Rexburg Banker, Business Investor, and Landowner Ross J. Comstock [otd 07/22]

Long-time Rexburg pioneer Ross J. Comstock was born on July 22, 1875 in a remote part of northeast Missouri. The Comstocks had been among the earliest emigrants to New England, settling in Connecticut around 1637. Thus, several of Ross’s forebears fought for the Colonies during the American Revolution. His line moved to Missouri about the time of the Civil War.

Ross J. Comstock. [Hawley]

He said little about his early life, other than that he was on his own as a teenager. Thus, he married young, in 1893. Comstock also developed an interest in banking. He was perhaps drawn to Rexburg after rail service reached there in late 1899 [blog, November 22].

Comstock arrived some time in 1900 and began making business contacts. In 1903 he invested in a mining company and an electric power plant. Then, in December, he and some of the same investors established the First National Bank of Rexburg. Comstock was the cashier. Two years later, he helped form the Idaho State Bankers’ Association. During this time, he also served as a Director for the Fremont County Bank in Sugar City.

But he also continued his interest in mining investments, and, in 1907, added a share in a Rexburg implement company to his portfolio. That same year, he helped arrange a consolidation between a hydroelectric power company in Sugar City and a Rexburg outfit that used coal-fired generation.

In keeping with all his other interests, in the summer of 1910 Comstock led the formation of  a “League of Commercial Clubs,” encompassing town clubs from Blackfoot to Ashton. The intent was to spur joint efforts to promote all of the Upper Snake River Valley. Ross became the League’s first president. About six week later, he became president of the First National Bank of Rexburg.

First National Bank of Rexburg. Rexburg Historical Society.

Comstock did not slow down in the new decade. He helped organize a Fremont County Fair Association, and ran the Crystal Lake Irrigated Lands Company on the side. Besides other customers, the company provided water to farmland that Ross owned. Plus, in 1915, he helped found the First National Bank of Ririe. By 1919, he would be president of that bank.

During World War I, Comstock served on the county committee organized for broad-based support of the war effort. Even that wasn’t quite enough. He also chaired the Building Committee for the Rexburg Presbyterian Church. A new building was dedicated in the spring of 1918, at which time Ross was recognized as an Elder of the church.

After the war, as mentioned in several other blog items, the farm sector suffered a severe, and long-lasting recession. Thus, Comstock played a major role in creating two companies to funnel Federal loans to hard-pressed farmers and ranchers. In 1922, Ross was elected president of the Idaho State Bankers’ Association. He then presided over the 1923 Annual Meeting, which was held in Idaho Falls.

But in August 1924, the Idaho Statesman announced the closure of three eastern Idaho banks: one in Montpelier, plus the First National Bank of Rexburg and the First National Bank of Ririe. Comstock was, of course, then president of those two banks.

The three joined a host of banks nation-wide that failed because their business depended almost entirely upon farming and ranching. Ross encountered some short-term hostility for his part in the disaster, but people eventually understood that the banks had been crippled by forces beyond anyone’s control.

Still, Comstock left banking and never went back. He turned to dealing in real estate and insurance, plus management of his other investments. Ross J. Comstock passed away from pancreatic cancer in July 1947.
                                                                               

References: [Hawley]

“Comstock Heads Idaho Bankers,” Coastal Banker, Coastal Banker Publishing Company, San Francisco, California (June 1922).

“[Comstock News],” Idaho Statesman, Boise; Idaho Falls Times, Times-Register, Daily Post, Post-Register, Idaho Falls; Deseret News, Salt Lake Herald, Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City; Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah (October 1900 – July 1947).

David L. Crowder, Rexburg, Idaho: The First One Hundred Years, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., Caldwell, Idaho (1983).