Obituary, The Indianapolis Star, Wed., June 15, 1921 
PIONEER BANKER AND FINANCIER OF CITY DIES. 
Volney Thomas Malott, 82, Prominent in Many Business Enterprises, Succumbs to Long Illness.
FUNERAL TO BE TOMORROW
Services Announced for 2:30 O'Clock at Home, 536 North Delaware.
     The funeral of Volney Thomas Malott, chairman of the board of directors of the Indiana National Bank, who died yesterday morning following a long illness, will be held tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the home, 536 North Delaware street. The service will be conducted by the Rev. Virgil E. Rorer, pastor of the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church, of whose board of trustees Mr. Malott was president. Burial will be in Crown Hill.
     Mr. Malott's death was the result of a heart attack following pneumonia. Mr. Malott had been confined to his bed since May 21. In October he underwent an operation at the Methodist hospital for the removal of an enlarged prostate gland, and at that time was in the hospital for about a month. After recovering from the operation, however, his health improved, and until the first heart attack he had been at his office every day. The second attack occurred within the last forty-eight hours.
     Leading Figure in City
     Mr. Malott had been a leading figure in the banking and business life of the city for years, having been connected with Indianapolis banking houses for sixty-six years. He was among the organizers of many local banks and took an active part in the early organization work of a number of railroads.
     Among the institutions in which he was a leading factor are the Indiana National Bank, Merchants National Bank, Union Trust Company, Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago Railroad, the Vandalia system, the Chicago & Atlantic Railway Company, now known as the Chicago and Western Indiana Railway Company.
     Mr. Malott was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, Sept. 9, 1838. He was a son of William H. and Leah Patterson Malott. His father, a prominent farmer, came to Indiana in 1841, moving to Salem, where, while yet less than 4 years old, Volney Thomas received his first schooling at a private school under Thomas May. Later he attended the Washington County seminary, of which John I. Morrison was the head. Two years after the death of the father Mrs. Malott was married to John F. Ramsay, and in 1837 the family moved to Indianapolis. Here Mr. Malott entered the private school of the Rev. William A. Holliday. He later attended the Marion County seminary and the old Indianapolis high school, now known as Shortridge high school.
     South Business Career.
     He realized early in life that he would have his own way to make and sought every opportunity to obtain a knowledge of business that would enable him to take up a business career. He worked steadily during his school vacations, first being employed at Roberts's drug store and later in Wilmot's hat store.
     When he was 15 years old, he had his first banking experience, obtaining employment during the vacation months in the Trader's bank, one of the state's "free" banks. There he learned counting methods and paid especial attention to judging spurious and counterfeit money. Under the tutelage of Chief Justice Byron K. Elliott, whom he later succeeded as teller in the Woolley banking house, he became an expert judge of counterfeit money. He entered the banking house of John Woolley & Co. when 16 years old, at the close of his school life. The Woolley bank later became the Bank of the Capitol.
     In 1857, Mr. Malott accepted a position as teller in the Indianapolis branch bank of the state of Indiana, at the time newly organized. This institution was the foundation of the present Indiana National bank, of which Mr. Malott, at the time of his death, was a director. He served for five years as teller, until in 1862 he refused an offer to serve as cashier and was elected a director, secretary and treasurer of the Peru & Indianapolis railroad. He took up the railroad position in order to give himself a wider range of experience, having in mind to return to the banking business later. With this object, he retained his membership in the board of directors of the Indianapolis branch bank of the state of Indiana, to which he was elected following his refusal to become a cashier.
     Organized Merchants Bank.
     In the spring of 1865 he obtained a charter for the Merchants National bank. In this enterprise he was associated with Henry and August Schnuil, Alexander Metzger and David Macy. The bank was opened June 7, and at the time he attempted to resign from his office with the railroad then known as Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago Railroad Company. The resignation was not accepted, however and until 1903 Mr. Malott remained actively engaged in both the banking and railroad business.
     The work became so strenuous however, that it affected his health, and in 1870, Mr. Malott resigned from the bank. On his resignation, he was asked to take over the work of building an extension of the railroad to Michigan City, Ind. He accepted and the work was completed in the spring of 1871. Later he was elected vice president and manager of the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago railroad. In 1881, the railroad came under the control of the Wabash Railroad Company and two years later Mr. Malott resigned to become vice president and manager of the Indianapolis Union Railway Company, operating the Belt railroad.
     Named Receiver for C. & A.
     In 1889 Mr. Malott was appointed receiver of the Chicago & Atlantic Railway Company by Judge Walter Q. Gresham of the United States District court. The railway now is known as the Chicago & Erie Railroad Company. The next year Mr. Malott was made president of the Chicago & Western Indiana Railway Company, operating the Chicago Belt railroad. Later he became chairman of the board of directors, in charge of the principal financial affairs of the railroad. He was elected a director of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago railroad in 1892 and served in that capacity while the lines were under the control of J. P. Morgan & Co. He resigned his position with the Chicago & Western Indiana and with the Chicago Belt railroads in 1895 to take a much needed rest with his family in Europe.
     Judge William A. Woods of the United States District court appointed Mr. Malott receiver for the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad Company in 1896. Included in the receivership were the lines leased by the company, known as the Vandalia system. During his receivership Mr. Malott operated both the East St. Louis & Carondolet railroad and the Detroit & Eel River railroad as trustee. He closed his receivership in 1905, when the system came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, now the Pennsylvania system. He remained, however, a director of the Vandalia system, and represented that road on the board of the Indianapolis Union railway until Jan. 1, 1917.
     Elected Bank President.
