Stock Yards National Bank, South Omaha, NE (Charter 9908)
Stock Yards National Bank, South Omaha, NE (Chartered 1910 - Closed (Merger) 1985)
Town History
South Omaha, located in Douglas County, is a former city and current district of Omaha, Nebraska. During its initial development phase, the town's nickname was "The Magic City" because of the seemingly overnight growth due to the rapid development of the Union Stockyards. Annexed by the City of Omaha in 1915, the community has numerous historical landmarks; many are within the South Omaha Main Street Historic District. The traditional borders of South Omaha included Vinton Street to the north, Harrison Street to the south, the Missouri River to the east, and 42nd Street to the west.
The area that would become South Omaha was rural until the early 1880s when cattle baron Alexander Hamilton Swan decided to establish a stockyards operation just south of Omaha. The South Omaha plat was registered on July 18, 1884. Two years later, South Omaha was incorporated as a city. By 1890, the city had grown to 8,000 people, a rate of growth that earned it the nickname "The Magic City".
In less than 10 years, South Omaha had developed as a regional stockyards and meatpacking center. Its industrial jobs did not require high-level language skills, so it drew thousands of immigrant workers, mostly from eastern and southern Europe. This area of the city showed ethnic succession as different waves of immigrants established certain territories as their own during their first settlement.
South Omaha had five National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all five of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized July 11, 1910
- Chartered December 20, 1910
- Succeeded 3611, South Omaha National Bank and 4632, Union Stock Yards National Bank, South Omaha, NE Branch
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Merged into Norwest Bank Omaha, N.A. in Omaha, NE, January 1, 1985
In June 1910, Omaha Stock Yards National Bank would be the title of one of the largest banks in Nebraska planned for opening around October 1st. The South Omaha National and the Union Stock Yards National, two of the oldest and largest banks of South Omaha, would be consolidated to form the new bank with a capital of $750,000, a surplus of $250,000, and undivided profits of $125,000, and the combined deposits exceeding $7,000, 000. The new bank will have identified with it such representative interests as Armour & Co., the Cudahy Packing Company and the Union Stock Yards Company, as well as other important live stock and packing interests operating at the South Omaha yards. H.C. Bostwick would be the president of the new institution; E.F. Folda and F. W. Clarke, vice presidents; J.C. French, cashier; John S. King, assistant to the president. Epes Cory, H.C. Miller and James B. Owen would be assistant cashiers. The board of directors would consist of J. Ogden Armour of Chicago, H. C. Bostwick, Truman Buck, Everett Buckingham, K.C. Barton, E.A. Cudahy, Michael Cudahy of Chicago, C.F. Coffee of Chadron, F.W. Clarke, R.J. Dunham of Chicago, J.D. Standish of Detroit, E.F. Folda, J.C. French, Ora Haley of Laramie, R.C. Howe and E.M. Morsman, Jr. In March 1910, J. Ogden Armour purchased a controlling interest in the Union Stock Yards National Bank which had capital $300,000, and individual deposits of 1,500,000.[1]
The new bank, located in the building occupied by the Union Stock Yards National, would double its present size. The South Omaha Savings Bank, closely identified with the South Omaha National, would extend its scope and occupy the quarters on N street occupied by the South Omaha National Bank. "It is simply a natural advancement of the banking interests to keep pace with the gradual growth of this market and to provide adequate facilities for properly taking care of the increased business, and at the same time enable the bank to take its proper position among the commercial banks of the west," said E. F. Folda, president of the Union Stock Yards National Bank. “It is a thing I have hoped for ever since coming to South Omaha, and a proposition that has received serious consideration for the last two years.”[2]
In December 1910, the new addition to the bank building at the Union Stock Yards was practically completed. The interior work was very fine and it would be one the finest bank buildings in the state as far as the interior was considered. The day fixed for the merger of the two banks was January 3rd. On that day the South Omaha National Bank and the Union Stock Yards National would combine and begin doing business under the new name of the Stock Yards National Bank of South Omaha. The articles of incorporation had been filed for some time. H.C. Bostwick, president of the South Omaha National, was selected as president of the new institution.
