National Bank, Kinston, NC (Charter 9044)
National Bank, Kinston, NC (Chartered 1908 - Receivership 1931)
Town History
Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791. Kinston is located in the coastal plains region of eastern North Carolina. It is mainly on the northeast side of the Neuse River, and is northeast of the center of Lenoir County. It is 26 miles east of Goldsboro, 30 miles south of Greenville, and 35 miles west of New Bern. The Atlantic Ocean at Emerald Isle is 57 miles to the southeast, and Raleigh, the state capital, is 80 miles to the northwest. The population was 19,900 as of the 2020 census. In 1910 the population was 6,995, growing to 11,362 by 1930.
Kinston was created by an act of the North Carolina General Assembly in December 1762 as "Kingston", in honor of King George III, who had just recently ascended to the throne. The bill to incorporate it was introduced by Richard Caswell, who made his home there and later served as the first governor of the state of North Carolina from 1776 to 1780. After victory in the American Revolution, the citizens renamed the city "Kinston" in 1784 to show the population's disavowal of royalty. In 1833, Kinston briefly became "Caswell", in honor of Governor Caswell, but the name Kinston was restored the following year.
Kinston had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, the First National Bank (Charter 9085), and the National Bank of Kinston (Charter 9044), and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized February 14, 1908
- Chartered February 25, 1908
- Conversion of The Bank of Kinston
- Opened for business February 26, 1908
- Receivership May 1, 1931
In 1898, the officers of the Bank of Kinston were E.F. Cox, president; W.C. Fields, vice president; and R.C. Strong, cashier. The deposits had grown to $115,000 since the bank commenced business on March 1, 1897.[2]
In January 1900, the directors of the Bank of Kinston were B.W. Canady, W.C. Fields, T.W. Mewborn, E.F. Cox, J.W. Grainger, J.E. Hood, Jesse Jackson, L. Harvey, W.L. Kennedy, D.V. Dixon, and S.H. Abbott.[3]
On Friday, March 6, 1903, the stockholders of the Bank of Kinston held their annual meeting at the bank and elected the following officers for the ensuing year: E.F. Cox, president; J.W. Grainger, vice president; and R.C. Strong, cashier. The directors were J.E. Hood, L. Harvey, D.V. Dixon, B.W. Canady, S.H. Abbott, W.L. Kennedy, J.W. Grainger, Jesse Jackson, E.F. Cox, T.W. Mewborn, and W.C. Field. The officers proposed to increase the capital stock to $50,000 and the stockholders heartily concurred. A stock dividend of 100% would be issued to the stockholders which amounted to over $38,500 (the original capital stock was $20,000).[4]
On September 2, 1908, Mr. O.W. Patterson, a bookkeeper for the National Bank of Kinston was drowned in the Neuse River about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Mr. Patterson was out on the river in a small gasoline powered boat with Messrs. C.E. Speer, C.W. Pridgen and Asa Hawkins when the swift current swept the boat under the county bridge, the floor of which was only about three feet above the surface of the water. The boat was capsized and the other occupants saved themselves by grasping the structure of the bridge, but Mr. Patterson sustained a blow to the head rendering him unconscious. He was seen to rise to the surface one time, but the body was not immediately found due to the swollen condition of the river.[5]
In January 1919, the officers of the National Bank of Kinston were H.H. Taylor, president; J.E. Hood, vice president; J.A. Bizzell, cashier; and W.D. Debnam, assistant cashier. The directors were Messrs. Taylor, Hood, T.W. Mewborn, J.C. Rasberry, E.B. Marston, D.V. Dixon, R.L. Crisp, S.H. Abbott, John G. Dawson, and L.P. Tapp.[6]
Early on Monday, February 28, 1921, John E. Hood, well-known businessman died at his residence on Caswell Street at 2:30 o'clock. He conducted probably the largest drug store business in this part of the country, was president of the Caswell Cotton Mills, and vice president of the National Bank of Kinston. He was connected with other enterprises here and formerly had extensive realty holdings in Florida. He was born at Bentonville, North Carolina, in 1867 and entered the drug business at Smithfield with a brother in 1887. He attended the Philadelphia School of Pharmacy in 1887 and 1888 and became licensed in North Carolina in 1889. His father and three brothers were druggists.[7]
In January 1930, Thomas W. Heath was the new president of the National Bank of Kinston. Heath was chosen by the directors to succeed Joseph C. Rasberry whose other business interests caused him to retire.[8]
Official Bank Title
1: The National Bank of Kinston, NC
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $450,680 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1908 and 1931. This consisted of a total of 45,068 notes (41,444 large size and 3,624 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 4x10 1 - 937 1902 Date Back 4x10 1 - 3300 1902 DB/PB 4x10 3301 - 3600 Type uncertain 1902 Plain Back 4x10 3601 - 9424 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 604
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1908 - 1931):
Presidents:
- Capt. Enoch Franklin Cox, 1908-1909
- John Ezekiel Hood, 1910-1910
- Robert C. Strong, 1911-1917
- Herbert Hamilton Taylor, Sr., 1918-1923
- Joseph Conklin Rasberry, Sr., 1924-1929
- Thomas Woodley Heath, 1930-1930
Cashiers:
- Robert C. Strong, 1908-1910
- Junius Joel Stevenson, 1911-1917
- James Atwood Bizzell, 1918-1926
- Thomas Woodley Heath, 1927-1929
- James Pollock Tingle, 1930-1930
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Kinston, NC, 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 Kinston Free Press, Kinston, NC, Sat., Jan. 3, 1914.
- ↑ The Free Press, Kinston, NC, Fri., Apr. 15, 1898.
- ↑ The Free Press, Kinston, NC, Thu., Jan. 4, 1900.
- ↑ The Free Press, Kinston, NC, Sat., Mar. 7, 1903.
- ↑ The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC, Thu., Sep. 3, 1908.
- ↑ The Kinston Free Press, Kinston, NC, Wed., Jan. 15, 1919.
- ↑ The Kinston Free Press, Kinston, NC, Wed., Mar. 2, 1921.
- ↑ The Kinston Free Press, Kinston, NC, Sat., Jan. 8, 1930.