Orra E. Monnette

Orra Eugene Monnette (1873–1936) was an attorney, author and banker. Monnette was also the Founder of the Bank of America, L.A..

Orra E. Monnette was born in southern Crawford County, Ohio to Mervin J. Monnette and Olive Hull Monnette. Monnette's father was involved in farming, raising stock, and banking. Mervin J. Monnette, along with his brother's established Monnett, Ohio in southern Crawford County Ohio for the purposes of shipping cattle to the markets north of their farms. His family were staunch members of the Methodist Episcopal Church (aka "M.E. Church") which is now part of the modern United Methodist Church. Monnette's great grandfather was the Reverend Jeremiah Crabb Monnett, an itinerant Methodist Episcopal preacher who lead the settlement of Southern Crawford County by M.E. Church members.

Monnette attended Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, where he joined the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. A first cousin of his grandfather – Mary Monnett Bain – had donated a sizable sum to the college in the 1850s which resulted in the building of Monnett Hall. In his youth, Monnette also helped in the organization of subscriptions for the building of Monnett Memorial M. E. Chapel in Crawford County Ohio.

Monnette was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1896, practicing in Bucyrus, Ohio, and later relocating to Toledo, Ohio. He was admitted to the California bar in 1909.

While Monnette was trained as an attorney, his father’s foray into mining in 1904-1906 changed his career path. In 1906, the elder Monnette struck a significant gold vein in the previously thought tapped out Mohawk Mine, Tonopah, Nevada (near Goldfield, Nevada). The strike, known as the Monnette-Hayes Lease set records for the value of the ore shipped in 1906. Eventually, Mervin Monnette realized a $5,000,000 profit on the Mohawk, which he assigned to his son for investment.

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