First National Bank, Woodbine, IA (Charter 4745)

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Postcard of the First National Bank building in 1919.

First National Bank, Woodbine, IA (Chartered 1892 - Failed 1985)

Town History

Photo of the First National Bank building in 2016. Courtesy of Google Maps.

Woodbine is located in Harrison County in west central Iowa, along the Boyer River.

Woodbine was platted 1866 at the time the Chicago and North Western Railway was built through that territory. It was incorporated as a town in 1877. The town was named for the dense growth of the woodbine plant near the original town site.

During the National Bank Note Era, the population of Woodbine was 815 in 1890, nearly doubling to 1,538 in 1910, and dropping slightly to 1,348 in 1930. The population was at 1,625 at the time of the 2020 census.

Woodbine had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and this bank issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

A 1934 photo of president and aides of Woodbine bank. Dr. E.J. Cole, president of the First National Bank of Woodbine and chairman of the bank's board of directors, is shown seated. Behind him, left to right, are: C.S. King, assistant cashier; Howard Stephany, bookkeeper; Joy Steffon, stenographer; and H.L. Haight, assistant cashier.  S.R. DeCou, cashier and active head of the bank was out of the city and missed the picture.[1]
  • Organized May 21, 1892
  • Chartered June 1, 1892
  • Succeeded Commercial Banking Company
  • Failed February 7, 1985. Acquired with government financial assistance and subsequently operated as part of Iowa Savings Bank.

On July 1, 1884, the Commercial Banking Company began business at Woodbine. The parties interested were Josiah Coe, president; C.F. Luce, vice president; and H.M. Bostwick, cashier.[2]

In June 1892, the First National Bank of Woodbine was chartered with capital of $50,000. Josiah Coe was president and H.M. Bostwick, cashier.[3]

In September 1910, the officers were Josiah Coe, president; H.B. Kling, vice president; Geo. W. Coe, cashier; O.H. Perrin and D.E. Brainard, assistant cashiers.[4]

On Thursday, May 20, 1915, the death of Josiah Coe at his home in Woodbine marked the passing of a well-known pioneer settler of Harrison county. Mr. Coe was born in Athens County, Ohio, in 1830 and came to western Iowa in 1854 to a farm south of the future town of Woodbine. Mr. Coe and Miss Jessie Kinnis of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, were married in 1865 and to them were born eight children. In addition to realty holdings, Mr. Coe was largely interested in the banking business at Woodbine.[5]

In 1934, Dr. E.J. Cole was the silent president of the First National Bank. He explained the he didn't "work at the banking business." A.J. Coe was vice president and S.R. DeCou was cashier. Mr. Coe, another silent official was a real estate man. The active officer of the bank was Mr. DeCou. Behind him were H.L. Haight and C.S. King, assistant cashiers. Josiah Coe, father of the vice president, served as president of the bank until his death in 1915. On January 1st the Woodbine bank was informed that it had fulfilled all the rigid requirements set down by the federal government for deposit insurance. The bank had capital $50,000, surplus and undivided profits $51,659.58, circulation $49,400, and deposits $542,788.94.[6]

On Wednesday, January 29, 1941, H.M. Bostwick, 81, a pioneer businessman of Woodbine and New York, died at St. Petersburg, Florida, where he had been for the winter. In 1884, Mr. Bostwick and Mr. Josiah Coe engaged in the first banking business in Woodbine known as the Commercial Banking Co., a private bank. In 1892, the private bank charter was surrendered and the bank converted to a national bank with Mr. Bostwick as its first cashier. He was engaged in the banking business in Woodbine continuously from 1884 to 1905 at which time he resigned and became a national bank examiner in Iowa. After a number of years he resigned and became auditor for the Metals and Mechanics Bank of New York city and then auditor for the Chase National Bank of New York City. Dr. E.J. Coe, a brother-in-law of Mr. Bostwick, was president of the First National Bank of Woodbine.[7]

On Thursday afternoon, February 7, 1985, the First National Bank of Woodbine, plagued by severe farm loan losses, was closed after it was declared insolvent by federal bank regulators. The FDIC which insured bank deposits up to $100,000 sold the bank's $25 million in deposits and some of its assets to ISB Bancorporation of Woodbine. ISB Bancorporation was owned by A.C. Benton and William Krause of Hampton, R.O. Wyckert of Nebraska, and C. Wilson Persinger of Sioux City. The new owners announced plans to reopen the bank as the Iowa Savings Bank. A charter for the new bank was approved late Thursday by Iowa Banking Superintendent Thomas Huston. The FDIC paid the new bank owners $16.6 million in cash to make up the difference between the deposits and assets they purchased, retaining First National's commercial and farm loans. Under FDIC procedures followed in other failures, Iowa Savings Bank would have 30 days to decide which of those loans it wanted to purchase. Then, the remaining loans would be offered to other area financial institutions and any not sold would be kept by the agency for liquidation. The First National bank had been a fixture on the town's main street for more than a century. A plaque on the front of the building commemorated First National's 100th anniversary in 1984.[8]

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Woodbine, IA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Date Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of Geo. W. Coe, Cashier and H.B. Kling, Vice President
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of Geo. W. Coe, Cashier and E. J. Cole, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $831,550 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1892 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 106,746 notes (88,656 large size and 18,090 small size notes).


This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s
1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 4380
1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 1798
1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 1628
1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 1050
1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 1650
1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 1300
1902 Plain Back 4x5 1651 - 7960
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1301 - 5348
1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1522
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 784
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 212
1929 Type 2 5 1 - 1684
1929 Type 2 10 1 - 1013
1929 Type 2 20 1 - 285

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

First National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1892 - 1936):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

Bank Note History Links

Sources

  1. The Daily Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, IA, Sun., Jan. 21, 1934.
  2. The Sioux City Journal, Sioux City, IA, Thu., June 12, 1884.
  3. The Daily Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, IA, Sat., June 18, 1892.
  4. The Daily Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, IA, Sun., Sep. 18, 1910.
  5. The Evening Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, IA, Mon., May 24, 1915.
  6. The Daily Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, IA, Sun., Jan. 21, 1934.
  7. The Daily Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, IA, Sat., Feb. 2, 1941.
  8. The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, IA, Fri., Feb. 8, 1985.