Norwood National Bank, Greenville, SC (Charter 8766)

Needed: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Norwood National Bank, Greenville, SC (Chartered 1907 - Liquidated 1926)

Town History

An 1890 sketch of the Mansion House, Greenville, South Carolina.

Greenville (/ˈɡriːnvɪl/ GREEN-vil; locally /ˈɡriːnvəl/ GREEN-vəl) is a city in and the county seat of Greenville County, South Carolina. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the 6th-most populous city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway between Atlanta, Georgia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, along Interstate 85. Its metropolitan area also includes Interstates 185 and 385. Greenville is the anchor city of the Upstate, a combined statistical area with a population of 1,487,610 at the 2020 census. Greenville was the fourth fastest-growing city in the United States between 2015 and 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Numerous large companies are located within the Greenville, such as Michelin, Prisma Health, Bon Secours, and Duke Energy.

Greenville County was created in 1786. Some sources state it was named for its physical appearance, while others say the county is named after General Nathanael Greene in honor of his service in the American Revolutionary War, or after early settler Isaac Green. Lemuel J. Alston came to Greenville County in 1788 and bought 400 acres and a portion of Pearis' former plantation. In 1797 Alston used his land holdings to establish a village called Pleasantburg at Greenville Courthouse where he also built a stately mansion. In 1816, Alston's land was purchased by Vardry McBee, who then leased the Alston mansion for a summer resort before making the mansion his home from 1835 until his death in 1864. In 1824, on the northwest corner of Court Square, Col. William Toney from Charleston opened the Mansion House, the most prominent and longest-running hotel in 19th century Greenville. Across the street from the Mansion House on the northeast corner of Court Square, Dr. John Crittenden opened a small hotel under his name that later became known as the Carolina Hotel. The Mansion House was one of the few structures that would survive the devastating effects of the Civil War. Pleasantburg was renamed as Greenville in 1821 and became a village in 1831.

Considered to be the father of Greenville, McBee donated land for many structures such as churches, academies, and a cotton mill. Furman University was funded by McBee who helped bring the university to Greenville from Winnsboro, South Carolina in 1851. In 1853 McBee and other Greenville County leaders funded a new railroad called the Greenville and Columbia Railroad. Greenville boomed to around 1,000 in the 1850s due to the growth of McBee's donations and the attraction of the town as a summer resort for visitors.

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

Bank History

• Organized June 22, 1907
• Chartered June 26, 1907
• Opened for business July 1, 1907
• Assumed 5004 and its circulation September 21, 1918 (City National Bank, Greenville, SC)
• Liquidated March 13, 1926
• Absorbed by Norwood-Carolina Bank of Charleston which was converted into 12865

On July 1, 1907, the Greenville Savings and Trust Company became the Norwood National Bank, capital $125,000.

In 1910, the directors were W.C. Cleveland, A.H. Dean, W.C. Gibson, A.B. Groce, Allen J. graham, E.A. Smyth, W.B. Moore, J.H. Morgan, A.L. Mills, J.I. Westervelt, J.W. Norwood, L.O. Patterson, and B.M. Shuman. The officers were J.W. Norwood, president; A.L. Mills, cashier; and S.T. Moore, assistant cashier.

In May 1913, the bank had capital of $125,000, surplus and profits $160,238.43, deposits of over $838,000 and total assets of 1,295,000. The directors were J.A. Davenport, W.C. Gibson, S.A. Moore, B.M. Shuman, A.H. Dean, J.H. Morgan, L.O. Patterson, J.I. Westervelt, J.W. Norwood, J.F. Gallivan, W.B. Moore, E.A. Smyth, and B.A. Cook. The officers were J.W. Norwood, president; S.A. Moore, cashier; and B.A. Cook, assistant cashier.

In February 1918, C.B. Martin was elected cashier of the Norwood National Bank at a meeting of the directors, succeeding S.A. Moore. Mr. Moore accepted an excellent position in the Merchants Bank of Richmond, Virginia, but would not sever his connection with the Greenville bank until February 20th. Mr. Martin was well and widely known in Greenville, having for years been headmaster of the Furman Fitting School and professor of Latin in the University. He was a superintendent of the Chick Springs Military Academy for a time.

On June 21, 1918, official announcement of the consolidation of the Norwood National bank and the City National Bank , both of Greenville, was made by J.W. Norwood, president of the former institution. Stockholders representing an excess of two-third of the stock of each bank agreed to the consolidation and matter was laid before the comptroller of the currency. Mr. Norwood was hopeful to get approval from Washington to make it effective on July 1st. The directors of the City National Bank appointed Henry P. McGee, president; H.J. Haynsworth, vice president; and Charles M. McGee, cashier, members of a committee to handle the details of the consolidation for their institution. The present quarters of the Norwood National in the Cleveland Building would be used by the consolidated institution.

