Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › Alabama › The Farmers & Merchants Bank of Ashford
What happened to The Farmers & Merchants Bank of Ashford?
The Farmers & Merchants Bank of Ashford in Ashford, AL (earlier called The Farmers & Merchants Bank) merged into Bank of Dothan of Dothan, AL on Jun 28, 1982. After 3 more changes of hands, what was The Farmers & Merchants Bank of Ashford is today part of Regions Bank (Birmingham, AL).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1920The Farmers & Merchants Bank opens in Ashford, AL
- Sep 15, 1977renamed The Farmers & Merchants Bank of Ashford
- Jun 28, 1982MERGEDThe Farmers & Merchants Bank of Ashford merged into Bank of Dothan of Dothan, AL.FDIC certificate 1725 ends; its business continues under certificate 22378.
- Jun 24, 1983MERGEDBank of Dothan (by then renamed AmSouth Bank of Houston County) of Dothan, AL merged into AmSouth Bank, National Association of Birmingham, AL.FDIC certificate 22378 ends; its business continues under certificate 2782.
- Jun 26, 1997MERGEDAmSouth Bank, National Association (by then renamed AmSouth Bank of Alabama) of Birmingham, AL merged into AmSouth Bank of Birmingham, AL.FDIC certificate 2782 ends; its business continues under certificate 26800.
- Nov 4, 2006MERGEDAmSouth Bank of Birmingham, AL merged into Regions Bank of Birmingham, AL.FDIC certificate 26800 ends; its business continues under certificate 12368.
- TodayOPEN
Regions BankMain office Birmingham, AL · FDIC certificate 12368 · 1,245 offices in 16 states on June 30, 2026Every Regions Bank office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.regions.com
If you still have something from The Farmers & Merchants Bank of Ashford
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows The Farmers & Merchants Bank of Ashford as lienholder, start with Regions Bank. In a merger the surviving bank takes over the other bank's loans, so it is the bank to ask for a recordable lien release; if the loan was sold along the way, it can tell you to whom.
The FDIC says it cannot process lien releases for banks that merged or were acquired without government assistance, which is what the record shows here.
Record the release with the same county office that recorded the original mortgage or deed of trust.
An old account, passbook or CD
Ask Regions Bank to search for the account under the name The Farmers & Merchants Bank of Ashford. A passbook or certificate shows an account existed. It doesn't show the money is still there, and the OCC notes that federal rules require banks to keep most account records for five years.
Accounts nobody touches are eventually turned over to a state. The OCC puts the usual wait at three to five years with no activity, set by each state's law. Search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and any other state they lived in. It is free to search and to claim through a state's own site, and MissingMoney.com, an official site of the state administrators' association, searches most states at once.
A safe deposit box
Ask Regions Bank which branch now holds boxes from the The Farmers & Merchants Bank of Ashford office you used. The OCC says a box with no activity for three to five years (the period is set by state statute) is likely treated as dormant, and its contents may be turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 1725 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.