Mr. Bostwick had been at the head of the South Omaha National for a number of years and was well-known in the city. For vice presidents the Stock Yards National would have E.F. Folda and F.W. Clarke. Mr. Folda had been vice president of the Union Stock Yards Bank for some years, and Mr. Clarke was at present cashier of the same bank. The cashier selected was John C. French, who had long filled the same position at the South Omaha National. The assistant cashiers were E. Cory, H.C. Miller and James Bowen. John S. King would be Mr. Bostwick's assistant. The directors would be J. Ogden Armour, H.C. Bostwick, K.C. Barton, Everett Buckingham, F.W. Clarke, Truman Buck, E.A. Cudahy, C.F. Coffee, R.J. Dunham, E.F. Folda, R.C. Rowe, J.C. French, Ora Harley, E.M. Morsman, Jr., and J.B. Standish. It was understood that Joseph M. Cudahy would also be elected a director in the new bank. The new institution would be one of the strongest financially in the state, representing so many large concerns. This bank was backed by the combined capital of the Union Stock Yards Company and the Cudahy and Armour interests. The capital stock would be $750,000 with a surplus of $250,000. Deposits at the start would amount to about $7,000,000.[3]
In January 1920, the directors were H.C. Bostwick, Truman Buk, E. Buckingham, E.A. Cudahy, E.A. Cudahy, Jr., R.J. Dunham, E.F. Folda, J.C. French, F.E. Hovey, R.C. Howe, J.S. King, Baron Millard, H.C. Miller, E.M. Morsman, Jr., J.B. Owen, O.C. Willis, and C.E. Yost. The officers were H.C. Bostwick, chairman of the board; F.E. Hovey, president; J.C. French, vice president; J.B. Owen, vice president and cashier; John S. King and F.J. Enerson, vice presidents; H.C. Miller, W.H. Dressler, and C.L. Owen, assistant cashiers; and H.W. Vore, auditor.[4] In March 1920, directors elected W.L. Pier of Midland, South Dakota a vice president. He had extensive experience in the banking business and for the past five years was president of the First National Bank of Midland where he became familiar with cattle paper and the financing of both large and small live stock operations in the Northwest. The new vice president was about 31 years of age, married, and the proud possessor of three lively youngsters.[5]
In November 1936, W.H. Dressler announced his resignation as cashier effective January 1st. He had been with the bank 22 years and was one of the founders of the Cattle Feeders Loan Company. For a number of years, he had been managing a group of farms and ranches and planned to devote his full time to this work.[6]
On Tuesday, January 12, 1937, Edgar M. Morsman, III, and A.J. Hallas were named to the board of directors at the Stock Yards National. H.A. Hovey was elected cashier. Hovey, son of Ford E. Hovey former president of the bank, succeeded W.H. Dressler. He had been an assistant cashier of the bank since 1928.[7]
At the annual meeting of the board of directors, A.J. Hallas was elected vice president, and John McCumber, cashier. Hallas for the past five years had been president of South Omaha Savings Bank, this prior to that time was associated with the United States National Bank. He was born and raised at Plattsmouth, Nebraska. After attending Creighton University, he started his business career in Omaha in 1922. McCumber started his banking career 25 years ago as messenger with the bank of which he is now cashier. He was born and educated in Omaha. He had been an assistant cashier for the several years and now succeeded Henry Hovey, who resigned to accept the presidency of the South Omaha Savings Bank. All other officers and directors were re-elected.[8]
In May 1969, Stockyards National Bank elected two new directors. Edward C. Miller, Jr., vice president of Ed Miller and Sons, Inc., and Travis C. Evans, group manager of Sears Roebuck and Company area stores, were elected to the board of directors according to Donald J. Murphy, president. Other officers were Jack Campbell, first vice president; Joseph R. Blum, second vice president and Frank J. Lynch, secretary-treasurer.[9]
