Decatur National Bank, Decatur, IL (Charter 2124)

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Decatur National Bank, Decatur, IL (Chartered 1873 - Liquidated 1893)

Town History

Decatur (/dɪˈkeɪtər/ dih-KAY-tər) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. Decatur is the seventeenth-most populous city in Illinois. The city is named after War of 1812 naval hero Stephen Decatur.

The city is home of private Millikin University and public Richland Community College. Decatur has an economy based on industrial and agricultural commodity processing and production, including the North American headquarters of agricultural conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland, international agribusiness Tate & Lyle's largest corn-processing plant, and the designing and manufacturing facilities for Caterpillar Inc.'s wheel-tractor scrapers, compactors, large wheel loaders, mining class motor grader, off-highway trucks, and large mining trucks.

Decatur was the first home in Illinois of Abraham Lincoln, who settled just west of Decatur with his family in 1830. At the age of 21, Lincoln gave his first political speech in Decatur about the importance of Sangamon River navigation that caught the attention of Illinois political leaders. As a lawyer on the 8th Judicial Circuit, Lincoln made frequent stops in Decatur and argued five cases in the log courthouse that stood on the corner of Main & Main Streets.

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

Bank History

The Decatur National Bank was organized in 1873 with capital of $100,000 with A.T. Hill, president; D.S. Shellabarger, vice president; and J.P. Moore, cashier. The stockholders listed in 1874 were A.T. Hill, W.B. Tuell, W.T. Sylvester, J.W. Mount, W.C. Johns, D.S. Shellabarger, J.W. Race, Col. W.H. Harris, C.J. Barrackman, Eli Brenneman, Thomas Hays, Wm. Bowers, D.W. Brenneman, Peter D. Kline, Samuel Anderson, James C. Lake, John Shellabarger, N.A. White, A.J. Gallagher, Jerome Anderson, and James F. Montgomery.

On May 31, 1893, The Decatur National Bank became the National Bank of Decatur with a capital stock of $100,000 and surplus of $100,000. The new bank had the same board of directors and officers as the Decatur National Bank and succeeded the business of the Decatur National Bank, in liquidation by reason of expiration of its charter.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Decatur National Bank, Decatur, IL

Bank Note Types Issued

Series of 1875 $5 bank note with pen signatures of B.O. McReynolds, Cashier and A.T. Hill, President.
Series of 1875 $5 bank note with pen signatures of B.O. McReynolds, Cashier and A.T. Hill, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $263,080 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1873 and 1893. This consisted of a total of 67,316 notes (67,316 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
Original Series 3x1-2 1 - 4900
Original Series 4x5 1 - 5525
Series 1875 4x5 1 - 6404

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1873 - 1893):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

  • There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

  • Decatur, IL, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decatur,_Illinois
  • 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
  • Decatur Weekly Republican, Decatur, IL, Thu., Nov. 5, 1874.
  • Herald and Review, Decatur, IL, Sat., June 10, 1893.
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