     Mr. Malott was elected president of the Merchants National bank in 1879, serving until 1882, when he transferred his holdings to the Indiana National bank. He was elected president of the latter institution and held that position until the consolidation of the Indiana National and the Capitol National banks July 1, 1912. Mr. Malott then was elected chairman of the board of directors of the Indiana National bank and continued in that position until his death.
     Mr. Malott, with John H. Holliday, organized the Union Trust Company in 1893, and for a number of years was a director and member of the executive committee.
    In the course of his long residence in the city, Mr. Malott became identified with many important civic and commercial organizations. He was an organizer and president of the board of managers of the Crown Hill Cemetery Association, a member of the Indianapolis Board of Trade and the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. He held membership in the Columbia Club and the University Club, at one time serving as president of the latter. He also was a director of the Indianapolis Art Association, and an honorary member of the Bankers' Club of Chicago.
     Among other things, he was a factor in the organization of the Indianapolis Public Library. A number of years ago, he and other prominent Indianapolis business men started a library. When their accumulation reached 8,000 volumes, they contracted with the city to take it over and increase the number of volumes to 20,000. This was the origin of the present city library.
     Married in 1862.
     In 1862 Mr. Malott married Caroline M. Macy, the daughter of David and Mary Macy of Indianapolis. In addition to Mrs. Malott, the following children survive, Mary Florence, wife of Woodbury T. Morris; Macy W. Malott, vice president of the Indiana National bank, Caroline Grace, wife of Edwin H. Forry, Katherine F., wife of Arthur V. Brown; Ella L., wife of Edgar H. Evans and Margaret P., wife of Paul H. White, all of Indianapolis.
     The directors of the Indiana National bank will meet this morning to take action on the death of their chairman, and in addition to personal expressions of their loss, they will draft resolutions of a more formal character.
     A tribute to Mr. Malott will be paid by the Indiana State Bankers' Association, which meets here next week. Since the time is so near it was deemed better to await the regular session rather than to call a special meeting for the purpose of voicing the loss which the profession has suffered in Indiana.
     Mr. Malott was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, Sept. 9, 1838. He was the son of William H. and Leah Patterson (McKeown) Malott. Mr. Malott came from an ancestry which has helped to make history in more than one section of the United States. His forefathers were distinguished for their intelligence, patriotism and ability.
     His grandfather, Hiram Malott, was a farmer. He moved to Kentucky about 1785 or 1790, where he owned and managed a plantation in Jefferson county. He served as a captain in the war of 1812, and as a result of his able service in the Kentucky militia, afterward became known as Maj. Malott. He passed the greater part of his last years on his planation where he died at the age of 63 years. His brother, Col. Daniel Malott, was closely connected with the political life of Ohio and at one time made the government survey of that state.
     The paternal great-grandfather of Mr. Malott was Peter Haas, a Swiss Mennonite pioneer of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Haas served in the revolutionary war as a member of the first Pennsylvania company to pass the committee of observation. Mr. Haas was a member of the Lancaster county committee of safety and observation, and distinguished himself by active work in ferreting out the enemies of the patriots. He was chosen to represent his county in the election of two brigadier generals of Pennsylvania Associators. He was noted for his patriotism and religious principles and was a man of wealth, thrift and influence, owning large tracts of land in Berks, Lancaster, Chester and Northampton counties. The Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock, so important a factor in the development of Pennsylvania was injected into the family through the marriage of Mr. Haas with Mary Boyer.
     Moved to Indiana in 1841.
     The father of Volney T. Malott was born in Kentucky and for many years was a farmer in that state, moving to Indiana in 1841, to enter business with his brother, Maj. Eli W. Malott. Under the firm name of Eli W. and William H. Malott, the brothers engaged in what was termed the "lower river trade," providing Louisiana planters with breadstuffs and provisions. Backed by the sound business judgment of the brothers, the business was a flourishing one. William H. Malott died, however, shortly after coming to Indiana. His death occurred in November, 1843, when he was only 32 years old.
     He was survived by his widow and two children, Volney Thomas and Mary Catherine Malott. Two other children died before reaching maturity. Mary Catherine Malott was married to Stephen Keyes Fletcher of Indianapolis and died in 1876. In 1847, Mrs. Malott was married to John F. Ramsay. She lived in Indianapolis until her death in May, 1904.
     Mrs. Malott, mother of Volney Thomas Malott, was a daughter of John and Catherine (Patterson) McKeown. John McKeown served under Gen. William Henry Harrison in the Indian War, later moving to Corydon, Ind. where Leah Patterson McKeown was born in 1815. Soon after the birth of the later, her father died, and the family returned to Kentucky.
     Prominent in Early History.
     Mrs. Malott was a granddaughter of Robert and Leah (Hughes) McKeown, and a great-granddaughter of Capt. John McKeown of Pennsylvania. The latter was prominent during the Revolutionary war, having enlisted in the Flying Camp in 1775. He was appointed adjutant of a regiment of Pennsylvania riflemen, and later was made captain in the 6th Pennsylvania rifle regiment, a Capt. John "McCowan" being named in the records of the regiment. The two presumably are identical. Capt. John McCowan, in 1778, was at Valley Forge. It is known that Capt. McKeown was in the battle of Long island and served in several Pennsylvania regiments. He represented Hanover township as a member of the committee of safety and observation, being elected to that office in 1775.
     The McKeowns were pioneers in Jefferson county, Kentucky. Three sons of Capt. McKeown, Robert, John and Morgan McKeown, having shared some of the most trying experiences of that early life in that country.
     The maternal grandfather of Volney Malott was John McKeown, a saddler at Jeffersontown, Ky. He was a soldier in the Indian war in Indiana, taking part in the battle of Tippecanoe. He married Catherine Patterson in 1808 and died in 1816.