Union National Bank, Houston, TX (Charter 9712)
Union National Bank, Houston, TX (Chartered 1910 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Houston is the most populous city in Texas, fourth-most populous city in the United States, most populous city in the Southern United States, as well as the sixth-most populous in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in 2020. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the seat of Harris County. The city of Houston was founded by land investors on August 30, 1836, at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou (a point now known as Allen's Landing) and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837. It is named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had won Texas's independence from Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto 25 miles east of Allen's Landing. After briefly serving as the capital of the Texas Republic in the late 1830s, Houston grew steadily into a regional trading center for the remainder of the 19th century.
Since the late 19th century Houston's economy has had a broad industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, and transportation. Leading in healthcare sectors and building oilfield equipment, Houston has the second-most Fortune 500 headquarters of any U.S. municipality within its city limits (after New York City). The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled.
Nicknamed the "Bayou City", "Space City", "H-Town", and "the 713", Houston has become a global city, with strengths in culture, medicine, and research.
Houston had 22 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and 21 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized March 21, 1910
- Chartered March 25, 1910
- Succeeded 5858 (Merchants National Bank, Houston, TX)
- Bank was Open past 1935
In 1905, the first charter under the banking laws of Texas was issued to the Union Bank and Trust Company of Houston. The company opened for business in a small brick building on the corner of Franklin and Fannin Streets, later moving into comfortable quarters at Main and Franklin. Deposits grew over a period of 4 1/2 years to $6 million.
The Union National Bank of Houston opened for business on March 28, 1910, with capital of $1,000,000; surplus and undivided profits, $300,000; and deposits of nearly $9 million. It was the result of the consolidation of the Union Bank and Trust Company and the Merchants National Bank of Houston. J.S. Rice, the president, was born and raised in Houston. In 1905, he and a few others conceived and organized the Union Bank and Trust Company with capital of $500,000. In March 1910, it was converted into the Union National Bank. Mr. Rice was also president of the Bankers Trust Company. The Union National purchased property fronting 75 feet on Main Street running back on Congress 131 feet and was planning for a modern 12-story bank and office building. It was announced that the structure would have a foundation of granite and 12 stories of brick and stone, supported by a modern steel frame, fireproof in every detail. The stock was held by about 160 shareholders.
In March 1910, the directors of Union National were J.S. Rice, president; C.G. Pillot, W.T. Carter, J.M. Rockwell, Abe M. Levy, Jesse H. Jones, vice presidents; T.C. Dunn, C.L. Neuhaus, Frank Andrews, Jonathan Lane, J.L. Thompson, W.O. Neuhaus, and J. Ross. J.S. Rice was president, T.C. Dunn, H.N. Tinker, and Geo. Hamman, active vice presidents; Dewitt C. Dunn, cashier; H.B. Finch and D.W. Cooley, assistant cashiers. The Union Bank & Trust Company was located at the corner of Main and Franklin.
Directors of the Merchants National Bank in 1910 were Bryan Heard, J.M. West, C.K. Dunlap, W.F.N. Davis, Arch MacDonald, W.M. Rice, Thomas H. Ball, J.R. Stuart, R.E. Brooks, J.J. Sweeney, R.H. Baker, and H.N. Tinker.
On Tuesday, January 9, 1912, at the annual election of directors, Oscar D. Wells, cashier of the Commercial National Bank, left that institution and became a director and vice president of the Union National Bank. The Commercial National did not fill Mr. Wells' position. Instead P.J. Evershade, assistant cashier, served as acting cashier. [NOTE: a featured biography is available for Oscar D. Wells who, in 1914, was elected the First Governor of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank.]
In January 1920, the directors were Frank Andrews, R.H. Baker, Thos. H. Ball, J.S. Bonner, A.L. Bowers, R.E. Brooks, C.L. Carter, W.T. Carter, W.T. Carter, Jr., W.L. Connelly, D.W. Cooley, DeWitt C. Dunn, T.C. Dunn, B.B. Gilmer, Geo. Hamman, G.A. Kelley, Abe M. Levy, C.L. Neuhaus, W.O. Neuhaus, C.G. Pillot, J.S. Rice, W.M. Rice, J.W. Robins, J.J. Sweeney, and B.F. Yoakum. The officers were J.S. Rice, president; T.C. Dunn, Geo. Hamman, D.W. Cooley, W.T. Carter, Abe M. Levy, C.G. Pillot, vice presidents; H.B. Finch, cashier; C.A. Dwyer, Hugh Wood, and J.F. Fowler, assistant cashiers.
On Saturday, November 8, 1924, at a meeting of the board of directors, R.M. Farrar was elected president and Colonel J.S. Rice became chairman of the board of directors. H.B. Finch, cashier, was appointed to the office of vice president; C.A. Dwyer, assistant cashier, was made cashier. J.G. Omerod and H.M Wertheimer were elected assistant cashiers. Mr. Farrar had for many years been prominently identified with local civic, commercial and financial activities. He was president of the Farrar Lumber Company, a director of the Houston branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and vice chairman of the Houston port commission. For several years he was president of the National Bank of Commerce before he retired to resume his private business about three years ago.
On August 24, 1943, George Hamman, an officer of the Union National Bank for 33 years, assumed the presidency, succeeding the late R.M. Farrar.
On February 19, 1960, Thomas Jones Caldwell, Sr., 77, former Fort Worth and Houston bank executive, was buried at the Buena Ventura Ranch near San Angelo. He had been president of the Buena Ventura Cattle Company since 1943. From 1919 until 1921, he served as vice president and a director of the Fort Worth National Bank. The Austin native was a lawyer there for 8 years before entering banking in 1917. After leaving Fort Worth, he served as vice president of the old Union National Bank at Houston and as treasurer and director of the Federal Land Bank there.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Union National Bank of Houston, TX
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $13,537,100 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1910 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 1,684,927 notes (1,294,928 large size and 389,999 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 34250 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 27000 1902 Plain Back 4x5 34251 - 195692 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 27001 - 128040 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 25114 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 14080 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 5096 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 67514 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 46095 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 10650
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1910 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
- De Witt Clinton Dunn, 1910-1917
- Denton Winfield Cooley, 1918-1918
- Hubert Bruce Finch, 1919-1924
- Charles Arthur Dwyer Sr., 1925-1935
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Texas Bank Note History
- General information on Houston (Wikipedia)
- General information on Harris County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Texas (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Houston, TX, 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 Bankers' Magazine, Vol. 81, July 1910-Dec. 1910, pp 853-858.
- The Bankers' Magazine, Vol. 85, July 1912-Dec. 1912, pp 194-200.
- The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Tue., Mar. 29, 1910.
- The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Wed., Jan. 10, 1912.
- The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Fri., Jan. 9, 1920.
- The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Sun., Jan. 27, 1924.
- The Houston Post, Houston, TX, Sun., Nov. 9, 1924.
- Lubbock Morning Avalanche, Lubbock, TX, Wed., Aug 25, 1943.
- Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, TX, Thu., Feb. 18, 1960.