First National Bank of Beaumont, TX (Charter 4017)
First National Bank of Beaumont, TX (Chartered 1889 - Failed (Merger) 1992)
Town History
Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of government of Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan statistical area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about 85 miles east of Houston. With a population of 115,282 at the 2020 census, Beaumont is the largest incorporated municipality by population near the Louisiana border. Its metropolitan area was the 10th largest in Texas in 2020, and 130th in the United States.
In 1824 Noah and Nancy Tevis settled on the west bank of the Neches River and developed a farm. Soon after that, a small community grew up around the farm, which was named Tevis Bluff or Neches River Settlement. In 1835 the land of Tevis, together with the nearby community of Santa Anna (in total, 50 acres), was purchased by Henry Millard (c. 1796–1844), Joseph Pulsifer (1805–1861), and Thomas Byers Huling (1804–1865) (from Perry County, Pennsylvania). They began planning a town to be laid out on this land. Their partnership, J.P. Pulsifer and Company, controlled the first 50 acres upon which the town was founded. This town was named Beaumont, after Mary Dewburleigh Barlace Warren Beaumont, the wife of Henry Millard. Beaumont became a town on December 16, 1838.
The pioneer settlement had an economy based on the development of lumber, farming, and port industries. In 1892, Joseph Eloi Broussard opened the first commercially successful rice mill in Texas, stimulating development of rice farming in the area; he also started an irrigation company (since 1933, established as the Lower Neches Valley Authority) to support rice culture. Rice became an important commodity crop in Texas and is now cultivated in 23 counties.
A big change occurred in 1901 with the Spindletop gusher, which demonstrated that a huge oil field lay underneath and adjacent to the city. With Spindletop, several energy companies developed in Beaumont, and some remain. The area rapidly developed as one of the country's major petrochemical refining areas. Along with Port Arthur and Orange, Beaumont forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Beaumont is home to Lamar University, a national Carnegie doctoral research university with over 14,000 students, including undergraduates and postgraduates. Over the years, several corporations have been based in this city, including Gulf States Utilities, which had its headquarters in Beaumont until its takeover by Entergy Corporation in 1994. GSU's Edison Plaza headquarters remains the tallest building in Beaumont.
Beaumont had eight National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and six of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized April 16, 1889
- Chartered April 23, 1889
- Succeeded V. Weiss
- Assumed 6338 by consolidation July 16, 1919 (Gulf National Bank, Beaumont, TX)
- Assumed its circulation
- Absorbed 12138 May 24, 1932 (Texas National Bank (No Issue), Beaumont, TX)
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Failed October 30, 1992. Received gov't assistance until closed.
- Merged into JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
On Wednesday, July 6, 1910, at a meeting of the stockholders of the recently organized Davidson Securities Company, the new trust company recently capitalized, the following board of directors was elected: W.S. Davidson, Frank Alvey, F.M. Law, Guy W. Junker, John W. Gilbert, W.P.H. McFaddin, C.L. Wallis, John C. Ward, V. Wiess, Joe E. Carroll, and Leon R. Levy. The directors met and elected the following officers: Frank Alvey, president; F.M. Law, vice president and treasurer; Guy W. Junker, secretary; and Leon Sonfield, attorney.[1]
On Tuesday, January 12, 1915, at the First National Bank of Houston, John T. Scott was elected president to succeed the late O.S. Cochran. F.M. Law, formerly vice president of the First National Bank of Beaumont was elected vice president to succeed Mr. Scott.[2] In April, Colonel W.S. Davidson, chairman of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Beaumont, an institution which he helped to organize 25 years ago, remaining as its president until about two years ago when he voluntarily retired, was spending a few days in El Paso the guest of Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Miller. Colonel Davidson was en route to San Francisco to visit the Panama-Pacific Exposition and would depart in a few days for the Golden Gate City. He said that he was delighted with El Paso and was thoroughly enjoying his stay. Colonel Davidson, who was well-known in banking circles across the state was a brother of General R.V. Davidson of Galveston, former attorney general of Texas.[3]
