1. In 1877 he co-founded Barnett Bank, known as "Florida's Bank", the largest in the US state of Florida at the time of its acquisition by NationsBank in 1997.
18 Facts About Bion Barnett
1. 2.
Bion Barnett was born in Hiawatha, Kansas, the son of William Boyd Barnett and the former Sarah Jane Blue.
3.
Bion Barnett's father was a merchant and a banker in northeast Kansas.
4.
Bion Barnett was the younger of two children who lived to adulthood.
5.
Bion Barnett, who was a college senior, withdrew from school to join his parents three months before graduation.
6.
On May 7,1877, Bion Barnett opened the Bank of Jacksonville on the corner of Main and Forsyth with $43,000 in capital.
7.
Bion Barnett offered to waive the fee if Duval County deposited their funds in the Bank of Jacksonville.
8.
Around 1890, Bion Barnett invested $3,000 in a phosphate mining enterprise that promised a return of $100,000 in three months time.
9.
On Barnett Bank's 50th anniversary in 1927, Bion repeated his father's Five Rules of Business:.
10.
When Bion Barnett's father died on October 21,1903, Bion Barnett became president and resolved to rename the institution in his father's honor.
11.
Bion Barnett commented "that the family-owned institution had endured epidemics, fire, freezes, and financial panics".
12.
In 1929, Bion Barnett tried unsuccessfully to merge with Florida National Bank.
13.
The day before a bank holiday on March 5,1933, Bion Barnett expected a bank run.
14.
Between 1910 and 1937 when Anna died, Bion Barnett had made 29 transatlantic crossings and Anna made 19.
15.
At the time of her death, Anna Barnett was living in Monte Carlo, Monaco in a villa named La Biondella.
16.
Bion Barnett was a member or chairman of the board from October 1896 to March 1911 when he resigned.
17.
Bion Barnett was a prominent Mason; treasurer of Damascus Commandry, Knights Templar; a member of the Seminole Club, the Florida Yacht Club, the Florida Country Club and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
18.
Bion Barnett retired from the board of Bion Barnett Bank with 75 years of service in 1952 at the age of 94 and was named honorary chairman.