First National Bank, Collinsville, AL (Charter 11337)
First National Bank, Collinsville, AL (Chartered 1919 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Collinsville is a town in DeKalb and Cherokee counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It was incorporated in 1887. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,983. In 1920 the population was 793, growing to 892 by 1930.
The town is located in the Little Wills Valley, between Lookout Mountain to the east and the smaller Big Ridge to the west. Taking I-59, Fort Payne is 15 miles to the northeast, or Gadsden is 23 miles to the southwest.
Collinsville had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized March 15, 1919
- Chartered April 21, 1919
- Conversion of The Farmers & Merchants Bank, Collinsville
- Bank was Open past 1935
- Acquired by the Tennessee Valley Bank, Decatur, on August 26, 1937
In January 1919, a new bank organized at Collinsville, known as the First National Bank of Collinsville, Alabama, with capital of $25,000. Application was made for a charter according to H.M. Rosenbloom, one of the promoters. A building costing $7,000 was planned. W.E. Killian was president; J.D. Jordan, vice president; and W.S. Ward, temporary cashier. The directors were W.E. Killian, J.D. Jordan, W.A. Mitchell, R.I. Brown, and J.W. Blackwell.[1]
On Tuesday, January 10, 1922, stockholders held their annual meeting in the bank and re-elected the old board of directors. The board elected the following officers: O.L. Hall, president; Irby Hall, vice president; John Cox, cashier; Russell M. Crump, assistant cashier and Carl V. Porter, bookkeeper.[2]
On Thursday, August 26, 1937, the First National Bank of Collinsville, Alabama, became a branch of the Tennessee Valley Bank with headquarters in Decatur and branches throughout North Alabama. T.J. Cottingham, president of the Tennessee Valley announced the purchase of the Collinsville bank with deposits of $322,537 as of the close of business August 21st. Charles C. Hall, president of the First National would remain as branch manager.[4] The name of the Merchants Bank of Scottsville was changed to the Tennessee Valley Bank on May 1, 1908.[5]
On May 13, 1939, Charter No. 14414 was signed by C.B. Upham, acting Comptroller of the Currency, authorizing the State National Bank of Decatur to commence the business of banking.[6] On Monday, May 15, 1939, conversion of the Tennessee Valley Bank into the State National Bank of Decatur was complete and the new institution opened for business in 14 North Alabama communities. T.J. Cottingham, president, presided as toastmaster at a banquet held Saturday attended by 125 people in the Hotel Lyons dining room marking farewell to the Tennessee Valley and welcome for the State National. Distinguished visitors, Oscar Wells, chairman of the board of the First National Bank of Birmingham and T.R. Preston, president of the Hamilton National Bank of Chattanooga, welcomed the new institution predicting a bright future for it. Howard McCall of the Chemical Bank and Trust Company of New York and L.L. Gellersted, vice president of the Citizens and Southern National of Atlanta, also brought greetings from their institutions.[7]
In January 1941 State National announced the purchase of the First National Bank of Oneonta effective at the close of business on Tuesday, December 31st. State National operated banks in Tuscumbia, Sheffield, Scottsboro, Leighton, Huntsville, Haleyville, Cullman, Falkville, Florence, Collinsville, Athens, and Albertville.[8] Officers of the State National were re-elected as follows: D.F. Green, chairman of the board; T.J. Cottingham, president; T.F. Adams, vice president; and J.S. Wyatt, cashier. The branch manager for Collinsville was Chas. C. Hall with C.V. Porter, assistant manager, and J.H. Gilbreath and J.A. Lindsey, advisory committee.[9]
In May 1953, the Collinsville office of the State National Bank of Decatur had Chas. C. Hall, vice president; A.E. Smith, assistant cashier and J.A. Lindsey and W.V. Graves, Jr. as the advisory committee. As of April 20, 1953, State National had total resources of $50,571,936.01 with common stock $1,200,000, surplus $1,300,000, undivided profits $665,516.46, and deposits $47,406,419.55.[10] On December 1, 1953, the directors of Fort Payne Bank, DeKalb County's largest home owned bank, appointed Carl V. Porter as executive vice president. He was born and reared at Geraldine and he began his banking career at the First National Bank of Collinsville on January 1, 1921, as bookkeeper. He later was promoted to cashier of this bank and when the First National sold to the Tennessee Valley Bank in 1937, he was made assistant manager. In December 1944, he accepted the position as executive vice president of the Sand Mountain Bank of Boaz.[11]
