First National Bank, Hickory, NC (Charter 4597)
First National Bank, Hickory, NC (Chartered 1891 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Hickory is a city in North Carolina primarily located in Catawba County, with its formal boundaries extending into Burke and Caldwell counties. It is located approximately 60 miles northwest of Charlotte. Hickory's population in the 2020 census was 43,490. Hickory is the main city of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 365,276 in the 2020 census. In 1890 the population was 2,023, growing to 7,363 by 1930.
Hickory owes its name to the Hickory Tavern, a log structure built in the 1850s underneath a hickory tree.
Henry Link bought the first lot in the area for $45 in 1858. The house he built became The 1859 Cafe, a restaurant which closed in 2011. The first train operated near Hickory Tavern in 1859. Nine years later in 1868, Dr. Jeremiah Ingold, pastor of Corinth Reformed Church (then German Reformed Grace Church), established the Free Academy, the first school in the area. Two years later, in 1870 Hickory Tavern was established as a town. Three years later, its name was officially changed to Hickory. In 1889, it became the City of Hickory.
Hickory is home to one of the oldest furniture manufacturers in the United States that is still located and operated on the original site. Hickory White, formerly known as Hickory Manufacturing Company, was built in 1902 and has been in continuous operation ever since. During World War II, the factory made ammunition boxes for the U.S. military instead of furniture.
Hickory had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized July 2, 1891
- Chartered July 14, 1891
- Bank was Open past 1935
- Merged with Shuford National Bank of Newton (Charter 6075) July 1946
- Title change to First National Bank of Catawba County July 1946
- Merged with First National Bank of West Jefferson (Charter 8571) in 1978
- Acquired Western Carolina Bank and Trust Company in 1979
- Acquired by First Union National Bank of Charlotte, November 1, 1981
The Bank of Hickory was established in November 1886. Mr. D.W. Shuler of the Bank of Johnson City, Tenn. operated the bank along with parties from Grand Rapids, Michigan. In January 1887, H. Mershon was president and D.W. Shuler, cashier. The bank had a fire-proof vault and steel chest protected by the famous Gross double consolidated time lock, and also furnished safe deposit boxes for customers. The interior walls were elaborately ornamented in renaissance fresco while the counters, desks, etc., were the handiwork of local artisans from native hardwoods. In 1890 D.W. Shuler was cashier, K.C. Menzies, assistant cashier and M. Mershon, president.
In May 1890, it was announced that the Bank of Hickory would be merged into the First National Bank of Hickory within the next 60 days. The new bank would start with $50,000 capital, 500 shares at $100 each. A few thousand dollars worth of stock was available in amounts of $100 or more from D.W. Shuler at the Bank of Hickory.
In June announcement of the organization of the Citizens National Bank of Hickory was made with capital of $50,000. D.C. Waddell, V.E. McBee, W.W. Barnard, and Fran Loughran were interested in it and the Hickory stock leaders were J.G. Hall, president of the Piedmont Wagon Co., William Ellis, O.M. Royster, and A.A. Shuford.
On August 3, the Bank of Hickory was suspended. This private banking establishment was run by Mr. D.W. Shuler, a gentleman from Michigan. Mrs. Maria Mershon was president. The Press and Carolinian reported a registered letter sent from Hickory to New York containing $11,000 in New York exchange. It took five days to go. In the mean time, checks sent two days later reached the bank in New York and went to protest and that caused all the financial excitement about the Bank of Hickory. Mr. A.A. Shuford and Mr. J.D. Elliott were the trustees under the assignment.
On August 14, 1890, Mr. D.W. Shuler died of heart disease. In September 1890, the Citizens' Bank of Hickory began business. About January 1st it expected to become the First National Bank of Hickory. A.A. Shuford, Esq. was president. O.M. Royser, vice president; and K.C. Menzies, cashier.
At the close of business, April 30, 1891, the Citizens' Bank of Hickory had been in operation 8 months. It showed total resources of $76,964.12 with $32,000 in capital, and deposits of $31,999.96.
On July 14, 1891, the comptroller of the currency authorized the First National Bank of Hickory with capital of $50,000 to commence business. The officers were A.A. Shuford, president; O.M. Royster, vice president; K.C. Menzies, cashier; and A.H. Crowell, teller. The directors were A.A. Shuford, O.M. Royster, C. Geitner, Thos. J. Seagle, J.D. Elliot, Wm. H. Ellis, and Frank Laughran.
A.A. Shuford came to Hickory in 1861 and secured a position as clerk for Mr. Elias, a merchant; however, the war had broken out and Mr. Shuford enlisted as a private in Company F, 23rd North Carolina regiment. He was elected 2nd Lieutenant in 1863 shortly before the battle of Gettysburg, but was captured before being commissioned. He remained in prison at Fort Delaware 21 months when he was exchanged and granted a furlough to visit home. Lee surrendered to Grant and Mr. Shuford settled on his father's farm making a crop in 1865. In the fall of that year, he returned to Hickory and went in business with his brother, A.L Shuford. In 1884 he was elected to the Legislature representing Catawba County. By 1890 he was president of the Granite Falls Manufacturing Co.; the Hickory Electric Co.; vice president of the Piedmont Wagon Co.; and one of the proprietors of the Hickory Manufacturing Co.
