Stratford National Bank/First NB, Stratford, TX (Charter 8018)

Buildings in the Town of Stratford, Texas, ca1903. At top left is the Bank of Stratford, center is the schoolhouse, and bottom right the Stockmens Mercantile Banking Company. Courtesy of DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.

Stratford National Bank/First NB, Stratford, TX (Chartered 1905 - Liquidated 1913)

Town History

Prominent businessmen of Stratford:  O.C. Armstrong, hardware; G.M. Kerr, editor; Arthur Lile, real estate; H.C. Parcells, Railroad agent; C.R. Foster, abstracts; Judge W.B. Slaughter, banker; E.S. Hill, real estate. View of the interior of the Bank of Stratford. Its president, Judge W.B. Slaughter bought the bank in Delhart. Courtesy of DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University

Stratford is a town and county seat of Sherman County, Texas. It is 80 miles north of Amarillo and 300 miles west of Oklahoma City. The population was 1,939 at the 2020 census. In 1910 the population was 520 growing to 873 by 1930.

Stratford was first settled around 1885, when a man named Aaron Norton bought 100 parcels of land from the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway. His manager, Walter Colton, named it for Stratford Hall, the childhood home of Robert E. Lee, whom he admired. A post office was established in 1900. In July 1901, Stratford was voted county seat, replacing Coldwater. In 1928, the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway was connected to Stratford. The town was incorporated at some point before 1940.

Stratford had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and one of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Street scene in Stratford, Texas, ca1903. The Stockmens Mercantile Banking Company building is the fifth building on left behind the rider on a dark horse. Courtesy of DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.

• Organized November 21, 1905
• Chartered December 23, 1905
• Opened for business January 2, 1906
• 2: Liquidated November 10, 1913
• 2: Succeeded by First State Bank of Stratford

On October 19, 1901, the charter was filed in the secretary of state's department for the Stockmen's Mercantile Company of Stratford, Sherman County, capital stock $20,000. The incorporators were W.B. Slaughter, Coney Slaughter, F.W. James and C.F. McCord.

In January 1903, W.B. Slaughter, president of the Stockmen's Mercantile and Banking Company of Stratford, Texas, and one of the leading ranchmen of the Texas Panhandle, came to Kansas City as a delegate to the national live stock convention. According to Judge Slaughter, "The development of the southwest is something phenomenal. Most important in it all is the passing of the big ranches. Never again will this land see the size of ranches that have existed for years. Now, the tendency is to divide all of those great ranches up into smaller ones, thus bring about what we call ranch farming." Ranch farmer was the combination of the stock business with farming.

In March 1904, W.B. Slaughter, the well-known Panhandle stockman and president of the Bank of Stratford, offered free cotton seed to persons in that section willing to plant small patches for experiment.

In July 1905, R.G. Dye and Mrs. Ida B. Collins were united in marriage at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Vaughan, Judge Wilson officiating. Mr. Dye, president of the Bank of Stratford, purchased the Oscar Vaughan residence in Stratford for a home. Mrs. Collins was a daughter of R.P. Tyler of Prospect.

On October 3, 1905, the comptroller of the currency authorized the Stratford National Bank, Stratford, Texas, Capital $25,000, to organize. The applicants were R.G. Dye, Stratford; Frank Watson, J.D. Rawlings, T.J. Page, O.C. Armstrong. This would be a conversion of the Bank of Stratford. The officers were R.G. Dye, president; J.D. Rawlings, vice president; T.J. Page, cashier; and L.C. McCrory, assistant cashier.

On May 14, 1906, a charter was filed with the secretary of state in Austin for The First State Bank of Stratford, Sherman County, capital stock $10,000. The directors were W.H. Fuqua, Charles J.E. Lowndes, Louise Cope, J.S. Chesnutt, all of Amarillo; John Houser and T.J. Noland of Stratford.

On December 8, 1906, the Stratford National Bank changed its title to the First National Bank.

In March 1907, the officers of the First National bank of Stratford, Texas, were Frank Watson, president; J.D. Rawlings, vice president; F.W. Burger, cashier; and L.C. McCrory, assistant cashier. The directors were Arthur Lile, Walter Colton, W.D. Morris, T.M. McCrory, Dave Alexander, Frank Watson, and J.D. Rawlings. The officers of the First State Bank of Stratford were T.J. Noland, president; and John Houser, cashier.

In April 1909, John Houser, cashier of the First State Bank of Stratford, Sherman County, Texas, was one of the Templars at the El Paso conclave. In December 1909, M. Cammack of the First National Bank of Stratford was in Texhoma in charge of the Farmers State Bank in the absence of Cashier Terry who was spending the Christmas vacation with relatives in Missouri.

In June 1910, J.P. Reeder, manager of the Stratford Mill & Elevator Co., was in Oklahoma talking wheat markets and conditions generally. Stratford businessmen were making a strong bid for a share of the business of Cimarron County, spending several hundred dollars building a road across the Beaver so good loads could be hauled across the stream. Mr. Reeder was president of the First National Bank of Stratford until its consolidation with the First State Bank. Mr. Reeder had been in and about Stratford from almost its beginning, and had always been one of the leaders in business and civic affairs. He was one of the practical and old-time cattlemen of West Texas, having been identified with the stock industry in the western and northwestern portion of the state for a quarter of a century.

Official Bank Titles

1: The Stratford National Bank, Stratford, TX

2: The First National Bank of Stratford, TX (12/8/1906)

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Red Seal $20 proof, first title, approved January 13, 1906. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

1902 Red Seal $10 proof, second title, approved December 27, 1906. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

A total of $29,460 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1905 and 1913. This consisted of a total of 3,884 notes (3,884 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
1: 1902 Red Seal	4x5	1 - 105
1: 1902 Red Seal	3x10-20	1 - 88
2: 1902 Red Seal	4x5	1 - 150
2: 1902 Red Seal	4x10	1 - 150
2: 1902 Date Back	4x5	1 - 258
2: 1902 Date Back	4x10	1 - 220

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1905 - 1913):

Presidents:

• Robert Greenville Dye, 1906-1906
• Thomas M. McCrory, 1906-1906
• Frank Watson, 1907-1907
• James Pickens Reeder, 1907-1913

Cashiers:

• Thomas Jefferson Page, 1906-1906
• F. W. Burger, 1907-1907
• Alonzo "Lon" C. McCrory, 1907-1913

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• Stratford National Bank/First NB, Stratford, TX History (NB Lookup)
• Texas Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Stratford, 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