American National Bank, Roanoke, VA (Charter 10532)

At left, a drawing from 1926 showing the planned addition of five stories to the American National Bank Building, and at right, the American National Bank, located at the corner of Campbell Avenue and 1st Street, ca2019.  Courtesy of Google Maps

American National Bank, Roanoke, VA (Chartered 1914 - Closed 1929)

Town History

1913 advertisement for the Bank of Commerce, Incorporated.

Roanoke is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Southwest Virginia along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanoke is approximately 50 miles north of the Virginia–North Carolina border and 250 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., along Interstate 81. At the 2020 census, Roanoke's population was 100,011, making it the most-populous city in Virginia west of the state capital Richmond. It is the primary population center of the Roanoke metropolitan area, which had a population of 315,251 in 2020. In 1910 the population was 34,874 growing to 69,206 by 1930.

Roanoke is known for the Roanoke Star, an 88.5-foot-tall illuminated star that sits atop a mountain within the city's limits and is the origin of its nickname, "The Star City of the South". Other points of interest include the Hotel Roanoke, a 330-room Tudor Revival structure built by N&W in 1882, the Taubman Museum of Art, designed by architect Randall Stout, and the city's farmer's market, the oldest continuously operating open-air market in the state. The Roanoke Valley features 26 miles of greenways with bicycle and pedestrian trails, and the city's location in the Blue Ridge Mountains provides access to numerous outdoor recreation opportunities.

Roanoke had 10 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all 10 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

The Colonial-American National Bank advertising its opening on Monday morning, July 1, 1929.

• Organized April 23, 1914
• Chartered May 1, 1914
• Conversion of The Bank of Commerce, Incorporated, of Roanoke, Virginia
• Closed June 29, 1929
• Consolidated with 11817 June 29, 1929 (Colonial NB/Colonial-American NB, Roanoke, VA)
• Circulation assumed by 11817 (Colonial NB/Colonial-American NB, Roanoke, VA)

On Tuesday, January 14, 1913, the first meeting of the stockholders of the Bank of Commerce since they met to organize was held in the new bank building on West Church Avenue. After just 4 months of business, the deposits were well past the $100,000 mark. Three members were added to the board of directors. They were M.L. Parker, J.E. Easter, and R.Q. Mosby. The remainder of the board and officers were re-elected as follows: George H.P. Cole, president; W.G. Jones, first vice president; H.M. Darnall, second vice president; J.W. Penn, cashier; G.C. Holcomb, assistant cashier. The directors re-elected were J.F. Barbour, C.C. Blankenship, T.J. Carter, George H.P. Cole, John M. Cole, W.M. Cooke, H.M. Darnall, W.S. Downs, Dr. S.J. Gill, C.E. Holcomb, Dr. T.J. Hughes, A.L. Hughson, Dr. I.E. Huff, W.G. Jones, C.K. Lemon, J.A. Martin, J.W. Penn, J.J. Sheahan, and W.C. Turner.

The morning of May 1, 1914, the American National Bank, formerly the Bank of Commerce, opened for business as Roanoke's fourth national bank. Several weeks earlier this bank made application to the comptroller of the currency to become a national institution and instructions were received from John Skelton Williams, Comptroller of the Currency, to open as a national bank. The Bank of Commerce opened for business on September 3, 1912. The officers and directors of the American National were Dr. George H.P. Cole, chairman of the board; M.W. Turner, president; W.G. Jones and M.L. Parker, vice presidents; John W. Penn, cashier; and G.C. Holcomb, assistant cashier. The directors were J.F. Barbour, A.L. Hughson, John E. Easter, Dr. T.J. Hughes, T.J. Carter, W.G. Jones, C.C. Blankenship, Dr. I.E. Huff, M.L. Parker, Dr. George H.P. Cole, J.W. Barnard, B.F. Barrow, Jr., Dr. Frank S. Cooper, W.O. Giles, C.K. Lemon, M.W. Turner, J.J. Sheahan, W.M. Cook, J.W. Penn, R.Q. Mosby, Dr. S.J. Gill, C.E. Holcomb, W.S. Downs, and W.C. Turner.

