Overview:

Jake Buther’s life would have made a great movie. Butcher and his brother C.H. grew up in
Union County, Tennessee, where they learned the banking business. Butcher went to U.T., and
then into the Marine Corps. Following his time in the military, he married Sonya Wilde (1962),
an actress whose career was on the rise, at the time of the marriage.
Around 1968, Jake and his brother C.H. began buying banks around East Tennessee. By 1974,
Jake and his brother had acquired 8 banks, including the region’s largest bank, the Hamilton
County Bank (which Butcher turned into the United American Bank). Butcher’s insatiable
appetite for power and fortune continued to fuel his growing empire, which, at one point, was
responsible for 50% of all loans, in Knoxville.
While Butcher’s business resume continued to flourish, his political resume developed. In 1974,
Jake ran for Governor, but lost to Blanton in the Democratic primary. The Butcher brothers
continued to be a powerful force in Democratic circles throughout the mid-70s. Butcher ran
again for Governor, again, in 1978, and received the Democratic nomination. He, ultimately, lost
to Lamar Alexander. But, due to Blanton’s scandal involving his pardoning of criminals with the
Tennessee Parol Board, Lamar Alexander had to be brought into office early.
Though Butcher lost the 1978 election, he continued to remain a powerful force. And, in 1982 he
was instrumental in bringing the World’s Fair to Knoxville. Around this time, federal regulators
began to investigate unlawful banking practices in East Tennessee. Their trail ultimately led to
the doors of the Butcher banks. In 1985, Butcher and his brother pled guilty to charges of bank
fraud, after federal regulators and state authorities discovered that the Butcher empire was
merely a crumbling house of cards built on forged documents, bad, unsecured loans, and sheer
fraud.
Butcher served 7 years of his sentence. He was released in 1992. According to reports, he
resettled to an area in Georgia, where he has worked for a Toyota dealer and also as a real estate
developer.
Cecil H. Butcher Jr:
Cecil H. Butcher Jr was born and raised on a farm in union County he was son of CH Butcher Sr.
and Kate Walters Butcher, he was the member of a Millers Chapels United Methodist Church.
He attended Union County Public School and East Tennessee University.
He served in United States Army. He was a graduate of Lincoln memorial university of
Harrogate. He along with his father and brother Jake founded the City and County banks of
Tennessee and Kentucky and served as a CEO. In addition he holds numerous real estate
holdings and several other business entities. He along his wife Sheryl Moreland also founded
City and County Insurance Company, Red Gate Properties and Southern Value Homes.
He was an active participant in Tennessee Democratic Politics. He was instrumental in securing
the funds to establish the Lincoln memorial Meusium at Lincoln Memorial University. He was
the Key Financial source for the 1982 Worlds Fair in Knoxville.
He was deeply devoted to his family and he always endeavour to remain true to family values of
highest order. He enjoyed the loving companionship of his wife Sheryl Moreland and was a
proud father of son and daughter in law Cecil H Butcher III and Terri.
Jake Butcher:
Jacob Franklin "Jake" Butcher was born in Dotson's Creek in Union County in 1936, Butcher
was the son of Cecil H. Butcher Sr., a general store owner and organizer and president of the
Union County Bank of Maynardville. Butcher attended the University of Tennessee and
Hiwassee College and served one enlistment in the U.S. Marine Corps. He founded the Bull Run
Oil Company, an Amoco distributorship, and engaged in commercial farming. On New Year's
Eve 1961 he met up-and-coming movie star Sonya Wilde on a blind date, and the couple married
in 1962.
He is a U.S. banker and politician who built a financial empire in East Tennessee, was the
Democratic Party nominee for governor of Tennessee in 1978 and the primary promoter of the
1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, and who lost his business and his personal fortune
after he was found to have engaged in massive fraud.
Banking Career:
Jake has started his banking career from his father bank that was Union County Bank of
Maynardville, So having worked at their father's bank during their youth, Butcher and his
younger brother C.H. Butcher, Jr. began buying stock in numerous Tennessee banks starting in
1968. By 1974, the Butcher brothers owned or controlled eight banks, and Jake Butcher's United
American Bank controlled 39% of the banking reserves in Knoxville, Tennessee. By 1982, UAB
was responsible for over 50% of Knoxville's business loans and Butcher's personal net worth was
declared to be about $34 million. Jake with his brother Cecil H. Butcher, for the network of
banking institutions they built valued at $3 billion.

At that time in Knoxville everyone was talking about UAB (United American Bank, of which
Butcher was founder and CEO), people said.

