bought the stock owned by Mr. Jackson and was named president of the bank. Mr. Drake came from the State Bank of Cornland, where he had been managing officer for about 15 years. In the spring of 1964 the bank completed a remodeling job which gave El Paso National more spacious and pleasant banking quarters.

In November 1967, it was announced that the Woodford County National Bank was being sold to a group of investors most of whom were from Bloomington-Normal. For many years, the bank had been owned almost entirely by the Shepard family and some associated companies, with Trent Shepard being the third generation of that family to be connected with the bank.

There was a strong feeling among many of the towns-people that the bank should be locally owned. The directors of the bank, in particular, felt that they should have been given some consideration, so on January 9, 1968, all of the directors except Harold McMillan tendered their resignations and were the same day elected to the board of directors of the El Paso National Bank. In the days that followed, a group of local investors, composed of men from both El Paso banks, arranged to buy most of the stock in the Woodford County National Bank. This was done on January 18, 1968 and plans were announced to merge the two banks.

After ratification by both sets of stockholders and after obtaining permission from the regulatory authorities, the banks completed the merger at the close of business on July 9, 1968. The next day was a Thursday on which both banks were normally closed, so the NEW Woodford County National Bank opened for business on Friday, July 11th. The quarters of the El Paso National Bank were chosen to house the combined institution. It was a busy day as the staffs integrated their operations. Many customers came in to the bank to see if their business had been changed properly and to check on the new location of safe deposit boxes, etc. For a few months, bookkeeping operations continued in the building which Woodford County National Bank occupied since 1900. In the fall of 1970 the building was given to St. Mary's Congregation by the bank and is now used as a parish hall.

In 1969 the bank shortened its name to Woodford County Bank by dropping the "National" which had been a part of the bank's name since its organization. The same year, the bank was saddened by the death of Walter Berg who was chairman of the board of directors. Mr. Berg had been a director for nearly 40 years and later served as vice- president and president of the bank.

During the fall of 1969 the bank started making plans to erect a new bank building, as the old El Paso National Bank building proved to be inadequate for the combined bank, especially with the growth that the bank was expecting. As a result, the site of the Christian Church at Elm and First Streets was acquired, together with a small tract along the alley owned by Percy James. In addition, the bank was able to buy 75 feet of frontage from Virgil Gordon, just east of the church property,

Page 339

Go to previous page

Go to next page

Go to El Paso Story gateway page