Peoples National Bank/Peoples-First NB, Charleston, SC (Charter 1621)
Peoples National Bank/Peoples-First NB, Charleston, SC (Chartered 1865 - Liquidated 1930)
Town History
Charleston is the most populous city in South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean formed by the confluence of the Ashley, Cooper, and Wando rivers. Charleston had a population of 150,277 at the 2020 census. The 2020 population of the Charleston metropolitan area, comprising Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, was 799,636 residents, the third-largest in the state and the 74th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States. In 1860 the population was 40,522 growing to 67,957 by 1920.
Charleston was founded in 1670 as Charles Town, honoring King Charles II, at Albemarle Point on the west bank of the Ashley River (now Charles Towne Landing) but relocated in 1680 to its present site, which became the fifth-largest city in North America within ten years. It remained unincorporated throughout the colonial period; its government was handled directly by a colonial legislature and a governor sent by Parliament. Election districts were organized according to Anglican parishes, and some social services were managed by Anglican wardens and vestries. Charleston adopted its present spelling with its incorporation as a city in 1783. Population growth in the interior of South Carolina influenced the removal of the state government to Columbia in 1788, but Charleston remained among the ten largest cities in the United States through the 1840 census.
The first full battle of the American Civil War occurred on April 12, 1861, when shore batteries under the command of General P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire on the US Army-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. After a 34-hour bombardment, Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort.
Charleston had eight National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and five of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized December 9, 1865
- Chartered December 13, 1865
- Succeeded Peoples Bank
- 1: Assumed 12273 by consolidation February 6, 1923 (Dime National Bank (No Issue), Charleston, SC)
- 1: Assumed 1622 and its circulation by consolidation February 27, 1926 with title change (First National Bank, Charleston, SC)
- 2: Liquidated March 1, 1930
- 2: Succeeded by Peoples State Bank of South Carolina, Charleston
The Peoples Bank was incorporated in 1855. On May 5, 1856, the following were elected directors of the People's Bank: J.W. Scruggs, W.H. Houston, R. Caldwell, J.S. Gibbes, T.S. Heyward, A.McDowall, J.H. Honour, John R. Hudson, A. McKenzie, F.J. Porcher, D.L. McKay, J.F. Green, and H.G. Loper. H.G. Loper was cashier.
On Monday, May 4, 1863, at the annual election, the following directors were re-elected for the Peoples Bank of South Carolina: D.L. McKay, W.H. Houston, H.G. Loper, A. McKensie, J.F. Green, Jas. S. Gibbes, T.S. Heyward, A. McDowell, J.H. Honour, F.J. Porcher, E.H. Rogers, J.B. LaFitte, and C.H. West.
The Peoples National Bank was organized in the latter part of 1865 by Donald L. McKay and James S. Gibbes. Mr. McKay was the first president and H.G. Loper the first cashier. The capital stock was $200,000. The board of directors considted of D.L. McKay, J.S. Gibbes, Wm. Aiken, E.H. Rodgers, I.S. Riggs, H. Cobia and J.C. Farrar. The bank opened for business on January 2, 1866 with Lewis F. Robinson and O. Wilkie as tellers, J.F. Roberts as bookkeeper and C.H. Simonton as solicitor.
On Tuesday, January 14, 1868, at the annual election for directors, the following gentlemen were re-elected: D.L. McKay, James S. Gibbes, John S. Riggs, William Aiken, Henry Cobia, J.C. Farrar, and James M. Caldwell. The
On March 1, 1869, the bank purchased the building on Broad Street for $15,000, occupying this building until moving into the new building in March 1911.
On November 27, 1899, the transfer of a majority holding of the stock of the Peoples National Bank passed from Mr. C.O. Witte, for 30 years president, to Mr. R. Goodwyn Rhett, president of the South Carolina Loan and Trust Company. At a meeting of the directors, Mr. E.H. Sparkman's resignation as a director was tendered and accepted and Mr. Rhett was elected to fill the vacancy. Subsequently, Mr. Witte resigned the presidency and Mr. Rhett was elected to the office. A total of 1,290 shares of stock with par value of $100 per share were purchased at $170 per share, or a total of $219,300. The stock of the bank consisted of 2,500 shares. Mr. Witte continued as a member of the board of directors of the bank.
