Henderson National Bank, Huntsville, AL (Charter 8765)
Henderson National Bank, Huntsville, AL (Chartered 1907 - Closed (Merger) 1985)
Town History
Huntsville is a city in Madison County and Limestone County, Alabama, United States, with a small portion extending into Morgan County. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in the state.
Huntsville was founded within the Mississippi Territory in 1805 and became an incorporated town in 1811. When Alabama was admitted as a state in 1819, Huntsville was designated for a year as the first capital. Its major growth has taken place since World War II. During the war, the Army established Redstone Arsenal in the vicinity with a chemical weapons plant, and nearby related facilities. After the war, additional research was conducted at Redstone Arsenal on rockets, followed by adaptations for space exploration. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command, and most recently the FBI's operational support headquarters all came to be located at nearby Redstone Arsenal.
The Huntsville Depot, completed in 1860, is the oldest extant railroad depot in Alabama and one of the oldest extant depots in the United States. The United States Space & Rocket Center features the United States Space Camp, Aviation Challenge, and the only Saturn V rocket designated a National Historic Landmark.
The city's population was 215,006 at the 2020 census. The Huntsville metropolitan area's population was 491,723 in 2020, making it the second most populous metropolitan area in the state after the Birmingham metropolitan area. In 1890 the population was 7,995, growing to 11,554 by 1930.
Huntsville had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all four of those banks issued National Bank Notes. The banks were the National Bank of Huntsville (Charter 1560), the First National Bank (Charter 4067), Farmers and Merchants National Bank (Charter 4689), and the Henderson National Bank (Charter 8765).
Bank History
- Organized June 18, 1907
- Chartered June 26, 1907
- Opened for business June 27, 1907
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Closed (Merger) August 30, 1985 (No further details on FDIC.gov)
In March 1902, it was announced that Troy would soon have a new oil mill and guano factory. Fox Henderson, the wealthiest man of Pike County and president of the Farmers and Merchants' Bank of Troy was behind the new enterprise. The site was located between the tracks of the Alabama Midland and Central of Georgia Railroads, two miles north of the court house. The mills would be capitalized at $150,000 and have a capacity of 35,000 tons of guano annually. The oil mill would have a capacity of 80 tons of seed daily.
In March 1907 Mr. Fox Henderson, brother of Hon. Charles Henderson, president of the Alabama Railroad Commission, was in Huntsville. He was president of the Farmers & Merchants' National Bank of Troy and also of several other banks in South Alabama. He was president of the Standard Chemical & Oil Co. of Troy with a paid in capital of $500,000. He was seeking a suitable location to start a new national bank in Huntsville with a large capital. In April 1907, the application to organize the Henderson National Bank of Huntsville had been approved by the comptroller of the currency. The promoters let a contract to E.L. Patterson for remodeling and fitting up the Struve building, corner of Washington and Randolph Streets. Along with Fox Henderson of Troy were local capitalists W.F. Garth, Luke Matthews, J.P. Fuller, Jr., as stockholders.
On Tuesday, June 18, 1907, shareholders of the Henderson National Bank met and elected officers as follows: Luke Matthews, W.F. Garth, Thomas T. Terry, James H. Ballentine, E.T. Terry, M.R. Murray, M.M. Cantrell, J.N. Nazza and James Murphree, of Huntsville, Fox Henderson and L.M. Bashinsky of Troy. The officers elected were Fox Henderson, president; W.F. Garth, vice president; James Murphree, cashier; James R. Stevens, assistant cashier. The bank had capital of $100,000 and would open on July 1st in one of the handsomest banking houses in the state.
In March 1908, Mr. W.F. Garth and Mr. James H. Ballentine withdrew from the Henderson National Bank. Mr. Garth was vice president and Mr. Ballentine was a director. The directors elected T.M. Jones of Decatur and Albert G. Proctor of Huntsville to fill vacancies on the board. The board elected the following officers: Col. M.A. Clay of Jackson County and James Murphree of Huntsville, vice president; James R. Stevens, cashier; and John V. Matthews, assistant cashier.
In January 1923, the directors elected were L.M. Bashinsky, Fred Henderson, T.M. Jones, J.N. Mazza, Robert Murphree, M.R. Murray, E.W. McLeod, W.W. Pittman, Dr. Edgar Rand, and Dr. H.D. Westmoreland. The officers were Robert Murphree, president; M.R. Murray, vice president; W.R. Stobaugh, cashier; and K.E. Humphrey, assistant cashier.
On February 26, 1930, two Huntsville banks became a single institution after the overnight purchase of the Huntsville Bank and Trust Co. by the Henderson National Bank. The Henderson National acquired the assets of the trust company approximating $750,000 and adding to its own made approximately $2,250,000 of assets. The transfer of the business of the Huntsville Bank & Trust Co. across the street to the Henderson National at the northeast corner of Court Square occurred with crowds watching the movement of money and accounts. The Huntsville Bank & Trust Co. began as the Huntsville Savings Bank and Trust Company in 1902 with S.J. Mayhew as its president. It bought the Farmers and Merchants National Bank and operated in the old Huntsville Hotel corner until it was burned out around 1908. It moved then to the location in the Herstein Building where it continued until the close of business yesterday. R. Holland Gilliam was the president at the time of its sale and Mr. Gilliam became a member of the official staff of the Henderson National.
