Central National Bank history

The CLEVELAND FOUNDATION was established in 1914, the same year the city obtained its Federal Reserve status.

In 1915, Arthur Dale Jellison (pictured) bought controlling interest in the Central National Bank from the Sumner Pierce Estate.

In 1919, the Common Street Annex was built, providing additional access to adjacent streets.

Cleveland Trust, first in the city to adopt the "branch" bank method of expansion, had 53 branches within the city and was the 6th largest bank in the country by 1924.

In the same period, the Whitney Central Trust and Savings Bank, the state-chartered affiliate, was also renamed, becoming the Whitney Trust and Savings Bank in 1929.

It also acquired the Algiers Trust and Saving Bank in 1930.

Cleveland's first Depression era failure was Standard Trust, liquidated in 1931, and the second was Midland Bank the following year.

Central National Bank was the only bank in Junction City permitted to reopen following the bank holiday declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 5, 1933.

On December 12, 1934, the Central National Bank Board of Directors pledged $75,000 of United States Consols to support the outstanding issuance of currency--one of their final actions after half a century of currency transactions.

By 1935 the company was able not only to earn enough to pay regular dividends to its stock holders but also to invest $300,000 in a modern air conditioning system for its main office.

In May 1962, before Louisiana passed a law permitting the establishment and operation of bank holding companies, the Whitney shareholders created the Whitney Holding Corporation, the parent company of the current Whitney system of subsidiaries.

Central National Bank began computerized check processing and record keeping in 1966.

Berry, who became chair of the board of directors in 1969, was replaced as president by William A. Carpenter, who oversaw additional expansion.

Also, largely to meet the needs of oil-related companies, the Whitney established a Nassau branch in the Bahamas, which began operating in 1972 before relocating to Grand Cayman.

The Whitney's Holding Corporation's presidency passed to Patrick A. Delaney after Carpenter's untimely death in 1976.

Delaney confronted important legal challenges to the Whitney's ownership and valuation of real estate and mineral rights acquired during the Depression, but matters turned out in Whitney's favor when, in 1982, Congress authorized such ownership when sanctioned by state laws.

National City acquired BancOhio (see BANCOHIO NATIONAL BANK), based in Columbus in 1984, in a hostile takeover (from BancOhio's management's point of view) but with the support of BancOhio's most powerful trustees, the Wolf family of Columbus.

Additionally, in 1989 it assumed the deposit liabilities of the Enterprise Federal Savings & Loan through the Resolution Trust Corporation.

In 1990, the company undertook some reorganization and planning that addressed its priorities with respect to management, systems, and technology, products and services, profitability, credit quality, and expansion.

In 1991 Society Corp. competed with National City for the acquisition of Ameritrust, and Society won.

By 1993, the Whitney Holding Corporation reflected the new economic recovery in its steadily increasing profits.

In 1994, in a "merger of equals," the old Cleveland banking name of Society, dating back to antebellum days, disappeared for good in favor of the New York-based Key Corp.