MOBLEY, Mordecai

MOBLEY, Mordecai. (Wellsburg, Brook County, VA, Aug.29, 1800-Washington, D.C. June 26, 1887). Banker. Mobley was one of the early settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois. He was deeply affected by the preaching of Dr. Robert Foster and became an active Christian. Mobley served the Clerk of the Tazwell County Commissioners Court; clerk of the district court, and recorder and judge of probate and postmaster of Springfield, Illinois. He was elected as a representative in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1826-1827.

Mobley came to Dubuque in 1850 and worked to establish a church of the Disciples of Christ. After several years of working as a cashier at the MINERS BANK, Mobley purchased controlling interest and renamed it M. Mobley's Bank. In 1853 he was chairman of the citizens' fire committee. In 1857 he was treasurer of the Dubuque Times which was first published on June 15th.

A rumor against the M. Mobley bank caused a heavy run there by depositors on September 11, 1857 and by the German and Irish population which held his certificates of deposit. Observing this run, a notice was promptly issued by forty of the best business concerns and wealthiest citizens of the city pledging themselves to sustain "his entire ability to redeem any promise or other pecuniary liability at call." The men thus voluntarily backing Mr. Mobley were worth nearly $4,000,000. Mobley's bank suspended operations and closed its doors early in December, 1857. He issued a card in which he stated that his assets to the amount of over $100,000 over all liabilities would be turned over to his creditors if they so desired. He would keep back nothing except enough to feed and clothe his family. He said that all creditors would be paid in full.

Mobley reopened his bank again late in May, 1858. He was the oldest banker here. The charge was made that the post notes of the Harbor Company caused the suspension of the Mobley bank. This was ridiculed by Mobley who said that they had aided him. He needed them, because otherwise, in order to obtain currency, he was obliged to send gold to Chicago and that course could not long continue.

In 1859, Mobley was appointed Receiver of Public Lands by Zachery Taylor. Mobley’s friendship with newly elected President Abraham Lincoln resulted in him obtaining work with the Bureau of Public Lands. In 1866 he became a pension agent and served until 1868. He was the Chief Clerk of the Land Department from 1868 until 1878.

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Sources:

Hayes, Nathaniel S. History of the Disciples of Christ in Illinois 1819-1914. Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Company, 1915 p. 573 (online)

google.com/site/sharringtonsite/Home/genealogy/sources--new-york-times

Oldt, Franklin T. History of Dubuque County. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/franklin-t-oldt/history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl/page-13-history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl.shtml