Peoples National Bank, Lynchburg, VA (Charter 2760)

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The Peoples National Bank of Lynchburg, Virginia, ca1910s.
The Peoples National Bank of Lynchburg, Virginia, ca1910s. The bank was located on the corner of Eighth and Main Streets. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

Peoples National Bank, Lynchburg, VA (Chartered 1882 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Postcard showing the vault of the Peoples National Bank, ca1910s
Postcard showing the vault of the Peoples National Bank, ca1910s. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch, the city's population was 79,009 at the 2020 census, making Lynchburg the 11th most populous city in Virginia. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or the "Hill City". In the 1860s, Lynchburg was the only city in Virginia that was not recaptured by the Union before the end of the American Civil War. In 1860 the population was 6,853, growing to 40,661 by 1930.

Lynchburg lies at the center of a wider metropolitan area close to the geographic center of Virginia locally known as “the Lynchburg area”. It is the fifth-largest MSA in Virginia, with a population of 261,593. It is the site of several institutions of higher education, including Virginia University of Lynchburg, Randolph College, University of Lynchburg, Central Virginia Community College and Liberty University. Nearby cities include Roanoke, Charlottesville, and Danville.

In 1786, Virginia's General Assembly recognized Lynchburg, the settlement by Lynch's Ferry on the James River. The James River Company had been incorporated the previous year (and President George Washington was given stock, which he donated to charity) in order to "improve" the river down to Richmond, which was growing and was named as the new Commonwealth's capital. Shallow-draft James River bateau provided a relatively easy means of transportation through Lynchburg down to Richmond and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean. Rocks, downed trees, and flood debris were constant hazards, so their removal became expensive ongoing maintenance. Eventually the state built a canal and towpath along the river to make transportation by the waterway easier, and especially to provide a water route around the falls at Richmond, which prevented through navigation by boat. By 1812, U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall, who lived in Richmond, reported on the navigation difficulties and construction problems on the canal and towpath.

The General Assembly recognized the settlement's growth by incorporating Lynchburg as a town in 1805; it was not incorporated as a city until 1852. In between, Lynch built Lynchburg's first bridge across the James River, a toll structure that replaced his ferry in 1812. A toll turnpike to Salem, Virginia was begun in 1817. Lynch died in 1820 and was buried in the burial ground of the South River Friends Meetinghouse. Quakers later abandoned the town because of their moral opposition to slave-holding. Presbyterians took over the grounds of the meetinghouse in 1899, and adapted it as a church, later building a new church adjacent to the site, and restoring the Quaker meetinghouse to the buildings historical appearance. The meeting house and burial ground are now preserved as a historic site.

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

Bank History

Sketch of the new Peoples National Bank of Lynchburg
Sketch of the new Peoples National Bank of Lynchburg, opened February 22, 1914.[1]
The Peoples National Bank of Lynchburg ca2023
The Peoples National Bank of Lynchburg, corner of Eighth and Main Streets, ca2023. Inset at top left shows the detailed metal work above the Main Street entrance. Courtesy of Google Maps

In December 1862, Captain Charles M. Blackford of the 2d Virginia Cavlary was appointed Judge Advocate of the Court attached to Liet. Gen. Longstreet's corps.[2]

In December 1869, the People's Savings Bank at Lynchburg was prepared to receive and solicit deposits. Interest allowed on all sums deposited, those remaining four months and over at the rate of 6%, under 4 mounts at the rate of 4%. Depositors could collect their 6% interest every four months. The office was located at the Savings Bank Building and discount day was Saturday. John D. Langhorne was president; Chas. M. Blackford, vice president; and M.W. Davenport, cashier. The directors were George M. Rucker, George W. Langhorne, F.B. Deane, J. Otey Taylor, William M. Black, and Samuel Tyree.[3]

In July 1874, the People's Savings Bank had the following directors: Robert W. Crenshaw, J. Otey Taylor, Jacob H. Franklin, Jno. H. Flood, Jno. D. Langhorne, Chas. E. Heald, J.J. Mahone, C.V. Winfree, and R.G.H. Kean. The officers were Chas. M. Blackford, president; Robert W. Crenshaw, vice president; J. Winston Ivey, cashier; and James O. Williams, assistant cashier.[4]

On Tuesday, June 6th, 1882, stockholders of the People's Bank at Lynchburg met at the banking house at 12 o'clock to consider the question of the propriety of converting the institution into a national bank. Charles M. Blackford was president and J.W. Ivey, cashier.[5]

On July 26, 1882, the comptroller of the currency authorized the Peoples National Bank of Lynchburg, Virginia, to commence business with a capital of $205,300.[6] The new bank assumed all the obligations and contracts of the People's Bank under its state charter and would continue its business at its well-known banking house on Main Street.[7]

In January 1884, the officers were Chas. M. Blackford, president; Robert W. Crenshaw, vice president; Jno. D. Langhorne, Jno. H. Flood, C.V. Winfree, Jacob H. Franklin, Jas. T. Williams, James A. Ford, Thos. N. Davis, W.W. Tyler, and John Otey Taylor, directors.[8]

