Commercial National Bank of Shreveport, LA (Charter 3600)

Postcard, ca1920s, of the Commercial National Bank of Shreveport, Louisiana. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

Commercial National Bank of Shreveport, LA (Chartered 1886 - Liquidated 1933)

Town History

Interior of the Commercial National Bank, ca1915. At top left, interior looking towards president's office; at top right, main banking room with tellers' cages; at bottom left, view of entrance from lobby; at bottom right, view of lobby showing mezzanine in background.

Shreveport is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, of which it is the parish seat. It extends along the west bank of the Red River into neighboring Bossier Parish. The 2020 census tabulation for the city's population was 201,573, while the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area had a population of 393,406. In 1880, the population was 8,009, growing to 76,655 by 1930.

Shreveport was founded in 1836 by the Shreve Town Company, a corporation established to develop a town at the juncture of the newly navigable Red River and the Texas Trail, an overland route into the newly independent Republic of Texas. It grew throughout the 20th century and, after the discovery of oil in Louisiana, became a national center for the oil industry. Standard Oil of Louisiana and United Gas Corporation were headquartered in the city until the 1960s and 1980s, respectively. After the loss of jobs in the oil industry, the closure of General Motors' Shreveport Operations, and other economic problems, it struggled with a declining population, poverty, drugs, and violent crime. However, the city continues in its efforts to revitalize its infrastructure, revive the economy through diversification, and lower crime.

Shreveport is the educational, commercial and cultural center of the Ark-La-Tex region, where Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas meet. It is the location of Centenary College of Louisiana, Louisiana State University Shreveport, Louisiana Tech University Shreveport, Southern University at Shreveport, and Louisiana Baptist University. It forms part of the I-20 Cyber Corridor linking Shreveport to Dallas and Atlanta. Companies with significant operations or headquarters in Shreveport are Amazon, Regions Financial Corporation, JPMorgan Chase, Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, AT&T Mobility, United Parcel Service, Walmart, SWEPCO, General Electric, UOP LLC, Calumet Specialty Products Partners, and APS Payroll.

Shreveport was established to create a town at the meeting point of the Brown Bricks and the Texas Trail. The Red River was made navigable by Captain Henry Miller Shreve, who led the United States Army Corps of Engineers efforts to clear the Red River. A 180-mile-long natural log jam, the Great Raft, had previously obstructed passage to shipping. Shreve used a specially modified riverboat, the Heliopolis, to remove the log jam. The company and the village of Shreve Town were named in Shreve's honor.

Shreve Town was originally contained within the boundaries of a piece of land sold to the company in 1835 by the indigenous Caddo Indians. In 1838 Caddo Parish was created from the large Natchitoches Parish, and Shreve Town became its parish seat. On March 20, 1839, the town was incorporated as Shreveport. Originally, the town consisted of 64 city blocks, created by eight streets running west from the Red River and eight streets running south from Cross Bayou, one of its tributaries.

Shreveport soon became a center of steamboat commerce, carrying mostly cotton and agricultural crops from the plantations of Caddo Parish. Shreveport also had a slave market, though slave trading was not as widespread as in other parts of the state. Steamboats plied the Red River, and stevedores loaded and unloaded cargo. By 1860, Shreveport had a population of 2,200 free people and 1,300 slaves within the city limits.

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

Bank History

Interior of the Commercial National Bank, ca1915. At top left, president's and vice president's office; at top right, directors' room; at bottom left, cashiers office; at bottom right, view of vault and ladies' desk.

Advertisement from 1932 showing the number of accounts, 31,393, held at the Commercial National Bank.

• Organized November 18, 1886
• Chartered December 9, 1886
• Succeeded McWilliams, McCutchen & Deming
• Absorbed Peoples Bank July 1904
• Absorbed 11521 July 12, 1930 in part with 3595 & 8440 who also absorbed it (Exchange National Bank, Shreveport, LA)
• Liquidated January 10, 1933
• Succeeded by 13648 (Commercial National Bank, Shreveport, LA)
• Circulation assumed by 13648 (Commercial National Bank, Shreveport, LA)

On December 3, 1886, Valentine P. Snyder, deputy and acting comptroller of the currency, authorized the Commercial National Bank of Shreveport to begin the business of banking. The bank succeeded the private banking firm of McWilliams, McCutchen and Deming, the two former officers figuring very prominently in the affairs of Shreveport and the later becoming a pioneer of Los Angeles. The bank began with a capital of $100,000.

