Adams National Bank, Adams, NY (Charter 2845)
Adams National Bank, Adams, NY (Chartered 1882 - Liquidated 1889)
Town History
Adams is a town in Jefferson County, New York. Named after President John Adams, the town contains a village also named Adams, and Adams Center, one of a number of hamlets, this one north of Adams village. The village and town are south of Watertown. The town had a population of 4,973 at the 2020 census. In 1860 the population was 3,496, declining to 3,081 by 1900.
Settlement began around 1800 at Adams village. David Smith built a sawmill at the present site of Adams in 1801. Renamed for John Adams in 1802 (the year after his presidency ended), the town of Adams was created from the survey townships of Aleppo and Orpheus. The eastern part of Adams was taken in 1804 to form the town of Rodman. A post office was established at Adams about 1806. During the War of 1812, the town of Adams formed a local militia for home defense.
Adams had five National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all five of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
- First National Bank, Adams, NY (Charter 71)
- Hungerford National Bank, Adams, NY (Charter 1531)
- Adams National Bank, Adams, NY (Charter 2845)
- Farmers National Bank, Adams, NY (Charter 4061)
- Citizens National Bank, Adams, NY (Charter 4103)
Bank History
- Organized Nov 27, 1882
- Chartered Dec 23, 1882
- Succeeded Hungerford's Bank
- Liquidated Jul 10, 1889
- Succeeded by 4061 (Farmers National Bank, Adams, NY)
On December 23, 1882, The Adams National Bank was authorized to begin business with a capital of $50,000.[1]
On Tuesday, January 8, 1889, the directors met and adopted a preamble and resolutions charging the president, Willis Waite, with using the bank's money for speculating purposes in Chicago and advised the stockholders to vote agains him for re-election. The preamble stated that the directors discovered the unlawful actions and at the December meeting confronted Waite with the alternative of resigning or being ousted. Waite pleaded to be allowed to finish his term of office, promising he would not be a candidate for re-election. However, the directors accused him of having broken those promises and also of having planned to employ a cashier to his own liking in place of George W. Hannas who was also one of the directors. The stockholders acted on the advice of the directors and the new board elected C.D. Potter president and retained Mr. Hannas as cashier.[2]
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Adams National Bank, Adams, NY
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $49,200 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1882 and 1889. This consisted of a total of 3,936 notes (3,936 large size and No small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 984
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1882 - 1889):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Adams, NY, on Wikipedia
- Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, A Guide with Prices. 6th Edition (Oxford, OH: The Paper Money Institute, 2008).
- Dean Oakes and John Hickman, Standard Catalog of National Bank Notes. 2nd Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1990).
- Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project