Wachovia National Bank, Winston, NC (Charter 2425)
Wachovia National Bank, Winston, NC (Chartered 1879 - Liquidated 1911)
Town History
Salem
The origin of the town of Salem dates to 1753, when Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg, on behalf of the Moravian Church, selected a settlement site in the three forks of Muddy Creek. He called this area "die Wachau" (Latin form Wachovia) after the ancestral estate of Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. The land, just short of 99,000 acres, was subsequently purchased from John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville. The town established on the chosen site was given the name of Salem (from "Shalom", Hebrew meaning "Peace", after the Canaanite city mentioned in the Book of Genesis) chosen for it by the Moravians' late patron Count Zinzendorf. On January 6, 1766, the first tree was felled for the building of Salem. Salem was a typical Moravian settlement congregation, with the public buildings of the congregation grouped around a central square (today Salem Square). These included the church, a Brethren's House, and a Sisters' House for the unmarried members of the congregation, which owned all the property in town. For many years, only members of the Moravian Church were permitted to live in the settlement. This practice had ended by the Civil War. Many of the original buildings in the settlement have been restored or rebuilt and are now part of Old Salem Museums & Gardens. Salem was incorporated as a town in December 1856.
Winston
In 1849, the Salem Congregation sold land north of Salem to the newly formed Forsyth County for a county seat. The new town was called "the county town" or Salem until 1851, when it was renamed Winston for a local hero of the Revolutionary War, Joseph Winston. For its first two decades, Winston was a sleepy community. In 1868, work began by Salem and Winston business leaders to connect the town to the North Carolina Railroad. By the 1880s, there were many different tobacco factories in the town, with notable factories owned by Pleasant Hanes and R.J. Reynolds. Pleasant Hanes would later go on to found Hanes (formerly called Shamrock Knitting Mills) in 1900. Reynolds Co.'s success during this period can also be measured by the concurrent success of many Winston companies that received large amounts of business from Reynolds: Wachovia National Bank became one of the largest banks in the Southeast, and the company's law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice became the largest law firm in North Carolina. The Wachovia National Bank was co-founded by James Alexander Gray and William Lemly and received its charter on June 3, 1879.
Winston-Salem
Robert Gray, as a featured speaker at the 1876 centennial celebration, was the first to mention the two towns as one. In the 1880s, the US Post Office began referring to the two towns together as Winston-Salem. In 1899, after nearly a decade of contention, the United States Post Office Department established the Winston-Salem post office in Winston, with the former Salem office serving as a branch. After a referendum the towns were officially incorporated as "Winston-Salem" in 1913.
The Reynolds family, namesake of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, played a large role in the history and public life of Winston-Salem. By the 1940s, 60% of Winston-Salem workers worked either for Reynolds or in the Hanes textile factories. The Reynolds company imported so much French cigarette paper and Turkish tobacco for Camel cigarettes that Winston-Salem was designated by the United States federal government as an official port of entry for the United States, despite the city being 200 miles inland. Winston-Salem was the eighth-largest port of entry in the United States by 1916.
