First National Bank, Vian, OK (Charter 10573)

Vian branch of the Armstrong Bank located at Schley and Thornton Streets, Vian, Oklahoma. Courtesy of Google Maps, ca2025

First National Bank, Vian, OK (Chartered 1914 - Liquidated 1931)

Town History

Vian is a town in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, adjacent to Interstate 40 at the intersection of U.S. Route 64 and Oklahoma State Highway 82. The population was 1,374 at the 2020 census, a 6.3 percent decline from the figure of 1,466 recorded in 2010. In 1910 the population was 794, peaking in 1920 at 1,176 and not surpassed for another 60 years. It is part of the Fort Smith Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Vian was initially settled as a trading post between Big Vian and Little Vian creeks in the Illinois District of the Cherokee Nation. When a post office was established in 1886, the first postmaster, Mahala Thompson, wanted to name the town Round Mountain, which was already in use; the post office was thus named Vian, for the two creeks. After the Kansas and Arkansas Valley Railway (later the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway and eventually the Missouri Pacific Railroad) laid tracks through the town in 1888, it became an important shipping point for cotton, with an estimated 2,500-3,000 bales shipped annually by 1901. When Oklahoma achieved statehood in 1907, Vian became part of the new state as the Cherokee Nation was all but dissolved. Today, the town lies within the jurisdiction of the modern-day Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

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

Bank History

Advertisement from March 1917 for the First National Bank of Vian, Oklahoma.

Advertisement from January 1932 for the newly opened Vian State Bank of Vian, Oklahoma.

• Organized May 23, 1914
• Chartered July 1, 1914
• Liquidated December 31, 1931
• Succeeded by Vian State Bank (FDIC #2315)
• Changed institution name to Armstrong Bank on April 22, 1996 [Still in Business as of February 2026]

On March 4, 1910, bank commissioner A.M. Young commissioned the Citizens Bank of Vian with a capital stock of $15,000. I.H. Nakdimen was president; T.S. Johnson, vice president; and J.C. Terrell, cashier.

In September 1913, I.H. Nakdimen, president of the Citizens Bank of Vian was on his way home from Oklahoma City where he had gone for the purpose of putting in a bid for the $2,500,000 worth of new state funding bonds. Mr. Nakdimen formerly purchased $2,000,000 worth of state building bonds.

In June 1914, the comptroller of the currency received an application to organize the First National Bank of Vian, Oklahoma, with a capital of $25,000, to succeed the Citizens Bank of Vian. Among the proposed incorporators were D.S. Coleman, I.H. Nakdimen, R.F. Allen, T.S. Johnson, and W.J. Echols.

On Wednesday, March 8, 1916, around 2:20 o'clock, two men wearing red handkerchiefs to conceal their faces held up and robbed the First National Bank of Vian of $3,518 in currency. They escaped on horses with a posse in pursuit. Five men were in the bank at the time with C.C. Howard, assistant cashier, the only bank employee present. The robbers entered the bank with drawn revolvers and commanded the small crowd to hold up their hands. While one robber stood guard, the other pointed a revolver at Howard. The bank employees had a rule that when only one was at the bank the lock on the outer door of the vault was to be turned, but the door kept open so that in event robbers placed victims in the vault, they could not lock the door. This caused the robbers to abuse their captive and threaten them with death if they made an effort to escape before they were out of sight. The bandits in leaving removed their masks and were seen by several persons of the streets, but were taken for customers instead of bandits. The bank was owned by I.H. Nakdimen of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Later that night two men said to have been the bandits were captured by a posse six miles northeast of Vian. Authorities declared they were certain the prisoners were the robbers, although the money had not been recovered. The suspects were caught encamped in a clump of bushes. They kept dropping bills stolen from the bank along the way and the posse had no trouble in trailing them. A total of $140 was recovered in this manner. The suspects had released their horsed. Their saddles and pistols were found concealed in a thicket near their camp. The men registered as Grover Sharp and Will Crittenden and gave Muskogee as their home.

On May 4, 1916, Emmett Compton of Muskogee pleaded guilty in circuit court to a charge of having participated in the robbery of the First National Bank. Sentencing was deferred. Compton and Crittenden, former Oklahoma convict, were apprehended shortly after the robbery and the former confessed, implicating a number of Vian residents in the robbery according to authorities. When the cases were called to trial, the defendants were granted separate trials and the state elected to try James Bradshaw, a Vian farmer first. Bradshaw was found guilty by a jury after just 20 minutes of deliberation and sentenced to five years. Crittenden was given 17 years and Compton was thought likely to get a similar sentence by Judge Pitchford.

