Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Aug. 16, 1979, edition 1 / Page 6
Part of The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Thursday, August 16, MW N.C. Bankers Have Wei-Deserved Reputation As Financial Leaders (Editor’s Note: North Carolina bankers consider the ability to branch statewide the foundation that has earned them a reputation for financial leadership in the Southeast. Wachovia Bank and Trust Company commissioned freelance writer Jerry Adams to write the following article about the development of the state’s banking system. Adams specialized in writing about banking and attended the School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University this year. Wachovia first branched in 1902-03 . into Asheville, Salisbury, High Point and Spencer. The bank is celebrating its 100th an niversary this year.) “The inhabitants are a set of cutthroats and savages,’’ wrote a New Englander who traveled through North western North Carolina in W I ILII mm ? , I "" ' *>■ i BRANCHING As head of the N. C. Bankas Association, Robert M. Hanes took a lead role in 1932 in supporting the state’s banks during the Depression years. Hanes, an early advocate of neighborhood hanking through branching, was president of Wachovia Bank in Winston-Salem from 1931- 1956. . . .Planting Time, That Is. We Now Have Available Fall Cabbage, Collards, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower, Crepe Myrtle, Fall Mums, And Gardenias. Need Help With Your Shrubbery? Give Us A Call Today For Your Landscaping And Spraying Needs. LEARY PLANT FARM Route I - Edenton Phone 221-4671 BACK-TO^| r A- c ?hest e ™ iWrim * nex P ensJve 4 And 5 *IMPI Drawer Chests. yHll3 PERFECT For The College Bound Students. (Itot Exactly As Slwm) s3B^ I Furniture Outlet, Inc. ill Badham Road - Edenton Phone 482-8082 'Ss^ / the early 1800 s, “with some A major complaint of the New Englander and moat everybody else of the day was that you couldn’t count on the money you put in your pocket. Counterfeiters were thriving, the value of real money fluctuated wildly and, in the wads of one historian, “banks were viewed with suspicion and distrust by the yeoman farmers of the back-country counties.’’ Monetary crises were continual, but through it all North Carolina banks responded in away that became a tradition and, contemporary bankers say, a source of strength for today’s banking system in the state: North Carolina banks branched. At about the time the dyspeptic New Englander was traveling through the state, in 188, the official State Bank of North Carolina had just established its seventh branch-tfae first one west of the Piedmoot-in what was then the backwoods town or Morganton. Clearly, it was up to bankers to prove they were among the “exceptions.” That wasn’t easy because money, then as now, was so very important. Great Britain’s refusal to allow the colonies to mint money was a principal cause of die Revolution, and money problems continued to plague the young nation. In North Carolina, President Andrew Jackson’s veto of the re charter of the U. S. Bank in 1832 split political forces like a bolt of lightning. And it came on the heels of a gold and-silver shortage that especially troubled agrarian states like North Carolina. It was in this en vironment-banks bran ching into the winds of monetary storms-that Wachovia Bank and Trust Co. of Winston-Salem was born. Wachovia Bank and Trust, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, is a bank spring from a branch. In 1804, the state legislature authorized North Carolina’s first two banks, Bank of the Cape Fear and Bank of New Bern. By 1808 Bank of the Cape Fear had put a full branch in Salisbury and by 1814 it had offices in Charlotte and Salem. Through the tumultuous days of the 18306, the Salem office and the bank itself received the support of the Moravian community. In response to that support, shareholders of Bank of the Cape Fear voted in 1846 to provide Salem with a full fledged branch. It was built in 1847 under the watchful eye of Israel Lash. The Civil War closed the branch, but Lash Powerful anti-itch drug you can buy without an Rx! Stop itching fast of external vaginal, rectal, and other skin conditions. Doctors find even severe itching can be treated with a special drug. You can now get this anti-itch drug ingredient with no prescription in BiCOZENE*. Use only as directed. The medically proven creme for itching. /sssr-r Distributors For— -. ij£mks^ 1 1 WMVttAIK yAMnocAsEetoem i HouseWwme* A The Economy of Wood- The Convenience of Automatic Heat THE CHOWAN HERALD revived operation in 1881 as the First National Bank of Salem. Bi 1879, the bank wan reiovated in the commercial atmosphere of adjoining Winston and as Wachovia National Bank. In 1911, Wachovia National merged with Francis Henry Fries* Wachovia Loan and Trust Co., fmmdad in 1883, to form Wachovia Bank and Trust Co. fries had introduced branch banking in 1988413 when he estbalished offices in Asheville, Salisbury, High Point and Spencer. At the time of his death in 1931 the bank had sprouted a strong branching system and the nation was into the most serious financial crisis of its history, the Depression. When the “crash” oc curred in the fall of 1929, according to bankas association records, the cost in papa