First National Bank, Oxford, AL (Charter 7073)

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picture of Davis Clay Cooper, Sr., banker, city leader, businessman as young man and as older man
Davis Clay Cooper, Sr., banker, city leader, businessman.

First National Bank, Oxford, AL (Chartered 1903 - Receivership 1933)

Town History

Oxford is a city in Calhoun, Talladega, and Cleburne counties in the State of Alabama. The population was 22,069 at the 2020 census. Oxford is one of two principal cities of and included in the Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area, and it is the largest city in Calhoun County by population.

Founded in the early 1850s, Oxford was the first city in Calhoun County to be incorporated, in 1852. The name "Oxford" may be due to the presence of a narrow crossing of Chocolocco Creek that allowed farmers to ford cattle from one side of the creek to the other. Alternatively, residents named the town Oxford after the British university city, and it was incorporated on February 7, 1852. By 1862, the Alabama and Tennessee River Railroad had established a rail line through the town. Sometime in the 1860s, Oxford College was established, operating until approximately 1899. In 1909, the college's single building was sold to the city and served as the high school until 1950, when a new school was built on the site. Since 1970, Oxford has annexed large amounts of land to the south and west, including the communities of Coldwater and Bynum. In 1970, it was all in Calhoun County, but today it includes areas in Talladega County and Cleburne County.

Oxford lies among the foothills at the southern end of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Nearby Cheaha Mountain is Alabama's highest point and offers expansive views of the surrounding wilderness and the city below. Much of the city's southern border is shared with the Talladega National Forest.

Major bodies of water include Oxford Lake, Choccolocco Park Lake, Lake Hillabee, Snow Creek, and Choccolocco Creek, which bisects the city.

Oxford is located mainly in the southern part of Calhoun County and is located along Interstate 20. Via I-20, Birmingham is 62 mi west, and Atlanta, Georgia is 88 mi east. U.S. Route 78 also runs through the city and connects it to Cleburne County, paralleling I-20. Alabama State Route 21 connects Oxford with Talladega, which is southwest 21 mi and Jacksonville which is 16 mi to the north.

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

Bank History

  • Organized Dec 14, 1903
  • Chartered Dec 26, 1903
  • Succeeded Bank of Oxford
  • Conservatorship Mar 22, 1933
  • Receivership Oct 10, 1933

Thomas M. Draper, (1849-1930) one of the pioneer citizens of Oxford before the county name was changed from Benton to Calhoun in 1858, moved to Texas in 1855, but returned to Oxford in 1869. Upon returning he entered Oxford College, established by Borden and Dodson. He noted there were no brick stores in Oxford with the exception of D.P. Gunnels, built in 1869. The Draper, Son & Co. store was about the third after Moseley's Drug store. Draper, Son & Co. did the first banking business in Oxford in connection with the general merchandise store. This was followed by J.R. Draper, then the Bank of Oxford and finally the First National Bank. The Draper & Sons state bank opened in Oxford in 1866. It was in 1883[blurred] that C.J. Cooper & Co., headed by Charles Jefferson Cooper (1816-1886), entered the same field. In October, 1888 the two interests consolidated and the Bank of Oxford was formed with D.C. Cooper, an Oxford College graduate, as president, the youngest at the time in Alabama. December 1, 1903, this became a national bank and the name was changed to the First National Bank of Oxford. The Comptroller of the Currency approved the application of the incorporators D.C. Cooper, M.A. Brick, J.R. Draper, T.A. Howle, and O.W. Cooper for the First National Bank of Oxford to succeed The Bank of Oxford. The bank had capital stock of $25,000. D.C. Cooper was the first president, J.R. Draper, vice president, O.W. Cooper, cashier; T.A. Howle director. The four owned all the stock. D.R. Cooper had been the long-serving mayor of Oxford. The bank's cashiers were O.W. Cooper, D.C. Cooper, Jr., and C.H. Howle.

In 1879 Four lots were purchased by Messrs. D.D. Draper, J.R. Draper and J. Draper, Sr., collectively Draper, Son & Co., merchants and bankers, in Oxford to build a store to be ready by January 1880. The company was a long-serving wholesale and retail dry goods, groceries and general merchandise dealer. An immense fire around 3 o'clock Saturday morning of December 29, 1883 resulted in the total destruction of several businesses including Draper, Son & Co. A new bank building was erected in 1884 in time for the Methodist church ice cream festival held in the bank in May 1884.

In 1883 the main line from Atlanta to Birmingham of the Southern Railway was built and Oxford and Georgia interests organized the Oxanna Land Company and built the Oxanna Hotel; T.M Draper was one of the land company's stockholders. The name of Woodstock had been changed to Anniston and the town opened to the public after the Oxanna Land Co. was formed. The Land Company derived its name from the fact that it was located half way between Oxford and Anniston, thus Oxanna.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Oxford, AL

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of D.C. Cooper, Jr., Cashier and D.C. Cooper, Sr., President.
1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of D.C. Cooper, Jr., Cashier and D.C. Cooper, Sr., President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of D.C. Cooper, Jr., Cashier and D.C. Cooper, Sr., President.
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of D.C. Cooper, Jr., Cashier and D.C. Cooper, Sr., President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $484,640 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1903 and 1933. This consisted of a total of 60,927 notes (49,024 large size and 11,903 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 - 250
1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 210
1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 1300
1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 1020
1902 Plain Back 4x5 1301 - 7234
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1021 - 4562
1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1040
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 600
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 194
1929 Type 2 5 1 - 752
1929 Type 2 10 1 - 82
1929 Type 2 20 1 - 65

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1903 - 1933):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

Wiki Links

Sources

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