Texas Bankers Association

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, you want to talk about an institution that started with nothing but a letter and a dream, let me tell you about the Texas Bankers Association, born right here in Lampasas County. The year was 1885, and two young bankers in Lampasas Springs, Frank R.

Malone and E. M. Longcope, were paying close attention to something that had been working for ten years up at the national level.

The American Bankers Association had proven the concept. And those two young men thought, well, Texas ought to have one of its own. So on May 26, 1885, they sat down and composed an enthusiastic letter presenting the need for exactly that.

Now, being loyal citizens of Lampasas Springs, they also made sure to put in a good word for the hometown. They called it a great spa, praised it for scenery sure to inspire grand thoughts. Practical visionaries, those two.

The letter ran in the Galveston News, which was at the time the leading newspaper in the state. The response was immediate. And then, for the next six weeks, an advertisement ran in the News every single day announcing the future meeting.

Every day. Six weeks straight. That is either genius or stubbornness, and in Texas, those two things are often the same.

Then came July 23, 1885. Thirty-one bankers from all over Texas converged on the Park Hotel right here in Lampasas Springs for a three-day organizational meeting. The marker makes a point of noting how many of the men present were dynamic and young, under thirty-five years old.

These were not cautious gray-haired men protecting what they had. These were builders. Jas.

F. Miller, member of Congress and of a private banking firm in Gonzales, was elected the first president. And the resolutions they passed carried real weight.

One of them called for provisions to charter state banks, and those provisions have been state law since 1905. What came out of that Park Hotel gathering grew into the oldest and largest state bankers association in the United States, with eleven hundred and fifty member banks by 1969. It all started with two young men, one inspired letter, and a little civic pride for a spa town with scenery sure to inspire grand thoughts.

What the marker says

Organized in 1885, this group is the oldest and largest (with 1,150 member banks as of 1969) State Bankers Association in the United States. Inspired by the ten-year success of the American Bankers Association, two young bankers of Lampasas Springs, Frank R. Malone and E. M. Longcope, composed on May 26, 1885, an enthusiastic letter presenting the need for a similar group in Texas. Being loyal citizens, they also promoted Lampasas Springs as the convention site, praising it as a "great spa" with "scenery...sure to inspire grand thoughts". Published in the "Galveston News", then the leading newspaper in the state, their plan brought immediate response. For the next six weeks an advertisement in the "News" each day announced the future meeting. Thus on July 23, 1885, thirty-one bankers from all over Texas convened here in the plush Park Hotel for a three-day organizational meeting, characterized by the many dynamic young (under 35) men present. Jas. F. Miller, member of Congress and of a private banking firm in Gonzales, was elected first president. The provisions of one of the resolutions passed at the meeting-- to provide for the chartering of state banks-- have been state law since 1905.