William R. Craven
The progressive steps in the business career of William R. Craven are easily discernable and have brought him to his present position of responsibility as secretary of the Dayton Savings Bank & Trust Company. He thus figures prominently in the financial circles of the city and few, if any, are more thoroughly informed concerning important questions of finance.
A native of Butler County, Ohio, Mr. Craven was born in the town of Monroe in 1862 and the following year his parents removed to Middletown, Ohio, coming thence to Dayton in 1869. He was thus largely reared in this city and its public school system afforded him his educational privileges. He made good use of his opportunities in that direction until he reached the age of eighteen years, when in 1880 he entered business life, securing a clerkship in the office of the American Express Company. There his close application, industry and reliability won him promotion from time to time until he became cashier and in 1891 he was appointed agent in Dayton for the Adams Express Company, in which connection he controlled an extensive business for the corporation. For three years he thus served and in 1894 entered into active relations with the financial interests of the city as teller in the Third National Bank. Nine years were devoted to that work and in 1903 he accepted his present position as secretary of the Dayton Savings Bank & Trust Company, for which his previous experience well qualified him. As the years have gone by his activities have reached out into other fields and have brought him substantial results. He is now the vice president of the Enterprise Building & Loan Association and is one of the directors of the Home Telephone Company.
In 1892, in Union City, Indiana, Mr. Craven was married to Miss Mary Pierce and they have one daughter, Dorothy. Mr. Craven has become prominent in Masonry as he has advanced through the different degrees and is now a representative of the Commandery, the Consistory and the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Royal Arcanum, while religiously he is connected with the Grace Methodist Episcopal church. He votes with the republican party but otherwise is not active in politics.
As a financier Mr. Craven ranks among the ablest and in business affairs is prompt, energetic and notably reliable. He is watchful of all details and of all indications pointing to success and the prosperity that has crowned his efforts is the merited reward of a life of industry. He started out when a young man of eighteen years without capital or influential friends to aid him, but, brooking no obstacles that could be overcome by honest effort, he has worked his way steadily upward until he has left the ranks of the many and stands among the successful few—a man honored and esteemed wherever known and most of all where he is best known.
From History of the City of Dayton and Montgomery County Ohio, Volume II, by Rev. A. W. Drury, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1909