Farmers National Bank, Tazewell, VA (Charter 11533)

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NEEDED: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.
NEEDED: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Farmers National Bank, Tazewell, VA (Chartered 1919 - Liquidated 1930)

Town History

Main Street looking east down the street car tracks, Tazewell, Virginia, ca 1892. The second building on the left was the Bank of Clinch Valley.
Main Street looking east down the street car tracks, Tazewell, Virginia, ca 1892. The second building on the left was the Bank of Clinch Valley.

Tazewell (/tæz.wɛl/) is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia. The population was 4,627 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area, which has a population of 107,578. It is the county seat of Tazewell County. Tazewell, Virginia, Tazewell County, Virginia as well as Tazewell County, Illinois are named in honor of Littleton Waller Tazewell (December 17, 1774 – May 6, 1860), a Virginia lawyer, plantation owner and politician who served as U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator and the 26th Governor of Virginia, as well as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.

Named Jeffersonville until 1892, Tazewell was developed near the headwaters of the Clinch River. It is one of the smallest towns in the United States to have once operated a street car. It is in a county that underwent rapid growth in population at the end of the 19th century during the period of the coal and iron boom, as resources of the Pocahontas Coalfields were exploited.

Tazewell had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

  • Organized October 14, 1919
  • Chartered December 5, 1919
  • Liquidated February 21, 1930
  • Absorbed by Farmers Bank of Clinch Valley

On December 5, 1919, the comptroller of the Currency, John Skelton Williams, authorized the Farmers National Bank of Tazewell, Virginia to commence the business of banking. At the end of January, 1920, Cashier Aaron Russ expected to open the bank on Monday, February 2, 1920, although the the furniture had not yet arrived. Also in February, Miss Grace Sutherland of Honaker arrived in Tazewell and began working as assistant cashier of the Farmers National Bank. The old brick building composing the eastern part of the Jeffersonville Hotel was transformed into a beautiful and commodious banking room. The bank purchased the building from the Ward Brothers and Chapman who still owned the hotel part of the block.

In January 1921, the stockholders elected the following directors: H.E. Harman, A.Z. Litz, J.A. Greever, S.B. Ward, Dr. R.P. Copenhaver, John I. Debord, H.G. McCall, R.C. Chapman, E.R. Boyd, John G. O'Keeffe, and Aaron Russ. The new board elected the following officers: R.C. Chapman, president; H.E. Harman, vice president; and Aaron Russ, cashier.

In May 1921, work on the front of the Farmers National Bank was finished. Kella stone was used and it was an artistic piece of work.

On February 25, 1930, the Farmers Bank of Clinch Valley, a combination of the Farmers National Bank and the Bank of Clinch Valley, opened with the largest capital stock and total resources of any bank in Tazewell County. The officers were R.C. Chapman, chairman of the board; R.O. Crockett, president; Aaron Russ, acting vice president; Henry Prestoil, vice president; C. Henry Harman, vice president; A.Z. Litz, vice president; Glenn M. St. Clair, Cashier; W.C. Baugh, assistant cashier; and J.N. Johnston, assistant cashier.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: Farmers National Bank of Tazewell, VA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $20 bank note with printed signatures of Aaron Russ, Cashier and R.C. Chapman, President.
1902 Plain Back $20 bank note with printed signatures of Aaron Russ, Cashier and R.C. Chapman, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of A. Russ, Cashier and R.C. Chapman, President. The overprinting plates were made by the Government Printing Office (GPO).
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of A. Russ, Cashier and R.C. Chapman, President. The overprinting plates were made by the Government Printing Office (GPO). Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $469,660 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1919 and 1930. This consisted of a total of 37,478 notes (35,888 large size and 1,590 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 3x10-20 1 - 8972
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 179
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 86

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1919 - 1930):

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

  • Tazewell, VA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tazewell,_Virginia
  • 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
  • Clinch Valley News, Tazewell, VA, Fri., Dec. 12, 1919.
  • Clinch Valley News, Tazewell, VA, Fri., Jan. 30, 1920.
  • Clinch Valley News, Tazewell, VA, Fri., Feb. 27, 1920.
  • Clinch Valley News, Tazewell, VA, Fri., Jan. 21, 1921.
  • Clinch Valley News, Tazewell, VA, Fri., May 27, 1921.
  • The Bristol Herald Courier, Bristol, TN, Mon. Feb. 24, 1930.
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