A History of banking in Lamar County, Texas.

The opportunity to present some facts of history regarding the banks of Lamar County has indeed been a pleasure to me. The earliest days of my recollection go back to the time when, as a small boy, much of my time was spent in playing in the bank where my father was working. My father was employed by this bank for more than fifteen years, and later my association at various times with this bank and its successor for seven years gave me much additional insight and interest in the history of this bank and of the other banks in Lamar County. To my father much credit must be given for the information in this of the banking history of Lamar. At times it has been difficult to obtain information regarding some of the banks, and in one instance no information could be obtained from any source, including the agency which issued the charter. Very few of the banks that have been chartered are in existence, and the records of the non-existent banks were destroyed many years ago. The Department of Banking of the State of Texas was able to give only information, and even the Comptroller of the Currency at Washington, destroysmany valuable banking records after a lapse of ten years. Fortunately many contacts were made with people who were familiar with the activities of many of these banks, and with their help a summary was made of the activities of the bank that they had been connected with. These people were Mr. John H. Moore, Mr. Tom Jeffus, and Mr. J. Westbrook, who supplied information for the banks of Roxton; Mr. W. R. Justiss of Eowland; Mr. J. O'Connor, who furnished Information for the three banks that had been located at Petty; Mr. J. C. Hathaway, who furnished the information for the bank; Mr. Frank R. Grain, who supplied the for the Pattonville bank; Mr. J. W. Abels of Blossom; my former co-worker and good friend, Mr. D. C. Chambers of Paris, who supplied the Information for two banks in Blossom and for two banks in Paris; and my father, Mr. H. M. who helped in a general way and in particular with the banks at Blossom. Mr. Fred Hoopes, of the Mercantile National Bank of Dallas, gave permission to use a 1909 Banker's Directory, the oldest edition available. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas also the use of their library. The Department of Banking of the State of Texas and the Comptroller of the Currency at Washington, D. C. furnished the official of the chartered banks of the county. Judge A. W. Neville, Maude Neville, and Mr. W. Furey, Jr. of the Paris News staff gave valuable assistance and also made available the files of the Paris News. To Dr. Monroe S. Carroll, Chairman of the School of Business of Baylor University, I wish to express my sincere appreciation for his inspiration, for his suggestions regarding the subject, and for the close association with him during my graduate work at Baylor. To Professor Nell S. Foster, of the School of Business at Baylor University, much credit is due for his many suggestions, for the corrections suggested, and for his inspiration while writing this thesis. It sincere hope that some good come from preservation of the facts regarding the banks of Lamar facts which were fast disappearing from the records and from the memory of those associated the banks.