Who We Are
Taylor County Bank is the only locally owned and operated financial institution in Taylor County. Its history in Taylor County goes back to 1914 when J.C. Miller, Sr., first came into town. J.C. Miller, Sr. was a man dedicated to serving others and providing quality financial service to people on a one-on-one basis. He believed in hard work and standing behind what he promised. That was a time that he himself described as, “days of earnest effort and sincerity, days of longer work hours, and when a contract and a handshake was considered a sacred bond. “These were to become the very foundation of the institution that he was dreaming.
In 1937, J.C. Miller Sr., a builder and engineer by trade, envisioned the new bank in the aftermath of the great depression when most of the banks in town had closed. With $300,000 in capital, Taylor County Bank opened its doors on September 1, 1937.
During this time, as is customary in the Miller family, J.C. Miller, Jr. was working his way up within the bank until he was called upon by his country to serve as a decorated pilot in World War II. J.C. Jr is fondly remembered by many of the employees and customers that visit the bank today who created a legacy as a tireless civic leader and champion of commerce and progress in Taylor County. In 1956, he was named as President of the bank, a position he held until his untimely death in 1970.
His son James C. Miller III, who had also been quietly working his way up within the ranks, would then assume control of the bank at the young age of 28. A student of bank operations, and a born natural, Big Jim as everyone would affectionately call him, grew the assets of the bank from $7.9 million dollars in 1970 to over $21 million dollars in six short years and shaped the organization into what it is today. It was under his watch that the new bank headquarters that we still occupy today was constructed, and its values were taught to a new generation of bankers. Like his grandfather and his father, he understood that the math was very simple, that it was about people, and serving their needs every day, and to see that the people the bank employed are the driving force in its success and longevity. Big Jim served as the Bank’s President for 37 years, until such time that retirement called his name.
Long time board member and former bank employee, Henry Lee was asked to step in at this time to serve as the bank’s fourth bank president. Henry had previously owned and operated a successful CPA firm in Campbellsville and was ready for a change when the call came. He served the bank 10 years in that role, leading the bank through some of its most prosperous and financially successful years.
In 2017 history would repeat itself. James C. Miller IV was asked to serve as bank president upon the announcement of Mr. Lee’s retirement. Little Jim as he is known by many life-long employees and customers of the bank, like his predecessors, had also been working his way up within the bank for the past 17 years. Starting out as a teller and working in nearly every department within the bank would give him the necessary experience and knowledge the job would require. Even more so, it gave him perspective about the people who work here and the customers we serve and the tremendous value of those relationships.
Events had come full circle within Taylor County Bank, as it was, as it is, as it will always be about people.