Simon, Reinhold W.

The following data is extracted from A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans.

Reinhold W. Simon. One of the representative business men of Westfall, Kansas, is found in Reinhold W. Simon, who is cashier of the Westfall State Bank, a financial institution that was established in 1916 and already is doing a large business, great confidence being placed in its solidity because of the high character of its officials. Although one of the younger generation of business men here, Mr. Simon had had considerable banking experience and had an enviable reputation for business ability.

Reinhold W. Simon was born at Markesan, Wisconsin, January 26, 1889, and is a son of E. F. and Minnie (Matthews) Simon, both of whom were born in Germany, the father in 1862 and the mother in 1865. E. F. Simon was reared in Kolmar Posen, Germany, and served two years in the German army, according to the military law. In 1886 he came to the United States and located at Markesan, Wisconsin, in which neighborhood he worked on farms. He was married while living there, and in 1890, with his family, came to Kansas and for four years afterward worked in a mill at Shady Bend. It was his intention from the first to become an independent farmer, and finally he bought 160 acres of good land situated one mile east of Natoma, Kansas, and there carries on general farming and stockraising, meeting with success in his agricultural efforts. In politics he is a democrat and both he and wife are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. and Mrs. Simon have four children, namely: Reinhold W.; E. A., who is a farmer near Natoma, Kansas; Alma, who resided with her parents; and E. C., who resided on the home farm near Natoma.

Reinhold W. Simon attended the country schools in Lincoln County and spent one year in the Beverly High School. In 1905 he entered business life, for one year being a clerk in a hardware store at Lincoln and for the same length of time served in the same capacity in a dry goods store at Waldo, Kansas, returning then to the home farm near Natoma. In 1913 Mr. Simon went to Montana and remained a year there and then returned to Natoma to accept the position of assistant cashier in the Natoma State Bank and continued there until 1916, in which year he came to Westfall as cashier of the Westfall State Bank.

The Westfall State Bank was established August 7, 1916, by H. C. Smithers and others, with a paid in capital of $10,000. It does a general banking business and is a great accommodation to the local trade as well as the farming community. The present officers of the bank are: H. C. Smithers, of Salina, Kansas, president; C. A. Robinson, of Salina, vice president; Reinhold W. Simon, cashier.

Mr. Simon had never been particularly active in the political field and is an independent voter. He is interested in the development of Westfall, where he owned a number of desirable building lots and expresses his confidence in the substantial expansion of every enterprise in the place as time goes on. He is a member of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Simon is unmarried.

Source: A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans

  Go Back