Farmer's Bank - 28 E. Cherry Street
Otis and Abbie Kimball, Charles Skeels, Charles Armstrong

Bank Saved by Buttons and Raccoon

One morning, Pearl Whitney looked out the window of The Sunbury News, where she worked and saw many men standing on the bank steps. It was already past time for the bank to open but it was still closed. Grabbing her canvass deposit bag, she filled it with all the money in the News office then ran home and took all the change she could find. This only amounted to a grand total of $3. Being resourceful, she remembered her button box which was full and proceeded to fill her deposit bag with buttons. Mrs. Whitney ran back to the bank and pushed herself through the group of men and pounded on the bank door shouting, "Mr. Armstrong, let me in. How is a person to run a business without a bank?" The men assumed she was making a large deposit and left the bank with their heads down. No one tried ‘to run’ it again and Charlie Armstrong, the banker, and Mrs. Whitney became good friends.

One morning the banker arrived at the bank to see the front door standing open and called the Marshall. Together they discovered the vault door had been dynamited but all the money was still on the shelves in the vault. Further investigation found a stuffed raccoon, which was usually displayed on the vault, on the floor near the front door. The Marshall decided the bank robber did not see the raccoon which became airborne during the blast and landed on the robber scarring him so much he left without the money. Henry Stith kept the raccoon and gave it to the Big Walnut Area Historical Society for the town museum.

Early Bank Employees

Back to Front:
  Otis Kimball
  Charles Armstrong
     Owen (Deacon) Kimball

Rudy Burrer
Banker 

1966 
Farmer's Bank

First 
National 
 Bank  

(04/01/2006 )