1853 Bank of Cape Fear Wilmington NC

Description

Title: 1853 Bank of Cape Fear, Wilmington NC – Ashville Branch, Haxby NC-90 G180.
The bank of Cape Fear was the first bank to be incorporated in the state of North Carolina. The following is summarized or excerpted from the
Raleigh Register and North Carolina Gazette published on Monday 21 January 1805 as the Laws of North Carolina at the session of the General Assembly just closed.
The bank shall be established in Wilmington and the capital stock shall not exceed 0,000, divided into shares of 0 each with provisions for a branch in Fayetteville. Shares constituting 0,000 were made available on the first Monday of April -- 500 shares for Wilmington and 500 shares for Fayetteville. Once the shares were sold a banking house had to be constructed in Wilmington.
The commissioners of the bank were specifically identified in the legislation as:
George Hooper, John London, John Hill, John Hogg, Richard Bradley, William Giles and Henry Watters in Wilmington; and John Winslow, David Anderson, William B. Grove, Duncan M'Leran, Robert Holliday, Peter Perry and Simeon Belden in Fayetteville. The charter period was established
until 1 January 1820, with total assets, including the above mentioned stock, not to exceed 0,000.
Initially the commissioners had to elect a board of directors consisting of eleven directors, being citizens of the State, of whom at least seven had to be residents of Wilmington, or within fifteen miles of the town. After that the board was to be elected annually by the stockholders, at a general meeting to be held at Wilmington, on the first Monday in January.
The legislation allowed the bank to put into circulation notes, together with their debts of every description, not to exceed 0,000 and held the directors personally liable for operation and permitting action to be brought against them if necessary.
The first 500 shares were offered in Wilmington on 1 April 1805 and sold within the first two hours. The following week the subscription books in Fayetteville remained open at Simeon Belden’s house until the requirements were met. The subscription requirement of 1000 shares of Capital Stock was completed by August 1805 and a call was made for an election of Directors at Dick’s Hotel in the Town of Wilmington on Thursday September 19. The
Bank elected its officers and officially opened on 4 November 1805.
The first president was George Hooper, followed by Joshua Grainger Wright, then six more presidents until Dr. Thomas Henry Wright who served from 1847 – 1861. The first cashier was John Hogg followed by Joshua Potts and then five other cashiers until Henry Russell Savage who served from 1847 – 1861. Both Dr. Wright and Henry Russell were elected on 8 June 1847 and in unrelated deaths, Dr. Wright died on 21 September 1861, and Henry Russell died less than two weeks later on the 3
rd
of October 1861. After their passing other officers were elected to replace them and the bank continued until its slow demise after the civil war.
In the meantime, in early April 1807 the Bank of Cape Fear opened a branch in Raleigh and the next year in August 1808 they opened one in Salisbury. Other
branches where notes were issued included Ashville, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Washington, and Salem, and those not issuing notes were reported to be in Charlotte, Halifax, Hillsborough, and Milton.
On 22 April 1846 the Wilmington Chronicle reported that:
The Bank of Cape Fear his seven branches located in different parts of the State, as follows: Fayetteville,
Washington, Salisbury, Raleigh, Hillsboro, Salem, and Ashville; these branches have assigned to them capitals varying from 0,000 to 0,000.
From the very outset the bank was highly successful and routinely paid semi-annual dividends of between 3% and 5%, most of which were the latter. The bank’s charter was renewed in 1833, and again in 1836 extending its charter life until 1 January 1860.
The bank struggled through the Civil War and just at the close of the war the Daily Confederate of Raleigh published the following on 9 March 1864:
Bank or Cape Fear, RALEIGH, March 1
st
1864. DEPOSITORS and Banks are requested to draw their balances from this bank by the 25
th
instant, and all balances left in bank on the 31
st
instant will be funded in 4 percent Confederate States bonds, and paid to said depositors. W. H. Jones, Cashier.
Surprisingly the bank continued to survive, but its disallowance of war debts led to its bankruptcy. Nevertheless, it settled all of its obligations, which took until the 1870s.
The Wilmington Post on 22 May 1870 wrote:
On Thursday was held the annual meeting of the Stockholders of the Bank of Cape Fear, steps were taken to provide for the settlement of all outstanding business.
Finally, the inevitable arrived. The Weekly Era of Raleigh on 17 February 1872 indicated:
Bankruptcy -- The Tobacco Plant says the Bank of Cape Fear has gone into Bankruptcy, Rev. N. H. D. Wilson, of Greensboro, has been elected assignee.
The same newspaper slightly over a month later on 28 March 1872 wrote:
NOTICE TO DEBTORS OF THE BANK OF CAPE FEAR -- In Bankruptcy.
All who are indebted to the Bank of Cape Fear, either as Principal or Surety, will please give immediate attention to their notes, otherwise they will be put in suit at the next term of the United States District Court which will meet in Wilmington, the 29th day of April. Address me at Greensboro, N. C. N. H. D. WILSON, Assignee.
This note, printed from plate “A” by Danfort
h Bald & Co. Philada & New York,
has as its central vignette an engraving of a milk maid with and apron holding her milk bucket seated on a log with a farmhouse and sheep in the field behind her. On the right of her is a shield showing a locomotive with a tender and cars, a ship on water, and mountains in the background. On the other side of the shield are a couple sheaves of wheat and a variety of vegetables, including corn squash and melons. The vignette on the left of the note is an expertly engraved image of a full rigged ship and a brig in a bay. In the upper corners are 4’s in hexagonal geometrically designed protectors.
The note is hand numbered
1226
(faint)
,
with a date of
1853
(faded). It was made payable at the hand written location of Ashville and signed by
H. R. Savage,
Cashier and
Thos. H. Wright
, President (both faded).
The note is complete, circulated and in very nice condition. It has a mouse nip out of the left edge that has been extremely well camouflaged. It also has some rust stains at the top where a paper clip was used. There are several pinholes and a few vertical fold lines most noticeable on the back.