In the latter part of March 1911, the Peoples National Bank moved into its new eight-story bank and office building just completed. The was the largest and most modern building in Charleston, affording offices a fine view of the city and beautiful and historic harbor. The Hon. R.G. Rhett, president of the bank and mayor of Charleston was the driving force behind the new bank. Mr. Victor Frohling, the junior member of the architecture firm of Thompson & Frohling, New York, visited Charleston and carefully studied all the requirements. Mr. Frohling was a graduate of the University of Stockholm and had also studied in France and Germany. The resulting building was of steel frame construction with granite for the first two and a half floors, brick for the next five floors, and terra cotta for the eighth floor, with a handsome copper cornice. The corridor was marble as was the wainscoting and the pilaster of the banking room. The ceiling of the banking room was 21 feet high and was 25 feet by 120 feet, running the entire depth of the building. The vault was constructed by the Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Company. It was 18 feet X 9 feet X 8 1/2 feet high with 400 boxes for customers on one side with space left for 400 boxes more on the other side. The door was 7 feet in diameter and was protected by an electric alarm. The building was constructed by the Hedden Construction Company, 1 Madison Avenue, New York. It cost about $325,000.
At the end of 1923, Charleston had 13 banking institutions. The banks were: Atlantic National Bank, Atlantic Savings Bank, Bank of Charleston, National Banking Association, Carolina Savings Bank, Charleston Mutual Savings Bank, Exchange Banking and Trust Company, First National Bank of Charleston, Miners and Merchants Bank, Peoples Federation Bank, Peoples National Bank, Port City Bank, Security Savings Bank and the South Carolina Loan and Trust Company. Earlier in the year the Peoples National perfected consolidation with the Dime National Bank and its capital was $1,000,000. It had a handsome office building on the corner of Broad and Church Streets and until the erection of the Francis Marion Hotel, was the only skyscraper in the city.
On January 1, 1926, announcement was made of an agreement to merge the Peoples National Bank and the First National Bank of Charleston. The combination of the two banks would give total resources of nearly $14 million, deposits of over $9 million, and capital stock, surplus and undivided profits of over $1 3/4 million. R. Goodwin Rhett was president of the Peoples National and John C. Simon was president of the First National. Mr. Rhett would remain as president. The Dime National Bank merger accomplished x years ago added a prosperous and staunch King Street fiduciary institution. Peoples-First National Bank would operate three offices, the Main Bank at 18 Broad Street, Central Branch at 275 King Street, and First National Branch at 139 East Bay Street.
In January 1927, the stockholders of the Peoples-First National Bank re-elected the following directors: A.B. Murray, Samuel Lapham, R.G. Rhett, E.H. Sparkman, C. Bissell Jenkins, R.L. Montague, A.J. Geer, J.L. David, John A. Hertz, F.E. Towles, H.F. Barkerding, A. Sottile, R.G. Rhett, Jr., and H.A. Molony. The following officers were re-elected: R. Goodwyn Rhett, president; E.H. Sparkman, R.G. Rhett, Jr., J.L. David, vice presidents; E.R. Croft, cashier; W.H. LaFar, K.E. Bristol, J.L. Walpole, T.A. Wilbur, and W.H. Schroeder, assistant cashiers.
In October 1928, a new banking institution, the Peoples Bank was planned to open in Columbia on or about November 1st with a capital of $100,000 and a paid in surplus of $20,000. This bank was organized by a group of Columbia businessmen and would be affiliated with The Peoples-First National Bank of Charleston. Announcement of the new organization was made in Columbia; R.G. Rhett, Jr., president of The Peoples-First National Bank would be chairman of the board of the new bank and John Thomas, Jr., of Columbia, president. The board of directors would be made up largely of Columbia businessmen, the names to be announced later. The banking house would be located at 1244 Main Street, the site of the old Columbia Savings Bank and Trust Company. The Peoples Bank would open departments for every line of commercial banking and in addition operate a trust department.
