History of the Bank of Henry

History of the Bank of Henry. . The building that housed the Bank of Henry was built after the May 20, 1906, fire, as part of a three-store complex owned by Mr. Emmett Christian (E.C.) Porter. The two buildings to the east of the Bank of Henry were occupied by the Stokes Brothers Dry Goods and the Abbeville Trading Company, respectively the fire destroyed all the buildings on both sides of the first block of Kirkland Street; consequently, the entire block was rebuilt. The three businesses took occupancy in 1907, and shortly after, the businesses had to relocate while repairs were made following another fire. A second fire occurred on the evening of March 30, 1908, in the loft of either the Abbeville Trading Company or the Stokes Brothers Dry Goods and spread to the Bank of Henry building. The exact origin could not be determined, and the exterior walls were spared damage, but the interiors of all three buildings had to be rebuilt. Other nearby buildings also suffered varying degrees of loss. Mr. Charles Edward Blacklidge, Jr., a local builder and skilled carpenter, made the necessary repairs. After the repairs were completed, the displaced businesses returned to the E.C. Porter complex., A third fire occurred in the bank building on February 14, 1929. The fire happened after business hours and was only discovered when smoke began pouring from the doors and north wall of the building. The dense smoke made finding the origin of the blaze difficult, eventually it was determined the fire started in the basement from live coals that had fallen through the grate above. This time only the flooring in the bank sustained damage, and it was necessary to remove and replace the entire floor., The safe fell through the floor as a result of one of the interior fires, but it is impossible to prove with certainty which fire. The safe is still on the ground under the old bank building. The question is: has it been there since 1908 or 1929?, The Bank of Henry was the second bank to incorporate in Abbeville. The bank opened on September 7, 1903, in a building on the north side of the square. In 1907 the decision was made to relocate to the newly built E.C. Porter building on the south side of the square at the corner of Kirkland and East Williams Streets. Incidentally, Mr. Emmett C. Porter was one of the stockholders., Dr. Albert Sidney Steagall, a medical doctor and a prominent businessman, was the president and the major shareholder. The bank had twenty-two shareholders, and the value of the capital stock was $50,000. The bank, a state-chartered bank, was sometimes referred to as the Steagall Bank. In 1917 the bank was reorganized and nationalized, and the name was changed to Henry National Bank. The bank remained in business until 1929, when it became a casualty of the Great Depression., Following a board meeting held on Wednesday, March 28, 1929, the bank suspended business by order of the board of directors. Simply put, after the board meeting the bank was unsuccessful in its attempt to open for business again, despite the positive financial statement which was filed with the comptroller on December 31, 1928. The report listed total resources of nearly one-half million dollars., Speculation suggested the failure of the bank to re-open on March 29 may have been due to the inability of its officials to collect outstanding loans. At any rate, several attempts to reorganize and reopen were futile, finally, in August 1929, a receiver was appointed to proceed with the liquidation process, thus concluding the dissolution of the Bank of Henry.