Bion Barnett
Bion Hall Barnett (October 7, 1857 – October 30, 1958) was an American banker. In 1877 he co-founded Barnett Bank, known as "Florida's Bank", the largest in the U.S. state of Florida at the time of its acquisition by NationsBank in 1997. Early years He was born in Hiawatha, Kansas, the son of William Boyd Barnett and the former Sarah Jane Blue. His father was a merchant and a banker in northeast Kansas. He was the younger of two children who lived to adulthood. His older brother, Will (five years older) moved from Kansas to Jacksonville, Florida to start a furniture business in 1874, just as Bion enrolled at the University of Kansas. Will spoke highly of Florida's moderate winter, so the following year, his parents journeyed to Jacksonville to visit their oldest son. Sarah Barnett suffered from neuralgia, but her health improved during their time in Florida, so the Barnetts returned to Kansas, liquidated their assets, and relocated to Jacksonville in March 1877. Bion, who was a college senior, withdrew from school to join his parents three months before graduation. Bank of Jacksonville On May 7, 1877, Barnett opened the Bank of Jacksonville on the corner of Main and Forsyth with $43,000 in capital. William was president, Bion acted as bookkeeper, and one other person was hired as teller/clerk. Most Florida banks at the time were private and unregulated. In spite of being a newcomer and a Yankee, Barnett and the new institution slowly gained the people's trust, but at the end of their first year, deposits only amounted to $11,000. William then invited Bion to be partner. Growth A conversation between Bion Barnett and Henry L'Engle changed the bank's fortunes. L'Engle, the Duval County Tax Collector, was annoyed because the bank holding the county's funds charged $6.25 for each transfer to New York City banks. Bion offered to waive the fee if Duval County deposited their funds in the Bank of Jacksonville. L'Engle agreed, and the BoJ began to prosper. Within a year, L'Engle was appointed treasurer for the State of Florida, and the state's accounts were transferred to BoJ. Within a few years, operating capital exceeded $150,000, and in 1888, the Barnetts applied for and received a "National Charter", pursuant to the National Bank Act. This allowed them to become the National Bank of Jacksonville. The institution's deposits exceeded $1 million in 1893. Florida's first Burroughs Adding Machine was installed at the bank during this time. Lessons learned Around 1890, Bion invested $3,000 in a phosphate mining enterprise that promised a return of $100,000 in three months time. When he lost the entire amount, he never again speculated, and applied that same principle at Barnett Bank. He was fond of telling people, "It is not the things you don't know that get you in trouble. It is the things you think you know for sure that get you in trouble." On Barnett Bank's 50th anniversary in 1927, Bion repeated his father's Five Rules of Business: 20th century