David Frederick Mims

DAVID FREDERICK MIMS, cashier of the First National Bank of Garden City, is one of the "boys" who grew up in that town and has lived there continuously since 1884. The First National Bank when it took him on the payroll fixed upon him the responsibility of lighting the fires and sweeping out the bank office in addition to a certain routine of clerical performance. He rose steadily in the estimation of his superiors and in ability acquired by experience, and is today the life of the bank in matters of management and has also acquired for himself an enviable position in the esteem of his fellow citizens.

Mr. Mims was born in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, June 15, 1873, and was eleven years of age when his parents moved to Garden City in September, 1884. His grandfather, David A. Mims, Sr., was a native of Virginia and from there settled in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, where he was a merchant for many years before his death. Though a slave holder, he freed his colored people before the war and was strongly Union in sentiment. His family consisted of three children: Col. David A.; Albert, and Mrs. Mary Young, of Catlettsburg, Kentucky.

Col. David A. Mims, father of the Garden City banker, was born in Kentucky and when the war came on he became colonel of the Thirty-Ninth Kentucky Infantry. He saw considerable active service in the mountain regions of Kentucky and Virginia, and went through the struggle without wounds. However, the service resulted in constitutional troubles that were more or less a handicap through all his subsequent career though they did not prevent him from earning a high place in business and civic affairs. On coming to Garden City, Kansas, Colonel Mims entered the newspaper business, at first with the Garden City Sentinel and later was with the Garden City Imprint at the time of his death. He also did a real estate business and was a man of acknowledged prominence and leadership in the republican party. He filled the office of mayor of Garden City, register of deeds of Finney County, and always carried a solid backing behind him when he entered republican conventions. He was a member of the Masonic Order and a very devout Methodist, being one of the trustees of the church at Garden City. Colonel Mims died in 1903, at the age of sixty-eight. He married Anna M. Frederick, a native of Pennsylvania. She is now living at Pasadena, California, at the age of eighty-two. Their children were: Mrs. J. H. Borders, of Pasadena; D. Frederick; and Mrs. M. C. Ready, who died in Florida in 1916.

David Frederick Mims completed his education in the Garden City schools, and left high school three months before completing the course. His first banking experience was with the Hoisington State Bank, where he remained two years. Returning to Garden City, he entered the First National Bank, and did janitor work as well as kept the books. After seven years he was promoted to assistant cashier, filled that position eleven years, and since 1911 has been cashier and active manager, having succeeded Thomas Lynn.

The First National Bank of Garden City is the oldest financial institution of the town, having been organized in 1886. Its capital stock is $50,000. The officers are: George T. Inge, president; C. V. Chalfont, vice president; Mr. Mims, cashier; and E. L. Stephens, assistant cashier.

For a period of eleven years Mr. Mims was treasurer of the local schools of Garden City. He has never identified himself with practical politics, though he always casts his vote, having first supported Mr. McKinley in 1896. He is a member of most of the lodges of Garden City, though not a leader in matters of fraternalism. He is a member of the Methodist Church. Besides his work as a banker Mr. Mims has contributed to Garden City one of its choice homes and has found a great deal of pleasure in the improvement of his grounds. Mr. Mims married in this city January 17, 1900, Edith M. Dunn. Her father, Frank Dunn, was an early settler and long a merchant in Garden City. Mrs. Mims has two sisters, Mrs. R. W. Heilwarth, of Dodge City, and Mrs. R. P. Pixley, of Clovis, New Mexico. Mr. and Mrs. Mims have three children: David McBeth, Eleanor and Catherine.