Judge William Logan

Judge William Logan. . , William Logan was born September 11, 1848 in Pennsylvania. In 1852, his family traveled by steamboat from Pittsburgh, PA to Quincy, IL then settled on a farm east of Nauvoo, IL. , At the age of 21, he moved to northeastern Missouri where he began operating a saw mill and became a subcontractor of railroad ties. It was at this time that he developed an interest in banking, purchasing what became the Logan Bank of Glenwood, In 1882, he was elected to the position of county judge and became known as Judge Logan, a name that stuck with him the rest of his life. In 1890, Logan bought a controlling interest in the State Bank of Keokuk and moved his family from Missouri to Keokuk. A little over three years later, the State Bank of Keokuk and Central Savings Bank consolidated to become the State Central Savings Bank of Keokuk. , The Judge was known to take an interest in “all matters of a civic nature.” His greatest civic challenge came on July 6, 1899, when a group of Keokuk’s leading citizens gathered together to discuss using the power of the Mississippi to improve river navigation as well as generate electricity. This huge undertaking would involve getting the approval of Congress and the Secretary of War. , In January of 1911, Hugh Cooper, the dam construction project’s chief engineer, in a speech to the community said, “As far as my efforts for this power development are concerned I can tell you that they would have failed but for the hard and unselfish work of William Logan, of Keokuk, IA.” Later, Keokuk’s mayor J.F. Elder presented Logan with a large, double handled silver cup inscribed, “Presented to William Logan by his fellow citizens in appreciation of valuable services rendered to the city of Keokuk in connection with the development of the water power at the foot of the Des Moines River rapids.” , In 1927, in order to relocate the bank and to better serve the community, Logan had a five-story building constructed at 601 Main Street. , Upon his death, an article in the local newspaper remembered the Judge as a “faithful supporter of everything for the city’s betterment and progress... He was unselfish in his dealings with his fellow men. He loved Keokuk and Keokuk loved him.”