The Charles L. Masters Scholarship was established in 2008 to assist dedicated students of FCN Bank employees in completing their senior or final year of study in order to receive their B.A. or B.S. Degree.
One of five children, Charlie Masters grew up on Fairfield Avenue in Brookville. He graduated from Brookville High School and went into business with his father, Jacob, and older brother, Frank, at Master’s Grain, Seed and Hardware Store on Main Street in Brookville. His understanding of farming and agriculture was greatly increased when he purchased a small dairy farm outside of Laurel. During the Great Depression, he donated milk daily to all the schools, churches and needy families in Brookville and Laurel.
He was a hard-working and dedicated farmer, but his true expertise was commodities, specifically, coal. An astute businessman, he recognized at the beginning of the twentieth century the enormous importance of the conversion from wood-burning as a power source to coal fired stoves, engines and power plants. In 1900, Mr. Masters built a coal warehouse at the end of Sixth Street next to the railroad tracks. Again, in times of need and bitter cold winters, Charlie Masters gave away tons of coal to schools, churches and families in need. It was a common joke around Brookville at Christmas time, “I hope Charlie puts lots of coal in your stocking!”
When one of the six original founders of the FCN Bank, Louis Federmann, passed away in 1919, Charles Masters was elected to fill the position. The “coal Man” would insure that the new bank in Brookville would never again be cold in the wintertime. On January 10, 1922, Mr. Masters was elected Vice-President. On March 6, 1936, following the death of William Senour, one of the bank’s original founders and President for twenty-two years, Mr. Masters became the bank’s fourth president. He served as President of the bank for thirteen years until he was 84 years old, for a total of 30 years as Director, Vice-President and President. Before his death on August 12, 1949, President Masters was elected the first Chairmand of the Board in the history of FCN Bank.
Charlie Masters had one goal as President of FCN Bank – to be a friend to his fellow farmers, his fellow small-town business owners and the individual customer – from the very young to the very senior. More than anything in the world, he and his wife of 53 years, Isadore Harding Masters, loved Brookville and Franklin County. They both believed in the importance of sharing and giving back to our teachers and schools, our churches, our neighbors and our children.