Lufkin National Bank, Lufkin, TX (Charter 5797)
Lufkin National Bank, Lufkin, TX (Chartered 1901 - Liquidated 1992)
Town History
Lufkin is the largest city in Angelina County, Texas, and is the county seat. The city is situated in Deep East Texas and is 60 mi west of the Texas-Louisiana state line. Its population is approximately 40,000 people as of 2025. In 1900 the population was 1,527 growing to 7,311 by 1930.
Lufkin was founded in 1884 and named for Abraham P. Lufkin. It originally served as a stop on the Houston, East and West Texas Railway. It was officially incorporated on October 15, 1890. Lufkin continued to serve as a stop on the railroad until 1890. Three businessmen founded Angelina Lumber Company, which led to much of the economic prosperity Lufkin later enjoyed. When the so-called "timber boom" came to an end, a new "golden era of expansion" began. Lufkin became more industrialized with the opening of Lufkin Industries and Southland Paper Mill. In the mid-1960s, a cultural expansion began, and improvements were made to education and the way of life, including museums and the opening of a new library.
Lufkin had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized April 25, 1901
- Chartered May 6, 1901
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Failed October 30, 1992.
- Received Government Assistance and was insured until closed. Acquired by Regions Bank, Birmingham, AL
In April 1901, an application to organize a national bank was approved for the Lufkin National Bank with $25,000 capital, by E.J. Mantooth, E.A. Frost, D.M. Hodges, G.A. Kelley, S.W. Henderson, and B.A. Singleton.[1] The night of August 13, 1901, Lufkin was visited by another fire which proved more disastrous than the fire of last Saturday night. The loss was estimated at $28,000, mostly insured. The Lufkin National Bank building loss was $5,500 with $5,000 insurance.[2] In November 1901, the Lufkin National Bank was rebuilding its bank building and it was expected to be completed within the next thirty days.[3]
In January 1907, at the annual meeting of stockholders the following well-known businessmen were elected directors: E.A. Frost, E.J. Mantooth, R.D. Collins, S.W. Henderson, D.A. Singleton, J.H. Prestridge, E.K. Smith, Ben Collins, G.S. Prestridge, G.A. Kelley, and E.H. Frost. The officers elected were E.A. Frost, president; C.J. Mantooth, first vice president; R.D. Collins, second vice president; W.R. McMullen, cashier; G.R. Thompson, assistant cashier. The deposits of the bank were over $300,000; capital $25,000 and surplus of about $50,000.[4]
In January 1930, the Lufkin National Bank elected the following board of directors for the incoming year: E.J. Mantooth, J.H. Kurth, G.A. Kelley, R.W. Kurth, W.M. Glenn, Dr. R.T. Canon, Norman Belk, W.A. Collmorgen, and J.L. Philips. The directors elected the following officers: E.J. Mantooth, president; J.H. Kurth, vice president; G.A. Kelley, vice president; R.W. Kurth, cashier; J.H. Gibson and C.B. Richardson, assistant cashiers.[5]
On Monday Morning, June 16, 1930, Joseph Hubert Kurth, Sr., 73, prominent lumberman, banker and Mason, died after an extended illness at his home in Keltys, three miles from Lufkin. Colonel Kurth, as he was called, had engaged in lumbering here for close to half a century, and had extensive interests in other enterprises as well. He was head of the Angelina County Lumber Company and was identified with the Lufkin Foundry and Machine Company, the largest concern of its kind in East Texas. Banking interests also engaged his attention, and at the time of his death he was a director of the Lufkin National Bank, an institution which he headed for many years as vice president. Colonel Kurth was a native of Germany. At his bedside when death came were his four sons, J.H. Kurth, Jr., a lumberman of Kurtwood, Louisiana, where he operated a large mill and timber interests; Ernest Kurth, who was identified with the Angelina County Lumber Company; Roy Kurth, who was connected with the Lufkin National Bank; and Melvin E. Kurth of Houston, who was associated with the legal firm of Andrews, Streetman, Logue and Mobeley. Mrs. Kurth died several years earlies as had a son, Dr. Robert Kurth, who died while serving in the medical corps during the war.[6]
In March 1935, the Lufkin National Bank announced the retirement of Judge E.J. Mantooth from the head of the institution, a position he had filled for 21 years, and election of J.H. Kurth, lumberman and capitalist. The bank was organized by Mantooth, G.A. Kelley, E.A. Frost, and J.K. Kurth, Sr., with a capital stock of $25,000. Now the capital and surplus was $225,000.[7]
