Barnett Bank

William Boyd Barnett was a merchant and a banker in northeast Kansas when he journeyed to Jacksonville with his wife, Sarah, to visit their oldest son in 1875. Sarah Barnett's health improved during their time in Florida, so the Barnetts returned to Kansas, liquidated their assets, and permanently relocated to Jacksonville in March, 1877. Bion, their youngest son, was a senior at the University of Kansas and withdrew from school to join his parents.^[8]

In the spring of 1877, the United States was in the middle of the Depression of 1873-79, and Jacksonville already had three banks.^[9] The city's population was under 10,000 and there was no infrastructure to support a beginning tourism industry.

On May 7, 1877, Barnett opened the Bank of Jacksonville (BoJ) on the corner of Main and Forsyth with $43,000 in capital. William was president, Bion acted as bookkeeper, and one other person was hired as teller/clerk. Most Florida banks at the time were private and unregulated. In spite of being a newcomer and a Yankee, Barnett and the new institution slowly gained the people's trust, but at the end of their first year, deposits amounted to only $11,000. Undeterred, William took on his son Bion to be partner and passed along Barnett's five rules of business:

1. Follow the Golden Rule. You cannot go wrong treating the other man as you would be treated.
2. Give a man 50 cents if you can make a dollar out of him. In other words, be liberal in your dealings but always have a net profit. Do not do business at a loss.
3. If a young man is of good habits - honest, capable, saving, giving close attention to his business and making progress but lacking in capital - help him. The young man of today is the businessman of tomorrow.
4. Never make a promise you cannot and do not fulfill. Investigate carefully before granting a line of credit; once granted, there being no adverse change in your client's financial condition, fulfill your promise. Your word must be as good as your bond.
5. Watch your expense account and your losses; your profits will take care of themselves.

According to Bion Barnett, "I have never found a flaw in it. It is good advice today."^[7]

A conversation between Bion Barnett and Henry L’Engle changed the bank's fortunes. L'Engle, the Duval County Tax Collector, was annoyed because the bank holding the county's funds charged $6.25 for each transfer to New York City banks. Bion immediately offered to waive the fee if Duval County deposited their funds in the Bank of Jacksonville. L'Engle agreed, and the BoJ began to prosper. Within a year, L'Engle was appointed Treasurer for the State of Florida, and the state's accounts were transferred to BoJ. Within a few years, operating capital exceeded $150,000, and the Barnetts applied for and received a National Charter, pursuant to the National Bank Act. This allowed them to become the National Bank of Jacksonville. The institution's deposits exceeded $1 million in 1893.^[10]

The Great Fire of 1901 destroyed most of the city. National Bank of Jacksonville was the only one of the city's banks to reopen. William Boyd Barnett died September 2, 1903, and Bion renamed the institution Barnett National Bank in his father's honor.^[10]

In 1926, the Barnett National Bank Building was opened to house the company's operations and was built in the popular Chicago school style of architecture. At 18 stories, it was the tallest skyscraper in the city and remained so until 1954.^[11] The bank survived various economic downturns and crises, including the Great Depression, ultimately emerging stronger. Bion Barnett led the bank until 1952, remaining as honorary chairman until his death in 1958 at the age of 101. By then, Barnett Bank had come to be known as "Florida's Bank". The bank continued to grow with the acquisition of many more Florida banks over the next two decades.^[12]

Sin embargo, bajo la presidencia de Hugh Jones, ^{[ 13 ]} Barnett Bank tardó en involucrarse en las fusiones bancarias interestatales de rápida evolución de las décadas de 1970 y 1980. Aunque finalmente Barnett realizó algunas compras de bancos de otros estados, comenzando en Georgia , lo hizo sin aumentar su propio reconocimiento de marca . Si bien técnicamente, según la ley federal, un banco no puede ser propietario de otro banco en otro estado, ambos pueden ser propiedad de la misma sociedad holding . Barnett, al igual que otros bancos, creció a través de las fronteras estatales de esta manera. Pero a diferencia de otros bancos similares, Barnett no cambió los nombres de sus nuevas participaciones, manteniendo el nombre Barnett exclusivamente dentro de Florida. En última instancia, esto debilitó las acciones de la compañía , ya que persistió la percepción de que Barnett no era un actor importante en el área de fusiones y adquisiciones. A pesar de su crecimiento más lento que el promedio, la empresa matriz construyó un nuevo edificio para su sede corporativa en el centro de Jacksonville: anunciado en 1987 y ocupado en 1990. Hugh Jones se jubiló en 1993. ^{[ 13 ]} Con 42 pisos, el Barnett Center era el edificio más alto de Jacksonville y el segundo más alto de Florida en 2010. En 2019, el Barnett Center de hormigón armado (ahora la Torre Bank of America ) seguía siendo el edificio más alto de Jacksonville.

For many years, it looked like Barnett would be the only bank of Jacksonville's "Big Three" to ignore the lure of big money from nationwide banking conglomerates. Atlantic National Bank of Florida was the first to sell out to First Union of Charlotte, North Carolina in 1985/7, and Florida National Bank merged with First Union in 1990.^[14] Barnett CEO Charles Rice publicly declared that he had no intention of selling Barnett to anyone.^[15] But in 1997, Rice, who was named Jacksonville's highest paid individual among public companies at $4.5 million (excluding stock options), offered the company up for sale,^[16] just six weeks after a month spent at a drug rehabilitation facility for treatment of alcoholism.^[17] Another big Charlotte-based bank, NationsBank, made the highest offer, and the deal was done. At the time of Barnett's demise, the company had an annual payroll of a quarter billion dollars spread among 6,800 employees.^[18] As part of the deal, Rice became chairman of NationsBank. However, less than a year later, NationsBank purchased Bank of America and took the Bank of America name, and Rice himself was demoted to vice chairman of corporate development.^[15] More than a few of those who lost their jobs found the situation ironic. After retiring in early 2001,^[15] Rice died in a swimming pool accident in December 2008.^[7]