Broad Street National Bank, Philadelphia, PA (Charter 11539)
Broad Street National Bank, Philadelphia, PA (Chartered 1919 - Liquidated 1928)
Town History
Philadelphia is located in Philadelphia County, in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania. It is currently the sixth-most-populous city in the United States and the most populous city in the state of Pennsylvania. It is also the second-most populous city in the Northeastern United States, behind New York City.
Philadelphia is one of the oldest municipalities in the United States. William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city in 1682 to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. It grew on the steep banks of the Delaware River into a hub of international trade and monetary influence. The royal post-office was established in this city by Franklin. Mail would pass uninterrupted from Crown to Republic, the one royal department which did so. The Colonies used the old expresses and mail routes leading up to and through the revolution. Philadelphia played an instrumental role in the American Revolution as a meeting place for the Founding Fathers of the United States, who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 in Carpenters' Hall, and the Constitution at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in Independence Hall.
Philadelphia was the second Capitol after New York City during George Washington's presidency. On April 2, 1792, the United States Mint opened its doors here with David Rittenhouse, former treasurer of Pennsylvania, the first director. The American Philosophical Society was the first scientific society in the land and still meets in the hall Franklin secured for it. Former townships and boroughs of Bristol, Richmond, Kensington, Germantown, Manayunk, Northern Liberties, Southwark, to name a few, were consolidated into Philadelphia in 1854 which then occupied all of Philadelphia County.
Philadelphia had 70 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and 62 of those banks issued National Bank Notes. Philadelphia also had 27 Obsolete Banks that issued Obsolete Bank Notes during the Obsolete Bank Note Era (1782-1866).
Bank History
- Organized November 19, 1919
- Chartered December 8, 1919
- Conversion of The Broad Street Bank, Philadelphia, Pa.
- Liquidated October 6, 1928
- Succeeded by Bank of Philadelphia and Trust Company
In November 1913, the Broad Street Bank organized with the election of the following officers: James B. Gillies, president; Dr. W.C. Mitchell, vice president; and A.L. Skilton, vice president.[1] At a meeting of the directors, title was taken to the Schuyler property at the southeast corner of Broad and Diamond Streets. After necessary alterations, the new institution would open for business about the middle of January. At the same meeting, E. Leslie Allison was elected cashier. The directors were James B. Gillies, president; W.C. Mitchell, M.D., vice president; A.L. Skilton, vice president; and W.C. Mitchell, M. Livingston, James B. Gillies, Joseph T. Taylor, John B. Mayer, A.L. Skilton, Albert Alen, John A. Boger, W. Perry Hitner, Oliver T. Acker, H.S. Duvall, Henry Kleninger, Harry S. Higbee, George Schlachter, and George E. Schaut, directors.[2]
In September 1919, the Broad Street Bank and the Drovers and Merchants Bank would enter the national banking system. The Broad Street Bank planned an increase in its capital from $150,000 to $250,000.[3] In November, stockholders unanimously adopted the resolution for conversion to a national bank. For the next 30 days the bank would continue to operate as a state bank. Directors and officers were re-elected for another year.[4]
In December 1920, The many friends and admirers of Leon A. Lewis, former cashier of the Hop Bottom National Bank, and since April 1918 cashier of the Broad Street Bank, were pleased to learn of the great forward strides of the bank since Mr. Lewis assumed his position. A fine new banking house had just been opened. Of further interest was that another Hop Bottom resident, T.W. Bull, was assistant cashier of the Broad Street.[5][6]
In April 1925, The Broad Street National planned to let a contract to erect a branch office at 2531-35 West Lehigh Avenue. The building was designed by H. Brugger.[7] In July, Leon A. Lewis was elected president of the Oak Lane Trust company which had just been purchased by interests connected with the Broad Street National.[8] In August, Joshua M. Holmes, vice president of the Oak Lane Trust Co. was elected a director of the Broad Street National to fill a vacancy.[9]
In July 1928, the Broad Street National Bank and the Queen Lane National Bank planned to merge with the Oak Lane Trust Company. Stockholders of the Queen Lane National would receive one share of Oak Lane Trust stock for each three shares of Queen Lane National plus a payment of $22.50 a share. The right to subscribe to one-half share of Oak Lane Trust stock at $275/share of Broad Street National stock was offered to stockholders of the latter institution. The Oak Lane Trust Co. planned to issue 8,500 new shares to provide for the anticipated exchanges. Of the increase, 1,000 should would be used in the acquisition of the Queen Lane National and the balance would provide for the Broad Street National transaction. The merger was expected to be completed by October 1st.[10] The Queen Lane National organized two years ago with capital of $200,000. The Broad Street National had capital of $500,000, surplus of $500,000 and deposits of $9,500,000, with its principal office at Broad and Diamond Street. Oak Lane Trust Co. had capital of $750,000, surplus $750,000 and deposits of $3,500,000. Its principal office was at Broad Street and 67th Avenue with branches in Lawndale, Fox Chase and Crescent. It was organized in 1923. Leon A. Lewis was president.