Fred Thatcher Sponable, president of the Miami County National Bank of Paola, was born at Gardner, Johnson county, Kansas, Jan. 25, 1866, a son of John Warren Sponable (see sketch). When he was seven years of age his parents removed to Paola, where he was educated in the public schools, and in July, 1887, when twenty-one years old, entered the employ of the Wyandotte National Bank, at Kansas City, Kan., as a clerk. Later he was promoted to the position of assistant cashier and continued in that capacity until 1889, when he went to Kansas City, Mo., and was engaged in the banking business there until 1891. He then came to Paola and served as assistant cashier of the Miami County National Bank until the death of his father, when he succeeded to the presidency, assuming the duties of the office on Jan. 9, 1900. The Miami County National Bank has been doing a successful banking business for over thirty-seven years and is recognized as one of the strong financial institutions of eastern Kansas. Mr. Sponable has served as its president continuously from 1900 to the present, and is also interested in other banks in Kansas and Missouri. His long experience in financial affairs, with a natural talent and foresight, has qualified him for the position he holds. He is conservative without being non-progressive, knows when the bank's interests require him to say "no" to a proposition, and is always on the alert to advance the interests of the stockholders and depositors, realizing that their welfare mutually depends upon a well conducted financial institution. Politically he is a Republican, but has not been an aspirant for public honors and is liberal in his views. Genial in disposition and reliable in business affairs, Mr. Sponable commands the friendship of a large number of people in Miami county and the confidence and esteem of all who know him.