Note: The following is part of a series of articles looking at the establishment and evolution of the banking system in Georgia and Bulloch County.

    Georgia's first "state" bank was chartered as the Bank of the State of Georgia. As of December of 1815, when the bank was chartered, the state controlled 6,000 of the bank's 15,000 total shares.
    At first, the bank had nine directors appointed by the stockholders and six directors appointed by the state. In 1828, it amended its charter, giving the stockholders six directors and the State of Georgia four.
    With $1.5 million dollars in assets, the Bank of the State of Georgia opened branches in Athens, Augusta, Eatonton, Greensboro, Milledgeville and Washington, with agencies in Griffin and Macon.
    In a curious case that went before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1825, the Bank of the State of Georgia was accused of presenting a substantial number of altered First Bank of the United States notes to the national bank to pay its debts.
    It was found that $5 bills had become $50 bills, and $10 bills became $100 bills. The local circuit court ruled that the Bank of the State of Georgia did not have to pay the US bank the difference in the bills' real and altered values.
    The federal bank, not surprisingly, appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided, in simple terms, the bank should have known right away that these bank notes were altered rather than realizing it 19 days later. Case closed.

Georgia's Bank of Darien
    The next bank in Georgia was the Bank of Darien, which was chartered Dec. 15, 1818. The State of Georgia owned half of the bank's 10,000 shares and appointed five of the bank's 10 directors.
    The governor of Georgia was ordered to deposit $200,000 in the Bank of Darien: half for the establishment of "free schools" and half for the improvement of "internal navigation" — that is, inland rivers — in the state.
    After Georgia's Central Bank was established in 1828, the Bank of Darien's charter was amended to allow for the state's withdrawal of its funds, if needed.
    The demise of the Bank of Darien came after it was revealed its directors had speculated unwisely in cotton futures. In response, all state assets were moved to the Central Bank.
               
    Roger Allen is a local lover of history. Allen provides a brief look each week at the area's past. Email Roger at rwasr1953@gmail.com.