First National Bank, Morganton, NC (Charter 5450)

Postcard view of West Union Street, Morganton, North Carolina, ca1910s. The First National Bank is on the left. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

First National Bank, Morganton, NC (Chartered 1900 - Open past 1935)

Town History

West Union Street at Sterling looking southwest, ca2023. A branch of Wells Fargo occupies the corner where the old First National Bank stood. Courtesy of Google Maps

Morganton is a city in and the county seat of Burke County, North Carolina. Morganton is located in central Burke County in the Catawba River valley in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Interstate 40 passes through the southern part of the city, leading east 19 miles to Hickory and west 54 miles to Asheville. Morganton is approximately 75 miles northwest of Charlotte. The population was 16,918 at the 2010 census. In 1900 the population was 1,938 growing to 6,001 by 1930.

Morganton is one of the principal cities in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. A site five miles north of Morganton has been identified as the Mississippian culture chiefdom of Joara, occupied from AD 1400 to AD 1600. This was also the site of Fort San Juan, built in 1567 by a Spanish expedition as the first European settlement in the interior of North America, 40 years before the English settlement of Jamestown, Virginia.

Morganton had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Interior of the First National Bank of Morganton prior to improvements around 1923.

Organized June 18, 1900
Chartered June 25, 1900
Succeeded Burke County Bank
Bank was Open past 1935

The Burke County Bank was organized in Morganton with a capital of not less than $25,000. It took over the recently defunct Piedmont Bank and would begin business in the Piedmont's old location on December 21, 1897. The following named businessmen were elected directors: Clement Geitner, H.W. Connelly, A.A. Shuford, J.D. Elliott, and S.R. Collett. The officers were Clement Geitner, president; H.W. Connelly, vice president; and A.M. Ingold, cashier. While most of the capital was furnished by Hickory capitalists, the new bank had the good will and endorsement of businessmen of Morganton.

In March 1900, the comptroller of the currency approved the application of Clement Geitner, A.A.Sheford, O.M. Royster, K.C. Menzies and W.B. Menzies for authority to organize the First National Bank of Morganton, North Carolina.

On June 25, 1900, two national banks in North Carolina were authorized to begin business: The First National Bank of Morganton, capital $25,000, Clement Geitner, president; and The First National Bank of Kings Mountain, Capital $25,000, W.A. Mauney, president; R.L. Mauney, cashier.

On Tuesday, January 14, 1902, the stockholders re-elected the following directors: Clement Geitner, K.C. Menzies, A.A. Shuford, W.B. Menzies, O.M. Royster. The directors then re-elected the officers as follows: Clement Geitner, president; K.C. Menzies, vice president; A.M. Ingold, cashier; and G.M. Collett, teller. All of the above named gentlemen except Mr. Collett were residents of Hickory.

On Friday, July 8, 1904, stockholders approved the increase of capital from $25,000 to $35,000, the new issue of $10,000 was taken by Morganton parties as follows: I.I. Davis, S.R. Collett, R.T. Claywell, Dr. J.J. McCampbell, Leith Gordon, S. Huffman and others. The board of directors was as follows: A.M. Kistler, S.R. Collett, I.I. Davis, R.T. Claywell, Clement Geitner, A.A. Shuford, and K.C. Menzies. The officers were Clement Geitner, president; A.M. Kistler, vice president; A.M. Ingold, cashier; and J.A. Claywell, Jr., teller.

On Tuesday afternoon, January 10, 1905, the stockholders elected the following directors: A.M. Kistler, I.I. Davis, S.R. Collett, R.T. Claywell, A.A. Shuford, K.C. Menzies, and C.H. Geitner. After the stockholders meeting, the directors met and elected the following officers: A.M. Kistler, president; I.I. Davis, vice president; A.M. Ingold, cashier; J.A. Claywell, Jr., teller.

In February 1930, in a recent transaction the directors of the First National Bank purchased the stock of the Bank of Morganton, changed the name to the Morganton Bank and Trust Company and had the charter amended to enable them to operate a trust and insurance department. W.C. Ervin was trust officer for the new trust department and J.H. Buckley was in charge of the insurance department.

