Joshua Green. (turned Peoples Bank and Trust Co. into one of the most successful financial institutions) (Puget Sound Business Hall of Fame 1993)

His 80-year career included both a shipping success and a career as one of this region's banking giants

Joshua Green is best remembered as the man who took over a failing bank and turned it into one of the region's most successful financial institutions -- Peoples Bank and Trust Co. But long before becoming a banker, he was known for his business savvy as founder of a thriving steamship company that played a major role in the Alaskan Gold Rush.

Green was born in Jackson, Miss., in 1869, to a prominent family whose roots trace back to Colonial times. His mother was related to Sen. Thomas Hart Benton, the Missouri legislator who was instrumental in making the Oregon Territory part of the United States.

In 1886, Green's family moved to Seattle where, at age 17, he took a job as a chainman …