Canastota National Bank, Canastota, NY (Charter 1525)

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The First National Bank of Canastota, New York, ca2023
The First National Bank of Canastota, New York, ca2023. Courtesy of Google Maps

Canastota National Bank, Canastota, NY (Chartered 1865 - Liquidated 1890)

Town History

The Canastota Bank obsolete $1, Haxby NY-545, with signatures of D.H. Rasbach, Cashier and E.R. White, Vice President, dated June 1, 1864. The central vignette features a whitetail buck who seems aware of an American Indian crouched behind a boulder, at lower right, a young lady, and a large red ONE protector
The Canastota Bank obsolete $1, Haxby NY-545, with signatures of D.H. Rasbach, Cashier and E.R. White, Vice President, dated June 1, 1864. The central vignette features a whitetail buck who seems aware of an American Indian crouched behind a boulder, at lower right, a young lady, and a large red ONE protector. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

Canastota is a village located inside the Town of Lenox in Madison County, New York. The population was 4,556 at the 2020 census. The village of Canastota is in the southern part of the Town of Lenox, located about 25 miles east of Syracuse and 32 miles west of Utica along I-90.

About six miles southwest of Canastota at a place called Nichols Pond, Samuel de Champlain came with his exploring parting in 1615. There was an Oneida village and with his small number of French musketeers and a large number of Canadian Indians, he attacked it. For the first time the white men were checked by the Iroquois, the Oneidas holding firm behind their strong barricades and wounding Champlain himself.[1] Nichols Pond is regularly disproved by professional and amateur archaeologists and the exact location of this place is still a matter of debate.

The village was incorporated in 1835, but was reorganized in 1870. Located along the banks of the Erie Canal, which was completed through the Mohawk River valley by 1825, Canastota was a vibrant trading and commercial town during the mid-nineteenth century for a wide agricultural area and an important stop on the in-between the cities of Rome and Syracuse. Although the section of the canal running through the village was abandoned by the 1920s, much of the section remains intact and is now part of the Old Erie Canal State Historic Park. "Kniste Stota" was the historic name of the Canastota, a term used by the local Oneida Nation, meaning "cluster of pines near still waters".

Canastota had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, the Canastota National Bank (Charter 1525) and the First National Bank (Charter 4419), and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes. Canastota also had one Obsolete Bank that issued Obsolete Bank Notes during the Obsolete Bank Note Era (1782-1866).

Bank History

  • Organized May 9, 1865
  • Chartered August 14, 1865
  • Succeeded Canastota Bank
  • Liquidated September 25, 1890

The Canastota Bank opened in 1856 with capital of $110,000.[2] The Canastota Bank was located at the site occupied by the modern banking house of the First National Bank of Canastota.[3]

J. Clarence Rasbach was born February 2, 1849. He was educated at Canastota High School, and at 18, he entered the Canastota Bank as messenger and clerk, his father being Cashier of the bank at the time. Afterwards, he became teller, and later an Assistant Cashier and a Director, and still later Cashier, being promoted to this latter position in 1887. At the organization of the First National Bank of Canastota, New York, in 1890, he was made its Cashier, at the same time remaining Cashier of the old Canastota National Bank, thus being Cashier of two national banks at one time, and giving perfect satisfaction in the performance of the responsible duties of both places. On October 21, 1930, J. Clarence Rasbach, 81, chairman of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Canastota died after 62 years in the banking business.[4]

On August 14, 1865, the Canastota National Bank went into operation with capital of $100,000, and Daniel Crouse, president; and David H. Rasbach, cashier.[5]

In May 1885, the comptroller of the currency extended the corporate existence of the Canastota National Bank to May 9, 1905.[6]

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Canastota National Bank, Canastota, NY

Bank Note Types Issued

Original Series $1 bank note with pen signatures of D.H. Rasbach, Cashier and Edwin R. White, Vice President
Original Series $1 bank note with pen signatures of D.H. Rasbach, Cashier and Edwin R. White, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $422,350 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1890. This consisted of a total of 45,588 notes (45,588 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
Original Series 3x1-2 1 - 4380
Original Series 4x5 1 - 1900
Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 1300
Original Series 50-100 1 - 635
Series 1875 4x5 1 - 2030
Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 1117
Series 1875 50-100 1 - 338
1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 367

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1890):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Known Bank Note Signers

Bank Note History Links

Sources

  • Canastota, 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
  1. Syracuse Herald-Journal, Syracuse, NY, Mon., Mar. 20, 1939.
  2. The Buffalo Commercial, Buffalo, NY, Sat., Mar. 22, 1856.
  3. Syracuse Herald-Journal, Syracuse, NY, Mon., Mar. 20, 1939.
  4. Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, Wed., Oct. 22, 1930.
  5. National Republican, Washington, DC, Mon., Aug. 14, 1865.
  6. The Evening Telegraph, Buffalo, NY, Wed., May 6, 1885.