"Knoxville had been just a sleepy little town. When the Butchers were there, it was very
exciting. I moved my bank account to UAB."

Political Career:
By the early 1970s, Jake Butcher became a topic of discussion in Tennessee political circles. In
1974, he sought the Democratic Party nomination for Governor of Tennessee, but he lost to Ray
Blanton in the primary. After a bitter contest, Butcher earned the nomination in 1978, beating out
former Nashville mayor Richard Fulton and newcomer Bob Clement. Butcher lost the general
election later that year to Republican Lamar Alexander.[1]
Rumors circulated that Butcher would make another run for the governorship in 1982. However,
he supported Knoxville Mayor Randy Tyree, who defeated State Senator Anna Belle Clement
O'Brien for the Democratic nomination. Interestingly, the Knoxville Journal reported that Jake's
brother C.H. supported Tyree's Republican opponent, sitting Governor Lamar Alexander
Governor Alexander won re-election handily.
1982 World's Fair:
During that same year, the 1982 World's Fair opened in Knoxville, which Butcher and a group of
fellow Knoxville business leaders had helped to attract. The fair was widely considered a success
and brought in more than 11 million people over its six-month run. The World's Fair site is still
in use today as a municipal park in downtown Knoxville. Adjacent to the main campus of the
University of Tennessee, some of the World's Fair attractions are still standing and have been
rehabilitated. The Butcher United American Bank has financed $30 million for the worlds fair.
Their lives of wealth and the power it bought, created a whirlwind of greed and lavish
spending rarely seen in today's world.  At the height of Jake Butcher's reign as chairman of
the Knoxville World's Fair, the house of Butcher fell like a house of cards,
Debacle Of United American Bank:
In 1982 there were rumors about Butcher's banking practices. Knoxville federal and state bank
investigators had long suspected that Butcher was engaged in unlawful banking practices. On 1
November 1982, 180 federal bank regulators from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
simultaneously raided all of the Butcher brothers' 29 bank branches and offices, thereby
preventing transfers of funds to cover their tracks. Bank records ultimately led investigators on a
paper trail of illegal loans, forged documents and various other forms of fraud.
Three-billion-dollar Empire was largely a paper empire operating under improper management.
U.A.B. was on the "problem list" of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation throughout 1982.
As butcher brothers had issued numerous fraudulent bank loans. According to FDIC regional
counsel in Atlanta; “We wanted to see how much bad paper was really there. The situation at
U.A.B. was very grave indeed”. The FDIC concluded that $90 million in loans should be written
off.
When U.A.B. announced in January that its 1982 losses were only $2.3 million, FDIC officials
demanded that the bank issue a new report showing higher losses; U.A.B.'s board refused.
When 180 federal bank investigators seized all their banks simultaneously, halting their ability to
transfer assets from one bank to another. FDIC found that bank acquisitions had been completed
through a pyramid of unsecured loans, forged documents and fraud.
UAB Debacle was one of the largest bank failures in American history, the FDIC estimated that
its Butcher-connected losses equaled over $380 million. Hundreds of people and businesses in
Knoxville and elsewhere in Tennessee took a financial bath.
Butcher brothers were involved in one of the largest banking failure.  Hundreds of individuals
and institutions were ruined in the Butcher debacle fanning a dismal decade of suicides and
destruction along with prison terms for the Butcher brothers and their associates. They were
bankrupted, and was deprived of his lavish lifestyle that included a 40-room mansion swept
away
The United American Bank collapsed on 14 February 1983. It was the fourth-largest bank failure
in US history up to that time. Several other Butcher-controlled banks, such as the Southern
Industrial Banking Corporation, also became insolvent. On its last day of business, between $17
million and $25 million in deposits were withdrawn in a run on the U.A.B. Later that year, it
was learned that Butcher was also insolvent; his assets were listed at $11.9 million and his
liabilities at $32.5 million.
The other 28 banks controlled by the brothers were judged to be solvent. Nevertheless, worried
customers have with drawn several million dollars from C.H.'s southern industrial banking corp.
Reasons for the Debacle Of United American Bank:
One of the main reasons for the debacle of united American bank is that there was large number
of unsecured loans, paper corporations loaded with debt and a massive shell game in which loans
were shuffled from one bank to another ahead of the bank examiners. Butcher brother were
accused for committing mail, bank and tax fraud.
Another reason for the debacle of United American bank was that Jake Butcher gives loans for
Manipulation of United American Bank ("UAB") stock in banks and for catering political and
personal Interest.
Example: Jake Butcher lends Schledwitz approximately $450,000 to buy UAB stock. Jake
Butcher arranged for two loans to finance Schledwitz's stock purchases. Schledwitz provide Jake
Butcher associate barr with numerous bank notes and blank personal checks so Barr could make
the interest payments for him. The manipulation was done in such a way that a loan of $300,000
that was from UAB of Memphis was later transferred to UAB of Hamilton County. By shifting
the funds to different banks, the loans appeared current and were less suspicious to bank
examiners. Jake Butcher associate Barr also testified that a large portion of the loan proceeds
from Schledwitz's loans either went directly to Jake Butcher or were used to pay Butcher's bills.
Acquisition of United American Bank:

