As the bank’s title suggests, The Fourth National Bank of Greenville was the fourth of six banks to nationalize in the city.  Early on in the national bank era (1863 and 1864) the only options for the title of a bank were numerical.  A bank had to be called the first, second, third, etc national bank.  That requirement was changed in 1864, and after that period numerical names for banks, with exception of the first national bank, really fell out of favor with bankers.  For a bank to be chartered in 1908 and to choose the title of Fourth National Bank was unusual.  In fact The Fourth National bank of Greenville was the only non-first numerically named bank in the state.
The bank was open from 1908 until 1919.  In 1919 The First National Bank of Greenville bought out The Fourth National Bank.  After the merger the current president, WC Cleveland, moved to a management position at The FNB; and the cashier, HJ Winn, became the cashier at The FNB.
    It is currently thought that only two national bank notes from The First National Bank have survived destruction by The Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  However, the law of averages suggests that several more notes should be found at some point.  The bank issued over 85,000 bank notes.  A reason for the poor survival rate is likely related to the fact that the bank was sold to a rival.  Many times when a local bank bought another bank, the purchaser went out of their way to ensure that the acquisition bank didn’t have any currency in circulation.  It is very possible that any time a note from The Fourth National Bank hit the till of the First National Bank that The FNB saw to it that those notes were sent in for destruction.
    The Fourth National Bank of Greenville was located at 106 North Main Street.  The picture above was taken after a snow storm.
    If you have some currency from The Fourth National Bank of Greenville, please tell me about it.  Whether it is for sale or not, I always like hearing about notes.