The First week of January 1917, W.S. Payne, liveryman of Vian, was convicted in district court in Sallisaw and sentenced to serve five years in the state penitentiary for complicity in the robbery of the First National Bank of Vian. Ed Culvert pleaded guilty last week to a similar charge and was sentenced to serve five years in the penitentiary. John Riley, city marshal at Vian until his arrest a month ago pleaded guilty to receiving part of the money stolen from the bank and was sentenced Friday to serve one year in prison. Donald Anderson, a farmer, who found part of the stolen money and failed to return it to the bank, was sentenced to serve two years in prison. "N." Crittendon and Emmett Compton, confessed members of the bandit gang, were now serving long prison terms, and James Bradshaw was out on an appeal bond following his conviction on the charge that he aided in the conspiracy which resulted in the robbery of the bank.

In December 1922, the annual Christmas greetings from the First National Bank listed as directors I.H. Nakdimen, R.F. Allen, R.W. Armstrong, J.W. Moody, and A.D. Booher. The officers were I.H. Nakdimen, president; R.F. Allen, vice president; R.W. Armstrong, cashier; and C.C. Howard, assistant cashier.

In October 1927, the directors were I.H. Nakdimen, R.W. Armstrong, R.F. Allen, J.W. Moody, A.D. Booher. The officers were I.H. Nakdimen, president; R.W. Armstrong, active vice president; R.F. Allen, vice president; C.C. Howard, cashier; and A.H. Scott, assistant cashier.

The report on the condition of the First National Bank of Vian at the close of business on December 31, 1930, showed total resources of $147,218.30, with capital stock paid in $25,000, surplus none, undivided profits $334.07, circulation $25,000, and demand deposits $72,447.87. A.D. Booher signed the report as Cashier with I.H. Nakdimen, J.N. Moody, and R.F. Allen, directors attesting to the correctness of the report.

In January 1932, a notice was published by R.W. Armstrong, cashier, that the First National Bank of Vian was closing its affairs. All assets and liabilities had been taken over and assumed by the newly organized Vian State Bank in Vian, Oklahoma with R.W. Armstrong as cashier.

On January 16, 1940, the following officers were elected at the annual stockholders meeting of the Vian State Bank: R.W. Armstrong, president; A.D. Booher, vice president; S.W. Armstrong, cashier; and Glen Armstrong, assistant cashier. The directors were R.W. Armstrong, S.W. Armstrong, and A.D. Booher.

A.D. "Dud" Booher, 70, died on August 17, 1954. Nearly three years ago, Mr. Booher retired from active participation in business to spend time looking after his property and farming interests. He was born at Mill Creek, Arkansas, moving to Vian more than 30 years ago. He was a member of the Vian Masonic Lodge and for many years had been recognized as an authority on Masonic work. He was a vice president with the Vian State Bank.

Advertisement from May 1996 for the Armstrong Bank, newly renamed from the Vian State Bank.

On Wednesday, April 17, 1996, the board of directors Vian State Bank announced that they were changing the name of the bank to Armstrong Bank. The decision was based on the rich heritage of the bank in its earlier years under the leadership of R.W. Armstrong and the Armstrong family, according to Duwayne Briley, Vian State Bank chief executive officer. The name change would affect all Vian State Bank locations including those in Gore, Muldrow, Stilwell, Vian, Warner and Webbers Falls. Two addition locations in Muskogee and Tahlequah would open in early May. The Armstrong family had been part of eastern Oklahoma since before statehood. Bank founder R.W. Armstrong came to Oklahoma Territory from Kansas in 1890. He attended the University of Oklahoma from 1897-98 and later finished his education at the Indianola Business College of Ardmore. On New Years Day, 1907, he began a job as a bookkeeper for First National Bank in Okemah. A little more than a year later, in March 1908, he organized the Castle State Bank in Castle, Oklahoma. On December 23, 1913, he organized the Citizens National Bank, Sallisaw. In October 1922 he came to Vian as vice president of First National Bank which was organized as Citizens Bank of Vian in 1909, the oldest bank in Sequoyah County. Two of his three sons, Sinclair (Claire) W. and Glen A. Armstrong followed in their father's footsteps and worked in the bank. Another son, Ed, was prosecuting District Attorney at Sallisaw and also worked as an attorney in Oklahoma City. Glen who was serving as chairman of the board first began working for the bank in 1937. He remembered part of his early job duties included cleaning the spittoons that were in the lobby and offices. Out of the 13 banks open in Sequoyah County at the beginning of the Great Depression, Vian State Bank under the direction of R.W. Armstrong was the only bank that stayed open and never closed its doors. Armstrong Bank had total assets of $95,891,000 as of March 31, 1996.

