J. C. Swann was born in Louina,
educated in the public
schools of
Randolph County, attended Bowdon College
in Georgia, and graduated from Atlanta Medical
College in 1890. His life spanned the period of
Reconstruction, two world wars, the worldwide depression of the 1930s,
the age of the horse, the train, the car, and the airplane, and into
the era of the atom. For eleven years, he practiced medicine
in Wedowee, until President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him the first
physician inspector of the new federal prison in Atlanta. With the job
in Atlanta, there was a salary of $1,600 per year and a residence.
He held that job until 1905, when he returned to Wedowee with
banking on his mind.
Dr. Swann had the support of all state
Republicans, its senators and
congressmen, the Masons, and was said to have been a warm friend of the
late President McKinley. He was president of his graduating
medical class, was twice president of the Randolph County Medical
Association, was on the examining board of the county, and was then
senior counselor in the State Medical Association.He was a
one-time Republican nominee for state auditor, served several years as
chairman of the county Republican Executive Committee, helped
found Wedowee Normal College, and was Chairman of its Board
of Trustees.
Eight men purchased the original 150
shares of capital stock of the
Bank of Wedowee. Swann, Attorney Stell Blake, and W. W.
Dobson purchased 30 shares each. J. T. Kaylor of Graham
purchased 18 shares. Nixon Lucas of Malone, Abner Coker the
bookkeeper, and Col. W. H. McKleroy of Graham purchased 12 shares
each. J. H. Kaylor of Graham purchased 6 shares. They also
were elected directors, with Swann being elected chairman. Blake became
the bank lawyer, Coker the cashier, and McKleroy (who was president of
the Anniston National Bank) the advisor. Coker received the same salary
as Swann; $500 per year.
The first deposit of $1.00 was made by
a local merchant, Hoyt
Enloe. For the first ten months, the bank operated in the
northwest room of the old courthouse, but by December of that year it
had its own building on the corner of Broad and Main Streets.
Since its founding, the bank has had
seven presidents. John W. Carlisle
was elected to succeed Swann, and he served until 1954. He was followed
by W. E. Mathews, who served until 1958.John G. Swann, son of
the bank's founder, served until 1969, followed by Sam W. Carpenter.
Mr. Carpenter retired as President in January of 2000, and he retired
from the Board of Directors in late 2001. The Board of Directors then
elected Robert B. Folsom, Jr., who had been with the bank since the
beginning of 1986, to succeed him. After Mr. Folsom retired
in 2004, the Board of Directors elected Mr. Roger E. Campbell to
succeed him as President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board.
In 1966, the bank moved into new
quarters one block north of its
original location. The new building was on the homeplace of
the county's only governor, William Hugh Smith. His house was
later used as a hotel, and when it was demolished to make room for the
bank, Wedowee merchant Bob Perry used the timbers in constructing his
own home.
Over the years, the bank gradually
outgrew this facility and, in 1989,
moved into a new building situated on the homeplace of the bank's
founder, Dr. J. C. Swann. The present building, an
architectural masterpiece, is situated one block west of the courthouse
on Highway 48.
The Bank of Wedowee also operates
branches in Woodland, on
Highway 48, and in Roanoke, on Highway 431. The
Woodland Branch opened in 1972, with Crouch Rampy as Branch Manager.
The Roanoke Branch opened in 1997, with Tommy Holmes as Branch
Manager. In 1999, the bank established its first 24-hour ATM,
located at the Main Office in Wedowee.
At the annual shareholders' meeting in
January of 2002, approval was
given by the shareholders to split the stock on a 10-for-1 basis, and
to organize the bank as a one-bank holding company, with the Bank of
Wedowee being a wholly-owned subsidiary. The Federal Reserve
Board gave its blessing to the transaction later in the year
and, on October 1, 2002, the formation of Swann BancShares, Inc. was
completed. The name was chosen to memorialize the
founder of the bank, Dr. J. C. Swann.
