Early preacher Harrison banked on Gregg County
By Van Craddock
Friley John Harrison arrived in Longview in 1871. The part-time Baptist preacher quickly decided the new village needed a bank.
Harrison was born in 1810 in Georgia. He married Lucy Ann Thomas in 1837 and the couple moved to Desoto Parish, La., where Harrison preached, farmed and taught at a college. The couple eventually relocated to East Texas, settling in Marshall.
In 1871 the Harrisons moved again, this time to a new, bustling railroad community called Longview. They were charter members of the First Baptist Church and F.J. served as a trustee there.
In 1872, Harrison organized Longview's first bank along with his sons-in-law, J.C. Turner and A.W. Morrison. The private financial institution, located in the 200 block of East Tyler Street, was called F.J. Harrison & Co. It was housed in a rock building, the rock being quarried from nearby Methvin Hill, the tallest point in town.
Much of downtown Longview, including Harrison's bank, burned in October 1877. He bought a lot at 211 N. Fredonia St. and built a two-story brick structure. A few years later he relocated the bank to a structure on Tyler Street.
The bank proved prosperous, at least for a while. J.C. Turner eventually left to open a grocery store. Harrison then hired Tom McCall and Joe Clemmons as assistant cashier and bookkeeper.
Now, Harrison was a dollars-and-cents banker but the some-time preacher also promoted interest in affairs of the heart. In September 1882, Harrison announced creation of the Longview Marriage Association, in which unmarried men and women "of good standing … may become a certificate holder." Cost to join the association was $6 a share or $10 for three shares. The Harrison bank served as official depository for the association.
According to the Longview Democrat newspaper, purpose of the Longview Marriage Association was "in some degree, to alleviate the miseries of wedded life." The association would be a support group to provide aid from "the annoyances that arrive from a lack of nickels with which to procure the necessities that daily spring up in the lives of the newly married."
Harrison's bank reportedly gave liberal advances on cotton and wool. Then there were rumors that bank money was being bet on sporting events. True or not, some depositors got nervous.
Finally a large depositor, fearing a run on the bank, retained a young Longview attorney named Tom Campbell (later to become governor of Texas) to ensure his deposit wasn't lost.
In December 1886, an Austin newspaper ran a story under the headline "Failure at Longview." It read: "The city was considerably excited this afternoon over the assignment of F.J. Harrison & Co., bankers … The bank has been doing business since 1872." The article noted Harrison's bank assets had been assigned "to various creditors. The case has the best legal talent of Eastern Texas. A.W. Morrison, the cashier and also a member of the firm, says the assets are sufficient to settle every dollar of the indebtedness."
Indeed, thanks to F.J. Harrison's efforts, no depositors wound up losing any money even though his bank was forced to close its doors.
Succeeding Harrison's bank was A.E. Clemmons & Sons, which opened in early 1884 at 106 E. Tyler St. Like F.J. Harrison, the founder of Longview's second bank was a Baptist preacher. In fact, Dr. A.E. Clemmons served as first pastor of the city's First Baptist Church.
One of Dr. Clemmons' sons, Joe, had been the bookkeeper for the Harrison bank. Clemmons' bank, the only bank in town, prospered and in July 1889 changed its name to First National Bank.
Between 1872 and 1912, five banks were founded in Longview's central business district, including the Peoples State Bank, Citizens National Bank and Guaranty State Bank.
Over the years, the east-west alley that crossed Fredonia Street housed banks at every corner of the intersection. That's why today the alley is known as Bank Street.