National Banks

[Jim Garrett]

On a slightly different note, Abraham Lincoln banked at Riggs. For 150 years, Riggs was THE BANK in Washington. Jefferson Davis closed his account the same week Lincoln opened his. Other notables who banked at Riggs included W.T. Sherman, Theodore Roosevelt and Douglas MacArthur. The President of the Bank was W.W. Corcoran who lived next to John Slidell on Lafayette Square. Corcoran was a man of deep Southern sympathies and sat out the war in Europe, refusing to take sides. When Seward bought Alaska, the Russians wanted gold and the government did not have enough. The government borrowed the gold from Riggs.

I worked at Riggs back in the 80's. They prided themselves on their history. They had a number of Lincoln's checks including two notables. One was written out to "Mr. Johns, a very sick man" and the other to "An old Negro Man with One Leg". Unfortunately, Rigg's was asleep at the wheel when interstate banking rolled into town. Also, the principal owner, Joe L. Albritton used it as his own private piggy bank, laundering money for unscrupulous foreign dictators. Back in the 80's, their catchphrase was "the most important bank, in the most important city, in the world".