First National Bank, Claremore, OK (Charter 4987)

A 1907 advertisement for the First National Bank of Claremore, Indian Territory.

First National Bank, Claremore, OK (Chartered 1895 - Liquidated 1928)

Town History

Needed: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Claremore is a city and the county seat of Rogers County in Green Country of northeastern Oklahoma. The population was 19,580 at the 2020 census, a 5.4 percent increase over the figure of 18,581 recorded in 2010. Located in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, the town is part of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area and home to Rogers State University. It is best known as the home of early 20th-century entertainer Will Rogers.

This area was part of the territory of the Osage, but they were forced out under a treaty with the United States. During the Indian Removal period and until statehood, this area was a reserve of the Cherokee Nation, which had been removed from its territory in the Southeast United States. This was within what was known as the Cherokee Cooweescoowee District.

The Rogers family, for whom the county is named, were among the first European-American settlers. Clem Rogers, father of the famous entertainer Will Rogers, moved to the county in 1856. He acquired lands for his Dog Iron Ranch that eventually consisted of more than 60,000 acres. The Clem Rogers home (Will Rogers' birthplace), still stands outside Oologah, and is considered an important historical site. Clem Rogers was a major advocate of Oklahoma statehood; he was the oldest delegate to the state's Constitutional Convention in 1907 at age 69. He and other members of his family were buried at the Will Rogers Memorial.

A post office was established on June 25, 1874. The coming of railways to Indian Territory was the driving factor in early growth. Two early lines intersected in the center of town. The town changed the spelling of its name from Clermont to Claremore on September 19, 1882. A clerk recording the town as having a post office had spelled the name incorrectly, and it stuck. The town was incorporated in the Cherokee Nation on May 2, 1903. The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! is set in Claremore and the surrounding area, in 1906 (the year before Oklahoma became a State).

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

Bank History

Organized February 22, 1895
Chartered March 2, 1895
Liquidated March 30, 1928
Succeeded by Bank of Commerce, Claremore

On March 2, 1895, the Comptroller of the Currency, James H. Eckels, authorized The First National Bank of Claremore, Indian Territory, to begin the business of banking. C.F. Godbey was selected as the cashier of the new bank at Claremore and was coming from a bank in Vinita. After four months in operation, the First National Bank's statement of May 7th showed it had on deposit $11,085.45, loans and discounts $27,203.68, and undivided profits of $650.69 and no surplus. By July, the bank was able to nearly double its deposits and add $1,000 to its surplus.

Upon organization, Clem Rogers became Vice President of the First National Bank of Claremore, a position he held until his death in 1911. Rogers was the father of entertainer Will Rogers.

In an advertisement from 1907, the officers were W.E. Halsell, president; C.V. Rogers, vice president; C.F. Godbey, cashier; and H.E. Hulen, assistant cashier. The directors were W.E. Halsell, John Dirickson, J.O. Hall, C.V. Rogers, and C.B. Littlefield. The ad gave the bank's capital and surplus as $79,000 and stated it was the Oldest and strongest bank and the Only National Bank in Claremore.

On January 10, 1922, the same officers and directors were re-elected. The officers were as follows: G.D. Davis, president; W.F. Hays, vice president; G.O. Bayless, cashier; B.H. Bayless, assistant cashier; B.J. See, assistant cashier. The directors were G.D. Davis, F.J. Davis, M.M. Bayless, G.O. Bayless, R.R. Bayless, and W.F. Hays. The bank at the end of 1921 had $800,652.74 on deposit.

The statement of condition dated February 28, 1928 showed Loans and Discounts of $105,939.05; Real estate, furniture & fixtures of $18,736.65; capital stock of $50,000; surplus and profits of $5,620.43.

On April 4, 1928, surrender of the charter and reorganization under the name of the Bank of Commerce with a state charter was announced by C. Graves Shull, state bank commissioner. The bank was capitalized at $25,000 and had a surplus of $5,000. F.V. Askew was president of the bank. On April 5th an ad appeared in local papers stating the Change to a State charter had been made for purely economic reasons and purposes and had been contemplated by the directors for some time as the expense of operating under a national charter as compared with the same service under a state charter did not seem justified. The new Bank of Commerce was operated by the same stockholders, directors and officers as the former First National. The Officers were F.V. Askew, president; C.B. Holtzendorff, vice president; and Ivan L. Miller, cashier. The directors were G.B. Cogswell, Morris Haas, J.T. Goddard, C.B. Holtzendorff, and F.V. Askew.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Claremore, OK

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $20 Proof from The First National Bank of Claremore, Indian Territories. The approval date was March 27, 1895.

1882 Date Back $10 Proof for The First National Bank of Claremore, Oklahoma. The plate was altered into date back form; its use for printing Brown Backs can be traced by the 8 different sets of printer's initials in the upper left. The approval date was August 14, 1908 and the plate date of Nov. 16, 1907 reflects the date Oklahoma was admitted as a state.

A total of $196,300 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1895 and 1928. This consisted of a total of 15,704 notes (15,704 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
1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 1240	Territory, Indian
1882 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 884
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 500
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	501 - 1802

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1895 - 1928):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Known Bank Note Signers

No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

Sources

Claremore, OK, 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 Weekly Chieftain, Vinita, OK, Thu., Jan. 3, 1895.
Claremore Progress, Claremore, OK, Sat., Apr. 13, 1895.
Claremore Progress, Claremore, OK, Sat., July 27, 1895.
Claremore Progress, Claremore, OK, Sat., Jan. 5, 1907.
Claremore Progress, Claremore, OK, Thu., Jan. 12, 1922.
Claremore Progress, Claremore, OK, Thu., Mar. 8, 1928
The Wichita Beacon, Wichita, KS, Wed., Apr. 4, 1928.
The Claremore Messenger, Claremore, OK, Thu., Apr. 5, 1928.