On May 1, 1919, the young, but progressive American National Bank, before property values began to soar, purchased the very handsome three-story fire-proof building located on the southwest corner of Campbell Avenue and First Street. They moved into a portion of the building in May 1920 and succeeded in getting possession of the room on the corner formerly occupied by Henebry's Jewelry Store. That room was remodeled and would be occupied in September 1920. New vaults of the latest fire-and burglar-proof design were installed along with safe deposit boxes. The bank had recently increased its capital to $300,000 giving it, including surplus and undivided profits, $420,000 with total resources of over $2 million. The officers were M.W. Turner, president; M.L. Parker, S.S. Burch, James F. Lee, vice presidents; J.C. Davenport, active vice president; G.C. Holcomb, cashier; and D. Price Hylton, assistant cashier.

On March 8, 1924, Dr. George H.P. Cole, 67 year old retired capitalist, former chairman of the board of the American National Bank, died at his Washington, DC, residence. Dr. Cole was born in Northampton County, North Carolina in 1856. He studied medicine at the Medical College of Virginia at Richmond and the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, graduating from the latter in 1879. He practiced medicine in Virginia and for six years served as director of a North Carolina insane asylum. He entered the banking business in 1877 in North Carolina, establishing the State Bank of Commerce of Hendersonville, the Bank of Waynesville, and the Bank of Brevard. In 1899 he moved from North Carolina to Roanoke, Virginia and in 1903 organized the Peoples National Bank and the American Savings Bank, serving as president of the former bank.

On Tuesday, January 8, 1929, one change was made in the officials of the American National Bank where Cashier D.P. Hylton was named a director and succeeded B.E. Hiatt as trust officer. Officers elected were M.W. Turner, president; G.C. Holcomb, J.C. Davenport, M.L. Parker, and S.S. Burch, vice presidents; D.P. Hylton, cashier and trust officer; J.S. Moomaw and D.D. Alley, assistant cashiers. The directors were G.C. Armistead, B.F. Barrow, J.F. Barbour, T.J. Burke, S.S. Burch, J.C. Davenport, John E. Easter, W.O. Giles, C.E. Holcomb, G.C. Holcomb, A.L. Hughson, T.J. Hughes, D.P. Hylton, P.B. Jennings, C.K. Lemon, M.L. Parker, S.R. Price, N.W. Pugh, R.L. Rush, E.B. Stone, G.E. Trout, M.W. Turner, W.C. Turner, E.G. Upson, and G.A. Wingfield.

On April 30, 1929, directors of two of Roanoke's principal banking houses, the Colonial National and the American National banks approved the merger of the two institutions. Stockholders meetings were called for June 4 for approval of the plan. The combined institution would do business under the name of the Colonial-American National Bank of Roanoke with capital of $1,000,000 and a surplus of $500,000. As agreed upon by the two boards, the officers of the consolidated bank would be as follows: R.H. Angell, chairman of the board; M.W. Turner, vice president and chairman of the executive committee; W.W. Boxley, vice president and chairman of the finance committee; E.W. Tinsley, president; G.C. Holcomb, active vice president; George N. Dickinson, vice president and cashier; D.P. Hylton, vice president and trust officer; J.C. Davenport, H.L. Lawson, H.D. Guy, M.L. Parker, and S.S. Burch, vice presidents; L.R. Tucker, D.D. Alley, W.D. Hall, and J.S. Moomaw, assistant cashiers. All the present members of the boards would become members of the directorate of the consolidated institution. The new bank would occupy the handsome 12-story bank and office building which the Colonial National completed about two years ago. The Colonial-American National Bank opened for business on July 1st.

Official Bank Title

1: The American National Bank of Roanoke, VA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $20 bank note with stamped signatures of G.C. Holcomb, Cashier and M.W. Turner, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with stamped signatures of D.P. Hylton, Cashier and M.W. Turner, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $3,213,450 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1914 and 1929. This consisted of a total of 257,076 notes (257,076 large size and No small size notes).

This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:

Series/Type	Sheet/Denoms	Serial#s	Sheet Comments
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 4000
1902 DB/PB	3x10-20	4001 - 6000	Type uncertain
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	6001 - 64269

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1914 - 1929):

Presidents:

• Morton Willard Turner, 1914-1928

Cashiers:

• John W. Penn, 1914-1915
• Grover Cleveland Holcomb, 1916-1926
• Daniel Price Hylton, 1927-1928

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• American National Bank, Roanoke, VA History (NB Lookup)
• Virginia Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Roanoke, VA, on Wikipedia
• Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, A Guide with Prices. 6th Edition (Oxford, OH: The Paper Money Institute, 2008).
• Dean Oakes and John Hickman, Standard Catalog of National Bank Notes. 2nd Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1990).
• Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project