The oldest banker in Cleveland, and probably the oldest active banker in the State, is Truman P. Handy, now president of the Merchants National Bank. He has been identified with the banking business of Cleveland from his first arrival in the city, thirty-seven years ago, and throughout the whole time has been a successful financier, managing the institutions under his charge with unvarying skill and good fortune.

Mr. Handy was born in Paris, Oneida county, New York, January 17th, 1807. He had the advantage of a good academical education, and made preparation for entering college, which, however, he did not do, and at the close of his school term, spent the remaining time, until his eighteenth year, upon his father's farm, with the exception of two winters in which he taught school.

On reaching his eighteenth year it was decided that he should enter on a commercial life, and a year or two were spent in stores in Utica and New Hartford, N. Y., leaving the latter place in October, 1826, to take a position in the Bank of Geneva, Ontario county, N. Y., of which the Kev. H. Dwight was president. With this commenced Mr. Handy's long banking career. Five years were spent in this bank and then he accepted an invitation to remove to Buffalo, for the purpose of assisting in the organization of the Bank of Buffalo, of which he was made teller, and remained one year in that position. In March, 1832, the young banker married Miss Harriet N. Hall, of Geneva, and with his bride set out on the wedding tour, which was also one of business, to Cleveland.

Under other circumstances the journey would scarcely be deemed a pleasant one. It was in early Spring, and the weather was still inclement. The roads were bad, and the lumbering stage floundered heavily through mud, and amid obstructions that made the way one of discomfort, not unmixed with peril, for six weary days, between Geneva and Cleveland. But in addition to the fact that it was a bridal tour, the young couple were cheered by the prospect before them. The charter of the old Commercial Bank of Lake Erie, established in 1816, and which had gone under, had been purchased by the Hon. George Bancroft and his family in Massachusetts, and it was designed to resuscitate it under better auspices. Mr. Handy had been invited to become the cashier, and in pursuance of his acceptance of the invitation, was, with his bride, on his way to Cleveland.

The bank was organized on his arrival and commenced business on the lot now occupied by the Merchants National Bank, at the corner of Superior and Bank streets, the bank lot running back to the present site of the Herald building. Leonard Case, the president of the old Bank of Lake Erie, was president of the resuscitated bank, with T. P. Handy as cashier. It did a thriving business until 1842, when the term of its charter expired, and the Legislature refused to renew it, compelling the bank to go into liquidation. When the great crash of 1837 occurred, the bank had been compelled to take real estate in settlement of the liabilities of its involved customers, and thus the corporation became one of the greatest landholders of the city. Had the property been retained by the bank owners, it would by this time have been worth to them many millions of dollars.

The close of the bank and the winding up of its affairs necessitated the disposal of the real estate for the purpose of dividing the assets among the stockholders. Messrs. T. P. Handy, H. B. Payne, and Dudley Baldwin were appointed commissioners to close up the affairs of the bank and discharge its liabilities. This being done, the remaining cash and real estate were divided among the stockholders, who appointed Mr. Handy their trustee to dispose of the property. This was accomplished in 1845, when Mr. Handy made his final settlement. During the time subsequent to the close of the bank, he had been carrying on a private banking business under the name of T. P. Handy & Co.

In the Winter of 1845, the State Legislature passed a law authorizing the establishment of the State Bank of Ohio, and of independent banks. In November of that year, Mr. Handy organized the Commercial Branch of the State Bank of Ohio, with a capital of one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and took position in it as cashier, the president being William A. Otis, and the directors, additional to Messrs. Otis and Handy, being John M. Woolsey, N. C. Winslow, and Jonathan Gillett. Mr. Handy was the acting manager of the institution, and so successful was his conduct of its affairs that the stockholders received an average of nearly twenty per cent. on their investment through nearly the whole time until the termination of its charter in 1865, a period of twenty years. His policy was liberal, but with remarkable judgment he avoided hazardous risks, and whilst the bank always had as much business as it could possibly accommodate, the tightest times never affected its credit.

Whilst the Commercial Branch Bank was having such uninterrupted success, the Merchants Branch of the State Bank of Ohio, on the same street, was experiencing a run of bad fortune. The failure of the Ohio Life and Trust Company embarrassed it for a time, and other causes conspired with this to cripple its resources. In 1861, the stockholders invited Mr. Handy to take charge of its affairs as president, and he accepted the trust. His usual success followed him to his new position, and the affairs of the bank were suddenly and permanently improved.

