Tazewell National Bank, Tazewell, VA (Charter 6123)
Tazewell National Bank, Tazewell, VA (Chartered 1902 - Closed (Merger) 1997)
Town History
Tazewell (/tæz.wɛl/) is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia. The population was 4,627 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area, which has a population of 107,578. It is the county seat of Tazewell County. Tazewell, Virginia, Tazewell County, Virginia as well as Tazewell County, Illinois are named in honor of Littleton Waller Tazewell (December 17, 1774 – May 6, 1860), a Virginia lawyer, plantation owner and politician who served as U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator and the 26th Governor of Virginia, as well as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Named Jeffersonville until 1892, Tazewell was developed near the headwaters of the Clinch River. It is one of the smallest towns in the United States to have once operated a street car. It is in a county that underwent rapid growth in population at the end of the 19th century during the period of the coal and iron boom, as resources of the Pocahontas Coalfields were exploited.
Tazewell had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized January 4, 1902
- Chartered February 8, 1902
- Opened for business February 17, 1902
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Merged into First Virginia Bank-Clinch Valley, Richlands, VA October 20, 1997
On January 4, 1902, application was made to the Comptroller of the Currency for a charter for a National Bank in Tazewell. Geo. W. Gillespie was chosen president and W.T. Gillespie, cashier. Both had been in the banking business and Mr. Geo. W. Gillespie had been with the Bank of Clinch Valley, located on Main Street of Tazewell, for a number of years. Directors elected were Geo. W. Gillespie, A.P. Gillespie, J.R. Meek, W.L. Moore, K.D. R. Harman, S.J. Thompson and J.W. Chapman. The old Buston building was leased for a year to be fitted up and used by the bank.
On February 8, 1902, the Comptroller of the Currency, William B. Ridgely, authorized the Tazewell National Bank to commence the business of banking. In March the bank reported Capital Stock paid in of $30,000 and $15,000 in bonds to secure circulation, but no notes were in circulation at that time. Capital stock paid in was $60,000.
Officers elected in January 1904 were George W. Gillespie, president; J.W. Chapman, vice president; W.T. Gillespie, cashier; and Grat M. Mullin, assistant cashier. In January 1905, stockholders elected the following directors: J.W. Chapman, Geo. W. Gillespie, S.J. Thompson, J.R. Meek, A.P. Gillespie, K.D.R. Harman, and S.D. May. The officers from 1902 were all re-elected.
On December 3, 1914 a 25th Anniversary celebration was held by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Preston for the organization of the Clinch Valley Bank, subsequently known as the Bank of Clinch Valley. Mr. Preston was the cashier since its organization. Present were officers who also were directors, including A. St. Clair, president; Henry S. Bowen, vice president; Henry Preston, cashier; Geo. W. St. Clair, Judge S.C. Graham, O.E. Hopkins, M.L. Peery, W.F. Harman, and J. Ed. Peery. Also of the examining committee present were R.C. Chapman, Chas. R. Brown, R.O. Crockett, and J. Ed. Peery. Glen M. St. Clair, assistant cashier and J.N. Johnson, bookkeeper were present. The Clinch Valley Bank, the progenitor of the Bank of Clinch Valley, was chartered September 28, 1889 and began business on December 5, 1889. When the bank was organized, Hon. S.C. Graham was president, W.B. Stras, cashier; and Henry Preston, assistant cashier. The following year, Mr. Preston was made the cashier.
The new bank, the Farmers National Bank of Tazewell began organizing in October 1919 by electing Mr. Aaron Russ, the cashier of the First National Bank of Honaker, as its cashier. The bank planned to be progressive, pay interest on time deposits and endeavor to bring much of the business done elsewhere to Tazewell. The other two banks of Tazewell, The Bank of Clinch Valley and the Tazewell National Bank, departed from the ancient and time honored custom and announced that they would pay interest on time deposits also. In other banking news, Miss Ella Johnson was now keeping the funds of the Tazewell National Bank straightened out, having taken the place of Robert Moore who moved on to the Virginia Smokeless Coal Co.
On January 7, 1922, the Comptroller of the Currency extended the corporate existence of the Tazewell National Bank for another 20 years to January 8, 1942.
In August 1957, an announcement of a proposed branch bank in the River Jack community of the Tazewell-North Tazewell area was made by the directors of the Tazewell National Bank. The action was taken following the comptroller of the currency's approval of an application. The location was on Route 16 near Alternate 16 where drive-in service and ample parking were possible.
In September 1979, the most profitable bank in the Old Dominion was not one of the banking giants in Richmond. Instead, the state's most profitable bank had an unpretentious main office, two small branches and employed only 24 persons. But with a 36.8% pretax profit margin in 1978, the Tazewell National Bank was definitely Virginia's most profitable. Located in the heart of Virginia's coalfields the Tazewell bank topped a list of 270 commercial banks in Virginia in a survey by Management Science Systems, Inc. of Framingham, Massachusetts. Rodes Brown, president of the Tazewell National said about 15% of deposits of $35 million were controlled by the bank's directors and most were in the coal business. Several coal companies in the area kept large amounts in checking accounts. Those funds would just lay around for months in non-interest accounts. One reason the bank had so much profit was because the Tazewell area was the "poverty pocket of the world", according to Brown. Many residents received regular welfare checks while retired miners received disability checks. All of those government benefits meant the bank was insulated from inflation and recession. While Tazewell National had a pretax profit of 36.8 percent on operating income of $2.5 million, Management Science pointed out a major bank might make as much as 18% on operating income of $100 million.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: Tazewell National Bank, Tazewell, VA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,361,390 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1902 and 1997. This consisted of a total of 152,380 notes (114,376 large size and 38,004 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 4x5 1 - 3050 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 2690 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 4650 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 3460 1902 Plain Back 4x5 4651 - 9175 Plate dated 1902 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 3461 - 6178 Plate dated 1902 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 7501 Plate dated 1922 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 3040 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1498 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 434 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 4680 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 2796 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 696
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1902 - 1997):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Virginia Bank Note History
- General information on Tazewell (Wikipedia)
- General information on Tazewell County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Virginia (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Tazewell, VA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tazewell,_Virginia
- 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
- Tazewell Republican, Tazewell, VA, Thu., Jan. 9, 1902.
- Tazewell Republican, Tazewell, VA, Thu., Feb. 20, 1902.
- Tazewell Republican, Tazewell, VA, Thu., Mar. 13, 1902.
- Tazewell Republican, Tazewell, VA, Thu., Jan. 19, 1905.
- Tazewell Republican, Tazewell, VA, Thu., July 4, 1912.
- Tazewell Republican, Tazewell, VA, Thu., Fri., Dec. 11, 1914.
- Clinch Valley News, Tazewell, VA, Fri., Oct. 31, 1919.
- Clinch Valley News, Tazewell, VA, Fri., Mar. 3, 1922.
- Bristol Virginia-Tennessean, Bristol, VA, Thu., Aug. 15, 1957.
- Daily Press, Newport News, VA, Mon., Sep. 17, 1979.