MECHANICS AND FARMERS BANK, (M&F Bank) a state chartered commercial bank, was organized in 1907 under authority of a charter issued by the Legislature of the state of North Carolina. The original incorporators were a group of nine prominent African-American businessmen, headed by R. B. Fitzgerald and including J. A. Dodson, J. R. Hawkins, John Merrick, Aaron M. Moore, W. G. Pearson, James E. Shepard, G. W. Stephens, and Stanford L. Warren. The Bank opened for business on August 1, 1908, approximately 18 months after securing the charter.