In August 1918, the Citizens trust Co. moved from its present location in the Southeastern Life Building the the quarters at 125 South Main Street recently vacated by the City National Bank whose business was consolidated with that of the Norwood National Bank. A.D.L. Barksdale, vice president and general manager of the trust company made the announcement. The Citizens Trust Co. was organized in November 1917 with capital of $25,000. Edwin Hoard was president; B.E. Geer, vice president; A.D.L. Barksdale, vice president and general manager; Rudolf Anderson, secretary; R.E. Holroy, treasurer and manager of fire insurance; E.M. McGee, assistant secretary. The trust company would share its quarters with the Greenville Morris Plan Co. James Birnie and C.B. Martin also had officers there and would continue to handle all lines of insurance, Mr. Birnie would handle fertilizers for the Union Guano Co. in addition to his insurance business.

In September 1919, the directors were C.O. Allen, W.P. Anderson, J.A. Davenport, A.H. Dean, J.F. Gallivan, W.C. Gibson, M.D. Earle, H.P. McGee, J.H. Haynsworth, T.C. Gower, J.D. Harris, L.O. Patterson, J.H. Morgan, J.W. Norwood, A.K. Park, C.M. McGee, and A.A. Bristow. The officers were J.W. Norwood, president; W.P. Anderson, vice president; Henry P. McGee, vice president; Chas. M. McGee, cashier and Jas. F. Davenport, assistant cashier. The bank had total resources of $4,766,802.10 at the close of business on September 12, 1919.

In October 1925, A.R. LaCoste, vice president of the Bank of Charleston, N.B.A., was in Columbia completing arrangements for the affiliation of the Carolina National Bank of Columbia with the Bank of Charleston, and the Norwood National Bank of Greenville. The Bank of Charleston had made deposits of approved securities to insure payment to the selling stockholders at the agreed upon price. The Carolina National was sold to the Bank of Charleston on October 7. The affiliation of the three banks formed one of the strongest banking combinations in the southeast. The Carolina National was formed in 1868 and was one of the oldest and strongest banks in South Carolina.

In December 1926, the Norwood-Carolina Bank of Charleston with branches at Greenville and Columbia was chartered by the secretary of state with capital $200,000 and Robert S. Small, president; A.R. LaCoste, George Norwood, J.M. Bell, and B.M. Edwards, vice presidents; G.W. Walker, secretary and A.L. Riley, cashier.

In January 1926, at the annual meeting of the Norwood-Carolina National Bank, formerly the Carolina National, was held at Charleston. Robert S. Small, president of the Bank of Charleston, NBA, who headed the banking merger in which his bank, the Carolina National and The Norwood National were included, was named president and the presidents of the former Carolina and Norwood banks, Joseph M. Bell and George Norwood, were named vice presidents as were A.R. LaCoste and B.M. Edwards. G.W. Walker of Charleston was named cashier with the cashier of the former Carolina National, John D. Bell, and the cashier of the Norwood National, Wesley Key, as assistant cashiers. Mr. Small from his office at Charleston said the total deposits of the three as of December were $22,408,000 and the total resources, $27,000,000. A state charter was recently issued to the Norwood-Carolina Bank, but since then the bank had been nationalized. On March 1, 1926, the South Carolina National Bank made up of the combination of the Carolina National of Columbia, the Bank of Charleston, NBA, and the Norwood National of Greenville was granted a charter in Washington.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Norwood National Bank of Greenville, SC

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with printed signatures of A.L. Mills, Cashier and J.W. Norwood, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with printed signatures of Geo. A. Norwood, Jr., Cashier and J.W. Norwood, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $2,945,300 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1907 and 1926. This consisted of a total of 306,064 notes (306,064 large size and No 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	3x10-20	1 - 2500
1902 Date Back	4x5	1 - 4775
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 11400
1902 Plain Back	4x5	4776 - 29350
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	11401 - 44666

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1907 - 1926):

Presidents:

• John Wilkins Norwood, 1907-1924
• George Alexander Norwood, Jr. , 1925-1925

Cashiers:

• Arthur Ladson Mills, 1907-1909
• Samuel A. Moore, 1910-1918
• Columbus Ben Martin, 1918-1918
• Henry Pinckney McGee, 1918-1918
• Charles McKay McGee, 1918-1919
• George Alexander Norwood, Jr. , 1920-1924
• James Wesley Key, 1925-1925

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• Norwood National Bank, Greenville, SC History (NB Lookup)
• South Carolina Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Greenville, SC, 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
• Glimpses of Greenville: Greenville’s Antebellum Hotels, accessed Jan. 27, 2024.