This article is written on the occasion of the bicentennial of the first state banks in North Carolina, and reviews the first one hundred years of banking in the state. The article is part of a larger project exploring the reasons for the remarkable success of North Carolina banks and attempting to identify important themes that may have fostered this rise to national prominence. The article describes the role of state banks in issuing state bank notes (which served as paper currency), the demise of state banks following the Civil War, and the rebirth of banking in North Carolina with the newly created national banks and newly formed state banks. It is ironic that the state that is now second only to New York in banking assets located in a state, was the last of the original thirteen states to charter a bank, and in 1931 was the last of the forty-eight states to establish a state bank regulatory agency. The liberal attitude of the state's legislature towards branching - which may have been fostered by the state's rural character - is, however, certainly an important backdrop for the later national success.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 edition. Excerpt: ... his trial as a spy, and finally having received a fair hearing, he was set free, with the one only condition that he would not go beyond the lines of the Confederacy. Meanwhile a suit was entered upon in Charleston to sequestrate Mr. Hand's interest in the firm of George W. Williams & Co. The best counsel was employed by Mr. Williams for the defence, and after a sharp contest. which lasted several days, the case was decided in Mr. Hand's favor, thus saving his property from confiscation. As South Carolina at that time did not afford a congenial atmosphere for a man of Union sentiments, it was thought best for Mr. Hand to go to the mountains of Western North Carolina to await the movement of events. Mr. Williams divided with him what gold he had, and Mr. Hand gave over to Mr. Williams all his personal property, as well as his real estate, to be held, managed and considered as if it were his own. The seirior partner then went to Asheville, and lived there in seclusion till the end of the war. With this retirement of Mr. Hand to the mountains, the whole responsibility for the business passed to Mr. Williams, and this for that long war period of trying exigencies. During the early stages of the war, Northern and Western houses sent to the firm large quantities of goods, with full knowledge that the laws of the Confederacy were against collecting such debts. They relied entirely upon the honor of the firm. Two cargoes of coffee were imported from South America by the firm, one of which succeeded in runniug the blockade, though chased by Federal gunboats to the gates of the city. Mr. Williams drew one check on the Bunk of Liverpool for fifty thousand dollars in gold, to buy clothing for the soldiers of the South, and was paid in...