On August 1, 1970, the Stockyards National Bank changed its name to Northwestern National Bank. The main bank was located in the Livestock Exchange Building with a drive-in/walk-in office at 24th and L Streets.[11] In making the announcement Donald J. Murphy, bank president said, "We are proud of our old name and our Stockyards affiliation, but we feel the time has come to make a change. We have been aggressively expanding our banking services in recent years and, as a result, our business now is widely diversified over a broad area. Therefore the 'Stockyards' name is no longer really appropriate." Northwestern was chosen as it identified the bank as an affiliate of the Northwest Bancorporation together with 77 other affiliated banks located in the 7 upper midwest states, 35 of which carried "Northwestern" in their names. The change in the Stockyards name to Northwestern was the fourth such change in the bank's 84-year history. It was founded in 1886 as the Union Stockyards Bank. The name was changed to Stock Yards National Bank in 1911, South Omaha Stockyards National Bank in 1965, and Stockyards National Bank in 1967.[12]
Effective May 1, 1983, First Northwestern Trust Co. of Nebraska changed its name to Norwest Capital Management & Trust Co., Nebraska. This was part of an identity change of the company's parent corporation Northwest Bancorporation, now Norwest Corporation. H. David Neely, president of the trust company said the new name identified the firm as part of the total Norwest Trust group, a $17.6 billion financial services company consisting of 86 commercial bank, several specialized financial services subsidiaries and five trust companies. In addition to its Nebraska offices, the firm also served Western Iowa through Norwest affiliates in Sioux City, Atlantic and Denison. It had two offices in Omaha, a Central Nebraska office in Hastings, and plans for an office in Norfolk. Norwest Capital Management & Trust Co., Nebraska, was affiliated with the following Omaha banks: Norwest Bank Omaha, N.A., Norwest Bank Omaha South, N.A., and Norwest Bank Omaha West. These banks were previously known as United States National Bank, Northwestern National Bank, and Center Bank, respectively.[13]
- 01/17/1977 Main Office moved to 4650 South 24th Street, Omaha, NE 68107.
- 05/01/1983 Changed Institution Name to Norwest Bank Omaha South, National Association.
- 01/01/1985 Merged and became part of Norwest Bank Omaha, National Association (FDIC #5457) in Omaha, NE. This was formerly, The United States National Bank of Omaha (Charter 2978)
- 10/01/1985 Changed Institution Name to Norwest Bank Nebraska, National Association.
- 06/17/2000 Changed Institution Name to Wells Fargo Bank Nebraska, National Association.
- 11/21/2003 Merged and became part of Wells Fargo Bank, National Association (FDIC #3511) in San Francisco, CA.
Official Bank Title
1: Stock Yards National Bank of South Omaha, NE
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,468,950 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1910 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 302,157 notes (227,968 large size and 74,189 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 30750 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 23300 1902 Plain Back 4x5 30751 - 32484 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 23301 - 24508 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 5578 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 3232 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 880 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 9356 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 5363 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1330
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1910 - 1935):
Presidents:
- Henry Clay Bostwick, 1911-1919
- Rutherford Edwin "Ford" Hovey, 1920-1932
- James Breslin Owen, 1933-1935
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
Bank Note History Links
- Stock Yards National Bank, South Omaha, NE History (NB Lookup)
- Nebraska Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- South Omaha, NE, 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
- ↑ Brooklyn Eagle, Brooklyn, NY, Mon., Mar. 14, 1910.
- ↑ Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, NE, Sat., June 18, 1910.
- ↑ Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, NE, Wed., Dec. 28, 1910.
- ↑ Daily Drovers Journal-Stockman, South Omaha, NE, Wed., Jan. 14, 1920.
- ↑ Daily Drovers Journal-Stockman, South Omaha, NE, Fri., Mar. 12, 1920.
- ↑ Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, NE, Thu., Nov., 5, 1936.
- ↑ Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, NE, Tue., Jan. 12, 1937.
- ↑ Evening World-Herald, Omaha, NE, Tue., Jan. 10, 1939.
- ↑ Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, NE, Fri., May 16, 1969.
- ↑ Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, NE, Mon., Aug. 3, 1970.
- ↑ Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, NE, Mon., Aug. 3, 1970.
- ↑ The Daily Record, Omaha, NE, Wed., July 29, 1970.
- ↑ The Daily Record, Omaha, NE, Wed., May 4, 1983.