Anna Martin (banker)
Anna Martin (born December 10, 1843 in Germany ; † July 10, 1925 , USA ) was a German-American banker and the first woman bank president in America.
Life
Growing up in the Rhineland near Cologne, Alwin and Henrietta Mebus' daughter emigrated together with her mother in 1858 at the age of 15 via Bremen to Galveston in Texas in the USA and settled in Hedwig's Hill . Shortly before, the father's business in Solingen had gone bankrupt. They followed it to the 1844 emigrated to America brother of her mother, the Erndtebrücker Ludwig (Louis) Martin. Already in the year after her arrival she married her cousin Karl (Charles) Martin (1828–1879), who owned a small shop as a merchant. She was the mother of two sons Charles (1861-1940) and Max (1863-1941), who were 16 and 18 years old, respectively, in 1879, the year of her husband's death.
At the time of her arrival in America, she only spoke German and French, but did not speak English and had only less than 150 dollars at her disposal. Even after the death of her husband, she had to make do with initially meager financial means. Inevitably, she took on the role of breadwinner for the family and borrowed $ 150 to continue her husband's fabric, textile, and wool business. In the following period, she achieved significant wealth, also through the direct purchase of the goods from shepherds and farmers, and rose to one of the wealthiest people in Mason County . Her holdings included lands between Gillespie County and Llano River .
On July 1, 1901, she made a decision that would make her an important figure in American contemporary history. Instead of trading up until then, she went into banking from now on. She founded the Commercial Bank of Mason with a $ 3,000 investment and, with the help of her sons, created a financial empire in Texas. Over a period of 24 years she was president of the Commercial Bank of Mason in Texas Mason and became the first bank president in American history.
After her death, she found her final resting place in Hedwig's Hill in the local family cemetery. While the bank remained in family ownership until 1958, the Martins family ranch still exists today (as of January 2012) as a destination for American day trippers and vacationers and is maintained by their descendant, great-great-great-grandson Homer Martin.
literature
- Anna Martin was America's first female bank president , Siegener Zeitung of January 16, 2012, p. 9
- Andreas Saßmannshausen: From Wittgenstein to Texas: The first sheriff came from Erndtebrück . In: Wittgenstein, Blätter des Wittgensteiner Heimatverein , vol. 73, 2009, p. 132 ff.
- Werner Wied: French times and emigration fever . In: Erndtebrück, Heimatbuch des obersten Edertal , 1977, p. 356
- The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association
Web links
- Biographical information on www.tcbmason.com, accessed on January 16, 2012
- The Commercial Bank
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mason Co., TX - Cemeteries - Martin Cemetery ( Memento of the original from March 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Martin, Anna |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German-American banker and America's first female bank president |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 10, 1843 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 10, 1925 |
| Place of death | United States |