On Tuesday, January 12, 1892, stockholders met and elected directors to serve for the ensuing year with the following result: C.M. Blackford, R.W. Crenshaw, C.V. Winfree, James T. Williams, John D. Langhorne, James R. Gilliam, James A. Ford, Jacob H. Franklin, D.P. Morrison, Thomas N. Davis, and W.W. Tyler. Officers elected were Charles M. Blackford, president; R.W. Crenshaw, vice president; J.W. Ivey, cashier; G.T. Lavinder, assistant cashier; S.T. Wood, teller; R.O. Horton, first bookkeeper; John Victor, second bookkeeper; and J.D. Tyler, third bookkeeper and runner.[9]

On Tuesday, January 9, 1900, the stockholders elected the following directors: Charles M. Blackford, R.W. Crenshaw, John D. Langhorne, C.V. Winfree, J. Gordon Payne, James T. Williams, G.H. Wilkins, W.C. Ivey, Thos. N. Davis, C.S. Hutter, J.W. Ivey. Mr. Ivey was elected to fill the place of Mr. James A. Ford, deceased. The officers elected were C.M. Blackford, president; R.W. Crenshaw, vice president; J.W. Ivey, cashier; G.T. Lavinder, assistant cashier; John C. Victor, teller, G.E. Vaughan, first bookkeeper; W.R. Winfree, second bookkeeper; W.H. Hurt, third bookkeeper; and Miss Annie Thomason, stenographer.[10]

In January 1913, it was learned that a new 10-story Peoples National Bank building was planned to be built on the site occupied by Lambert's Pharmacy, corner of Eighth and Main.[11] In preparation for construction, razing of the building began on Thursday, January 23rd.[12] The Virginia Bridge and Iron Company of Lynchburg was awarded the contract for the structural steel work for the new bank and office building. The contract covered structural steel for a 12-story building to be completed by June 15th.[13] On March 1, 1913, it was learned that the Lynchburg Savings and Trust Bank had purchased for $50,000 the quarters occupied by the Peoples National Bank, the fixtures of the bank, together with the entire building with a frontage of 41 feet. Possession of the building would be given by October 1st, 1914. A second deal between the Lynchburg Trust and Savings Bank and James R. Gilliam was the sale of the property on Main between Ninth and Tenth Streets purchased some time ago by the bank to build a banking house. This purchase was for $30,000. The sale of the present home of the Peoples National Bank included the vaults and fixtures in the banking room together with the store next door then occupied by Wilkins' Jewelry and Hall's Optical stores.[14] On Saturday, December 8th, sixteen horses were used by the Goodman Transfer Company to haul the door to the vault of the Peoples National Bank from the railway track on Jefferson Street to the building. The door was solid steel and weighed about 15 tons and was manufactured by Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Company at Hamilton, Ohio. A throng of people viewed with interest the long string of horses as they advanced up Main Street. The door would be placed in the building Monday and installed in its circular frame as early as possible.[15]

On Tuesday morning, February 22, 1914, the bank opened for business in its new building. Monday being a legal holiday, the doors were thrown open to the public and all were invited to inspect the new quarters.[16]

On Friday night, January 8, 1915, Mr. Walker Pettyjohn, vice president of the Peoples National Bank, was host at a dinner at the Virginian Hotel to the Peoples National Bank Co-Operative Club, composed of officers and clerks of that institution. The directors of the bank were present as invited guests. Following the dinner the meeting adjourned to the directors' room of the bank where a session of the Co-Operative Club was held. The subject for the evening was "The Income Tax," which was introduced by Mr. John Victor, president of the bank, and was followed by Mr. W.W. Dickerson, cashier. [A timely subject as the 16th Amendment to the Constitution had just passed in 1913.] Short talks also were made by several directors, including L. Lazarus, D.B. Ryland, C.S. Hutter, G.E. Vaughan, and John Victor. All spoke in complimentary terms of the formation of the Co-Operative Club, or school, the purpose of which was to assistant the members in familiarizing themselves with the different phases of the banking business and thereby better prepare themselves for their work.[17] The officers were John Victor, president; Walker Pettyjohn, vice president; G.E. Vaughan, vice president; and W.W. Dickerson, cashier. The bank had capital and surplus of $1,090,000.[18]

In January 1920, the stockholders provided for four additional directors and elected Henry A. Allen, Jr., W.W. Dickerson, John A. Falukner, and R.C. Blackford to the board, giving the bank a directorate of 15 member.[19] The directors for 1920 were C.S. Adams, H.A. Allen, Jr., R.C. Blackford, A.M. Campbell, W.W. Dickerson, J.A. Faulkner, W.M. Heald, C.S. Hutter, F.S. Kirkpatrick, L.H. McWane, J.J. Morrison, Walker Pettyjohn, G.E. Vaughan, John Victor, and R.C. Watts. The officers were John Victor, president; Walker Pettyjohn and G.E. Vaughan, vice presidents; W.W. Dickerson, cashier; W.E. Payne and W.D. Hodges, assistant cashiers.[20]

