North  
Carolina
Business 
History  
Bank of Cape Fear (1804 - 1865)
   The first banks in North Carolina were chartered on December 1804  — the Bank of Cape Fear (Wilmington, NC, chartered Dec. 17) and the Bank of New Bern (New Bern, NC). These banks were joined by the State Bank of North Carolina, chartered in 1810.
    




   
   Here is a brief overview of the branch operations and bank leaders for the Bank of Cape Fear.
   Additional information will be made to this list from time to time, including adjusting dates as additional research indicates. Any information or corrections should be send to Ron Vinson.

Bank of Cape Fear (Wilmington) — 1804 - 1866; this bank opened agencies and branch offices in Asheville (1843 - 1866), Fayetteville (1807 - 1865), Greensboro (1851-66), Hillsborough (1815 - ), Raleigh (1807 - 1815; 1838 - 1866), Salem (1815 - 1866), Salisbury (1807 - 1814; 1840 - 1865) and Washington, NC (1836 - 1866, but settling all obligations were not completed until 1870s; during 1862 - 1865, this branch moved to Salisbury & Morganton but conducted little business in this period). 
   This bank issued more than 50 types of banknotes (samples) during its existence. Click for etching of their Wilmington headquarters.
Wilmington (headquarters):  
Presidents — 
George Hooper (1805 - 1806), 
Joshua Grainger Wright (1806 - 1811); 
John London (1811 - 1816), 
Richard Bradley (1816 - 1823), 
John Rutherford London (1823 - December 1832), 
James Owen (December 1832 - 1837),  
John D. Jones (1837 - 1842); 
Dr. John Hill (1842 -1847);  
Thomas Henry Wright (1847 - 1861); 
William Augustus Wright (1861 - 1866).
Cashiers — 
John Hogg (1805 - 1806 & 1808 - 1811), 
Joshua Potts (1806 - 1808), 
Richard Bradley (1811 - 1815), 
William Anderson (1815 - 1827), 
John Hill (1827 - 1842); 
Thomas Henry Wright (1842 - 1847), 
Jonathan W. Savage (1854); 
Henry Russell Savage (1847 - 1861),  
James G. Burr (1861 - 1866) — also teller of this bank from 1853- 1861.

Asheville branch: James W. Patton, president (1843 - 1861), J. F. E. Hardy, cashier ( - 1851 - )

Greensborough branch: Jesse H. Lindsay, cashier (1851 - 1866)

Hillsborough branch: James Webb, cashier (1815 - 1846 when office closed)

Fayetteville branch:  
John Hogg, agent (1807); 
John Winslow, cashier (<1811 - 1818+); 
Charles T. Haigh, president (<1851- 1866); 
John W. Wright, cashier (1825 - 1851+); 
A. McLean, cashier (- 1866)

Raleigh branch: Opened in 1807. 
William Henry Haywood, agent (1807 - ). 
   Branch closed around 1834 when legislature initially declined to re-charter the Bank of Cape Fear. When the legislature changed its decision, the Raleigh branch was re-established in March 1838. Branch building constructed in 1840 at Fayetteville & Davie streets.
E. H. Wingate, cashier (March 1838 - August 1841), cashier fired after defaulting on $10,000 loan reportedly used for gambling losses;
David W. Stone, cashier (Sept. 1841 - );
William H. (or M.) Jones, cashier (<1851 - 1866)

Salem branch: There were three individuals initially appointed in 1815 to act as agents for the Bank of Cape Fear in Salem. Charles F. Bagge, cashier (July 1815+), in some records also referred to an president, even though this was an agency operation until 1847; Emanuel Schober (July 1815),  John Christian Blum, agent (July 1815 -1827); Friedrich Heinrich (Henry) Schumann, agent & cashier (1828 -1847), a physician who also was involved with the Salem Manufacturing Company and its cotton mill in Salem; Israel George Lash, cashier (1847 - 1866)

Salisbury branch: John Steele, agent (1807 - 1811); 
Maxwell Chambers, president (<1851 - 1855); 
William Henry Horah, cashier (1834 - 1837)
Dolphin Alston Davis, cashier (August 1837 -1865)
John M. Horah, clerk (1846 - 1865)
Archibald Henderson & Lewis Beard were directors of the branch in 1840; 

Washington branch: John Myers, president (1836 - 1865); Benjamin Runyon, cashier (1836 - 1851), Thomas H. Hardenbergh, cashier (1851 - 1857), W. R. S. Burbank, cashier (1858 - 1866)

 

  Directors — 1816
  Bank Overall (Wilmington)
  R. Bradley
  E. Bridge, Jr.
  J. F. Burguin
  A. L. Gomez
  A. Hanridge
  N. Harris
  John Hogg
  George Hooper
  S. Langdon
  John London
  J. D. Toomer

  Directors (Fayetteville) 1816
  C. Chalmers
  J. Clarke
  J. MacMillan
  D. McLeran
  P. Perry
  E. Stedman
  D. Thompson
  J. Winslow

  Directors (Hillsborough) 1816
  W. Kirkland
  F. Nash
  James Phillips
  Joseph Turner
  W. Whitted
  D. Yarbrough

  Directors (Salem) 1816
  J. C. Blum
  J. S. Blum
  John Leinback

  Directors — 1833 (Wilm.)
  Richard Bradley, 
  M. Campbell, 
  Robert Cowan, 
  A.. J. DeRosset, 
  P. K. Dickinson, 
  Gabriel Holmes, 
  John D. Jones, 
  William B. Meares, 
  Samuel Shuter, 
  John Wooster

  Directors — 1838 (Raleigh)
  Beverly Daniel, chr.
  Bernard Dupuy
  Seth Jones
  Parker Rand
  Richard Smith
  William C. Tucker

  Directors — 1852 (Wilm.)
  Private Stockholders:
  William C. Bettencourt, 
  A. J. DeRosset, Sr., 
  F. J. Hill, 
  John D. Jones, 
  John Wooster, 
  Thomas H. Wright, 
  William A. Wright

  NC State Stockholders:
  P. K. Dickinson, 
  Owen Fennell, 
  David Reid, 
  John Walker

  Other staff in 1852: 
  Junius D. Gardner, teller;
  Joseph McLaurin, assistant
     teller; 
  James A. Bradley,
     bookkeeper; 
  T. H. Hardin, discount clerk


  

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