love for the land itself, and is heavily interested in various tracts of good farm land, and owns 400 acres of Atchison county farm land, and 700 acres in eastern Colorado, which, together with holdings in Missouri and Texas, will aggregate over 1,500 acres. His financial interests are varied, and in Atchison are of such nature as to be of distinct benefit to the welfare of the city. He holds stock in several of the city’s leading mercantile concerns. His first work was as a farm laborer at $10 per month. His commercial career practically began in a general store at Winchester, Kan., at a salary of $17 per month, and during the twenty-three years following, he has amassed a fortune of over $100,000. Yet, there are those who say that opportunity for attaining wealth and position are gone, and that a young man has no chance to succeed because of the great competition of the financial trusts of the country. The life story of O. A. Simmons is a direct contradiction to the wail of the pessimist, and furnishes a decided inspiration to any young fellow blessed with mentality and strength to go and do likewise in his favorite line of endeavor. While Mr. Simmons is a stanch Republican, he does not take an active part in political affairs, and has declined political preferment.