[11] In August, Dr. Charles E. Beury, a native of Shamokin and president of Temple University, was at the head of the organization resulting from the merger of four Philadelphia banks. The four banks were the National Bank of North Philadelphia of which Dr. Beury was president; the Oak Lane Trust Co., Queen Lane National Bank and the Broad Street National Bank. Dr. Beury would be chairman of the board of the consolidated institution and L.A. Lewis, president of both Oak Lane Trust and of Broad Street National, would become the president. The National Bank of North Philadelphia was organized in 1921 and Dr. Beury had been president since its incorporation. It had resources of over $6,600,000 and had recently completed the erection of a 14-story office building, the Beury Building, on Broad Street above Germantown Avenue. Dr. Beury succeeded Dr. Russell H. Conwell as president of Temple in 1926 and was president of the Philadelphia Forum. The last sales of stock were: Broad Street National at $455.50 per share, Oak Lane Trust at $457, and National Bank of North Philadelphia at $300 per share. It was proposed to merge the banks under the name Bank of Philadelphia and Trust Company with capital of $2,300,000, surplus $2,300,000, undivided profits in excess of $750,000 and deposits over $17 million with total resources in excess of $23,000,000. The consolidated bank would have ten offices.[12]
The consolidation was effective October 8, 1928. The Bank of Philadelphia and Trust Company had offices at Broad at Diamond Street, Broad at Germantown Avenue, Broad at 67th Avenue, Germantown Avenue at Queen Lane, 2529-31 W. Lehigh Ave., 22nd and Venango Streets, Alden Park Manor, Oxford Pike and Loney St., 6601 Rising Sun Avenue, and Rising Sun at Cheltenham Avenue. Dr. Chas. E. Beury was chairman of the board, and L.A. Lewis, president.[13]
In 1930, the Bank of Philadelphia and Trust Company was taken over by the Bankers Trust Company and Mr. Leon L. Lewis was elected vice president.[14]
On October 20, 1931, Leon A. Lewis, former president of the Oak Lane Trust Company was arrested on a charge of filing a false and untrue statement of banking on October 2, 1928. The Bankers Trust Company closed in December 1930. In September 1931, Miles B. Munn, treasurer of the Oak Lane Trust Company was arrested and charged with issuing false statements about the bank. The affidavit upon which the warrant for Lewis' arrest was issued charged that Lewis participated with the treasurer in filing the report.[15]
On May 23, 1933, three former officials of the Oak Lane Trust Company were convicted in Quarter Sessions Court. Leon A. Lewis, Miles B. Munn, former treasurer, and John H. Hibbert, former trust officer, were found guilty on two counts of embezzling $9,000 in connection with speculative land deals financed by their bank.[16] In February 1934, the three were sentenced to serve two years each in the county prison. The men were under $10,000 bail each pending an appeal.[17] On August 29, 1934, Leon A. Lewis, 49, died of poison believed to have been self-administered. The Superior Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on July 13th; however, a day earlier Lewis' attorneys had filed an appeal in the State Supreme Court.[18][19]
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Broad Street National Bank of Philadelphia, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $3,763,600 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1919 and 1928. This consisted of a total of 477,296 notes (477,296 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 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 73420 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 45904
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1919 - 1928):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
- Broad Street National Bank, Philadelphia, PA History (NB Lookup)
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Philadelphia, PA, 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
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sun., Nov. 9, 1913.
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sun., Dec. 14, 1913.
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Fri., Sep. 19, 1919.
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Thu., Nov. 6, 1919.
- ↑ The Montrose Democrat, Montrose, PA, Thu., Apr. 18, 1918.
- ↑ The Montrose Democrat, Montrose, PA, Thu., Dec. 23, 1920.
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sun., Apr. 12, 1925.
- ↑ The Wellsboro Gazette Combined with Mansfield Advertiser, Wellsboro, PA, Wed., July 29, 1925.
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sun., Aug. 23, 1925.
- ↑ Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT, Mon., July 30, 1928.
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Fri., July 20, 1928.
- ↑ Shamokin News-Dispatch, Shamokin, PA, Fri., Aug. 3, 1928.
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Mon., Oct. 8, 1928.
- ↑ The Wellsboro Gazette Combined with Mansfield Advertiser, Wellsboro, PA, Wed., Sep. 12, 1934.
- ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Sat., Oct. 31, 1931.
- ↑ Republican and Herald, Pottsville, PA, Tue., May 23, 1933.
- ↑ Republican and Herald, Pottsville, PA, Wed., Feb. 21, 1934.
- ↑ Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News, Wilkes-Barre, PA, Wed., Aug. 29, 1934.
- ↑ Shamokin News-Dispatch, Shamokin, PA, Wed., Aug. 29, 1934.