losses as stock prices plummeted was 319- billion, more than the United States spent during World War I, including loans to allies. Cash from savings and checking accounts to cover stock commitments equaled 812-billion, with 388-million required through the South. By the spring of 1932, Robert M. Hanes, who succeeded Fries as Wachovia’s president, had taken ova leadership of die N. C. Bankers Association. Harry Gatton, now executive vice president of the association, says of Hanes: “He kept the banking community from For Better Results.. .Try A Herald Classified! Economical Cooling 7/ P \7 THRU AUG. 31 / A ■ •• .try toss? ■ , , SOMETIMES THE OLD IDEAS . ARE STILL THE BEST IDEAS! MOVE IT-MOVE IT-MOVE m Keep Your Air Fresh A Cool/ Roof V ents I FACTORY Qrt/c/a/reSZtf ctT QUALITY JE> REPRESENTATIVE POWER ATTIC Cf FEATURES: IN STORE VENTILATOR nr .Heavy Steel Construction cS SATURDAY """""T *„ . Jkr 'il XM. TUI 2ML Thermostat Controlled .Wpisper-Quiet .Runs Whisper Quiet oil Several Sizes Available: j£# (Priced With Shutter) $0 A99 rgT 36” ATTIC FAN .... *154“ # "LI 1 , 4 - t „ n 30” ATTIC FAN .„. •137" Wp rC£W\ 24” ATTIC FAN l( EH. If I 1 ! I J HOW IT WORKS .. . 1 111 J I / // BEFORE INCREASE THE a. I | I l j/J! 9s> EFFICIENCY OF ANY I . K Uni iXiuvS. Superheoted air trapped in attic spaces can COOLING SYSTEM NY INSTALLING V 1 , , lyr X reach ISO*. This hot air penetrates down- TURBINE VENTS iF IlW* f strains to house I Qr: A v5 R ft 1 fhQQ With a powar attic ventilator, the tempero- AS LOW AS lO 1 Jr 100* lure in the attic can bo brought within 1(T ADJUSTABLE BASE 9e - M j Z AND 12** THROAT O t . 1 your house. HyZST " \ LtMjftfffttlF BmAauMlaßß ' - MlUwni | l Vw »Vw •W _ . i » 99 When die state’s bankas met in Asheville hi Key, 1932, a « state banks and 17 North Carolina during the peat U months, “bringing distress to many com on > dß^f*Se 8 b«dB of"tte state,** Hanes told the grotg>. William H. Neal, 82, recalls working with Hanes during those dark«days, trying to hold die state’s hanking system togetha. Neal, who retired in 1982 as a senior vice president and Public Relations Director at Wachovia, lives with his wife at the Presbyterian Home in High Point In an interview recently, he recalled the challenge Hanes faced. As a young man, Neal worked fa Charlotte National Bank when, in 1927, the eight banks in Charlotte established the branch there of the Fedaal Resave Bank. Neal says he “did some legwork” on the im portant project. In 1933, Neal had gone to work for Wachovia but was assigned, along with trust officer Charles Wood, to be on hand at the “fed” in Charlotte to make emergency deliveries of cash to banks unda pressure by depositors. Wachovia then bad offices in five cities, Winston-Salem, High Point, Salisbury, Raleigh and Asheville. Atone point, Nepl recalls, Wachovia was the only bank still opaating in those cities. Hie pressure focused On March 4, 1933-Neal the day Franklin D. “We got the Fedaal Reaerveboystopockuaupa Neal and Wood and a pilot were to fly the money to AsheviUe-frorndtet runway to drt runway. To Neal’s of the fedaal employees was eHmhiiig into the plane as well. “He said since we had ail that money he’d have to go along,’’ Neal says. “I remember thinking, my God, we’ll neva get this plane off the ground.” The plane got off the ground, and North Carolina’s banking system wobbled through the crisis. Rre Does SI,OOO Damage A fire, believed to have started from an electric cord, did 31,000 damage Tuesday to the borne of Mrs. Ruth Smith, 206 West Eden Street. The alarm was sounded at 12:50 P.M. and when firemen arrived the blaze was burning on the back porch of the residence Fire Chief Lutha C. Parks said it is believed to have been started by an electric short in a cord to a deep freezer. No one was at home at the time of the fire. aril not miy their own beak's service bat to con vince cempaatoe to use The idea was to rebuild “I rememba Bob Hanes saying, T don’t want to be the only bank in town,’ ” Neal recounted. Although expansion was delayed by World War H (Wachovia built one branch, in Asheville, in the 1900 s), Hanes insisted on new methods of selling Wachovia’s service. “In tboee days,” Neal says witfa a broad smile, “bankers considered ‘selliig’ a dirty worn. Two of the young trainees NOTICE! Sealed Bids will be received in the office of the Town Administrator until 2:00 P. M. August 30, 1979, for the following surplus equipment: One 1973 Dodge Four Door Sedan One 1970 Ford Four Door Sedan These vehicles may be inspected at the Edenton Street Department. W. B. GARDNER Administrator Page 6-A who were to learn the new method were Archie K. Davis and John F. Watfingtoo Jr., who would also take ova from Hanes as Wachovia’s top management team in 1966. After the war was ova, Wachovia retired to the tradition of branching with a flair. In the 1060 s, Wachovia estafahshed 29 branches, and in the 1900 s, 09. So for in the 19705, Wachovia has established 81 branches, bringing the bank to a total of 188 offices in 77 com munities. Fewa than half the states allow statewide branching by banks. In North Carolina, howeva, there are currently 90 banks in die state-with 1,688 offices.
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 16, 1979, edition 1
6
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75