Aloysius Burton Banks (1868–1953)

Little Rock (Pulaski County) native Aloysius Burton Banks became deeply involved in both banking and insurance while helping to develop his adopted hometown of Fordyce (Dallas County).

Aloysius Burton Banks (A. B.) Banks was born on April 2, 1868, to Richard Tunstall Banks and Sarah Robertson Banks. Banks’s father served as an officer in the Confederate army during the Civil War and saw action in several battles, including the Action at Marks’ Mills. At the time of Banks’s birth, his father worked as a grocer in Little Rock. The family moved to Monticello (Drew County) when Banks was about two years old, and he grew up there. Educated in private schools, he briefly worked as a teacher early in his career.

Banks moved to Fordyce in 1893 and began working in the insurance field. (Some sources place his arrival in Fordyce in 1885.) He married Anna McFaddin in 1893, and the couple had three sons before Anna’s death in 1903 following the birth of a second stillborn child. Banks married Lottie Holmes in 1905, and the couple had a son and a daughter.

Fordyce was a growing town due to its location along the Cotton Belt Railroad. After establishing himself in insurance, Banks founded his own agency in 1900 with the Home Accident Insurance Company. He grew the business over the next several decades and created two new companies, the Home Fire and Home Life insurance companies. His portfolio eventually included a system of more than fifty banks operating under the American Exchange Trust banner. The headquarters of the bank, the Exchange Bank Building in Little Rock, which was designed by Charles Thompson and Thomas Harding, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He also served as the president of the Adams-Banks Lumber Company and the American Southern Trust Company, which was the predecessor of the American Exchange Trust. Although many of his business interests were based in Little Rock, Banks continued to maintain his primary residence in Fordyce.

Heavily involved in the development of Fordyce, Banks purchased a plot of land to the northeast of the city limits and constructed a large home designed by Charles Thompson. Additional homes and streets were constructed on the plot. The city annexed the area in 1906, and it exists as the Charlotte Street Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Banks was active in the Democratic Party and the Presbyterian Church, and he served as a trustee of the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County). Banks, two of his sons, and two of his grandsons placed a marker honoring the service of Richard Tunstall Banks at the nearby site of the Action at Marks’ Mills.

Banks continued to grow his business empire until the effects of the Great Depression began to impact the state. On November 16, 1930, the officers of the bank implemented a five-day pause on any withdrawals from the American Exchange Bank or its associated banks. This was due to the failure of a Tennessee investment bank owned by Rogers Caldwell and the loss of American Exchange funds deposited with that institution. The pause on withdrawals did not save the banks, and by the end of the month, all had failed. This impacted countless depositors across Arkansas who lost all of their savings.

Coupled with the collapse of his businesses, Banks was charged with accepting deposits at financial institutions that he knew to be insolvent. A Pulaski County grand jury indicted Banks and four other officers on forty-two counts. During the trial, Banks was represented by Henry Donham and Senator Joe T. Robinson. Prosecuted by future governor Carl Bailey, Banks was convicted on July 4, 1931, and received a one-year sentence. He appealed the verdict to the Arkansas Supreme Court, which affirmed it on April 4, 1932. With the failure of this appeal, Governor Harvey Parnell pardoned Banks on November 23, 1932, and he never served any time in prison.

After the trial, Banks returned to work in the insurance field. Banks lived out his life in Fordyce and died on January 3, 1953. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Fordyce with both of his wives.

For additional information:
“A. B. Banks Made Start as a Tinner.” Hope Star, December 4, 1930, p. 1.

“A. B. Banks Will Appeal Conviction.” Arkansas Gazette, July 5, 1931, p. 1.

“Arkansas Banker Guilty: A. B. Banks Gets a Year for Taking Deposit in Insolvent Bank.” New York Times, July 5, 1931, p. 24.

“Charlotte Street Historic District.” National Register of Historic Places nomination form. On file at Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Little Rock, Arkansas. Online at https://www.arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-historic-preservation-program (accessed November 6, 2025).

Dillard, Tom. “Aloysius Burton Banks.” Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, August 14, 2011, p. 74.

Ledbetter, Calvin R. “Carl Bailey: A Pragmatic Reformer.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 57 (Summer 1998): 134–159.

Ledbetter, Richard. “Visionary Helped to Grow Fordyce.” Pine Bluff Commercial, March 26, 2023, pp. 1, 5. Online at https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/mar/26/visionary-helped-to-grow-fordyce/ (accessed November 6, 2025).

Thomas, David Yancey. Arkansas and Its People, a History, 1541–1930, vol. 3. New York: American Historical Society, 1930.

David Sesser
Southeastern Louisiana University