The charter for Commercial Bank was signed April 21, 1877 and the bank opened for business May 15, 1877, under the name Commercial Bank of Paris. The first minutes are dated May 4, 1877 and state “Over $20,000 capital has been paid in and the new and first bank in this section of Tennessee, having complied with the law, could now be opened for business.” The first president was R.L. Ellison, Cashier Noah Harding and Bookkeeper A.B. White. The president and cashier were paid $75.00 monthly and the bookkeeper $25.00 monthly. After the first day of business the statement showed total assets of $22,330.24. The first bank was located in the law office of S.A. Champion. The exact location is not known, but Commercial Bank has always been located on the Court Square. At one time, it was located on the corner of Washington Street and Poplar Street. It was also located in the middle of the North side of the Court Square at the present location of Butler & Harbor.

The minutes of January 8, 1878, show that no firm or individual was to be given a line of credit by the cashier in excess of $5,000. Any loan above that amount was to be approved in advance by the Board of Directors.

The minutes of January 13, 1891, show the following interesting statement: “The following report was adopted and ordered spread in the minutes: We, J.L. Lemonds, Wm Caraway, and S.H. Caldwell, constituted ourselves a committee on finance this morning and asked our cashier to let us count the actual cash in the bank at this date. We did carefully count every dollar and are gratified to report that we found in actual cash in the bank $33,108.94 and the bank ledger showed this morning that there should be $33,108.47 showing therefore a difference of only .47 in the amount of cash and the amount the books report. It is not unreasonable to believe that this committee could have made a mistake of .47 and that it is highly probable that the books of the bank are correct.”

On July 25, 1899, the directors approved the purchase of two lots on the west side of the public square for $2,024.00 and the building committee was to look into the construction of two buildings thereon. This was after the west side of the square had burned and different businesses in Paris built the buildings back. Commercial Bank’s name is above a building there, but the bank was never at that location.

On October 16, 1916, J.C. Porter was elected president to succeed C.P. Hudson who had died. They asked Mr. Porter to fill in until they could find someone to take the position. He stayed on as president until his son, W.K. Porter, was elected president in 1936. Mr. J.C. Porter’s salary for his first year was $1,800.00.

On May 8, 1922, Commercial Bank purchased the Bank of Henry in Paris for $100,000.00 and the charter was amended to give the Bank trust powers. At this time, the name changed to Commercial Bank & Trust Company.

In May 1932, an option was signed to purchase the five-story building at the corner of Wood and Poplar now occupied by the bank for $29,000.00. The exact date the bank moved into this building is not clear, but it was located there in March 1933, when the bank holiday was declared. Commercial Bank and Trust Company was not closed during the Depression except for the three-day holiday declared by the Governor for all banks to be closed.

Directors authorized officers to make application to join the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on October 20, 1933, and the bank has been a member continuously since that time.

On February 23, 1939, Commercial Bank and Trust Company purchased the Peoples Bank and Trust Company of Henry by exchange of stock. The total purchase cost was $22,500.00.

Automated Teller Machines (ATM’s) were introduced in 1982. They are now available in all Commercial Bank markets. R. Molitor Ford and William W. Deupree Jr. purchased Commercial Bank and Trust Company in November 1983, from more than 300 shareholders. The Visa Check Card was introduced in 1997 and Internet Banking in 2000. The web address is www.cbtcnet.com

Commercial Bank and Trust company has eleven branch locations. There are three Paris branches, which include the Main Office on the Court Square; the East Wood branch, which opened in 1961; and the Tyson Avenue branch, which opened in 1964, and later, moved to Mineral Wells Avenue in 1973. There is a branch in Henry, Tennessee, which was moved to its present location on Pioneer Road in 1992. Memphis branches include the Union Avenue branch which opened in August 15, 1987, the Front Street branch, which opened March 17, 1999, and the Mendenhall branch, which opened June 1, 2001. Two branches of Nations Bank in Union City were purchased February 22, 1996, one on Reelfoot Avenue and one on First Street. March 1995, Commercial Bank opened its first finance company under the name of Money Tree with Ed Huddleston as manager. Money Tree has locations in Paris, Union City, and Lexington, Tennessee. In December 2001, Commercial Bank and Trust Company opened a Mortgage Loan Production office in Germantown, Tennessee. On December 20, 2006, Commercial Bank opened a full service bank in Jackson, TN on Stonebridge Boulevard. In January of 2007, Commercial Bank opened a Loan Production Office in Southaven, Mississippi. On August 20, 2007, a second full service branch in Jackson was opened on Highland Avenue.

Following is a list of the Presidents and the dates they were elected: R.L. Ellison elected April 30, 1877; W.H. Hudson elected September 27, 1883; J.L. Lemonds elected December 10, 1897; C.P. Hudson elected January 13, 1903; J.C Porter elected October 16, 1916; W.K. Porter elected January 14, 1936; Charles P. Wilson elected January 9, 1973; Thomas D. Lillard elected July 1, 1981; S.G. McCampbell elected January 18, 1983; Molitor Ford elected January 1, 1984; David Flowers elected January 17, 1994. The Community President in Union City is Jack Parker. In Memphis, Andy Pierotti is the Community President. Monte Jones serves as Community President for the Jackson market, while Clint Davis is Community President in Paris. R. Molitor Ford is Chairman of the Board. Mott Ford is Vice Chairman and CEO.

The bank now has 175 employees, 139 full time and 36 part time. That number includes 7 full-time and 5 part-employees at Money Tree.