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The Carr family of First National Bank, Wellington, became the sixth recipient of the KBA Century of Family Banking Award at the CEO Forum on Aug. 6. KBA President Chuck Stones recounted the Carrs' record of exemplary leadership within Wellington and the industry.
First National Bank, Wellington, was founded as a private bank, Baird, Kellogg & Co., in 1879. It remained a private bank until January 1884, when it was chartered as the Wellington National Bank with $50,000 of capital stock. It wasn't until 1901, however, that the 46-year-old Frank Ellis Carr bought controlling interest in the bank and became its president. This was the start of the Carr family's imprint on Kansas banking. Carr served as president of the bank until his death in 1912.
Frank Ellis had two sons who entered the banking business: Frank Overton Carr and Ellis M. Carr. Frank started working at his cousin C.Q. Chandler II's bank, Kansas National Bank, Wichita, in 1902. He became a vice president and served as a director of Kansas National Bank until he retired in 1955. Ellis began his banking career as part of a group that purchased Citizens State Bank, Cheney. He would run the bank in Cheney until his father's death necessitated a move to Wellington to work at Wellington National Bank.
From the time of its charter to 1921, when it merged with Farmers National Bank, Wellington,...