Had Dr. Robison continued his practice as a physician he would undoubtedly have attained eminence in his profession, a leading physician having frequently borne testimony to his extraordinary skill in diagnosing disease, and urged him to devote his entire attention to his profession. But he preferred curing beef and pork to curing human bodies, and, so far as financial results are concerned, probably made a wise choice, though the judgment of human nature and insight into men's motives to which he attributes his success, would have served him in good stead in either line. At the age of fifty-eight, Dr. Robison is found in possession of a handsome competency, although he has all through life dealt with marked liberality toward all worthy objects of charity and patriotism. He is still in possession of much of the vigor that has characterized his business career, and we trust his life of usefulness may yet be long.
[Illustration: Yours Truly, T. P. Handy]
Truman P. Handy.
The oldest banker in Cleveland, and probably the oldest active banker in the State, is Truman P. Handy, now president of the Merchants National Bank. He has been identified with the banking business of Cleveland from his first arrival in the city, thirty-seven years ago, and throughout the whole time has been a successful financier, managing the institutions under his charge with unvarying skill and good fortune.
Mr. Handy was born in Paris, Oneida county, New York, January 17th, 1807. He had the advantage of a good academical education, and made preparation for entering college, which, however, he did not do, and at the close of his school term, spent the remaining time, until his eighteenth year, upon his father's farm, with the exception of two winters in which he taught school.
On reaching his eighteenth year it was decided that he should enter on a commercial life, and a year or two were spent in stores in Utica and New Hartford, N. Y., leaving the latter place in October, 1826, to take a position in the Bank of Geneva, Ontario county, N. Y., of which the Kev. H. Dwight was president. With this commenced Mr. Handy's long banking career. Five years were spent in this bank and then he accepted an invitation to remove to Buffalo, for the purpose of assisting in the organization of the Bank of Buffalo, of which he was made teller, and remained one year in that position. In March, 1832, the young banker married Miss Harriet N. Hall, of Geneva, and with his bride set out on the wedding tour, which was also one of business, to Cleveland.
Under other circumstances the journey would scarcely be deemed a pleasant one. It was in early Spring, and the weather was still inclement. The roads were bad, and the lumbering stage floundered heavily through mud, and amid obstructions that made the way one of discomfort, not unmixed with peril, for six weary days, between Geneva and Cleveland. But in addition to the fact that it was a bridal tour, the young couple were cheered by the prospect before them. The charter of the old Commercial Bank of Lake Erie, established in 1816, and which had gone under, had been purchased by the Hon. George Bancroft and his family in Massachusetts, and it was designed to resuscitate it under better auspices. Mr. Handy had been invited to become the cashier, and in pursuance of his acceptance of the invitation, was, with his bride, on his way to Cleveland.
The bank was organized on his arrival and commenced business on the lot now occupied by the Merchants National Bank, at the corner of Superior and Bank streets, the bank lot running back to the present site of the Herald building. Leonard Case, the president of the old Bank of Lake Erie, was president of the resuscitated bank, with T. P. Handy as cashier. It did a thriving business until 1842, when the term of its charter expired, and the Legislature refused to renew it, compelling the bank to go into liquidation. When the great crash of 1837 occurred, the bank had been compelled to take real estate in settlement of the liabilities of its involved customers, and thus the corporation became one of the greatest landholders of the city. Had the property been retained by the bank owners, it would by this time have been worth to them many millions of dollars.
The close of the bank and the winding up of its affairs necessitated the disposal of the real estate for the purpose of dividing the assets among the stockholders. Messrs. T. P. Handy, H. B. Payne, and Dudley Baldwin were appointed commissioners to close up the affairs of the bank and discharge its liabilities. This being done, the remaining cash and real estate were divided among the stockholders, who appointed Mr. Handy their trustee to dispose of the property. This was accomplished in 1845, when Mr. Handy made his final settlement. During the time subsequent to the close of the bank, he had been carrying on a private banking business under the name of T. P. Handy & Co.
In the Winter of 1845, the State Legislature passed a law authorizing the establishment of the State Bank of Ohio, and of independent banks. In November of that year, Mr. Handy organized the Commercial Branch of the State Bank of Ohio, with a capital of one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and took position in it as cashier, the president being William A. Otis, and the directors, additional to Messrs. Otis and Handy, being John M. Woolsey, N. C. Winslow, and Jonathan Gillett. Mr. Handy was the acting manager of the institution, and so successful was his conduct of its affairs that the stockholders received an average of nearly twenty per cent. on their investment through nearly the whole time until the termination of its charter in 1865, a period of twenty years. His policy was liberal, but with remarkable judgment he avoided hazardous risks, and whilst the bank always had as much business as it could possibly accommodate, the tightest times never affected its credit.