In February, 1865, in common with most of the State banking institutions, the Merchants Branch Bank stockholders decided to wind up the concern as a State institution, and avail themselves of the provisions of the National Banking Act. The Merchants National Bank was organized with an authorized capital of one million of dollars, of which six hundred thousand dollars was paid in, Mr. Handy assuming the presidency, and having associated with him in the management, Messrs. T. M. Kelley, M. Barnett, William Collins, James F. Clark, Samuel L. Mather, and William Bingham. Under this management the bank has thus far had an uninterrupted tide of prosperity, with every prospect of its continuance.

It is not alone as a banker that Mr. Handy has made himself prominent among the citizens of Cleveland, He has been intimately connected with other enterprises tending to increase the prosperity of the city, and it is remarkable that all the undertakings he has been connected with have proved profitable, to himself to a greater or less extent, as might be expected, but in a far greater degree to others, the stockholders, for whose interests he was laboring. Few, if any, men in Cleveland have made more money for others than has Mr. Handy.

In addition to his banking duties, he filled the position from 1850 to 1860, of treasurer of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati railroad, and managed its finances with that skill and ability which were peculiarly needed in the earlier portion of that period, when the road was an experiment, carried on under the heaviest difficulties. In 1860, he resigned his position as treasurer, and is now a director in that company. He has also been interested in other railroads centering in Cleveland.

In 1856, a Cleveland built schooner left the lakes for the ocean, and crossed the Atlantic to Liverpool, thus commencing the direct trade between the lakes and European ports. In 1857, another Cleveland built vessel was sent across, loaded with staves and lumber, and returned with crockery and iron. The success of these Tentures attracted the attention of the enterprising business men of the lakes, and in the Spring of 1858, a fleet of ten vessels left Cleveland, all but one loaded with staves and lumber, for European ports. Their departure was marked by demonstrations on the part of the authorities and leading men of business, and with a fair breeze and good wishes the fleet bore away for salt water. Of the ten vessels, three were sent by Mr. Handy, the R. H. Harmon, bound for Liverpool, the D. B. Sexton, for London, and the J. F. Warner, for Glasgow. All of the vessels made quick and profitable trips, and the trade thus begun has been carried on with profit to the present time, although at the breaking out of the war American vessels were compelled to withdraw from it, leaving the enterprise wholly in the hands of English parties, who purchased vessels for the trade.

Whilst his vessels were in Europe, Mr. Handy availed himself of the opportunity to visit Great Britain and the Continent, to attend to his interests, and at the same time to study some of the institutions of the old world, especially the financial, religious and educational. In educational matters he had always taken a deep interest, having watched with a careful eye the growth of the public schools of Cleveland, and for some time was associated with Mr. Charles Bradburn in their management, as members of the Board of Education. And this, which was wholly a labor of love, with no remuneration but the consciousness of having done some good by hard work, was the only public office ever held by Mr. Handy, or ever desired by him. At the same time he was deeply interested in the growth and management of the Sunday schools of the city, and for many years has taken a leading part in all movements calculated to extend their field of usefulness and increase their efficiency. In Great Britain he visited the Sunday schools and was warmly welcomed by teachers and scholars, who were greatly interested in his account of the working of Sunday schools here, whilst the narration of his experiences on that side of the Atlantic frequently delighted the scholars at home on his return.

Although rapidly approaching the period allotted by the psalmist to man as his term of life, Mr. Handy is still as full of vigor and business energy as much younger men, and is as earnest as of old in managing large financial undertakings, or in teaching his class in Sunday school. His heart is as young at sixty-two, as at twenty-seven, and the secret of his continued health and vigor undoubtedly lies in his temperate and upright life, his kindly disposition, and that simple cheerfulness of spirit that makes him thoroughly at home in the society of children, who, in their turn, are thoroughly at home with him. One of the most energetic and successful of business men, he has never allowed business to so engross his time and attention as to leave no opportunity for religions or social duties or enjoyments. In this way he has won the confidence and esteem of all classes of citizens as a successful financier, a good citizen, a man of the strictest probity, a warm friend, and a genial acquaintance.

Mr. Handy has but one child living, a daughter, now the wife of Mr. John S. Newberry, of Detroit. His only other child, a boy, died in infancy.

[Illustration: C. Bradburn]