Bank Of De Leon

Right:  The bank interior about 1901.   B.J. Pittman is leaning against the teller counter.  It is believed that Arthur Waldrop (believed to be A.J. Waldrop, other sources say Waltrip or Waltrop) is in the Cashier’s window.   It is assumed that the framed document above the Cashier’s window is the national bank charter.  On the right side of the Cashiers window is what appears to be an advertisement possibly for Dr. Pepper.  A woman’s face is visible on the sign when the photo is enlarged and below her the word “Bank” is plainly visible followed by what appears to be the word “Hours.”  Notice there are no electric lights and the windows are behind the counter.  A spittoon is on the floor and on the far left it appears that a rock is laying on the floor.  On the wall in the office behind Mr. Pittman is a Texas map.

   Murry Loudermilk on the left in front of a statement posting machine.  A tray of statements is in the immediate front right of the photo. By then the bank was called the First State Bank.  The vault door is on the back left.  The bank had been remodeled and new teller cages installed, this time opposite the windows.  Electric lights and a ceiling fan added to employee comfort.

Above left: Dodd Price and J.B. Day standing in front of the First National Bank about 1910.  Left:  the entrance tile from the bank now at a local home.

Above: The First National Bank is shown probably during a trade day.  The photo was taken between 1908 and 1911 as the water tank was constructed in ‘08 and the old city hall which was built in 1911 had not been started.  It would have been behind and to the right of the fire bell.

Left: A check from the Bank of De Leon.  Right: William Dale and his family.  Below: A listing of the First National from the May 1908 American Bank Reporter.  The charter number 5660 and the date the bank was established are followed by the paid in capital of $35,000.

    It is not a recent phenomena that banks change their name with regularity, it actually was happening in De Leon over a century ago.  De Leon’s first bank was a private bank, that is, one man put up his money and opened a bank.  It had no stockholders and no government control.  That first bank was call Bank of De Leon and it was organized in 1892 by William Dale who came to De Leon from Omaha, Nebraska.  It opened in what was described as a “plank building where Swagerty Filling Station was”.   That is believed to have been on the southwest corner of Reynosa and Houston.  A brick structure was eventually built on the southeast corner of Texas and Reynosa and the bank moved there.

    In 1899, Dale reorganized the bank and obtained a national charter.  The bank opened as the First National Bank of De Leon on January 1, 1900.  At the time of the conversion to a national bank, Arthur Waldrop and Estelle Spencer worked with Dale.  Dale served as President, W.C. Streety as Vice President and B.J. Pittman as Cashier.  Those three along with J. Doss Miller and J. W. Gorman were the directors.  In those days, the Cashier ran the bank while the President and Vice Presidents were usually inactive in daily affairs but served on the board of directors.  FP Oct 9, 1925.

     Dale sold his interest in the bank in 1903 and left De Leon probably for Amarillo and Pittman took over the day to day operations.  the probable purchaser of the bank was W.H. Eddleman who was listed in 1905 as President with MIller Vice President, Pittman Cashier, Streety, Vice President and Gould Whaley Assistant Cashier.  Eddleman was involved in several area banks including Comanche and Gustine.

     In 1913, the officers of the bank were W.C. Streety President, J.Doss Miller Vice President,  S.W. Kenward Vice President, B.J. Pittman Cashier, and F.E. Carter Assistant Cashier.  

     On April 30, 1919, the bank converted from a national bank charter to a state charter and took the name First State Bank.  D.L. Terrill was President, W.D. Balton Cashier, J.A. Mohon Vice President, and C.E. Kenyon Vice President.  

    In 1921, with the end of the oil boom, and defalcation by an officer of First State, the bank went into receivership.  It never reopened. 

    The present First National Bank and its predecessor the First State Bank are not related in any way to this institution.