Brother Acquiesced Guilty:

Butcher Family Acquiesced:

The Alleged Fraudulent Scheme:
Jake Butcher's scheme was to create a market for bank stock in his banks, and to make
loans in furtherance of the Butchers' personal and political interests. According to the
government, Schledwitz was a "player" or a "nominee" for the Butcher brothers in a scheme
based on numerous fraudulent bank loans. Schledwitz was an attorney in Memphis, Tennessee.
He was also a political activist, as well as an associate of Jacob F. ("Jake") Butcher and his
brother, C.H. Butcher, Jr. Prior to the early 1980s, the Butcher brothers together effectively
controlled as many as twenty-five financial institutions in Tennessee and Kentucky.
Schledwitz allegedly agreed to receive loans from the Butcher-controlled banks with no intention
of ever repaying them. Instead, these loan proceeds were allegedly used for a variety of improper
purposes to benefit the Butcher brothers personally, such as for manipulation of the Butchers'
bank stock and satisfaction of the Butchers' personal debts. Additionally, the government
contended that the loan proceeds were used to promote an alliance between the Butcher brothers
and then-Congressman Harold E. Ford, who was Tennessee's most powerful African-American
politician at the time. In return for Schledwitz's role in the scheme, the Butchers provided
Schledwitz with business for his law practice and allowed him to keep some of the loan proceeds
for his own use.
In total, the Butcher-controlled banks loaned more than $1.5 million in Schledwitz's name. Many
of these loans were unsecured, and were made to Schledwitz at a time that he did not have the
personal income to justify such loans. For example, in 1980, due to his loans from the Butcher
banks, Schledwitz was billed $89,709.69 in interest, while he reported only $28,385 in total
income. In 1981, the total interest due on his loans was $122,647.91, whereas his total income
was only $31,994. In 1982, his interest obligations were $172,957,57, but his total income was
$52,163. In fact, the 1982 interest obligation alone exceeded Schledwitz's total income for the
combined years of 1978 to 1982.
Schledwitz allegedly borrowed $40,000 from the City and County Bank of Roane County (which
was controlled by the Butchers) to repay C.H. Butcher's Las Vegas gambling debts; and (3) that
Schledwitz borrowed $115,000 from the City and County Bank of Anderson County (which was
also controlled by the Butchers) to promote the Butchers' political interests in West Tennessee.
People Involved in Fraud:
Mr. Ford was first elected to Congress from Memphis in 1974, becoming Tennessee's first black
Congressman. Mr. Ford was involved in a conspiracy aimed at providing him an extravagant and
lavish life style, well above his personal means and also enabling the Butchers to use his political
influence for their personal, political and business purposes.
Mr. Ford was involved in outlines numerous loans and complicated financial transactions to give
hide payments and in 1982 the largest transaction accrue $350,000 through Southern Industrial
Banking Corporation.
In 1978, Jacob Butcher had his Memphis bank make a $150,000 loan to N. J. Ford & Sons, and
Mr. Ford subsequently endorsed Mr. Butcher in his race for governor. The associate, James
Steiner set free after pay his debt.
George W. Ridenour Jr., a lawyer convicted of income tax fraud in connection with the
collapse of the Tennessee banking empire of Jake Butcher, killed himself hours before he was to
begin serving a 20-year prison sentence Saturday, the police said.
Jesse Barr, 47, Jacob F. Butcher’s friend and financial consultant, of taking out a fraudulent
loan for $1.5 million from the United American Bank of Memphis in 1981. He was a first person
involved with butcher brother for taking over there first Union Planters Bank, Memphis.
David Allen Crabtree was work for Ernst and Whinney auditor of butcher’s brothers. His net
worth was 15.5 million and annual income $665, ooo.