In May 1964, State National Bank operated branches in Albertville, Athens, Collinsville, Cullman, Decator, Falkville, Florence, Fort Payne, Haleyville, Huntsville, Muscle Shoals, Oneonta, Scottsboro, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia.[13]
In 1968 Central Bank of Birmingham, was a relatively new institution led by Harry Brock with $82 million in total assets. That year an unfriendly and ultimately successful takeover was launched of State National Bank in Decatur. In 1964, Brock at 27 years of age founded Central Bank & Trust Co., (later named Central Bank of the South, then Compass Bank, eventually BBVA Compass).[14][15]
By September 1970, the merger agreement, which was successfully challenged in U.S. District Couth by eight Alabama banking institutions, was on appeal to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court. State National had moved to #3 in size in the state behind First National of Birmingham, and Central Bank and Trust had moved to seventh place.[16]
On Monday, December 13, 1971, Central and State National Corp. of Alabama officially went into operation as a bank holding company. The new company had resources of $500 million, making it the third largest banking institution in the state. Harry Brock said the Federal Reserve System had approved the new holding company as of October 7th after concluding that "The proposed transaction would be in the public interest." Litigation started in 1968 prevented the merger, but while it was pending a number of opposing banks revealed plans to form their own holding companies combining banks in different counties.[17]
In August 1990, the Comptroller of the Currency amended its regulations to allow national banks the same operating guidelines as savings and loans associations which could have branches in other counties. Among the first banks in Alabama to take advantage of the new regulations was First American Bank of Decatur which was approved to locate a branch in the Limestone County seat of Athens. For decades the only bank in Alabama that had been allowed to have banks outside its home county, because of a grandfather clause when the law was changed, had been State National Bank of Decatur which was bought by the controlling stockholders of a state bank, Central Bank of Birmingham. However, that merger was blocked in court and Central Bank formed a holding company that purchased both banks. A holding company was a way to circumvent the regulation preventing operating branches in counties outside their home office's county. State National changed its name to Central Bank.[18]
Official Bank Title
1: The First National Bank of Collinsville, AL
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $894,580 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1919 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 178,916 notes (117,572 large size and 61,344 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 4x5 1 - 29393 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 8678 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 9276
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1919 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Collinsville, AL, 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 Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, Wed., Jan. 22, 1919.
- ↑ The Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, Fri., Jan. 13, 1922.
- ↑ The Decatur Daily, Decatur, AL, Fri., Sep. 24, 1937.
- ↑ The Decatur Daily, Decatur, AL, Thu., Aug. 26, 1937.
- ↑ The Progressive Age, Scottsboro, AL, Thu., May 14, 1908.
- ↑ The Decatur Daily, Decatur, AL, Thu., May 18, 1939.
- ↑ The Decatur Daily, Decatur, AL, Mon. May 15, 1939.
- ↑ The Cullman Democrat, Cullman, AL, Thu., Jan. 2, 1941.
- ↑ The Decatur Daily, Decatur, AL, Wed., Jan. 15, 1941.
- ↑ The Fort Payne Journal, Wed., May 6, 1953.
- ↑ The Fort Payne Journal, Fort Payne, AL, Wed., Dec. 2, 1953.
- ↑ The Fort Payne Journal, Fort Payne, AL, Tue., July 1, 1958.
- ↑ The Huntsville Times, Huntsville, AL, Tue., May 19, 1964.
- ↑ Birmingham Post-Herald, Birmingham, AL, Tue., Dec. 31, 1968.
- ↑ Birmingham Post-Herald, Birmingham, AL, Thu., Oct. 4, 1990.
- ↑ The Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, Wed., Sep. 9, 1970.
- ↑ The Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, Tue. Dec. 14, 1971.
- ↑ The Huntsville Times, Huntsville, AL, Fri., Aug. 10, 1990.