The National Exchange Bank of Chester, South Carolina

The National Exchange Bank of Chester
County:	Chester	Charter Number:	8471

Opened:	December 1906	Closed:	March 1933
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First President:	JL Glenn	First Cashier:	CC Edwards
John Lyles Glenn Sr. 04/26/1858 - Lowryville, SC 06/21/1927 - Chester, SC John Lyles Glenn Sr. received his college education at Wofford, like so many other early bankers of the upcountry. He graduated from there in 1879 and then spent a year studying law back in Chester then at Vanderbilt before moving back to Chester to practice. His first legal association was with the son of the first president of The Chester National Bank, Thomas E McLure. This partnership didn’t last long but law did present many business opportunities for Glenn. He was especially successful in legal proceedings related the railway business. In 1895 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention. Again in 1912 he was delegate for the Democratic National Convention. From 1896 to 1900 he served in the state senate. He became the president of The Exchange Bank of Chester in 1903, three years before it nationalized. He had been a director of the bank for several years prior. During his bank presidency he still practiced law and took on various public service endeavors. Upon Mr. Glenn’s passing in 1927, SM Jones replaced him as president of the bank.
Charles Claude Edwards 10/2/1858 – Chester, SC 1/10/1940 – Chester, SC Charles Claude Edwards was the first cashier of The National Loan and Exchange Bank of Chester. He only held the position for a year but he would be on the board of directors for many years. CC Edwards began his professional career with the mercantile firm Whiteside & Marion in Lewisville. He later went to business college at Bryant-Stratton in Baltimore. It seems likely that this is where he met MS Lewis, a Baltimore native, who succeeded him as the cashier of the National Exchange Bank of Chester. Edwards would graduate and move back to Chester to be the bookkeeper for S.M. Jones & Company. He would ultimately become City Clerk and Treasurer of Chester. However, it wasn’t until he joined on with Aetna Life Insurance Company that he found his calling. Edwards made his name in the insurance business and independently operated a fire insurance business. He was also a director of the Spratt Building and Loan Association at the time of his death.
Other People Associated with the Bank: MS Lewis, JR Dye, SM Jones, NM McDill, W McKinnell, BM Spratt
Both bank pictures have been provided by Dr. Doug Marion of Chester