In December 2022, Dr. Sinclair Armstrong, Jr., with Armstrong Bank in Muskogee, was inducted into the fourth ever Oklahoma Bankers Hall of Fame class of 2022. Dr. Armstrong was chairman of the board of Armstrong Bank, headquartered in Muskogee with 30 locations across Oklahoma and Arkansas. Banking was in Armstrong's blood as his family established Vian State Bank in 1909. In 1978, he started his own medical practice and joined the board of directors for Vian State Bank which later became Armstrong Bank. In addition to his family's commitment to helping others with financial needs, he had been a urologist for over 30 years. Under Armstrong's leadership, a single hometown bank had grown into today's Armstrong Bank with over $2.3 billion in assets. In the past two years, Armstrong bank had added 10 locations and more than doubled in asset size. The Oklahoma Bankers Hall of Fame was created by the Oklahoma Bankers' Association in 2018. Nominees for each class were selected by a banker roundtable based on contributions to Oklahoma banking industry, and the final honorees were voted upon by selected bankers statewide.

Official Bank Title

1: The First National Bank of Vian, OK

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with SN 1A and pen signature of I.H. Nakdimen, President. This note was from the first sheet of plain backs from a 4x$10 plate and received Treasury SN N107789 and it appears as Fig. 1, Chapter E2, "Protocols Governing the Use of Series of 1882 and 1902 National Bank Note Varieties following Expiration of the Aldrich-Vreeland Act," Encyclopedia of U.S. National Bank Notes. Courtesy of Andrew Shiva

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with stamped signatures of C.C. Howard, Cashier and I.H. Nakdimen, President. The cashier's signature was inverted in error. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of A.H. Scott, Cashier and I.H. Nakdimen, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $319,880 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1914 and 1931. This consisted of a total of 31,988 notes (27,272 large size and 4,716 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	4x10	1 - 6818	SN 1 / N107789 first 4x$10 sheet with plain back
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 786

The date back to plain back changeover story for the 1902 10-10-10-10 combination turned out to be a sharp transition; that is, date backs up through SN N107788 and plain backs beyond. The First National Bank of Vian, Oklahoma, Charter 10573, with SN N107789 was the first to receive a plain back as did all subsequent sheets. As described in Chapter J1, Encyclopedia of U.S. National Bank Notes, Huntoon found from the National Currency and Bond Ledgers that sheets for Vian had been delivered to the Comptroller the Currency’s office on July 19, 1915. The first three plain back face plates made for the 10-10-10-10 combination were for newly chartered banks; specifically, The First National Bank of Winthrop, New York, charter 10747, certified for use July 1, 1915; The Citizens National Bank of Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, charter 10561, certified July 3rd; and the Vian bank also certified July 3rd. The Vian plate was the first to go to press and the Vian plate arrived in the printing division shortly before July 19th. Adhering to protocol, the order was printed on new plain back stock. Through serendipity the printing division simultaneously ran out of 1902 10-10-10-10 date back feedstock so only plain back feedstock was used from the Vian order forward. The Vian order led the parade of plain backs to the numbering division so got the first plain back Treasury serial. The number just as easily could have landed on an order for an older bank printed from a face plate bearing an “or other securities” cause mated with a plain back now that plain backs were all that were available. Yes, the changeover still would have been sharp, but the outcome not as pure as with the Vian note from a new plate with the new back.

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1914 - 1931):

Presidents:

• Iser H. Nakdimen, 1914-1930

Cashiers:

• David Shannon Coleman, 1914-1922
• Robert Walker Armstrong, 1923-1923
• Cline C. Howard, Sr., 1924-1927
• Allen H. Scott, 1928-1928
• Albert Dudley Booher, 1930-1930

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• First National Bank, Vian, OK History (NB Lookup)
• Oklahoma Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Vian, 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