This bank was established by Gray Brothers & Co., in 1870, the company consisting of Gray Brothers, and Messrs. Rice and Ambler. In the Spring of 1872, S. A. Browne & Co. were added to the company, J. G. Gray retired, and the institution received the name of Oceana County Bank, which it retained until 1877, when Nielsen & Co. (F. Nielsen and W. E. Ambler) assumed the entire control, and still operate it. Capital stock, $15,000, and outside capital $30,000. the bank i 1873, sustained losses by the Franklin Bank, of Chicago, and Henry Clews & Co., New York, which, though crippling, did not cause it to close its doors, and it paid all demands. The present firm have raised the institution from a low ebb to a very enviable state. The building is a very fine one, and elegantly appointed. The foundation of the large vault is of stone, and the walls are of solid brick, sixteen to twenty inches in thickness, while the safe, of Hall make, wwighs five tons, and is of extra thickness and strength, with a time lock, having three combinations.
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