J.G. McWilliams was the first president; S.B. McCutchen, vice president; and R.R. Deming, cashier. In May 1887, R.R. Deming resigned as cashier and moved from Shreveport to Los Angeles. Four years later on January 14, 1890, Mr. McCutchen was elected president. On July 1, 1891, Capt. McWilliams was re-elected president and the minutes show that at this time Capt. Peter Youree became identified with the institution and was elected vice president. Capt. McWilliams remained at the head of the institution until January 1894, when Capt. Simon Levy, Jr., was elected and on his death in 1898, Capt. Youree became president.

On Thursday, June 9, 1904, the People's Bank was sold to the Commercial National Bank of Shreveport. The transfer of the cash and deposits on hand was made in the morning as a result of the approval of the sale by stockholders the previous evening. According to Capt. John M. Tucker, "The depositors will be paid dollar for dollar. A small net low will result to the stockholders..." The sale was made due to the fact that with its deposits, the bank couldn't make money and continuing the business would result in greater loss to stockholders. The bank had deposits $51,400, cash on hand $40,000 and total assets amounting to $106,361. The Peoples' Bank was organized about 18 months earlier with paid up capital stock of $50,000. Mr. John M. Tucker, long-recognized as a leading financier in both Natchitoches and Shreveport, was president; Dr. J. Ashton Blanchard, a leading physician and surgeon of Shreveport, first vice president; A.D. Saenger of the well-known drug firm of Saenger Brothers, second vice president. The clerical force consisted of F.H. Gosman, Jr., cashier; and W.B. Allums, bookkeeper.

In June 1909, E.K. Smith, a prominent banker of Texarkana, Arkansas, moved to Shreveport having been selected as first vice president and managing director of the Commercial National. Mr. Smith became president of the bank in August 1914 following the death of Capt. Youree in July. The bank and the region had prospered under Capt. Youree, it having negotiated the sale and purchase of all the bonds of the city, financed practically every large building and the new traffic bridge across the Red River. The good roads of Caddo Parish declared to be the best in the country were made possible through the Commercial National and Capt. Youree's vision of hard surface highways extending to every point in the parish. E. Kirby Smith began his banking career at Orlando, Florida when as a very young man he was identified with the Merchants Bank there. In 1894 he moved to Texarkana and organized the State National Bank which was followed later by the organization of the State Savings and Trust Co. and the erection of a $300,000 bank building in Texarkana. He was president of the Arkansas Bankers' Assotiation and for three years was a member of the executive council of the American Bankers' Association. When the Federal Reserve Bank at Dallas was inaugurated, Mr. Smith was elected to the board of directors representing member banks of Louisiana as a Class A director. Further recognition of Mr. Smith's business ability was shown by his appointment as a member of the executive committee of the National Currency Association of Louisiana and Mississippi when it was organized for the purpose of issuing emergency currency as provided for by the Aldrich-Vreeland Act. He was also appointed as a member of the Louisiana loan committee for the distribution of the $135,000,000 cotton loan fund.