In February 1919, the First National Bank purchased the three-story building formerly occupied by M.M. Solinsky adjoining its present quarters and planned to erect a bank building. The new purchase would give the bank a frontage of 54 feet on Pearl Street. The deal was closed by Frank Alvey, active vice president of the First National With Jules Hirsch, the owner. The amount involved wasn't made public, but it probably set a new mark for Pearl Street real estate as the building was in the center of the business district.[4] On Saturday, July 19, 1919, The First National and the Gulf National banks would do business under their old charters for the last time. The two banking institution would be merged and reopened as one on Monday morning under the name of the First National Bank of Beaumont, but at the location of the former Gulf National Bank. The combined capital was $200,000 with total resources around $700,000 and deposits of nearly $7 million. P.B. Doty became the president of the consolidated institution and L.P. Tullos, cashier. The vice presidents were W.L. Pondrom and Tom Andrus.[5]
On March 17, 1922, a charter was issued to the Texas National Bank of Beaumont with $250,000 capital, a conversion of the Texas Bank and Trust Company. The president was Frank Alvey and the cashier, H.W. Gardner.[6] Mr. Alvey was selected as president of the Texas Bank & Trust Co. in January 1921. When the First and Gulf National banks consolidated, Alvey went with the Texas Bank and Trust Company and became active vice president of that institution. The trust company leased the V. Wiess office building for its banking quarters.[7]
On Saturday morning March 17, 1928, Frank Alvey, 65, president of the Texas National Bank of Beaumont, died at a hospital of pneumonia. Mr. Alvey was born in Hagerstown, Maryland. He went to Galveston when he was 16 and afterward came to Beaumont as a druggist. He began his banking career as bookkeeper for the First National Bank under the tutelage of Col. W.S. Davidson. In 1919, Alvey became vice president of the Texas National Bank and was made president in 1923, which place he held until his death.[8]
In April 1932, the consolidation of two Beaumont banks, the Texas National with the First National, was announced in Houston by Frank Liddell, local attorney who participated in the legal steps to the transaction. The new institution would occupy the First National Bank building and operate under the name of the First National Bank. Officers were P.B. Doty, president; L. Paul Tullos, active vice president; and A. Dodd, cashier. The Texas National Bank official staff included Howard W. Gardner, president; Charles E. Walden, vice president; Sam J. Jamison and R.S. McClamrock, active vice presidents; and Herschel Neel, cashier. Final details of the consolidation were closed at the offices of the Federal Reserve Bank of Houston. The merger was the second in Beaumont within two weeks. The City National Bank recently merged with the American National Bank to form the new American National. The latest merger left Beaumont with three banks: First National, American National, and Security Bank and Trust Company.[9]
In December 1958, John E. Gray, executive vice president of the First National Bank of Beaumont was elected president, succeeding L. Paul Tullos who retired December 31st. O. Eugene Davis, vice president and trust officer was elevated to Gray's position. He was also president of the Enterprise Co., publishers of the Morning Enterprise and the afternoon Journal. Gray was a former president of Lamar Junior College and the first president of that institution when it became a four-year college, joining the bank as executive vice president in 1952. Davis, a native of Palestine, joined the Frist National as trust officer in 1930.[10]
In July 1961, a joint announcement for a merger of the First National Bank and the Security State Bank & Trust Co. was made by John Gray, president of First National and Otis Fullen, president of Security State. If approved, the new banking firm would be called the First Security National Bank with about $80 million in deposits and $7 million in capital funds. Gray would be president of the consolidated form and Fullen chairman of the board.[11]
On May 1, 1963, Otis E. Fullen, Beaumont banker for half a century, retired from the staff of First Security National Bank where he was consultation Chairman. Fullen had been president of the Security State Bank for 15 years and he was one of its organizers. Security State opened in 1914 and was merged with First National two years ago. The veteran banker would continue as a bank director.[12]
Elvis L. Mason, chairman of the board of the First National Bank in Dallas, lived in Corpus Christi from 1961 until 1963 and was employed by American General Insurance Co. He moved to Beaumont in 1936 to become president of First Security National Bank. Mason was a graduate of Lamar University at Beaumont and did graduate work at Rhodes University in South Africa and at Rutgers University in New Jersey.[13]
In September 1972, Security First Mortgage Co., a subsidiary of Beaumont-based First Security National Corp., announced formation of a Houston division of its mortgage banking operations. Additionally, ross C. Fox was elected executive vice president and a director of the mortgage company and Ellis Monk was named vice president. Fox and Monk were Houston mortgage bankers. Security First Mortgage provided interim financing of commercial and residential properties, land development loans as well as selling and servicing permanent mortgage loans. Other First Security National subsidiaries included First Security National Bank of Beaumont, First National Bank of Colleyville in Tarrant County, Village State Bank and Gateway National Banks of Beaumont, Peoples State Bank of Kountze and Sour Lake State Bank, Sour Lake.[14]
