The American National Bank of Terrell

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about The American National Bank of Terrell, out there in Kaufman County. Now settle in, because this story's got more mergers, buyouts, and name changes than a Texas land deed, and it starts way back before any of that marble and brass you see today. The city of Terrell was founded in 1873.

Two years on, three men. C. M.

Bivens, John H. Corley, and F. A.

Waters, opened a private bank right here. A private bank. No federal charter, no grand proclamations.

Just three men and other people's money. Then in 1878, a fellow named Asa Holt stepped in and replaced Waters as one of the owners. The enterprise kept movin', kept growin', and eventually it became known as the Bivens and Corley Bank, relocating to this very site.

Now, while all that was happening, a second financial institution was quietly setting up shop. The Childress Brothers' Bank opened its doors in 1876. Two banks in a young Texas town, you could already feel the collision coming.

Enter Colonel Jim Harris. He bought an interest in the Childress Brothers' Bank in 1882, and then, 1885, he acquired the Childress bank outright. He wasn't done.

In 1887, he acquired the Bivens and Corley Bank as well, and he merged the whole lot together under one roof: the Harris Bank. That same year, 1887, Terrell got itself a federally chartered institution, the First National Bank. And one of its founders was a man named Oscar B.

Colquitt, born in 1861, who would go on to become governor of Texas. So now you've got the Harris Bank AND the First National, both operating in this town at the same time. But Colonel Harris died in 1895, and when a man like that goes, everybody starts figurin' out what comes next.

A. J. Childress, John H.

Corley, yes, that same Corley from the very beginning, and seven other citizens bought the Harris estate and formed something new: the Harris National Bank. And on the board of directors sat a man named Edward H. R.

Green, son of the noted financier Hetty Green. A railroad magnate, sitting on a small-town Texas bank board. Then in 1903, the Harris National was renamed the American National Bank.

It had a good long run under that name, right up until the depression of the 1930s came along and strained the town's resources, strained them hard enough that the two national banks were merged into one. And as of 1976, that institution, the American National Bank, stands as the oldest and largest financial institution in Kaufman County. Started with three men and a private bank in 1875.

What they built outlasted depressions, buyouts, and more name changes than most folks can keep track of. Some things in Texas just refuse to fold.

What the marker says

The city of Terrell was founded in 1873. C. M. Bivens, John H. Corley, and F. A. Waters opened a private bank here in 1875. In 1878, Asa Holt replaced Waters as one of the owners. Later the enterprise became the Bivens and Corley Bank and moved to this site. A second financial institution, the Childress Brothers' Bank, was founded in 1876. Col. Jim Harris, who bought an interest in 1882, acquired the Childress bank in 1885 and the Bivens and Corley Bank in 1887, merging them as the Harris Bank. Also in that year, the town acquired a federally chartered bank, the First National. Oscar B. Colquitt (1861-1940), later to be governor of Texas, was one of its founders. At the death of Col. Harris in 1895, A. J. Childress, John H. Corley, and seven other citizens bought the Harris estate and formed Harris National Bank. One of the directors was the railroad magnate Edward H. R. Green, son of the noted financier Hetty Green. In 1903 the Harris National was renamed American National Bank. When the depression of the 1930s strained the town's resources, the two national banks were merged. As of 1976, the American National Bank is the oldest and largest financial institution in Kaufman County.