Joseph Lytle Campbell (Spartanburg, SC)

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Joseph L. Campbell (date unknown)
Joseph L. Campbell (date unknown) (ancestry.com)

Joseph Lytle Campbell (September 25, 1885 – August 10, 1952)

Biography

  • Name: Joseph Lytle Campbell
  • Birth: September 25, 1885 Nashville, TN
  • Death: August 10, 1952 Spartanburg, SC
  • Spouse: Louise Carrie (Crutcher) Campbell 1880-1977

Joseph Lytle Campbell was born in Nashville, Tennessee on September 25, 1885. His father, Joseph F. Campbell was an Irish immigrant that immigrated to the U.S. during the height of the Irish potato famine in 1849. Joseph F. Campbell was working as a bookkeeper in the 1900 census, and this might be why the younger Joseph chose this line of work. We can't find any mention of schooling for Joseph, but the 1900 census lists him as a student, so it would be reasonable to assume he was attending local public schools.

He began his banking career as a clerk for the First National Bank of Nashville, charter 150, and he worked his way up there to Assistant Cashier. On February 27, 1909, the local newspaper announced the opening of a mercantile store in Nashville called the Campbell-Beesley Company. Joseph served as Secretary/Treasurer of this concern until October 30, 1911, when he left to work for the J. M. Prickett Company, also in Nashville. On September 30, 1909, Joseph married Louise Carrie Crutcher.

A new bank opened in Nashville in March of 1913 called the Nashville Bank & Trust Company, and Joseph found employment there as Assistant Cashier. In August of 1913 he became Cashier of the bank, and on September 24, 1914 the bank received a national charter and opened as the Tennessee National Bank of Nashville, charter 10622, with Joseph being elected as Cashier. The Tennessee National Bank did not issue national bank notes. On May 22, 1915, the Tennessee National Bank merged with the Hermitage National Bank, forming the Tennessee-Hermitage National Bank of Nashville, charter 9532. Joseph was elected Cashier of this bank.

Joseph stayed at the Tennessee-Hermitage National Bank as cashier until it was announced on February 5, 1918, that he had been named assistant manager of the New Orleans branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. A few months later, in November 1918, he accepted a call to Atlanta to be the Assistant Cashier of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In time he was promoted to Vice-President of this bank and in 1926 he was Deputy Governor. What happened in 1926 is still remembered by historians.

In early April, 1926, a bank run began in Havana, Cuba. The island nation still used U.S. currency and both the Boston and Atlanta branches of the Federal Reserve had branch banks there. At the close of business on April 9, Havana banks had almost no currency on hand. The Havana Federal Reserve branch received emergency requests for currency, and they wired Atlanta for help. Joseph and a few of the staff from the Atlanta Fed put together $26.5 million in cash, loaded it on a three car train to Key West, and then loaded the money on a Cuban gunboat bound for Havana. By Monday morning, April 12, the banks had received an infusion of currency, and the bank run was over.

The action of Joseph and his associates saved the Havana banks, but it cost him his job at the Atlanta Fed. Accused of drinking on the job by accepting two drinks from the Cuban hosts, and spending frivolously on the trip, he was forced to resign from the Atlanta Fed on November 15, 1926. It appears that Joseph was soon employed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation because in the early 1930's he was employed as a receiver in closing member national banks in South Carolina. It was from this job that he resigned, and on July 2, 1934, the Commercial National Bank of Spartanburg, South Carolina, charter 14211, was opened with Joseph elected president.

Joseph remained President of the Commercial National Bank until his death from a heart attack on August 10, 1952. He is buried in the Greenlawn Memorial Gardens, in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Bank Officer Summary

During his banking career, J. L. Campbell was involved with the following banks:

Series 1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with stamped signatures of J.L. Campbell, Cashier and E.A. Lindsey, President.
Series 1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with stamped signatures of J.L. Campbell, Cashier and E.A. Lindsey, President.
Series 1929 Type 2 $5 bank note with printed signatures of Vernon C. Earle, Cashier and J.L. Campbell, President.
Series 1929 Type 2 $5 bank note with printed signatures of Vernon C. Earle, Cashier and J.L. Campbell, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com


References

https://www.frbatlanta.org/about/publications/atlanta-fed-history/first-75-years.aspx
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