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 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. |
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