Karl A. Schledwitz was an attorney in Memphis, Tennessee, who had several financial dealings
with Jacob F. "Jake" Butcher and C.H. Butcher, two brothers who ran a banking empire in
Tennessee and Kentucky. The Butchers controlled at least twenty-five financial institutions and
used the banks' money as their own. Schledwitz was accused by the government of being a
"player" in the Butcher banking empire, from September of 1979 to March of 1983, by allowing
his name to be used to borrow money from the Butcher banks when the money was actually used
to personally benefit the Butchers. In return, Schledwitz would allegedly receive business for his
law practice and loans for his own businesses. In total, the various Butcher banks loaned more
than $1.5 million in Schledwitz's name. These often unsecured loans were provided to
Schledwitz at a time when he did not have the personal income to justify such loans. When the
Butcher banks failed, Schledwitz owed over $2 million in principal and interest, but he settled
with the government by agreeing to repay only $120,000.

On January 21, 1992, defendant Schledwitz was charged in an indictment in the Eastern District
of Tennessee with eight counts of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1341 and 1342, in
relation to financial loans made to Schledwitz by banking institutions affiliated with Jake and
C.H. Butcher. Schledwitz was alleged to have been involved in two mail fraud schemes. The first
scheme related to a scheme to defraud the banks controlled by the Butchers, while the second
scheme related to a scheme to defraud the successors in interests to those banks. At the trial, the
district court granted a partial judgment of acquittal, dismissing counts four through eight of the
indictment relating to the second scheme as there was no evidence that Schledwitz could have
paid any more than he did to the successors in interest. As to counts one through three, the mail
fraud charged in count one concerned several loans to Schledwitz to purchase United American
Bank ("UAB") stock in banks controlled by Jake Butcher. Four banks controlled by Jake Butcher
were involved: First and Farmers of Somerset, Kentucky; UAB of Memphis; UAB of Knoxville;
and UAB of Hamilton County. The mail fraud charged in counts two and three concerned
transactions with C.H. Butcher and his banks. On September 24, 1992, the jury convicted Schledwitz
on all three remaining counts of mail fraud. He was sentenced to six months in a halfway house.

Always ambitious Lowery got addicted to real estate deals in the early Eighties and claims to
have earned his first million before he turned 24. Among his early backers were Jake and C.H.
Butcher, the infamous Knoxville banking brothers; they financed Lowery's construction of the
18-story Hilton Hotel in downtown Knoxville. The Butcher banks went under in 1983 in one of
the worst bank collapses in U.S. history, and the Butcher brothers received 20-year jail sentences
(both have been paroled). "They did a few things they shouldn't have done," says Lowery. "But
those boys went out on a limb and really gave me a chance."