In September 1978, First City Bancorporation of Texas Inc. suggested a merger with First Security National Corp. First City was a Houston-based multibank holding company an parent of Houston's largest bank, First City National Bank. First Security National was a Beaumont-based multibank holding company with assets totaling $418.93 million, deposits $356.99 million and 10 member banks. In 1973 the two companies had reached an agreement in principle to merge, but dropped the plans because of what they deemed an unfavorable regulatory climate.[15]
In September 1983, Joe Sylvan, formerly vice chairman of the board of InterFirst Bank-Victoria, resigned to assume the duties of chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Frist City National Bank in Beaumont, not a member of the InterFirst holding company. Sylvan joined InterFirst Bank-Victoria in May 1982 after serving as senior vice president of First National Bank in Denver, Colorado. A graduate of University of Texas with a degree in law, Sylvan served on the board of Victoria Symphony Society, Victoria Fine Arts Association and Victoria Economic Development Corp.[16]
In May 1988, FirstCity Banks headquarters was located in downtown Beaumont at 505 Orleans and it had 5 branches: First City Bank-Gateway at 3775 Stagg, Beaumont; First City Bank-Central was at 4285 East Lucas, Beaumont; First City-Orange at 400 North 16th, Orange; First City-Kountze at Highway 69 and Vaughn, Kountze; and First City-Sour Lake at 214 South Highway 326, Sour Lake.[17]
- 01/01/1978 Changed Institution Name to First Security Bank of Beaumont, N.A. (FDIC #3093)
- 01/01/1983 Changed Institution Name to First City National Bank of Beaumont.
- 04/20/1988 Maintained operations with government open bank assistance.
- 09/30/1988 Acquired First City Bank-Gateway, National Association (FDIC #18079) in Beaumont, TX.
- 09/30/1988 Acquired First City Bank-Central (FDIC #18151) in Beaumont, TX.
- 03/31/1989 Changed Institution Name to First City, Texas - Beaumont, National Association.
- 08/17/1989 Acquired First State Bank (FDIC #11158) in Liberty, TX.
- 06/01/1990 Acquired Spindletop Savings Association, F.A. (FDIC #32795) in Beaumont, TX.
Official Bank Title
1: The First National Bank of Beaumont, TX
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $3,701,760 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1889 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 297,053 notes (272,208 large size and 24,845 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 - 13250 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 14300 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 14301 - 54802 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2810 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 706 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 2914 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 835
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1889 - 1935):
Presidents:
- Valentine Wiess, 1889-1889
- William Andrew Fletcher, 1890-1891
- John Nathan Gilbert, 1892-1894
- Wilbur Sevier Davidson, 1895-1912
- John C. Ward, Jr., 1913-1918
- Preston Beverly Doty, 1919-1935
Cashiers:
- James Peregrine Alvey, 1889-1889
- Wilbur Sevier Davidson, 1890-1894
- Frank Alvey, 1895-1909
- Francis Marion Law Sr., 1910-1914
- Walter Lewis Pondrom, 1915-1918
- Leon Paul Tullos, Sr., 1919-1928
- Hardy Alanzo Dodd, 1929-1935
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- J. Hampil, Assistant Cashier ~1916
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Beaumont, TX, 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 Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, Thu., July 7, 1910.
- ↑ The Austin American, Austin, TX, Wed., Jan. 13, 1915.
- ↑ El Paso Times, El Paso, TX, Sat., Apr. 3, 1915.
- ↑ Fort Worth Record-Telegram, Fort Worth, TX, Fri., Feb. 7, 1919.
- ↑ The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Sat., July 19, 1919.
- ↑ The Galveston Daily News, Galveston, TX, Sat., Mar. 18, 1922.
- ↑ The Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, Mon., June 27, 1921.
- ↑ The Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, Sun., Mar. 18, 1928.
- ↑ The Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, Mon., Apr. 18, 1932.
- ↑ The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Thu., Dec. 11, 1958.
- ↑ Bryan-College Station Eagle, Bryan, TX, Fri., July 28, 1961.
- ↑ The Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, Sun., Apr. 28, 1963.
- ↑ Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Corpus Christi, TX, Sun., July 9, 1978.
- ↑ The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Tue., Sep. 19, 1972.
- ↑ The Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, Tue., Sep. 19, 1978.
- ↑ Victoria Advocate, Victoria, TX, Fri., Sep. 23, 1983.
- ↑ The Orange Leader, Orange, TX, Sun., May 1, 1988.
- ↑ The Orange Leader, Orange, TX, Sun., May 1, 1988.