Winston had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all four of those banks issued National Bank Notes. Salem had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era and it issued National Bank Notes. Winston-Salem had two national banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and one issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized March 3, 1879
- Chartered June 3, 1879
- Liquidated January 3, 1911
- Consolidated with the Wachovia Loan & Trust Company
The Wachovia National bank was organized in March 1879, beginning business on June 16th of that year. The original capital was $100,000 this being increased the first year to $150,000. The first officers were as follows: W.F. Bowman, president; E. Belo, vice president; W.A. Lemly, cashier; and J.A. Gray, assistant cashier. The board was composed of W.F. Bowman, J.A. Gray, E. Belo, J.R. Vogler, H.G. Bahnson, J.C. Roberts, and H.W. Huntley. The bank was located at 232 Main Street this being its first and last location until it relocated in 1911. For many years, however, it occupied the building at the corner of Main and Third Streets.[1]
In March 1890, the directors were F.H. Fries, W.A. Lash, Jas. A. Gray, J.C. Buxton, Eugene E. Gray, J.W. Hunter, and W.A. Lemly. The officers were W.A. Lemly, president; and Jas. A. Gray, cashier. The bank had capital $150,000, surplus $100,000 and average deposits $300,000.[2]
In January 1907, the stockholders re-elected the former board of directors. The directors were W.T. Vogler, Frank Miller, R.J. Reynolds, E.E. Gray, F.H. Fries, Bowman Gray, and Jas. A. Gray.[3]
On Monday, March 6, 1911, from the time the Wachovia Bank and Trust Company opened its doors until the hour of closing, the bank was visited by hundreds of customers and friends anxious to get a view of the banking quarters. All day Saturday the new building as well as the old quarters of the Wachovia National Bank and the Wachovia Loan & Trust Company on Main Street were scenes of much activity. The new structure was built of pressed brick with the walls in the lower stories of stone and steel frame with re-enforce concrete floors. The banking quarters were on the first and second stories, the upper floors being occupied by offices. In addition to a spacious lobby and a main banking room, there were rooms on the first and second floors for officers and directors, as well as work quarters for the various clerks. Winston-Salem had contracted a habit of doing things in a big way and residents of the Twin-City had become accustomed to seeing business affairs conducted on a much greater scale than a few years earlier. The consolidation of the Wachovia National Bank and the Wachovia Loan and Trust Company under the name of the Wachovia Bank and Trust Company had been consumated January 1st, and the two institutions had been conducting business in their separate quarters until this day. The combined institution had capital of $1,250,000 with undivided profits over $300,000 and total resources of more than $6,500,000. This made the Wachovia Bank and Trust Company the largest financial institution of the state. The officers were F.H. Fries, president; Jas. A. Gray, vice president; H.F. Shaffner, vice president and treasurer; T.S. Morrison, vice president; Jas. A. Gray, Jr., secretary and assistant treasurer; and A.C. Miller, assistant secretary. The directors were R.J. Reynolds, J.E. Gilmer, W.M. Nissen, C.D. Ogburn, E.W. O'Hanlon, Jas. K. Norfleet, J.W. Fries, H.G. Chatham, Wescott Roberson, and L.H. Clement.[4]
The Wachovia Loan and Trust Company was organized in 1893 with $200,000 capital. On December 15, 1893, the bank had deposits of $37,708.93 and on December 15, 1907, these had grown to $4,007,537.04. There was an increase in deposits from December 1900 to December 1910 of 620%, while over the same period deposits in North Carolina banks, both State and National, rose 375%.
Col. F.H. Fries was president of the Wachovia Loan and Trust Company from the time it was founded until its consolidation with the Wachovia National Bank. Col. Fries was also largely interested in cotton mills and kindred enterprises. He was largely responsible for the building of the Roanoke and Southern Railroad from Roanoke to Winston-Salem and was the leading spirit in the construction of the Winston-Salem Southbound Railway.[5]
On December 12, 1986, Wachovia purchased First Atlanta. Founded as Atlanta National Bank on September 14, 1865, and later renamed to First National Bank of Atlanta, this institution was the oldest national bank in Atlanta. This purchase made Wachovia one of the few companies with dual headquarters: one in Winston-Salem and one in Atlanta.
In 1991, Wachovia entered the South Carolina market by acquiring South Carolina National Corporation, founded as the Bank of Charleston in 1834. In 1998, Wachovia acquired two Virginia-based banks, Jefferson National Bank and Central Fidelity Bank. In 1997, Wachovia acquired both 1st United Bancorp and American Bankshares Inc., giving its first entry into Florida. In 2000, Wachovia made its final purchase, which was Republic Security Bank.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Wachovia National Bank of Winston, NC
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $628,600 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1879 and 1911. This consisted of a total of 50,288 notes (50,288 large size and No small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 7909 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 3800 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 863
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1879 - 1911):
Presidents:
- Wyatt Fletcher Bowman, 1879-1881
- William Augustus Lemly, 1882-1905
- James Alexander Gray, Sr., 1906-1910
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Winston, NC, 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
- The Bankers' Magazine, Vol. 82, Jan. 1911-July 1911, p. 674-680.