Roanoke National Bank, Roanoke, VA (Charter 2907)

An 1886 Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Roanoke, Virginia. The First National Bank was on the southeast corner of Salem Avenue and Henry Streets and the Roanoke National was a few buildings to the north above the confectionery store on Salem Avenue.

Roanoke National Bank, Roanoke, VA (Chartered 1883 - Liquidated 1886)

Town History

Needed: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Roanoke is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Southwest Virginia along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanoke is approximately 50 miles north of the Virginia–North Carolina border and 250 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., along Interstate 81. At the 2020 census, Roanoke's population was 100,011, making it the most-populous city in Virginia west of the state capital Richmond. It is the primary population center of the Roanoke metropolitan area, which had a population of 315,251 in 2020.

Roanoke had 10 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all 10 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

• Organized January 3, 1883
• Chartered March 24, 1883
• Succeeded Bank of Virginia
• Liquidated September 16, 1886

According to Henry S. Trout, the first president of the First National Bank of Roanoke in the early part of 1881, reports reached Big Lick that the Shenandoah Valley Railroad then being built wanted to connect with the Norfolk & Western Railroad at some point west of Lynchburg. The Virginia & Tennessee road had in 1870 merged into the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio under the management of General William Mahone. In April 1881 the property of the A.M. & O. was purchased by Mr. Clarence H. Clark of Philadelphia and other capitalists and designated as the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company. Engineers surveyed a line to Montvale, Bonsack, Big Lick and to Salem. A subscription of $5,000 was raised and the donation of an acre of land to the Shenandoah Valley agreed upon contingent on the Shenandoah Valley Railroad making Big Lick their terminus. A messenger in the person of Mr. Charles W. Thomas was secured to take the message to the directors meeting in Lexington and the offer was well-received. When it was decided that the Shenandoah Valley Railroad would make Big Lick its terminus, Mr. Frederick J. Kimball, was president of the railroad and William G. Macdowell, treasurer. There was one small bank in Big Lick with $25,000 capital, known as the Bank of Virginia. Mr. E.G. McClanahan was president and Quinn M. Word, cashier.

In July 1882, Mr. P.J. Wright, who for many years was head of the well-known banking house of Lancaster & Co. of Richmond, was appointed cashier of the Bank of Virginia at Roanoke.

On March 24, 1883, the comptroller of the currency authorized the Roanoke National Bank to begin business with a capital of $50,000. In July 1883, Mr. C.B. Wierman of Lynchburg was elected cashier of the Roanoke National Bank and would enter on its duties on August 1st. This was a high compliment to so young a man. Lynchburg lost a citizen most promising not only in his profession of the law, but in any relation requiring the exercise of sound, discriminating judgment and quick, penetrating perception. His senior partners, Messrs. Kirkpatrick & Blackford, gave him up with great reluctance and regret.

In May 1886, Mr. J.C. Wood resigned as cashier and Mr. Van Taliaferro was chosen in his stead. Mr. Taliaferro was formerly of Lynchburg and was well and favorably known in business circles.

David Fleming Houston was born on July 8, 1843 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish parentage. He attended public schools and the Christiana Institution until 15 year as age and then began as a clerk in a village store to learn the mercantile business. At the beginning of the war, he was 18 years of age and enlisted as a sergeant in Company F., 124th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry where he greatly distinguished himself for bravery and devotion to duty until he was so badly wounded at the battle of Antietam he had to retire from the Army. He soon afterwards received a commission as Lieutenant Colonel in the State of Pennsylvania. He entered the law school of Columbian College at Washington DC. In 1865-1870 he was engaged in learning the iron manufacturing business in Western Pennsylvania. In 1882 he moved to Roanoke and erected the works and developed the mines of the Crozier Steel and Iron Company and was the General Manager of its business. The furnace there was one of the largest of its kind in Virginia, paying its employees over $10,000 per month and turning out 100 tons of freight daily. Upon becoming a citizen of Virginia, Colonel Houston soon came to be looked upon as one of Roanoke's most valuable acquisitions, having been the first president of the City Council. Colonel Houston was a member of the real estate syndicate composed of Capt. M.M. Rogers, Henry Fairfax and himself. He was made president of the Edith Iron Mining Company, president of the Roanoke and Southern Railway Company, vice president of the Roanoke Trust, Loan and Safe Deposit Company, a director in the Roanoke National Bank and one of the vice presidents of the Roanoke Live Stock Association.

On February 11, 1892, Elijah G. McClannahan died at his residence across the river at 4 o'clock in the morning. At one time Mr. McClannahan was the richest man in Roanoke County. He became president of the old Big Lick Banking and Insurance Company in 1875. The business was soon merged into the Bank of Virginia and he continued in the office of president until the institution closed its doors. When F. Rorer failed, Mr. McClannahan who had endorsed his paper and also for others who were effected had large amounts to pay. He saw his property go under the hammer without a murmur. The homeplace was spared and this property increased in value leaving the family comparatively wealthy.

Official Bank Title

1: The Roanoke National Bank, Roanoke, VA

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $20 proof, approved April 7, 1883. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

A total of $15,200 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1883 and 1886. This consisted of a total of 1,216 notes (1,216 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
1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 304	$20 with variety 2, Battle of Lexington vignette

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1883 - 1886):

Presidents:

• Elijah Green McClanahan, 1883-1884
• CPT Mortimer McIlhany Rogers, 1885-1885

Cashiers:

• Philip James Wright, 1883-1883
• J. C. Wood, 1884-1885
• Van Tromp Taliaferro, 1886

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• Roanoke National Bank, Roanoke, VA History (NB Lookup)
• Virginia Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Roanoke, VA, 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