In March 1929, Columbia was selected as the headquarters for a new consolidated state banking group with $500,000 capital and $100,000 surplus, headed by R. Goodwyn Rhett's, father and son, of Charleston, under the style Peoples State Bank of South Carolina to serve 15 communities in the eastern and southern regions of the state. The current Peoples Bank of Columbia, with banking house at 1244 Main Street, would be the parent or base bank of the chain. Neither the Peoples-First National Bank of Charleston, nor the National State Bank of Columbia, both Rhett institutions, would be affiliated with the merger of state banks. These two national banks would retain their identities and continue to operate as heretofore. Other communities with banks to be consolidated were Varnville, Estill, Ehrhardt, Manning, St. George, Georgetown, Kinstree, Greeleyville, Johnsonville, Moncks Corner, St. Stephens, Dillon, Lamar, and Darlington. The banks planned for consolidated were The People's Bank of Columbia, Columbia; Hampton Banking Company, Varnville with branches at Estill and Ehrhardt; Clarendon Banking Company, Manning; Dorchester Banking Company, St. George; the Bank of Georgetown, Georgetown; Williamsburg Bank & Trust Company, Kingstree with branches at Greeleyville and Johnsonville; Farmers & Merchants Bank, Moncks Corner with branch at St. Stephens; the State Bank, Dillon; Lamar Peoples Bank, Lamar; and Peoples Bank of Darlington.
On February 27, 1930, stockholders of the Peoples State Bank of South Carolina voted to increase capital stock of the bank from $2 million to $4 million and to move its principal place of business from Columbia to Charleston. At the same time, stockholders of the Peoples-First National Bank of Charleston met and adopted a resolution to merge its business into that of the Peoples State Bank of South Carolina, the merger to occur effectively on Monday, March 3rd. The Peoples State Bank of South Carolina of which R.G. Rhett was chairman of the board and R.G. Rhett, Jr., president, had grown very rapidly in the past year. The consummation of the consolidation with the Peoples-First National Bank resulted in an institution with capital, surplus, and undivided profits of approximately $2 1/2 million. The acquisition of the Greer Bank and Trust Company brought the number of banking offices operated in the state to 31. The Greer bank was the second bank in Greenville County purchased by the Peoples State Bank; the Woodside National Bank of Greenville had been purchased some months earlier.
Official Bank Titles
1: The Peoples National Bank of Charleston, SC
2: Peoples-First National Bank of Charleston, SC (2/27/1926)
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $11,749,010 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1930. This consisted of a total of 1,443,704 notes (1,350,140 large size and 93,564 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1: Original Series 4x5 1 - 2856 1: Original Series 4x10 1 - 6665 1: Original Series 4x20 1 - 2226 1: Series 1875 4x5 1 - 100 1: Series 1875 4x10 1 - 750 1: Series 1875 4x20 1 - 776 1: 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 13980 1: 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 13970 1: 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 8300 1: 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 5080 1: 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 40750 1: 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 31700 1: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 40751 - 120222 1: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 31701 - 76636 2: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 49433 2: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 36541 2: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 9902 2: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 4617 2: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 1075
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1930):
Presidents:
- Donald L. McKay, 1866-1868
- Henry Cobia, 1869-1869
- Karl Otto "Charles" Witte, 1870-1899
- Robert Goodwyn Rhett, 1900-1927
- Robert Goodwyn Rhett, Jr., 1928-1929
Cashiers:
- Henry George Loper, 1866-1879
- Edward Heriot Sparkman, 1880-1903
- Edmund Paslay Grice, 1904-1921
- Edwin R. Croft, 1922-1929
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
- Peoples NB/Peoples-Fist NB, Charleston, SC History (NB Lookup)
- South Carolina Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Charleston, 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
- The Bankers' Magazine, Vo. 82, Jan. 1911-June 1911, p. 648-649.
- The Charleston Daily Courier, Charleston, SC, Tue., May 6, 1856.
- The Charleston Daily Courier, Charleston, SC, Tue., May 5, 1863.
- The Daily Phoenix, Charleston, SC, Mon., July 3, 1865.
- The Charleston Mercury, Charleston, SC, Wed., Jan. 15, 1868.
- The State, Columbia, SC, Tue., Nov. 28, 1899.
- The Greenville News, Greenville, SC, Sun., Dec. 30, 1923.
- The Columbia Record, Columbia, SC, Fri., Jan 1, 1926.
- The State, Columbia, SC, Sun., June 13, 1926.
- The State, Columbia, SC, Wed., Jan. 12, 1927.
- The Sunday Record, Columbia, SC, Sun., Oct. 14, 1928.
- The State, Columbia, SC, Thu., Mar. 14, 1929.
- The Item, Sumpter, SC, Thu., Feb. 27, 1930.
- The Greenville News, Greenville, SC, Fri., Feb. 28, 1930.