Page 29

S. Bruce Spencer Sh ads Trust Department

The Trust Department of the First Nat ional Bank is a department en tirely separate and distinct from the regular Commercial Depart ment It must make its reports to and be examined periodically by ..: ■ wml supervising authorities. The • ■ i : dm t'-ator. executor, trustee, or com mittee. In many instances individuals or groups of individuals may not find, time to handle extensive real estate; rentals, maintain proper insurance.; end pay the numerous taxes and; monthly bills. In such cases th>*. Trust Department may be called on : to render these services and dis tribute the income. This type of an account is called an agency account ; Often, the bank, through its Trust j Department acts as administrator i of a deceased person's estate. It is: the duty of the administrator to see j that the personal estate is di.s | tributed according to law. As executor, the bank’s duty is to j s-*e that the wishes of the deceased i person are carried out in accor j dance with the will There are many reasons why it is desirable to have a bank named as executor j of one’s w'i.11 rather than an indi vidual. An individual may die leav ing complicated problems or a wife named executrix may be subjected to undue hardships. The past ex perience of the bank in such matters is most valuable.

Whenever a person is declared in competent. relatives may desire the bank to handle the affairs. In such cases the bank acts as committee or trustee and must give annual accountings to the commissioner of accounts who must approve them in the same manner as with an ad ministrator’s or executor's account. The Trust Department of tne First National Bank is under the supervision of S. Bruce Spencer. After graduating from Hampden

Sydney College with a B A Degree in 1937. Mr. Spencer v; employed by the First National Hr where he served until Apiul, 1942 when he entered the United States Naval Reserve. He served oversea* with the amphibian fores in the Euro pean Theatre of Operation until October 1945 when he was re leased from active duty as lieuten ant. Returning to the bank in No vember. 1945, Mr. Spencer was made ass’stant cashier in 1946 He became assistant cashier and assis tant trust officer in June, 1955. In January. I95f>. Mr Spencer asumed his present position of cashier and trust officer.

Permanent Record Of Checks Made By Microfilming There is more to banking than meets the eye. On first thought one' considers that all it is to banking is writing checks, cashing checks and put ting money on deposit. This as just scratching the surface Handling checks is one of the big jobs of the bank By making their checking services inexpen sive and convenient banks have speeded up the wheels of business and made possible a host of cred it plans, mail order houses, and have reduced the amount of cash carried in public. To protect the bank and the check writer and everyone involv ed in the “checking” process, the bank “takes a picture” of every check that it takes in. The picture process is called microfilming” A specially de signed machine takes a miniature picture of each check in the bank and this microfilm picture is filed in case it is needed. If a question arises about a

OFFICES—S. Bruce Spencer, cashier and trust officer, left, and John II. Varner, assistant cashier and manager of the Farm Service Department, right, shown in the spacious offices at the ri?ht of the entrance to the bank.

check, the bank can refer to its microfilm and prove that the check was written, and any in formation about the check.* The machine films both sides of the check, so that not only the amount date and original signa ture can be seen, but a record ts also made of the endorsement; that appear on the reverse side of the check. Most of the operations on the machine are completely automatic. This mach ne is located in the proof and transit department of The First National Bank Also located in this department is a National accounting machine

on which the general ledger is posted and the trust department bookkeeping is done on this ma chine The machine is also used for typing note notices, and post ing notes to the liability ledger These two ops-rat.an.s are done si multaneously Mural Features •Continued on page 2» Lake road. Interest in reforestation has been on the increase m the past several yeats The tree farm movement be gan in 1940, and the Governor of Virginia is at present backing a tree

planting program that, is designed to get 25 million seedlings planted in Virginia over a five year period. Last year 24 landowners in P mce Edward county planted 304.000 seed lings. There are several reasons for the upsurge in tree planting. Piivate landowners have learned that tree growing is profitable Machines have reduced the cost of p!a .ting r and make it much easier than the old back-breaking hand methods. And the availability of low-cost or free seedlings from industry and ' government nurseries makes tree planting attractive from a financial standpoint.

Congratulations to FIRST NATIONAL BANK.

We are pleased to have had the privilege of installing the executive and general office furniture for their new and redecoroted surroundings.

EVERETT/WADDEY \jomjxci-nu FKHMCNC.vinuniA

LITHOGRAPHERS • PRINTERS • ENGRAVERS • STATIONERY • OFFICE FURNITURE & SUPPLIES—FOR 75 YEARS