Robert Sturdivant: Cape's banking pioneer -- Part 2

Robert Sturdivant was a devoted benefactor to Cape Girardeau through education, fair association and evolvement of the railroad.

In March 1873, Louis Houck heard through friends in Jefferson City the state wanted to establish a college somewhere in the southeastern part of the state. The town which offered the highest monetary incentive would acquire the institution. Houck, who over the years sought the wise counsel of Sturdivant, asked his advise on the matter.

After the community leaders met at the Jackson courthouse, it became evident not everyone was not on the same page. After a long series of meetings, back and forth, it seemed Cape Girardeau could obtain the school if the $50,000 subscription money could be raised. With only minutes to spare at the St. Charles Hotel, Otto Buehrmann and Col. Sturdivant agreed to underwrite the bonds to secure the Third District Normal School for Cape Girardeau.

During the 1890s, it became apparent in order to obtain better attendance, the district fairgrounds needed to be moved to within walking distance of town. Sturdivant, a member of the association board and a supporter of agriculture, owned 40 acres at the corner of Broadway and West End Boulevard, which he agreed to sell for $2,000. (The deal was made, but some feel he never collected the money.) Eventually this area became the city's Capaha Park.

After the Civil War, interest in railroad building was revived. In 1880 Louis Houck offered Sturdivant a partnership. However, with health issues, Sturdivant declined. He did agree to assist Houck financially through bank loans to advance his railroad to the Arkansas line.

The Sturdivant Bank as it looked in about 1920. Note the name of the bank on column at the corner, as well as on the clock above it.Southeast Missourian archive

In January 1902, Sturdivant retired after 36 years of banking service. He had never married, but kept close to his siblings' families, whom he visited every summer.

Moving close to his niece in Georgia, Sturdivant died Oct. 10, 1905, in Tallapoosa.

His family honored his wishes by bringing his body back to Cape Girardeau to the home of Judge R.G. Ranney's Rosedale on North Main. He was buried in Old Lorimier Cemetery next to his sister and brother-in-law. An impressive granite and marble monument was erected in 1906.

The bank continued to operate on Main and Themis until the 1930s, when it moved to the H. & H. Building on Broadway. During the Depression, it ceased operations due to extenuating circumstances as told me by 97-year-old historian, Kenny Bender, whose father was cashier at the bank for many years including its final days. He explained, there were outstanding loans to farmers in the drained Southeast Missouri swamplands who couldn't make their payments. Also the State of Missouri called all their funds out of the bank back to Jefferson City and lastly, President Franklin Roosevelt changed the bank regulations, requiring a certain amount of capital reserves be in a bank. "The bank just couldn't survive as the trustees decided to shut the doors." It was a difficult time for the Bender family as it was for many others.