By 1992, Lowery was working for Harold Ford, the black Democratic congressman from
Memphis who would later be tried and acquitted in the Butcher bank scandal (and who is the
uncle of this article's author). Impressed by a guy who seemed like a magnet for cash, Ford hired
Lowery, a Republican, that August as his staff director. During his tenure, Lowery says he began
to mull welfare reform and other problems vexing the inner city.
References
http://www.whirl.biz/butcher_family.htm
Ford had a rocky political career, and he allied himself and his family with Gore. He was
indicted on federal bank, mail-fraud and conspiracy charges in 1987, stemming from $1 million
of loans he had received from banks controlled by Democratic politician Jake Butcher and his
brother C.H. Butcher. The money was loaned for business purposes, but was allegedly converted
to personal use by Ford. His first trial resulted in a hung jury. A second jury acquitted him.
Jake Butcher — a Tennessee Tragedy
3 May, 2007 (02:14) | Tennessee News | By: Phil Ayres
Yesterday, I discussed the 1982 World’s Fair and one of the primary individuals responsible for
the Fair being in Knoxville, Jake Butcher. It has been a while since I thought about Jake Butcher.
So, I had to do a little research on him. No doubt, if the blogosphere had been in existence in
1982-’83, it would have been all the buzz about Butcher. In fact, if the blogosphere had been
around at any point in the 1970s and early 80s, Butcher would have been a frequent topic of
discussion.
Jake Buther’s life would have made a great movie. It still could be … if any of you producer
types are reading this post. Butcher and his brother C.H. grew up in Union County, Tennessee,
where they learned the banking business. Butcher went to U.T., and then into the Marine Corps.
Following his time in the military, he married Sonya Wilde (1962), an actress whose career was
on the rise, at the time of the marriage.
Around 1968, Jake and his brother C.H. began buying banks around East Tennessee. By 1974,
Jake and his brother had acquired 8 banks, including the region’s largest bank, the Hamilton
County Bank (which Butcher turned into the United American Bank). Butcher’s insatiable
appetite for power and fortune continued to fuel his growing empire, which, at one point, was
responsible for 50% of all loans, in Knoxville.
While Butcher’s business resume continued to flourish, his political resume developed. In 1974,
Jake ran for Governor, but lost to Blanton in the Democratic primary. The Butcher brothers
continued to be a powerful force in Democratic circles throughout the mid-70s. Butcher ran
again for Governor, again, in 1978, and received the Democratic nomination. He, ultimately, lost
to Lamar Alexander. But, due to Blanton’s scandal involving his pardoning of criminals with the
Tennessee Parol Board, Lamar Alexander had to be brought into office early.
Though Butcher lost the 1978 election, he continued to remain a powerful force. And, in 1982 he
was instrumental in bringing the World’s Fair to Knoxville. Around this time, federal regulators
began to investigate unlawful banking practices in East Tennessee. Their trail ultimately led to
the doors of the Butcher banks. In 1985, Butcher and his brother pled guilty to charges of bank
fraud, after federal regulators and state authorities discovered that the Butcher empire was
merely a crumbling house of cards built on forged documents, bad, unsecured loans, and sheer
fraud.
Butcher served 7 years of his sentence. He was released in 1992. According to reports, he
resettled to an area in Georgia, where he has worked for a Toyota dealer and also as a real estate
developer.
The Butcher story is truly a sad Tennessee tragedy. At one point, many people would probably
have argued that Jake Butcher was the most powerful man in the State of Tennessee. He truly
saw the heights of success and the depths of despair. I would be curious to know more about
Butcher’s life, today. Is he still married, etc.? Has anyone had any encounters with him, over the
years?
The city of Knoxville is still filled with the legacy and ghosts of Jake and his brother (who
passed away in 2002). While I was in school in Knoxville, I was told that – at their financial
height – the Butcher brothers each had one of the 2 large towers that fill the Knoxville skyline
today. To find out about the Butchers, you simply have to ask a few Knoxville locals. Many
people met their financial ruin due to the fraud and dishonesty of the Butcher brothers. And,
though people in Nashville have, largely, forgotten about the Butcher brothers, many people in
Knoxville will never forget. Can you see why I think that this would be an excellent movie?
Butcher has impacted politics in Tennessee – and maybe even nationally – forever. Many have
said that Fred Thompson’s political success is, partially, due to the face recognition provided by
his movie career. But, Fred owes his movie career – partially – to Butcher’s failures. Had Jake
Butcher defeated Blanton in 1974, there would have been no Thompson movie career, because
there would have been no Blanton scandals (Perhaps, though, there would have been Butcher
scandals!).
Fred’s first role came in a movie called Marie. Fred played himself as the attorney for Marie
Ragghianti, the employee of the Tennessee Parole Board who took on the corrupt Governor
Blanton. The movie was criticized by many – all except for a first-time actor by the name of Fred
Thompson.
Fred Thompson’s movie career is not the only enduring legacy of Jake Buther. When you drive
through Knoxville and look at the Sunsphere or World’s Fair Park, you can think of Jake
Butcher. He represents all that is great about America. He represents the fact that someone in this
country can rise to the heights of power – from somewhat humble beginnings. But, he also
represents the hubris and the potential for corruption by those who pursue power and financial
fortunes at all cost. In a sense, he is a reflection of what is best about us as Americans, as well as
what is worst about us as humans.
I would be interested in hearing any comments that anyone has about Jake Butcher, any
interactions that they have had, as well as any memories that you would like to recall.

For Knoxville in the ’70s and ’80s it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Two
brothers from Union County had charged down upon this stagnant, conservative mountain town
— a town whose famous citizen prior to Jake was a grocer who hawked his wares on an early-
morning country music show, opposed fluoridation, and made the national press when he took a
poke at a fellow city councilman at a council meeting.
Jake Butcher and his brother, C.H., shook things up and gave the city a sense of pride. Two huge
skyscrapers brought the Knoxville skyline into the 20th century and Jake spearheaded a move to
have Knoxville host a World’s Fair just like New York and Chicago. The brothers’ banks were
lending money like it was going out of style, contrary to the existing banking ethos of only
loaning to those who did not need the money.
And then it all collapsed. Bank examiners swooped down on the brothers’ banks the day after the
World’s Fair closed, and some three months later they began closing banks, including Jake’s
flagship United American. The bank liquidations, the bankruptcies, the indictments — Knoxville
was in a state of shell shock, from which it is yet fully to recover.