Victoria National Bank, Victoria, TX (Charter 10360)

Needed: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Victoria National Bank, Victoria, TX (Chartered 1913 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Victoria is the largest city and county seat of Victoria County, Texas. The population was 62,592 as of the 2010 census.

Victoria is named for General Guadalupe Victoria, who became the first president of independent Mexico in 1824. The city of Guadalupe Victoria was founded in 1824 by Martín De León, a Mexican empresario. During the Texas Revolution, Guadalupe Victoria contributed soldiers and supplies to pro-revolutionary forces. However, after James Fannin was defeated by the Mexican army at the Battle of Coleto, the town was occupied by Mexican forces. After Santa Anna was defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto, the town's Mexican residents were driven out by Anglo settlers, who renamed it Victoria.

Victoria is located 30 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. Victoria is a two-hour drive from Corpus Christi, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin.

Victoria had three National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and two of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Organized March 31, 1913
Chartered April 15, 1913
Succeeded 4184 (First National Bank, Victoria, TX)
Bank was Open past 1935

On April 18, 1912, The First National Bank of Victoria reported deposits of $1,038,365.34 showing a net gain of over $438,000 in a year. The Victoria Loan Company, unincorporated, had responsibility of $25 million and was run by the Directors of the First National Bank. On April 15, 1913, the institution was succeeded by the Victoria National Bank with the same management and under a new charter with capital of $500,000. The officers were James F. Welder, president; C.S. E. Holland, vice president; F.S. Buhler, cashier; and C.C. Zirjacks, assistant cashier.

In November 1962, a charter was granted for a new national bank known as the Commercial National Bank of Victoria with chairman of the board A.B.J. Hammett, head of the investment firm bearing his name. His application had the name The First National Bank of Victoria, however, upon application of the Victoria National Bank for a similar name, he changed the new bank's name to Commercial National Bank. The Victoria National Bank originally was named the First National Bank and their new application was to change the name to First Victoria National Bank. On January 8, 1963, stockholders unanimously approved the name change effective March 1, subject to approval by the Comptroller of the Currency.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Victoria National Bank, Victoria, TX

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Date Back $50 bank note with printed signatures of F. Buhler, Cashier and James F. Welder (Sr.), President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of T.O. Taylor, Cashier and Jay Welder, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1929 Type 2 $20 bank note with printed signatures of Charles C. Zirjacks, Cashier and James F. Welder, Jr., President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $7,051,600 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1913 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 776,568 notes (519,528 large size and 257,040 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	3x10-20	1 - 15000
1902 Date Back	3x50-100	1 - 1800
1902 Plain Back	4x5	1 - 61499
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	15001 - 66583
1929 Type 1	6x5	1 - 19996
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 10896
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 2842
1929 Type 2	5	1 - 32866
1929 Type 2	10	1 - 15194
1929 Type 2	20	1 - 6576

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1913 - 1936):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

Victoria, TX, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria,_Texas
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 Weekly Advocate, Victoria, TX, Sat., Apr. 19, 1913.
The Weekly Advocate, Victoria, TX, Sat., Apr. 26, 1913.
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Corpus Christi, TX, Thu., Nov. 29, 1962.
Victoria Advocate, Victoria, TX, Wed., Jan. 9, 1963.