Sheffield National Bank, Sheffield, AL (Charter 6759)
Sheffield National Bank, Sheffield, AL (Chartered 1903 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Sheffield is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, and is included in the Shoals metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 9,039. Sheffield is the birthplace of "country-soul pioneer" and songwriter Arthur Alexander, French horn player Willie Ruff, notable attorney, actor, former senator and presidential contender Fred Thompson, Watergate committee U.S. Senator Howell Heflin and U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, whose father was working in nearby Athens when he was born. It sometimes is referred to as "the City of Senators" due to the births of Heflin, McConnell and Thompson within its borders. Col. Harland Sanders worked in the Sheffield depot for Southern Railway in the 1900s. It is also home to the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio where many popular 20th century musicians recorded their work, including Alexander and Ruff. It is the site of historic Helen Keller Hospital, formerly known as Colbert County Hospital and originally constructed in 1921. It was changed to Helen Keller Hospital in 1979, and Keller's birthplace Ivy Green is located less than one mile southwest of the hospital in adjacent Tuscumbia.
Sheffield had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized April 16, 1903
- Chartered May 1, 1903
- Succeeded Alabama Trust & Banking Co.
- Bank was Open past 1935
The Sheffield Banking Company occupied the old quarters of the Alabama Trust and Banking Company with ex-Governor Jos. F. Johnston and associates purchasing the business of the trust company. Governor Johnston along with Mr. S. MacGaughy, cashier, A.D. Galloway, W.H. Johnston, and Forney Johnston, filed an application with the Comptroller of the Currency to organize a national bank to be known as the Sheffield National Bank, with capital of $50,000. The application to organize was approved on April 6 and a Charter was issued on May 1. As national banks were not permitted to handle real estate, the City Loan and Trust Company with capital of $25,000 was organized to handle that feature of the business as well as other such business not permissible under national banking laws. The officers of the new national bank were Jeff J. Gray, Jr., president; R.H. Wilhoyte, vice president; and Snowden McGaughy, cashier, and the directors were Jos. F. Johnston, H.W. Blair, and J.C. Harris.
In October 1905, the Sheffield Company with Henry H. Parsons of New York, president and J.W. Worthington of Sheffield, vice president, acquired control of the Sheffield National Bank by buying the interest of ex-Gov. Jos. F. Johnston of Birmingham.
The Sheffield Trust Company filed its certificate of incorporation and application for a charter in the probate office of Sheffield on May 26, 1906. The incorporators were George Parsons and Henry Parsons of Kennebunk, Maine, and J.W. Worthington of Sheffield. Mr. Worthington was also president of the Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry Co., and numerous other large enterprises of Sheffield. The officers of the Trust Company were Henry Parsons, president; William S. Hatch, vice president; and U.G. Jones, secretary and treasurer. The authorized capital was $100,000 and the new institution planned to do a general banking business besides making loans on real estate primarily to enable the working men of Sheffield to buy lots and build homes on easy terms. Sheffield had two banks with $100,000 in capital each, the Sheffield National Bank being one of the strongest in the state.
In June 1906, the business of the bank increased to such an extent that the services of an assistant cashier were necessitated. The board of directors at a special meeting named William S. Hatch to the position. The other officers were J.W. Worthington, president; R.H. Wilhoyte, vice president; and S. McGaughy, cashier.
In January 1907, directors elected were George Parsons, Henry Parsons, J.W. Worthington, H.W. Blair, W.H. Blake, J.L. Andrews, R.H. Wilhoyte, J.B. McClary, J.J. Gray, Jr., S. McGaughy, H.B. Urquhart, and W.T. Archer. Mr. McGaughy moved from Sheffield to Gadsden and succeeded J.H. Palmer as vice president of the First National Bank of Gadsden. Mr. Urquhart was elected cashier of the Sheffield National Bank.
In January 1910, H.B. Urquhart who was prominent in banking circles in Birmingham before the move to Sheffield, resigned. A.B. Elliott, long-time cashier of the Tuscumbia branch of the Tennessee Valley Bank was elected as the new cashier.
On Tuesday, April 6, 1937, it was announced that the Tennessee Valley Bank purchased the Sheffield National Bank. Mr. T.C. Sanford who was president of the Sheffield National was made manager of the Sheffield branch of the Tennessee Valley Bank and Mr. C.W. Nelson was the assistant manager. With this purchase, the Tennessee Valley Bank had 16 banking institutions in North Alabama. Its resources after the purchase were $4,288,915.04 with deposits of $3,927,170.59. Mr. T.J. Cottingham, president of the Tennessee Valley Bank, only recently accepted the position after serving for several years as Alabama manager of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Sheffield National Bank, Sheffield, AL
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,016,050 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1903 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 81,918 notes (66,332 large size and 15,586 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 - 3200 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 4760 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 4761 - 13383 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1624 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 388 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 2738 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 776
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1903 - 1936):
Presidents:
- John Jefferson "Jeff" Gray, Jr., 1903-1905
- John W. Worthington, 1906-1917
- Julian Leigh Andrews, 1918-1928
- Thomas Cooper Sanford Sr., 1929-1935
Cashiers:
- Snowden McGaughy, 1903-1906
- Homer Blackmon Urquhart, 1907-1909
- Archibald Baker "Archie" Elliott, 1910-1911
- George Erwin Roulhac, 1912-1917
- Herbert Ross Rutland, (Sr.), 1918-1918
- Elver Webster McLeod, (Sr.), 1919-1919
- Thomas Cooper Sanford Sr., 1920-1921
- Joseph Harrington Nathan, Jr., 1922-1925
- Allison William Drisdale, 1926-1935
Other Bank Note Signers
- William S. Hatch, Assistant Cashier 1906 signed notes.
- There are currently no known Vice President bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Alabama Bank Note History
- General information on Sheffield (Wikipedia)
- General information on Colbert County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Alabama (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Sheffield, AL, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield,_Alabama
- 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 Reaper, Sheffield, AL, Sat., Apr. 4, 1903.
- The Montgomery Advertiser, Montgomery, AL, Tue., Apr. 7, 1903.
- The Fort Payne Journal, Fort Payne, AL, Wed., May 6, 1903.
- The Reaper, Sheffield, AL, Sat., May 16, 1903.
- The Southern Democrat, Oneonta, AL, Thu., Oct. 25, 1905.
- The Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, Tue. Apr. 3, 1906.
- The Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, Mon. June 11, 1906.
- The Montgomery Advertiser, Montgomery, AL, Tue., May 29, 1906.
- The Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, Thu., Jan. 31, 1907.
- The Florence Herald, Florence, AL, Thu., Feb. 17, 1910.