About Us
Dozier Bank Safe and Friendly since 1910 In 1910, a group of businessmen led by Fox Henderson
from Troy, Alabama agreed to open a bank in a small farming community
located in Crenshaw County; and on March 10, 1910, Dozier Bank opened for business with a national bank charter.
Henderson, a prominent entrepreneur at that time, was the bank’s first
president for 8 years; yet, it is reported that he only entered the bank
one time as he allowed the operations of the bank to be managed by local
personnel. He was an
investor and organizer of other banks located in Troy, Brundidge,
Luverne, Brantley, Andalusia, Elba, and Huntsville. The Great Depression
of the 1930s saw most of these banks fail; however, Dozier was the lone
survivor of the banks located in Crenshaw County during that period of
economic chaos. The initial investors from Troy and Dozier provided
the venture dollars needed to get started.
While it took $25,000.00 of capital in 1910 to get a bank
charter, in 2010 it requires about $20 million dollars of capital to get
a bank started. Some examples of
the cost of goods in 1910: a loaf of bread $0.05; a gallon of milk
$0.28; a pound of butter $0.25; a gallon of gas $0.04; a new home
(average) $3,395. The annual household income was $1,004 and those were
prosperous times before the depression wrecked the economy and prices
took a drastic plunge. Since the bank opened in 1910, there have been only six bank presidents, Fox Henderson, 1910-1918; A. F. Merrill, (1918-1940); W. A. “Arnold” Merrill, (1940-1973); W. H. “Hiram” McGhee, (1973-1984); and W. B. “Willie” Smith, Jr. (1984-2019). The original board members were A. F. Merrill, R. Frost, J. P. Merrill, J. I. Merrill, Fox Henderson, L. M. Bashinsky, and J. M. Henderson. Today the Board of Directors are Anna Laurie McKibbens (2023 - present), Linda R. Colquett, Kevin Kennedy, Perrin Collier Trotter, and Shaun M. Wilcox Current Officers:
At the November 2022 Special Meeting of the Stockholders of First Dozier Bancshares, Inc. the stockholders voted by an overwhelming majority to approve and adopt the amendment to increase the number of authorized shares to 20,000,000. Thereafter, we successfully raised over $8,000,000.00 in additional capital. Effective July 1, 2023, we converted to a state charter and are now Dozier Bank. While we are proud to have served Crenshaw County and our surrounding markets, as a national bank since 1910, we believe converting to an Alabama bank is the right thing to do in the current banking environment for a bank of our size and geographic location, and are excited about the prospects of operating in the near future as an Alabama bank. Our mission is to be a strong, independent, community bank committed to our customers and our community.
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