Fred E. TEALE who is the efficient and popular cashier of the Farmers & Traders State Bank at Leon, has occupied that position since the establishment of the bank in 1894. He was born near Lamoni on the 22d of October, 1869, a son of Thomas and Lucinda (GRAHAM) TEALE, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. He attended school at Des Moines, Leon, Lamoni, Davis City and Decatur City and after leaving high school completed his education by taking a commercial course at the Western Normal College at Shenandoah. About 1885, when still in his teens, he became connected with merchandising at Lamoni and was later connected with mercantile establishments in Leon and Weldon. For the past twenty years, however, he has given his attention to banking. Before he became connected with the Farmers & Traders State Bank at Leon he was in a bank at Lamoni which his father and his brothers organized in 1892 and which they sold in 1894. In that year the father organized the Farmers & Traders State Bank, of which he is president and our subject cashier. The latter is also financially interested in the Leon Savings Bank at Leon, the Iowa State Bank at Mount Ayr and the Farmers State Bank of Lamoni, of which he is president. He understands banking thoroughly in principle and detail and has proved an excellent cashier, at once safeguarding the interests of depositors and stockholders and promoting the legitimate expansion of business in his community. He has invested heavily in farming and is interested in the Continental Hotel at Centerville.

Mr. TEALE was married to Miss Eugenia SANKEY, a daughter of E. J. SANKEY, who is mentioned more at length on another page of this work. Mrs. TEALE was reared in this [Decatur] county and is a graduate of the Leon high school. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is in sympathy with the varied work of that organization. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children: Freda Marie, who was born in Lamoni and who is now the wife of C. E. STEUBER, assistant cashier of the Farmers & Traders State Bank; and Robert M., a native of Leon, who is attending the Liberal arts College of the State University of Iowa.

Mr. TEALE has erected a fine residence in Leon and has thoroughly identified his interests with those of the city, doing all in his power to promote not only its advancement along line of business development but also its moral and civic progress. He is highly esteemed and sincerely respected and has many warm friends.

SOURCES:
HOWELL, J. M. & CONOMAN, Heman. History of Decatur County, Iowa, and Its People Vol. II. Pp. 71-72. S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Chicago. 1915.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, February of 2009