On July 5, 1931, A.M. Kistler, 59, prominent Burke industrial leader and wealthy philanthropist died at Grace Hospital in Morganton. He had recently undergone an operation and it was believed that he had almost completely recovered when he suffered a heart attack from which he did not recover. Mr. Kistler, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Morganton to make his home in 1902 as manager of the Burke tannery. He was controlling stockholder and manager when he sold to a shoe company. He was an organizer and president of the First National Bank of Morganton, president of the Morganton Bank and Trust Company, president of the Drexel Furniture Company and was directly connected with many enterprises at Valdese and other parts of the county. Grace Hospital was his chief charitable interest. He was for eight years commissioner for the ninth district of the highway department. He recently gave to the city of Morganton an eighteen-hole golf course.

On July 2, 1932, Arthur M. Ingold, former cashier, was elected president to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the former president, S.R. Collett. Mr. Ingold had been the cashier of the bank since its organization. At the same meeting James A. Claywell, assistant cashier, was elevated to the position of cashier and E.B. Claywell, secretary of the Morganton Building and Loan Association was made a director of the bank.

On September 14, James A. Claywell and H.P. Jenkins, assistant cashier of the bank were returning from a bankers' meeting in Lenoir. Claywell, 52, was fatally injured shortly before midnight in a head-on collision of two automobiles in Caldwell County about 12 miles from Morganton. He was a passenger in the car of H.P. Jenkins who received a broken rib and a knee injury. Claywell died in a hospital at 12:30 AM.

On Tuesday, October 18, 1966, directors of Wachovia Bank & Trust Co. approved a plan to merge First National Bank of Morganton into Wachovia. Shareholders of First National would receive six shares of Wachovia stock for each share of First National held. Wachovia would issue 108,000 shares to exchange for the 18,000 shares of First National outstanding. Both boards called special meetings of shareholders for November 21st. With offices in Morganton, Valdese and Hildebran, First National had resources of more than 15 million including capital funds of $1.9 million.

On Thursday March 16, 1967, the Federal Reserve Board in a 6-1 decision approved the merger of the First National Bank of Morganton into the Wachovia Bank and Trust Co. of Winston-Salem. Wachovia had total deposits of about $979 million as of June 30 compared with about $15 million for the Morganton bank. The four offices of First National would become branches of Wachovia, increasing its number of offices to 105.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Morganton, NC

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Value Back $10 bank note with pen signature of I.I Davis, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of A.M. Ingold, Cashier and A.M. Kistler, President. Courtesy of NBNCensus.com

1929 Type 2 $20 bank note with printed signatures of J.A. Claywell, Cashier and A.M. Ingold, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com

A total of $475,880 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1900 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 38,646 notes (20,916 large size and 17,730 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 - 1120
1882 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 1710
1882 Value Back	3x10-20	1711 - 2221
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	1 - 1888
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 1852
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 468
1929 Type 2	10	1 - 2905
1929 Type 2	20	1 - 905

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1900 - 1935):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

Isaiah Iverson Davis, Vice President 1916...1921
There are currently no known Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

Morganton, 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 Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC, Tue., Dec. 21, 1897.
The Wilmington Morning Star, Wilmington, NC, Fri., Mar. 23, 1900.
Statesville Record, Statesville, NC, Fri., Apr. 27, 1900.
The Burke County News, Morganton, NC, Fri., June 22, 1900.
The Morning Post, Raleigh, NC, Tue., June 26, 1900.
The Times-Mercury, Hickory, NC, Wed., Jan. 22, 1902.
The News-Herald, Morganton, NC, Thu., July 14, 1904.
The News-Herald, Morganton, NC, Thu., July 28, 1904.
The News-Herald, Morganton, NC, Thu., Jan. 12, 1905.
The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC, Sun. Apr. 1, 1923.
The Charlotte News, Charlotte, NC, Fri., Feb. 7, 1930.
The Charlotte News, Charlotte, NC, Mon., July 6, 1931.
The News and Observer, Raleigh, NC, Sun., July 3, 1932.
The Columbia Record, Columbia, SC, Fri., Sep. 15, 1933.
The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC, Wed., Oct. 19, 1966.
The Herald-Sun, Durham, NC, Fri., Mar. 17, 1967.