SAFE

Joseph began his "career" as a clerk in a general store.  Three years later, he and a friend purchased 30 acres of land.  The purchase was what I guess you could call "profitable".

The next year Joseph and his partner started a dry goods store. 

But Joseph had what no other merchant in town possessed.

A safe.

The other merchants began leaving their money in Joseph's safe.  It became known as "the safest safe in town."

Twenty years later, he formally opened an official bank, in the middle of a Civil War.

Along the way, Joseph helped build toll roads, was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, and continued building several companies and routes from Indianapolis to Greenwood.

William G. Irwin, Joseph's son, after graduating from Butler University, began working as a cashier at Irwin Bank.  Eventually Will succeeded his father as President of the bank.

Clessie Cummins never made it past the 8th grade.

He was rural farm boy and eventually was hired.  As Will's driver and mechanic.

And you've likely heard of him although you may not know it.

While working for Will, he designed a new diesel engine.  So much for formal education.

Together they founded Cummins Engine in 1919.

Hugh Miller was hired as the Assistant Cashier of Irwin Bank and must have presumably courted and married Will's niece, eventually he followed up by becoming the President of Irwin Bank.  Their son, J.I. continued the family businesses and together with his sister set about making Columbus, Indiana a remarkable "small" town in the middle of nowhere. 

In 1954, J.I. created Cummins Foundation and funded world reknown architecture in the small town by the likes of Eero Saarinen, Eliel Saarinen, I.M. Pei, Kevin Roche and Richard Meier.  In Nov/Dec 2008's National Geographic Traveler's Magazine, Columbus was named 11th of 109 historic destinations.

Irwin Union Bank continued to grow.  When banking laws were changed in Indiana to allow branches outside of contiguous counties, Irwin was the first bank to purchase a bank.  Midwest National Bank had been a minority owned bank in downtown Indianapolis and was experiencing some difficulty.  Irwin purchased the bank, eventually selling it to Huntington Bank.  They also bought Inland Mortgage.  The bank and holding company were innovative, growing, prospering.  Inland Mortgage became very successful.

In 1990, J. I.'s son, Will became the Chairman and CEO of the bank holding company.  Will had been on the bank's board since 1985.  Becoming active in the management, Will did not immediately storm his way through the daily detail of actually running the company.  Instead, he would sit in management meetings and committee meetings and take long notes.  Some were impressed that he didn't waltz in the door and assume he knew how to manage the company on a day-to-day basis.

By the time J. I. and his wife passed away, they had amassed quite a fortune.  The Miller House had become a museum of sorts, designed by Saarinen and contained a collection that ended up at the Christie's Auction in London.

A single Monet painting was sold in 2008 for 80 MILLION DOLLARS.

Last Friday night, a few people dressed in business suits walked in the door at 5:30 p.m. and forever closed the doors of Irwin Union Bank.

If you're looking for an evil villian here, I can't help you.  There was no one looking to make a fortune.  In case you missed it, the fortune had already been made.

Did they make mistakes?  Of course.

Did they get involved with what is now considered "risky" real estate business?  In hindsight, absolutely.

But, I'm sure there are more than a few tears in this non-sleepy little town of 40,000.   It's not the end of a bank, it's the death of an era.