Boonville National Bank, Boonville, MO (Charter 10915)
Boonville National Bank, Boonville, MO (Chartered 1916 - Receivership 1932)
Town History
Boonville is a city and the county seat of Cooper County, Missouri. It is part of the Columbia, Missouri metropolitan area.
The community derives its name from Nathan and Daniel Morgan Boone, who were the sons of Daniel Boone and established their salt business near the community in the early 1800s, delivering their product from salt licks to St. Louis. The area has been called "Boone's Lick" and the route from the lick to St. Charles/St. Louis, Missouri is called the Boone's Lick Trail. The eastern terminus near Boonville at Franklin, Missouri is considered the original start of the Santa Fe Trail. Boonville was named the county seat in 1818. The city was the site of a skirmish early in the Civil War, on July 17, 1861. Union forces defeated the Missouri State Guard in the first Battle of Boonville. In 1860, the population was 2,596, growing to 4,377 by 1900. The population was 7,964 at the 2020 census.
Boonville had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized October 24, 1916
- Chartered October 28, 1916
- Succeeded 1584 (Central National Bank, Boonville, MO)
- Receivership June 21, 1932
On October 27, 1916, the Central National Bank, one of the first national banks west of the Mississippi and for half a century the leading banking institution of Central Missouri, went out of business through liquidation. A new bank organized in its stead known as the Boonville National Bank, began business the next day. Stockholders in the Central National, according to local estimates, will lose from 10 to 50 percent. Some of the assets of the bank were scattered, and many of them in loans that would be hard to collect. A.H. Stephens, assistant cashier of the bank, was in a St. Joseph sanitarium, suffering from a nervous breakdown. Lon V. Stephens, former Governor of Missouri, was the vice president and W. Speed Stephens was the cashier. The Central National had a capital of $200,000 and had been in business since the close of the Civil War.
In July 1918, E.E. Amick enlisted at the Navy recruiting statin in Kansas City. He was accepted as an apprentice seaman. In August 1918, the Boonville National Bank applied with the Comptroller of the Currency for an increase in capital stock from $75,000 to $200,000. The application was made for the purpose of merging the national bank with the Farmers Bank and the Citizens Bank and Trust Company. Mr. Frank Sauter would be active president during the absence of Mr. E.E. Amick, currently on furlough until September 9th from the Paymaster's Office of the Navy Department at Chicago.
On August 7, 1919, it was reported that E.E. Amick was the best janitor the bank ever had. Eugene Earl Amick, vice president of the First National Bank of Kansas City, now drawing $10,000 a year, started mopping up the floors of the Bank of Bunceton at a salary somewhat less than $10 a month. Back in 1901 the Bank of Bunceton wanted a janitor and Amick, then 15 years old, needed a job. He put in extra time helping the bookkeeper. When the bookkeeper became sick, Amick mounted a tall tool when not busy with the broom. He became as good a bookkeeper as he was a janitor and was assigned to the position permanently with a salary raised to $112.50 a month. Three years later he was made assistant cashier. He worked for some time, then asked for more pay. The officers concluded that Amick, an 18-year-old boy, was drawing enough money. The youth shook the dust of Bunceton from his feet and went to St. Louis where he took a position in a large bank. Immediately Bunceton missed the assistant cashier and an S.O.S. call was made for him. He returned at a largely increased salary. Five years later he was elected to succeed his uncle as cashier of the Bank of Bunceton. No one thought that the bank would do more than hold the business it had acquired under Amick's management, but under the seven years he was cashier, it earned 40% per annum. In 1916. when the Central National Bank was liquidated and the Boonville National organized, Amick was made its president. The bank opened its doors with $270,000 deposits in October, 1916 and today was the largest bank in a town of 5,000 in the United States. It was the largest in Central Missouri, regardless of the size of the towns. When Amick was made president of the bank he was the youngest in the state. Amick was succeeded by B.M. Lester, who would be the youngest president of a national bank in the State of Missouri. He beats Amick's record by one year. He started at the age of 15, as did Amick.
On October 7, 1925, the Boonville National Bank announced that Dr. A.W. Nelson, Democratic nominee for governor in 1924, would become president, succeeding B.M. Lester, the retiring president. Dr. Nelson would continue to actively manage Eastwood Farms. The Boonville bank had resources of $2 million and more the 5,000 depositors.
On June 16, 1932 the Boonville National Bank failed to open and posted a notice stating it was in the hands of the comptroller of the currency. The bank was ordered closed by Robert Neill, chief national bank examiner of the 8th Federal Reserve District after meeting with the Board of Directors. Neill said the bank had exhausted its available funds. No irregularities were found. The bank had total resources of $1,500,000 and deposits of approximately $629,000. In March, Dr. A.W. Nelson and his son-in-law, Walter S. Semple, prosecuting attorney of Cooper County, lost their lives, drowning in the Lake of the Ozarks when their boat capsized. Dr. Nelson was believed to have been the largest stockholder in the bank. After the drowning, reorganization steps were taken, but steady withdrawal of deposits started before the directors could complete the work.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Boonville National Bank, Boonville, MO
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,837,720 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1916 and 1932. This consisted of a total of 239,144 notes (191,972 large size and 47,172 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 30967 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 17026 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 4840 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2346 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 676
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1916 - 1932):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Missouri Bank Note History
- General information on Boonville (Wikipedia)
- General information on Cooper County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Missouri (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Boonville, MO, 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
- Barns, C.R. (Chancy Rufus), Ed., The Commonwealth of Missouri, a Centennial Record, St. Louis, Bryan, Brand & Co., 1877.
- The St. Louis Star and Times, St. Louis, MO, Sat., Oct. 28, 1916.
- The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, MO, Fri., July 26, 1918.
- The Evening Missourian, Columbia, MO, Thu., Aug. 22, 1918.
- The St. Joseph Observer, Sat., Aug. 31, 1918.
- The St. Louis Star and Times, St. Louis, MO, Thu., Aug. 7, 1919.
- The Kansas City Times, Kansas City, MO, Thu., Oct. 8, 1925.
- Jefferson City Post-Tribune, Jefferson City, MO, Thu., June 16, 1932.