First National Bank, Burlington, NC (Charter 8649)
First National Bank, Burlington, NC (Chartered 1907 - Receivership 1931)
Town History
Burlington is a city in Alamance and Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Alamance County, in which most of the city is located, and is a part of the Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point CSA. The population was 57,303 at the 2020 census, making Burlington the 18th largest city in North Carolina.
Alamance County was created when Orange County was partitioned in 1849. Early settlers included several groups of Quakers, many of which remain active in the Snow Camp area; German farmers; and Scots-Irish immigrants.
The need of the North Carolina Railroad in the 1850s to locate land where they could build, repair and do maintenance on its track was the genesis of Burlington, North Carolina. The company selected a piece of land slightly west of present-day Graham. On January 29, 1856, the last spikes were driven into the final tie of the North Carolina Railroad project, uniting the cities of Goldsboro and Charlotte by rail. The next day, the first locomotive passed along the new route.
Around the turn of the century, E.M. Holt established small textile operations along the Haw River and Great Alamance Creek. In 1908, E.M. Holt built a cotton mill. From the establishment of this single factory, Alamance County grew to eventually operate 30 cotton mills and 10 to 15 yarn manufacturing plants employing 15,000 people. Eventually, the early textile venture of E.M. Holt became known all over the world as Burlington Industries, and is now headquartered in nearby Greensboro. Throughout this period, Burlington became a prosperous and vibrant little city filled with schools, churches, newspapers, telegraph and telephone lines, roads and a streetcar line—all in keeping with the latest "modern progress" of the times.
Burlington had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized Apr 5, 1907
- Chartered Apr 18, 1907
- Conversion of The Peoples Bank of Burlington
- Opened for business Apr 20, 1907
- Receivership Dec 24, 1931
On April 18, 1907, the First National Bank of Burlington was chartered with capital of $50,000.
In August 1911, the officers were W.W. Lasley, president; Geo. W. Anthony, vice president; A.L. Davis, cashier; J.E. Lasley, assistant cashier and Roy W. Malone, bookkeeper.
On December 17, 1931, the doors of the First National Bank of Burlington were closed at 1:15 o'clock by direction of M.L. Barnett, a national bank examiner. Roy W. Malone, cashier of the bank, stated that the difficulty was due to the depression which had affected the value of stocks and bonds held as security. The values of the stocks and bods was thought to have depreciated below the capital and surplus figures of $200,000.
A campaign to sell $150,000 in capital stock to assure the reopening of the First National Bank of Burlington was completed at a mass meeting in Burlington on April 15, 1932. On May 13, the Comptroller of the Currency approved the charter, number 13613, for The National Bank of Burlington.
R.H. Whitehead, a prominent hosiery manufacturer of Burlington was elected president of the reorganized National Bank of Burlington which reopened on Monday, May 16, 1932. The cashier was Lewis J. Blakey, originally from Atlanta, Texas, who came to Burlington as the receiver for the failed First National Bank. He had worked in the War Department and then Treasury before he was appointed as receiver. In 1937, Mr. Blakey was elected president and he served in this position until his death in 1945.
In April 1934, assets with $271,231.11 in book value not taken over by the new bank would be auctioned. Amounts realized would be paid to the depositors' benefit, with a deduction of expenses incurred. Originally, those who waived 30% of deposits were guaranteed 70% of their deposits through certificates of deposit payable annually. The last of those certificates would be paid on May 16, 1934. The liquidating agents were L.J. Blakey, J.M. Fix, T.L. Scott, M.B. Smith, and R.H. Whitehead.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Burlington, NC
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,218,880 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1907 and 1931. This consisted of a total of 170,332 notes (146,860 large size and 23,472 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 1312 1902 Red Seal 4x10 1 - 1312 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 4200 1902 Date Back 4x10 1 - 4250 1902 Plain Back 4x5 4201 - 18908 1902 Plain Back 4x10 4251 - 15183 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 2668 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1244
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1907 - 1931):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- North Carolina Bank Note History
- General information on Burlington (Wikipedia)
- General information on Alamance County (Wikipedia)
- General information on North Carolina (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Burlington, NC, 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
- The Courier, Asheboro, NC Thu., Apr. 25, 1907.
- The Twice-a-Week Dispatch, Burlington, NC, Wed., Aug. 2, 1911.
- Statesville Record and Landmark, Statesville, NC, Fri., Dec. 18, 1931.
- The Charlotte News, Charlotte, NC, Fri., Apr. 15, 1932.
- The Charlotte News, Charlotte, NC, Fri., May 13, 1932.
- The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC, Sun., May 22, 1932.
- The Herald-Sun, Durham, NC, Thu., Mar. 8, 1945.
- The Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC, Mon., Apr. 9, 1934.