In October 1940, work started on a modern new building for the First National Bank of Hickory on the corner of Thirteenth Street and Eleventh Avenue. The plan was to use Georgian marble and Virginia greenstone for the exterior.
On Tuesday afternoon, February 3, 1942, the new home of the First National Bank of Hickory opened to the public for the first time. The transfer of supplies and equipment was completed the next day and the bank opened for regular business Thursday morning.
On July 4, 1946, K.C. Menzies of Hickory was named president of the new First National Bank of Catawba County. The bank, a consolidation of the First National Bank of Hickory, the Shuford National Bank of Newton, and the Citizens Bank of Conover had total assets of $28 million. Headquarters for the First National Bank of Catawba County would be in Hickory with branch offices in each of the three towns. Vice presidents were G.H. Gaither and J.L. Cilley in charge of the Hickory branch; Junius Gaither in charge at Newton; and Adrian L. Shuford, Sr., in charge at Conover. Cashier for the consolidated bank was C.L. Herman of Hickory. Assistant cashiers were Tol. L. Cilley and Henry Guiguo of Hickory, Mrs. A.H. Crowell and M.H. Smyre of Newton and C.L. Sigmon of Conover.
On June 6, 1969, the comptroller of the currency approved North Carolina National Bank's application to open an office in Hickory after months of consideration by the comptroller's office. Still pending was a suit brought by First National Bank of Catawba County in Federal Court to prevent issuance of the certificate enabling NCNB to open a Hickory office. NCNB, the state's second largest bank with almost $1 billion in deposits, first made application on June 18, 1968. The application was protested by the First National Bank of Catawba County and the Bank of Granite. NCNB Board Chairman Addison H. Reese of Charlotte said "Approval of NCNB's application by the Comptroller tells us that our analysis of Hickory's bright, economic future was correct." Reese said that NCNB had leased a building at 20-22 Second St. NW formerly occupied by J.C. Penney. Wachovia Bank and Trust Co. tried to enter Hickory back in 1962, but lost in that effort.
On December 23, 1980, announcement was made of a merger agreement between the First National Bank of Catawba County and First Union National Bank of Charlotte, subject to approval by shareholders and regulatory authorities. The merger was expected to be completed in the second half of 1981. Under the merger agreement 1.5 shares of First Union Corp. common stock was expected to be issued for each share of First National Bank of Catawba County common stock. Last year the First National had acquired the Western Carolina Bank and Trust Company and its eight offices in Buncombe, Burke, Haywood, Henderson and Transylvania Counties. Western Carolina's assets were then about $19 million. Assets of First National were $325 million while the assets of First Union were $3.2 billion. First Union was a subsidiary of First Union Corp., the third largest bank in North Carolina. Charles Sigmon was president of the First National Bank.
One of the largest bank mergers in North Carolina's history became official on November 1, 1981. That day First National Bank of Catawba County, the state's 12th largest bank, became part of First Union National Bank of North Carolina, the third largest bank in the state.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Hickory, NC
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $3,465,590 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1891 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 477,192 notes (251,900 large size and 225,292 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 - 3980 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 1670 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 2493 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 5500 1902 Date Back 4x10 1 - 4750 1902 Plain Back 4x5 5501 - 30141 1902 Plain Back 4x10 4751 - 24691 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 16280 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 8928 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 49288 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 24756
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1891 - 1935):
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 Hickory (Wikipedia)
- General information on Catawba County (Wikipedia)
- General information on North Carolina (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Hickory, 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
- Asheville Citizen-Times, Asheville, NC, Sun., Oct. 3, 1886.
- The Morganton Star, Morganton, NC, Fri., Jan. 21, 1887.
- The Hickory Press, Hickory, NC, Thu., Jan. 9, 1890.
- The Hickory Press, Hickory, NC., Thu., May 29, 1890.
- Asheville Citizen-Times, Asheville, NC, Wed., June 4, 1890.
- The Charlotte News, Charlotte, NC Thu., Aug. 14, 1890.
- The Reidsville Review, Reidsville, NC, Wed., Aug. 20, 1890.
- Statesville Record and Landmark, Statesville, NC, Thu., Sep. 4, 1890.
- The Hickory Press, Hickory, NC., Thu., May 7, 1891.
- The Lenoir Topic, Lenoir, NC, Wed., Aug. 12, 1891.
- News and Record, Greensboro, NC, Fri., Oct. 25, 1940.
- The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC, Wed., Feb. 4, 1942.
- The Herald-Sun, Durham, NC, Fri., July 5, 1946.
- The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC., Sun., July 28, 1968.
- The Chapel Hill News, Chapel Hill, NC, Wed., June 11, 1969.
- The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC, Mon., June 8, 1981.
- Asheville Citizen-Times, Asheville, NC, Sun., Dec. 21, 1980.
- The Nashville Graphic, Nashville, NC, Tue., Dec. 23, 1980.
- The Herald-Sun, Durham, NC, Sun., Nov. 8, 1981.