In August 1914, A.T. Kahn was elected vice president. He began his career as a runner for the old Merchants and Farmers Bank without salary. He was president of the Shreveport National from 1901 to 1903. His connection with the Commercial National began in 1898 when he became an individual bookkeeper. The following year he was elected assistant cashier and in 1904 was made cashier. A.H. Van Hook was made cashier in 1914; he began as a bookkeeper in the Commercial National Bank in 1898. He came to Shreveport from Marshall, Texas in 1896 and for two years before studied law and was licensed to practice by the Supreme Court of the State. He was made assistant cashier in 1900 and acting cashier during the years 1901 through 1903. He became cashier in August 1914. E.A. Conway, Jr., was a Louisianan born in Shreveport, receiving his education in the public schools with a finishing course at the College of Marshall, Texas. He began in the auditor's office of the Texas & Pacific Railway in Dallas, transferring to Shreveport. In 1905 he began in the banking business with the Louisiana Bank & Trust Co. and later entered the Continental Bank & Trust Co. He entered the Commercial National Bank in 1909 and along with Marmaduke "Duke" Ricks was an assistant cashier. Mr. Ricks began his banking experience in the Bank of Mansfield at Mansfield, Louisiana. later he organized the Bank of Coushatta, a very successful institution, and the Bank of Colfax, a leading bank of the state. Mr. Ricks was an assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Shreveport, but came to the Commercial National six years earlier. The directors were J. Dellinger, capitalist; E.R. Bernstein, merchant and capitalist; S.G. Sample, oil operator and capitalist; Herman Loeb, cotton factor; Thomas C. Barret, Lieutenant Governor, State of Louisiana; E. Hagg, showman and capitalist; Abe Meyer, capitalist; J.M. Robinson, planter; J.A. Blanchard, capitalist; T.S. Hutchinson, planter; J.C. Rives, capitalist; P.P. Keith, planter; A.J. Peavy, lumber manufacturer; E.K. Smith, president; A.T. Kahn, vice president; and A.H. Van Hook, cashier.

On Friday, February 14, 1930, pending reorganization, the Exchange Bank and Trust Company and Exchange National Bank of Shreveport closed their doors by the order of the boards of directors. Minor Meriwether, president of the bank issued a statement following the closing giving assurance depositors would be amply protected and that the bank would be reopened. Local banking institutions were cooperating with the directors in the reorganization of the institution. Notices of the suspension placed on the front door of the bank were signed by Roy Marcom and J.S. Bartee, vice presidents of the Exchange Bank and Trust Co. and Exchange National Bank, respectively. The Exchange banks had a capital stock of $300,000 with $52,000 in surplus on December 31, 1929. The total resources on that date were $3,917,271.40. The total deposits amounted to $3,424,296.10.  Officers and directors were Minor Meriwether, president; F.H. O'Dell, vice president; J.S. Bartee, vice president and trust officer; Roy Marcom, vice president and assistant trust officer; William F. Myatt, assistant cashier and H.M. Mulkey, auditor.  The directors were J.S. Bartee, Charles S. Blish, Yandell Boatner, E.I. Davis, Harold DeGeneres, Sam Gullo, W.H. Johnson, V.C. Megarity, Minor Meriwether, K.W. Railsback, W.H. Robinson, and J.Y. Snyder.

In June 1931, Lloyd D. Leeper, assistant cashier of the Commercial National Bank was promoted to assistant vice president. Mr. Leeper was also treasurer and director of the Commercial National Company and a member of the discount committee of the Commercial National Bank. Mr. Leeper served 14 months in the motor transport corps with the rank of sergeant first class. Following the war he entered the Merchants and Farmers Bank of Mena, Arkansas as a clerk and was elected assistant cashier the following year. He resigned that position and became associated with the Exchange National Bank of Shreveport and was later elected an assistant cashier. He resigned to accept a position with the Commercial National Bank as teller and department manager. He was made treasurer and director of the Commercial National Company serving in that capacity until September 1, 1929 when he was elected assistant cashier of the Commercial National Bank. In December 1931, the directors of the Commercial National Bank were M.L. Bath, R.D. Crowell, F.H. Ford, E.A. Frost, S.D. Hunter, T.S. Hutchinson, Ben Johnson, J. Katzenstein, R.M. Kelly, P.P. Keith, F.D. Lee, M.M. Levy, C.R. Minor, R.T. Moore, Val H. Murrell, E.G. Palmer, A.J. Peavy, E.T. Robinson, J.M. Robinson, J.H. Rowland, J.R. Russell, S.G. Sample, J.C. Simon, T.G. Sinclair, C.E. Slagle, W.P. Stiles, A.H. Van Hook, J.K. Wadley, S.P. Weaver, N.H. Wheless, F.T. Whited, Jr., Sam Wiener, Jr., P.C. Willis, and G.D. Wray.

