National Bank, Decatur, IL (Charter 4920)

From Bank Note History
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The Des Moines Register Des Moines, Iowa 07 Jan 1952, Mon • Page 11
Needed: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

National Bank, Decatur, IL (Chartered 1893 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Decatur (/dɪˈkeɪtər/ dih-KAY-tər) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. Decatur is the seventeenth-most populous city in Illinois. The city is named after War of 1812 naval hero Stephen Decatur.

The city is home of private Millikin University and public Richland Community College. Decatur has an economy based on industrial and agricultural commodity processing and production, including the North American headquarters of agricultural conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland, international agribusiness Tate & Lyle's largest corn-processing plant, and the designing and manufacturing facilities for Caterpillar Inc.'s wheel-tractor scrapers, compactors, large wheel loaders, mining class motor grader, off-highway trucks, and large mining trucks.

Decatur was the first home in Illinois of Abraham Lincoln, who settled just west of Decatur with his family in 1830. At the age of 21, Lincoln gave his first political speech in Decatur about the importance of Sangamon River navigation that caught the attention of Illinois political leaders. As a lawyer on the 8th Judicial Circuit, Lincoln made frequent stops in Decatur and argued five cases in the log courthouse that stood on the corner of Main & Main Streets.

Decatur had five National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all five of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

On May 31, 1893, The Decatur National Bank became the National Bank of Decatur with a capital stock of $100,000 and surplus of $100,000. The new bank had the same board of directors and officers as the Decatur National Bank and succeeded the business of the Decatur National Bank, in liquidation by reason of expiration of its charter.

Perhaps the longest single business firm name to appear on the downtown windows was found in one of the offices of the Decatur National bank building at Prairie and Water streets, it was that of O. Schmachtenberger, real estate dealer. It costs something to have a name like that when it comes to having it printed in gold letters on a window.

In November 1907, The Herald and Review reported one of the godless coins with Teddy's modernized eagle landed in Decatur. The gold coin was received in The National Bank of Decatur, a $10 gold piece, looking more like a medal of some sort than money.

On January 3, 1910, stockholders elected the following directors: K.H. Roby, C.P. Thatcher, W.C. Outten, Jonh Ullrich, D.S. Shellabarger, B.O. McReynolds, Max Atlas, J.M. Clokey, and J.A. Meriweather. Officers elected were D.S. Shellabarger, president; John Ullrich, vice president; B.O. McReynolds, cashier; and J.A. Merriweather, assistant cashier.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The National Bank of Decatur, IL

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of B.O. Mcreynolds, Cashier and D.S. Shellabarger, President.
1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of B.O. Mcreynolds, Cashier and D.S. Shellabarger, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1902 Date Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of J.A. Meriweather, Cashier and B.O. McReynolds, President.
1902 Date Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of J.A. Meriweather, Cashier and B.O. McReynolds, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of S.J. Bradfield, Cashier and H.R. Gregory, President.
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of S.J. Bradfield, Cashier and H.R. Gregory, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $4,350,280 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1893 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 394,472 notes (335,660 large size and 58,812 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 4x5 1 - 11300
1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 7500
1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 7625
1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 5530
1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 9500
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 9501 - 51960
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 7566
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 2236

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1893 - 1936):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

  • There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

  • Decatur, IL, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decatur,_Illinois
  • 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 Daily Review, Decatur, IL, Sun., May 31, 1903.
  • Herald and Review, Decatur, IL, Sat., June 10, 1893.
  • Herald and Review, Decatur, IL, Mon., May 13, 1907.
  • Herald and Review, Decatur, IL, Sun., Nov. 24, 1907.
  • Herald and Review, Decatur, IL, Tue., Jan. 4, 1910.
Retrieved from "https://banknotehistory.mywikis.wiki/w/index.php?title=National_Bank,_Decatur,_IL_(Charter_4920)&oldid=22886"