Citizens National Bank, Bowling Green, KY (Charter 5900)
Citizens National Bank, Bowling Green, KY (Chartered 1901 - Closed (Merger) 1995)
Town History
Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the 2020 census, its population of 72,294 made it the third-most-populous city in the state, after Louisville and Lexington; its metropolitan area, which is the fourth largest in the state after Louisville, Lexington, and Northern Kentucky, had an estimated population of 179,240; and the combined statistical area it shares with Glasgow has an estimated population of 233,560.
Present-day Bowling Green developed from homesteads erected by Robert and George Moore and General Elijah Covington, the namesake of the town near Cincinnati. The Moore brothers arrived from Virginia circa 1794. In 1798, two years after Warren County had been formed, Robert Moore donated 2 acres of land to county trustees for the purpose of constructing public buildings. Soon after, he donated an additional 30 to 40 acres surrounding the original plot. The city of Bowling Green was officially incorporated by the Commonwealth of Kentucky on March 6, 1798.
Some controversy exists over the source of the town's name. The city refers to the first county commissioners' meeting (1798), which named the town "Bolin Green" after the Bowling Green in New York City, where patriots had pulled down a statue of King George III and used the lead to make bullets during the American Revolution. According to the Encyclopedia of Kentucky, the name was derived from Bowling Green, Virginia, from where early migrants had come, or the personal "ball alley game" of founder Robert Moore. Early records indicate that the city name was also spelled "Bowlingreen".
Bowling Green had six National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all six of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized June 27, 1901
- Chartered July 11, 1901
- Succeeded Warren Deposit Bank
- Assumed 7804 by consolidation May 31, 1911 (Bowling Green National Bank, Bowling Green, KY)
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Merged into Trans Financial Bank, NA in Bowling Green, KY on March 24, 1995
- Maples, J. Fred, "National Bank Notes from Bowling Green, KY," Paper Money No. 269, pp 363-381.
In June 1901, the Comptroller of the Currency approved the application of C.G. Smallhouse, Thomas J. Smith, C.S. Allen, and J.G. Covington, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, to organize the Citizens National Bank of Bowling Green with capital of $100,000.
In May 1911, The Citizens National Bank took over the business and deposits of the Bowling Green National Bank. The building of the Citizens National would be used for the business of the combined institutions and Robert Rodes, Jr., president of the Citizens National Bank would retain that position. Several directors of the Bowling Green National became members of the board of the Citizens National.
In 1921, officers of the Citizens National Bank were Robert Rodes, president; J.M. Ramsey, vice president; Max B. Nahm, vice president; T.H. Beard, cashier; M.J. Hanley, assistant cashier; Roy G. Cookey, assistant cashier; F.H. Moltenberry, assistant cashier; and H.O. Kirby, assistant cashier. Officers of the Bowling Green Trust Co. were Robert Rodes, president; Max B. Nahm, vice president; Wm. D. McElroy, secretary-treasurer; and J.N. Prince, assistant secretary-treasurer. The National Bank and Trust Company had Capital, Surplus and Undivided Profits of $464,695.93 and Total Resources of $2,777,143.83.
On January 13, 1931, stockholders of the Citizens National Bank and the Bowling Green Trust Company met and re-elected all directors. The directors for both institutions were: Robert Rodes, R.W. Covington, Harry Lazarus, R.C.P. Thomas, Sterret Cuthbertson, T.H. Beard, Virgil Skiles, Max B. Nahm, C.E. Franels, T.O. Heim, E.G. Dent, and J. Murray Hill.
On December 29, 1931, at the Rotary Club luncheon in Louisville, Max B. Nahm, vice president of the Citizens National Bank of Bowling Green and director of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said, "debts are the curse of the world." "Absence of hope in bad times and absence of fear in good times are the two most dangerous factors in business," according to Nahm. He advocated paying of all debts.
Kentucky Southern Bancorp, Inc. in Bowling Green agreed to purchase Citizens Bank and Trust Co. of Glasgow and to by 65% of the stock of Bowling Green Bank and Trust Co. The boards of directors of Kentucky Southern and Citizens in Glasgow approved the transaction on January 9, 1985. The value of the two purchases was approximately $16.5 million. Kentucky Southern already owned the Citizens National Bank of Bowling Green and the holding company's combined assets after the acquisition was $362 million. Bowling Green Bank and Citizens Bank of Glasgow were previously owned by the Butcher Brothers of Tennessee. Both bank wrote off substantial loan losses in 1982 and 1983 when the Butcher Banking empire collapsed. They were purchased in 1983 by two Longview Texas businessmen.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Citizens National Bank of Bowling Green, KY
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $3,064,830 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1901 and 1995. This consisted of a total of 247,642 notes (182,492 large size and 65,150 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 4900 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 8700 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 8701 - 13800 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 26923 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 7102 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 1940 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 324 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 8834 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1740
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1901 - 1995):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Kentucky Bank Note History
- General information on Bowling Green (Wikipedia)
- General information on Warren County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Kentucky (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Bowling Green, KY, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Green,_Kentucky
- 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-June 1911, p. 828.
- The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY, Sun., June 30, 1901.
- The Park City Daily News, Bowling, Green, KY, Wed., May 4, 1921.
- The Park City Daily News, Bowling, Green, KY, Wed., Jan. 14, 1931.
- The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY, Thu., Dec. 31, 1931.
- The Advocate-Messenger, Danville, KY, Thu., Jan. 10, 1985.