Barnett Banks

Barnett Bank

Florida's Bank
Former type	Banking
Genre	Financial Services
Founded	1877
Founder	William Boyd Barnett Bion Barnett
Defunct	1997
Headquarters	Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Number of locations	600+
Area served	all of Florida and parts of Georgia
Services	Financial
Total assets	$41.2 billion
Parent	acquired by Bank of America

Barnett Bank, founded in 1877, eventually became the largest commercial bank in Florida with over 600 offices and $41.2 billion in deposits. The purchase by NationsBank was announced August 29, 1997, but even before signs on Barnett's branches were changed, NationsBank merged with BankAmerica in 1998, creating Bank of America.

William Boyd Barnett was a merchant and a banker in northeast Kansas when he journeyed with his wife to Jacksonville 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 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.

In the spring of 1877, the United States was in the middle of the Depression of 1873-79, and Jacksonville already had three banks. 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 invited his son, Bion Barnett, to be partner and passed along Barnett's five rules of business:

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

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.