Effective January 12, 1950, the name was changed to The Peoples National Bank & Trust Company. This change in corporate title was made in recognition of the rapid and substantial growth of the business of the trust department which first opened for business on October 8, 1945. This was the second change in the institution's name. It began service to the Lynchburg area in 1868 as The Peoples Savings Bank and in 1882 obtained a national charter and became The Peoples National Bank. Always the word "Peoples" had a place in the title and it reflected the spirt of the service. The officers were Scott Nesbit, president; W.D. Hodges, vice president; W.A. Henderson, vice president and cashier; E.B. Howerton, assistant vice president; C.J. App, Jr., E.O. McGehee, assistant cashiers; E.M. Wood, assistant vice president; L. David Horner, Jr., vice president and trust officer; Richard L. Howell, assistant trust officer; and Archer Summerson, assistant vice president located in the Miller Park Branch, 1933 Fort Avenue.[21]

On Tuesday, January 30, 1962, directors of the Peoples National Bank of Lynchburg and the Bank of Bedford Inc. announced plans for a merger. The merger was subject to approval by stockholders and the comptroller of the currency.[22] Virginia Commonwealth, United Virginia Bankshares and First & Merchants of Richmond extended from Tidewater to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Assuming federal approval of Virginia Bankshares' plan, all three banking groups would owe their expansion to changes in Virginia bank statutes which made statewide banking permissible since last June. The largest single bank in the state was First & Merchants which after completing two mergers since June 29th had assets of $390 million. Pending was a merger with the $50 million Peoples National Bank of Lynchburg.[23]

In January 1963, the merger of First & Merchants National Bank and Peoples National Bank of Lynchburg was formally approved at meetings of the stockholders of each bank, making First & Merchants the biggest banking organization in Virginia once more. With the addition of more than $38 million from the Lynchburg bank, First & Merchants total assets were $429,904,864. This was more than the last reported figure for the aggregate assets of banks in the holding company being formed by State-Planters Bank of Commerce and Trusts with assets of about $400 million. Stockholders of First & Merchants also updated the name of their bank by eliminating the words "of Richmond" from the official title. Robert T. Marsh, Jr. was chairman of the board of First & Merchants. He noted 1962 had been one of the bank's most eventful years, completing mergers with three banks in Newport News, Staunton and Petersburg while preparing for the fourth with the Lynchburg bank. The capital and surplus had been increased from $24,557,703 to $31,283,388 in 1962 and with the Lynchburg merger on January 31st, it would increase another $3,000,000. James R. Caskie of the Lynchburg bank was elected to the board of the First & Merchants upon the completion of the merger.[24]

Official Bank Title

1: The Peoples National Bank of Lynchburg, VA

Bank Note Types Issued

Series of 1875 $10 bank note
Series of 1875 $10 bank note with pen signatures of J.W. Ivey, Cashier and Charles M. Blackford, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
Series of 1902 Date Back $5 bank note
1902 Date Back $5 bank note with stamped signatures of W.W. Dickerson, Cashier and John Victor, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of W.W. Dickerson, Cashier and John Victor, President. A non-curly "C" variety is seen in the right SN for this note. Limited production runs on other banks with this odd letter are still being discovered. Courtesy of NBNCensus.com
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of W.W. Dickerson, Cashier and John Victor, President. This is a Replacement note. Courtesy of Ben Gruver

A total of $10,281,210 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1882 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 1,218,726 notes (912,904 large size and 305,822 small size notes).

This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments
Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 12768
1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 13000
1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 29415
1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 22100
1902 Plain Back 4x5 29416 - 117440
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 22101 - 85018
1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 23446
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 12738
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 3046
1929 Type 2 5 1 - 42194
1929 Type 2 10 1 - 21600
1929 Type 2 20 1 - 6648

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1882 - 1935):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Known Bank Note Signers

Bank Note History Links

Sources

  • Lynchburg, VA, 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
  1. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Sun., Feb. 22, 1914.
  2. ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond, VA, Sat., Dec. 6, 1862.
  3. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Fri., Dec. 24, 1869.
  4. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Mon., July 27, 1874.
  5. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Sat., May 27, 1882.
  6. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Thu., July 27, 1882.
  7. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Tue., Aug. 1, 1882.
  8. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Wed., Jan. 9, 1884.
  9. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Wed., Jan. 13, 1892.
  10. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Wed., Jan. 10, 1900.
  11. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Sat. Jan. 4, 1913.
  12. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Fri., Jan. 24, 1913.
  13. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Wed., Jan. 29, 1913.
  14. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Sun., Mar. 2, 1913.
  15. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Sun., Dec. 7, 1913.
  16. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Sun., Feb. 22, 1914.
  17. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Sat., Jan. 9, 1915.
  18. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Tue., Mar. 2, 1915.
  19. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Wed., Jan. 14, 1920.
  20. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Sun., Jan. 2, 1921.
  21. ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Sun., Jan. 15, 1950.
  22. ↑ The World-News, Roanoke, VA, Wed., Jan. 31, 1962.
  23. ↑ The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, VA, Thu., Nov. 22, 1962.
  24. ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond, VA, Wed., Jan. 9, 1963.
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