Scottsville National Bank, Scottsville, VA (Charter 5725)
Scottsville National Bank, Scottsville, VA (Chartered 1901 - Liquidated 1935)
Town History
Scottsville is a town in Albemarle and Fluvanna counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 522 at the 2020 census. The population in 1890 was 362, declining to 341 by 1930. It is part of the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
According to Scottsville's website, the town "served as Virginia's westernmost center of government and commerce during the 1700s, when rivers were the primary means of travel in the new American wilderness." During the late 18th and the 19th centuries attempts were made to improve navigability along the James, as well as other central Virginian rivers. Part of this was the construction of a canal running roughly parallel with the James west from Richmond. Scottsville was the largest port town along this route, called the James River and Kanawha Canal. The ultimate goal of this project was to connect the Atlantic with the Ohio River via the Kanawha River. These aims were not achieved, due to interruption by the American Civil War and the efficiency of the railroads. It did however succeed in making Scottsville a busy, prominent town. In fact, thanks to a wagon road connecting Staunton to Scottsville, all of the agricultural wealth of the Shenandoah Valley poured into town en route to Richmond and the sea, thereby making Scottsville the largest grain market in the state. Trade was disrupted when Union soldiers broke the canal works in the area. Then the train came, the tracks being laid directly on the towpath of the old canal, a monument to its demise. Eventually, the train too stopped taking passengers, leaving Scottsville a sleepy country town on a coal line.
Located near Scottsville, the Hatton Ferry serves as a seasonal crossing of the James River and has been the location of a ferry since the late 1870s.
Scottsville had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized February 12, 1901
- Chartered February 25, 1901
- Opened for business March 25, 1901
- Liquidated January 22, 1935
- Absorbed by 10618 (National Bank/NB & TC, Charlottesville, VA)
In February 1901, it was announced that Scottsville was about to have a national bank with a capital of $25,000, with Messrs. H.L. Lane, D.H. Pitts, J.L. Pitts, William Dorrier, L.M. Pitts, A.L. Pitts, and D.A. Langhorne as corporators. Mr. Walter Dorrier was expected to be the cashier and opening was planned for around March 15th.[1]
On Tuesday, January 10, 1905, the stockholders of the Scottsville National Bank met and re-elected the following directors: J.L. Pitts, William Dorrier, A.L. Pitts, H.L. Lane, and D.H. Pitts. The directors re-elected William Dorrier, president, and Walter S. Dorrier, cashier.[2]
On May 21, 1906, Mr. William Dorrier, president of the Scottsville National Bank, was thrown from a buggy and painfully hurt. Mr. Dorrier and his son, Mr. Walter S. Dorrier, cashier of the bank, were driving in from their home, "Mount Pleasant," five miles in the country as was their daily morning custom. The accident took place between 8 and 9 o'clock about half a mile from Scottsville. One of the horses, a young colt, began to run and finally landed in a wire fence on the roadside. Mr. Dorrier, the elder, was thrown with violence on a piece of rocky ground just as his son jumped out onto one of the animals. The fater was carried to the village in the vehicle of a friend and was attended by a physician.[3] Mr. Dorrier died on Sunday as a result of injuries received in the runaway accident. He was born in January 1839, a native of Brunswick, Germany, coming to American in the spring of 1856. For 11 years he was a member of the railroad contracting firm of Lane Brothers' Company and at the time of death was a member of the firms of Pitts and Dorrier, merchants and owners of Valmont Stock Farm and of Pitts and Dorrier Company, railroad contractors. Four sons survived him--Walter S. Dorrier, James F. Dorrier of Mathews and Dorrier, railroad contractors; Charles R. Dorrier, cashier of Esmont National Bank; and Bennie Dorrier of Scottsville. He also left an adopted daughter, Miss Mary Dull.[4] On June 26th, at a meeting of the directors, Hon. D.H. Pitts was elected president of the bank. Walter S. Dorrier was elected a director.[5]
In January 1927, it was announced that a group of local capitalists allied with the National Bank of Charlottesville and headed by Mr. N.T. Shumate had recently acquired control of the Scottsville National Bank and application would be made to the comptroller of the currency for permission to increase the capital from $25,000 to $50,000. Mr. Shumate would become president of the Scottsville National but the present active officers and directors would remain in charge of the enlarged institution. The Scottsville National Bank was organized with a paid-in capital of $25,000 and had been from the beginning a most successful bank. The most recent statement showed capital, surplus and profits $106,000, deposits $500,000, and total resources over $600,000. The stock value was approximately $425 a share. The Scottsville bank would continue to operate under its own charter and entirely separate and distinct from the National Bank of Charlottesville.[6]
On Thursday, November 16, 1939, Richard James Nicholas, 44, employee of the Scottsville National Bank since 1913, died in Richmond. He was assistant cashier until the Scottsville National became a branch of the National Bank and Trust Company of Charlottesville in 1934. He then continued in the employ of the branch bank.[7]
On Thursday, December 31, 1953, James F. Dorrier, Scottsville banker since 1921, retired as branch manager of the Scottsville branch of the National Bank and Trust Company. Bank president Henry A. Haden presented Dorrier with a gold watch at his Scottsville home commemorating the banker's 32 year's of banking service. He was replaced by William McClanahan of Scottsville who assumed his duties as branch manager Monday.[8]
On March 29, 1961, James Franklin Dorrier, 78, Scottsville banker for 31 years, died at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville after a long illness. Born October 4, 1882, in Scottsville, he was the son of Catherine Richey Dorrier and William Dorrier. His wife, the former Sarah Carrington, died in 1959. Mr. Dorrier graduated from the Scottsville High School. He was in the construction business before becoming cashier of the Scottsville National Bank in 1922. Mr. Dorrier and his family were associated with the bank from the time of its founding in 1901. His father was president, and a brother, Walter S. Dorrier, was cashier and later president. Mr. Dorrier himself had worked part-time and during school vacations at the bank. He was cashier from 1922 until 1934 when the National Bank and Trust Company of Charlottesville bought the Scottsville National Bank. He was manager of the Scottsville branch of the National Bank and Trust Company from 1934 until he retired December 31, 1953.[9]
Official Bank Title
1: The Scottsville National Bank, Scottsville, VA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $498,280 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1901 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 62,316 notes (46,100 large size and 16,216 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 - 1390 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 1114 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 1575 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 1200 1882 Value Back 4x5 1576 - 2845 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 1201 - 1853 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 2643 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 1680 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1366 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 644 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 214 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 1780 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 767 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 325
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1901 - 1935):
Presidents:
- William Dorrier, 1901-1905
- David Henry Pitts, Sr., 1906-1921
- John Lee Pitts, 1922-1923
- Walter S. Dorrier, 1924-1926
- Norman Taliaferro Shumate, 1927-1933
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
- Scottsville National Bank, Scottsville, VA History (NB Lookup)
- Virginia Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Scottsville, 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
- ↑ Richmond Dispatch, Richmond, VA, Thu., Feb. 7, 1901.
- ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond, VA, Thu., Jan. 12, 1905.
- ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond, VA, Tue., May 22, 1906.
- ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond, VA, Fri., June 1, 1906.
- ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond, VA, Sun., July 1, 1906.
- ↑ The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, VA, Fri., Jan. 7, 1927.
- ↑ The News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, Fri., Nov. 17, 1939.
- ↑ The Richmond News Leader, Richmond, VA, Fri., Jan. 1, 1954.
- ↑ The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, VA, Thu., Mar. 30, 1961.