On Tuesday, January 10, 1933, the shareholders of the Commercial National Bank of Shreveport unanimously ratified the action of its board of directors in the sale of all of its assets to Commercial National Bank in Shreveport (Charter 13648). The sale of the bank was made by the directors on December 5, and at that time officers and directors of the new bank were elected for the year 1933. They were F.D. Lee, chairman of the board; Val H. Murrell, president; Jacob Embry, executive vice president; S.G. Sample, P.C. Willis, and L.D. Leeper, vice presidents; J.G. O'Brien, vice president and trust officer; A.O. Graves, assistant vice president; J.A. Walden, cashier; P.A. Turner, O.G. Bell, and R.F. Sebastian, assistant cashiers; F.P. Stubbs, Jr., and Guy Kolb, assistant trust officers. The directors elected were F.D. Lee, E.A. Frost, S.D. Hunter, E.G. Palmer, Jacob Embry, C.R. Minor, Val H. Murrell, J.M. Robinson, E.T. Robinson, S.G. Sample, N.H. Wheless, Sam Wiener, Jr., and Geo. D. Wray.

In July 1941, A.F. Rawlings was the receiver of the old Commercial National Bank of Shreveport. A group of assets was sold in a block at public auction wo W.P. Leonard of Shreveport for $7,000. The assets consisted primarily of past due notes on what was considered poor or doubtful security, a large part of which was stock in suspended business and banking institutions, some real estate and mineral holdings in northwest Louisiana and Arkansas. The assets were offered for sale on an individual basis and a total of only $3,025 was bid. Under the law, the entire group was offered in bulk and bidding started at $5,000, the offer made by W.F. Wallace of Dallas. Clare C. Clarke, attorney, and Mr. Leonard ran the bidding up to $7,000, at which point the sale was made.

Official Bank Title

1: The Commercial National Bank of Shreveport, LA

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of James H. Ross, Cashier and S. Levy, Jr., Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1902 Date Back $100 bank note with printed signatures of E.A. Conway, Cashier and Ben Johnson, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with stamped signatures of Val H. Murrell, Cashier and Ben Johnson, President. This is an error note with an inverted back. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1929 Type 1 $100 bank note with printed signatures of J.A. Walden, Cashier and Ben Johnson, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $9,822,970 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1886 and 1933. This consisted of a total of 1,129,650 notes (824,520 large size and 305,130 small size notes).

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

Series/Type	Sheet/Denoms	Serial#s	Sheet Comments
1882 Brown Back	4x5	1 - 1045
1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 14977
1902 Red Seal	50-100	1 - 3000
1902 Date Back	4x5	1 - 41333
1902 Date Back	50-100	1 - 3000
1902 Date Back	3x50-100	1 - 6735
1902 Plain Back	4x5	41334 - 178367
1902 Plain Back	3x50-100	6736 - 8741
1929 Type 1	6x5	1 - 48331
1929 Type 1	6x50	1 - 1879
1929 Type 1	6x100	1 - 645

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1886 - 1933):

Presidents:

• John Gordon McWilliams, 1886-1889
• Samford Brown McCutchen, Sr., 1890-1890
• John Gordon McWilliams, 1891-1891
• Peter Youree, 1892-1893
• Capt. Simon Levy, Jr. , 1894-1897
• Peter Youree, 1898-1910
• Edmund Kirby Smith, 1910-1910
• Peter Youree, 1910-1913
• Edmund Kirby Smith, 1914-1920
• Samuel Guy Sample, 1921-1921
• Ben Johnson, 1922-1931
• Val H. Murrell, 1932-1932

Cashiers:

• Ralph Richard Deming, (Sr.), 1886-1887
• Samford Brown McCutchen, Sr., 1887-1889
• Thomas Levert Stringfellow, 1890-1892
• James Hopkins Ross, 1893-1898
• Samuel McKay Watson, 1899-1901
• Arthur T. Kahn, 1904-1913
• Albert Hervey Van Hook, Jr., 1914-1920
• Eugene Augustus Conway, Jr., 1921-1923
• Val H. Murrell, 1924-1928
• John Arthur Walden, 1929-1932

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• Commercial National Bank of Shreveport, LA History (NB Lookup)
• Louisiana Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Shreveport, LA, 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