In January 1931, stockholders re-elected the board of directors. The board consisted of Robert Murphree, T.M. Jones, W.L. Humphrey, Dr. J.L. Jordan, W.R. Stobaugh, A.J. More, and J.E. Humphrey. The directors elected the following officers: Robert Murphree, president; R.H. Gilliam, vice president; W.R. Stobaugh, cashier and J.E. Humphrey, assistant cashier.
On January 2, 1947, the bank opened in the former Streamline Poolroom at 110 Washington Street after the building in which the bank was located was swept by flames on Tuesday, December 31st. Four trucks from the Huntsville Fire Department and one from the Hunsville Arsenal responded to the scene. The former poolroom was available for lease and the bank just moved in. All the bank's funds and records were saved when water flooded the lower floors of the building and forced occupants to move out.
On August 1, 1980, the institution name changed to First National Bank of Alabama - Huntsville.
On Tuesday, September 3, 1985, twenty-three FirstGulf Bancorp affiliate bank offices opened for business as AmSouth Bank, marking the completion of the largest bank merger in Alabama history. The merger became legally effective at 2:02 p.m. Friday. A task force of a thousand AmSouth and FirstGulf employees worked over the Labor Day weekend to merge the FirstGulf offices into the AmSouth system. The FirstGulf banks that were merged into AmSouth included First National Bank of Mobile; First National Bank of Alabama, Huntsville; City National Bank of Dothan; and First National Bank of Eufaula.
Two affiliates, MetroBank in Birmingham and First National Bank of Russellville, were sold to eliminate duplication and streamline the organization. In Mobile and Baldwin counties, 12 First National of Mobile and four AmSouth offices were divested to meet regulatory requirements. Seven First National of Mobile automatic teller machines also were merged into the AmSouth William Teller network, increasing AmSouth's ATM network to 72 machines, the largest in the state. Three First National Bank of Alabama offices in Huntsville were also divested to meet regulatory requirements. AmSouth doubled the number of its offices in Dothan with the merger of City National Bank of Dothan's three offices and AmSouth entered the Eufaula market with the addition of First National of Eufaula's two offices. AmSouth now had assets of $4.8 billion, making it the largest bank between Atlanta, Georgia, and Houston, Texas. AmSouth operated 136 offices in Alabama and employed approximately 4,450 people.
In November 1984, First State Bank of Decatur announced it intended to buy First National Bank of Alabama - Huntsville's Parkway City, Willowbrook, and Heart of Huntsville offices. The proposed sales were subject to regulatory approvals.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Henderson National Bank of Huntsville, AL
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,122,900 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1907 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 262,170 notes (205,316 large size and 56,854 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 - 1750 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 1400 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 8500 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 6600 1902 Plain Back 4x5 8501 - 28325 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 6601 - 19854 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 4506 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2470 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 716 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 5834 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 3713 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1155
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1907 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
- James A. Murphree, 1907-1907
- James Richardson Stevens, (Jr.), 1908-1908
- James A. Murphree, 1909-1910
- Robert Bob Murphree, 1911-1916
- Paul Thomas McAllister, 1917-1918
- William Raymond Stobaugh, 1919-1935
Other Bank Note Signers
- Winston Fearn Garth, Vice President 1907-1908
- James R. Stevens signed notes as Assistant Cashier
Wiki Links
- Alabama Bank Note History
- General information on Huntsville (Wikipedia)
- General information on Madison County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Alabama (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Huntsville, AL, 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 Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, Sat., Mar. 22, 1902.
- The Morning Mercury, Huntsville, AL, Tue., Mar. 26, 1907.
- The Southern Democrat, Oneonta, AL, Thu. Apr. 18, 1907.
- The Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, Thu., June 20, 1907.
- Huntsville Weekly Democrat, Huntsville, AL, Wed., Mar. 4, 1908.
- The Morning Mercury, Huntsville, AL, Wed., Mar. 11, 1908.
- The Huntsville Times, Huntsville, AL, Wed., Jan. 10, 1923.
- The Huntsville Times, Huntsville, AL, Tue., Jan. 13, 1931.
- The Huntsville Times, Huntsville, AL, Wed., Jan. 14, 1931.
- The Huntsville Times, Huntsville, AL, Tue., Dec. 31, 1946.
- The Troy Messenger, Troy, AL, Thu., Jan. 2, 1947.
- The Huntsville Times, Huntsville, AL, Sun., Feb. 8, 1948.
- The Montgomery Advertiser, Montgomery, AL, Wed., Sep. 4, 1985.
- Birmingham Post-Herald, Birmingham, AL, Sat., Nov. 17, 1984.