Oklahoma: A Story Through Her People
A full-color photography book showcasing Oklahoma paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the state great.
A full-color photography book showcasing Oklahoma paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the state great.
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Above: First National Bank of Snyder<br />
President T. C. Huckabay, 1948.<br />
Below: T. C. and Areta Huckabay, 1975.<br />
Skipping to 1941 when the United States<br />
joined World War II, T. C. continues:<br />
Two men in their early 30’s, Joe Krejci<br />
and Jerry Cooley, owned control of the First<br />
National Bank of Snyder, and in the early part<br />
of October 1943, they offered to sell me the<br />
bank. I talked to our local draft board and<br />
they told me on account of my occupation<br />
I was draft exempt. Krejci and Cooley were<br />
being drafted into the armed services is why<br />
they offered to sell me the bank. At that<br />
time the bank had approximately $45,000 in<br />
capital, surplus and undivided profit and<br />
about $500,000 in deposits. One of their<br />
selling points was that the bank might<br />
someday have deposits of $1,000,000. I didn’t<br />
believe it would ever reach that point during<br />
my lifetime and I doubt that they believed it<br />
either. At the present time (1995) our deposits<br />
exceed $26,000.000. They owned slightly<br />
over 50 percent of the stock and their price<br />
was $39,000. I contacted a friend of mine,<br />
Bob Scott of Lawton, who was in the bank<br />
stationery and office supply business and we<br />
purchased their interest in the bank, each of<br />
us sharing equally in the amount of stock<br />
bought. It was necessary that I borrow the<br />
full amount of the money for my half and I<br />
borrowed it from a bank in Wichita Falls<br />
pledging my part of the stock, my cattle and<br />
land. The deal was completed and I resigned<br />
my position at the bank in Mountain Park and<br />
become president of the First National Bank<br />
of Snyder on November 8th, 1943, at a salary<br />
of $250 per month. (T. C. was 35 years old.)<br />
About 1 year later I sold my farms, cattle, etc.<br />
for enough money to pay for my part of the<br />
bank. Approximately 58 months later I purchased<br />
Bob Scott’s interest in the bank and<br />
paid him a nice profit for his interest. We had<br />
O K L A H O M A : A S t o r y T h r o u g h H e r P e o p l e<br />
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