On Sunday, January 28, 1945, George N. Richardson, former vice president of the old City Savings Bank and Trust Company of Shreveport died at his home in Lufkin, Texas. He left Shreveport with his family about nine years ago to become executive vice president of the Lufkin National Bank. Mr. Richardson was at his office Saturday and apparently feeling well. He was found dead early Sunday.[9]
In June 1981, First City Bancorporation of Texas announced it was adopting a new corporate identity--FirstCity. Formal adoption by the parent corporation and its member banks would begin about October 1st. The legal name would remain unchanged but the new logo would lend a distinctive and unified identity to the various banks, according to J.A. Elkins, Jr., chairman of the board. Of the corporation's 48 members, 33 already used First City in their names. On or about October, the following member banks would change their names to included First City: City National Bank of Austin; City National Bank of Bryan; Corpus Christi Bank and Trust; Valley View Bank, Dallas (to change July 1); The Lufkin National Bank; The First National Bank of Madisonville; The Bank of South Texas, Alice; Central Park Bank, San Antonio; and Windsor Park Bank, San Antonio. The Midland National Bank and five member banks in the Beaumont area had no plans to change their names. First City Bancorporation had the largest state-wide bank membership in Texas with deposits totaling $8.5 billion and assets of $11 billion.[11] A new logo was rolled-out in June coinciding with the opening of First City's new corporate headquarters in downtown Houston, the 49-story First City Tower.[12]
- 10/01/1981 Changed Institution Name to First City National Bank of Lufkin.
- 04/20/1988 Maintained operations with government assistance.
- 03/31/1989 Changed Institution Name to First City, Texas - Lufkin, National Association.
On October 30, 1992, the board of directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) established 20 New Fist City full-service banks. In doing so, the New First City banks assumed the insured deposits and certain other liabilities and assets of the 20 subsidiary banks of First City Bancorporation, Houston, Texas. All banks of the New First City system were now federally chartered national banks, owned, operated and insured by the FDIC.[13]
Official Bank Title
1: The Lufkin National Bank, Lufkin, TX
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,351,940 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1901 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 108,785 notes (84,392 large size and 24,393 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 - 1410 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 6710 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 6711 - 10210 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 9478 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2380 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 692 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 4802 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1159
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1901 - 1935):
Presidents:
- Edwin Ambrose Frost, 1901-1908
- Richard D. Collins, 1909-1909
- George Alford Kelley, 1910-1914
- Edwin James Mantooth, 1915-1934
- J. H. Kurth, Jr., 1935-1935
Cashiers:
- Richard D. Collins, 1901-1906
- William Read McMullen, Sr., 1907-1909
- George Robert Thompson Sr., 1910-1918
- Roy Wren Kurth, 1919-1932
- George Norman Richardson, 1933-1935
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Lufkin, TX, 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 Houston Post, Houston, TX, Wed., May 1, 1901.
- ↑ The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Thu., Aug. 15, 1901.
- ↑ The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Mon., Nov. 18, 1901.
- ↑ The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Fri., Jan. 11, 1907.
- ↑ The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Fri., Jan. 17, 1930.
- ↑ The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Tue., June 17, 1930.
- ↑ The Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, Fri., Mar. 1, 1935.
- ↑ The Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, Wed., June 17, 1981.
- ↑ The Times, Shreveport, LA, Mon., Jan. 29, 1945.
- ↑ The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Mon., Nov. 2, 1992.
- ↑ The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Tue., June 16, 1981.
- ↑ The Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, Wed., June 17, 1981.
- ↑ The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Mon., Nov 2, 1992.