Cecil National Bank, Port Deposit, MD (Charter 1211)
Cecil National Bank, Port Deposit, MD (Chartered 1865 - Liquidated 1934)
Town History
Port Deposit is a town in Cecil County, Maryland. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River near its discharge into the Chesapeake Bay. Port Deposit was incorporated in 1824. The population was 653 at the 2010 census. In 1850 the population was 988, peaking in 1890 at 1,908.
The first recorded European visits to the area were the 1608 and 1609 expeditions led by Captain John Smith up the Chesapeake Bay. He sailed about 2 miles up the Susquehanna River to the present location of Port Deposit, and gave the name of "Smythe Fayles" to the rapids just above the future town.
The Susquehanna Canal (which had several owners and names over the years, including the Maryland Canal) was completed in 1812 and contributed much toward the town's growth. Until the canal was placed in service bypassing Smith's Falls, most of the traffic stopped at Lapidum, across the Susquehanna River since it was easier to run the rapids on the south side. However, the new canal — the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal on the north side of the river — funneled the barge traffic into Port Deposit, stimulating rapid growth.
The first attempts to bridge the Susquehanna in Maryland were made by the Port Deposit Bridge Company, incorporated in 1808. Its attempts failed, so the Legislature in 1812 authorized another company to proceed. After completing a survey in 1813, which included the first written reference to Port Deposit, the company proposed a location that complied with the law but was longer than necessary. After petitioning for relief, the company was allowed to route the bridge closer to the falls, allowing it to be 1,000 feet shorter. The Port Deposit Bridge, a wooden covered bridge, was built just north of Port Deposit during 1817 and 1818. Put into service in 1818, it was the earliest bridge crossing of the Susquehanna. Rebuilt after a span burned in 1823, it remained in service until 1857.
The Susquehanna River drops 167 feet as it passes through the region above Port Deposit, cutting through the hard rock of the region. This characteristic, which had long been good for Port Deposit, also attracted power companies in the boom period after World War I. The Conowingo Dam, built in 1927, permanently changed the character of the town by terminating all river traffic and decimating what was left of the shad and herring fishery which was once found there. Port Deposit benefited from the dam as well; destructive accumulations of ice (referred to as ice gouges) no longer accumulated in the Conowingo Rapids or passed through Port Deposit, as it had to terrible effect in 1907.
Port Deposit had three National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all three of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized March 6, 1865
- Chartered June 2, 1865
- Succeeded Cecil Bank
- Absorbed 5610 October 31, 1913 (National Bank, Port Deposit, MD)
- Conservatorship March 21, 1933
- Liquidated January 8, 1934
- Succeeded by 13840 (Cecil National Bank, Port Deposit, MD)
- Circulation assumed by 13840 (Cecil National Bank, Port Deposit, MD)
An Act to establish a bank and incorporate a company under the name of the Cecil Bank at the village of Port Deposit in Cecil County was signed in Annapolis on February 9, 1850. The capital stock was $100,000 divided into 4,000 shares of $25 each. Cornelius Smith, J.J. Heckart, Samuel Rowland, Jas. W. Abrahams and James Evans were the commissions.[1]
The statement of the Cecil Bank at Port Deposit of January 5, 1857, showed capital stock $100,000, notes in circulation $171,624, discounts, $1,632.85, individual deposits $53,118.81, with total assets of $351,477.35. Thomas C. Bond was cashier.[2]
Jacob Tome arrived in Port Deposit penniless and became a banker, philanthropist, and politician, dying one of the richest men in the United States. He was to become Cecil County's first millionaire and its greatest philanthropist. The Tome mansion (built in 1850 but no longer standing) was the largest house in the town. In 1850, Tome obtained a charter for the Cecil Bank at Port Deposit. The bank quickly grew and became a national bank. In 1868, he purchased the Elkton National Bank. In 1865, he opened a bank the National Bank of Fredericksburg, Virginia. He owned stock in a number of Baltimore banks and a majority stake in the Citizens' National Bank of Hagerstown, Maryland, which his nephew, John Creswell, was the president. In 1884 Evalyn S. Tome (E.S. France after her remarriage) when she was nearly 30 married Jacob Tome who was 45 years her senior. She was born Evalyn S. Nesbitt in 1855 in Port Deposit. Her parents were Henry, a merchant, and Hannah Nesbitt. Very shortly after his death on March 16, 1898, his widow was elected president of The Cecil National Bank of Port Deposit, and nearly four months later, on July 12, 1898, she was elected president of The National Bank of Elkton. She may well have been the only woman during the national bank note-issuing period to have the distinction of being president of two national banks. In 1889, Tome and his wife founded the Jacob Tome School for Boys on Main Street, part of a system of schools called the Jacob Tome Institute. When he died on March 16, 1898, in Port Deposit, he left a substantial endowment for the institute, which the Tome School tapped to build a series of beaux arts granite buildings on the bluffs above Port Deposit, overlooking the Susquehanna River.
In December 1865, Charles H. Haines, Esq., resigned the cashiership of the Cecil National Bank at Port Deposit, Maryland, and Mr. John T. Webb was appointed cashier.[3]
On Monday, January 20, 1896, Mr. Jacob Tome, Mrs. Evalyn Tome, T.C. Bond, John E. Rinehart, and R.C. Hopkins were elected directors of the Cecil National Bank.[4]
In January 1898, at the annual meeting of stockholders of the Cecil National Bank, the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: Jacob Tome, president; Mr. R.C. Hopkins, cashier. The directors were Mr. Jacob Tome, Mrs. Evalyn Tome, Messrs. T.C. Bond, R.C. Hopkins, and John Rhinehart.[5] On Wednesday, March 16, 1898, Mr. Jacob Tome, the noted philanthropist, died at his home in Port Deposit of pneumonia. His illness was a brief one, only dating from Sunday night. A native of York county, Pennsylvania, he was born in Manheim Township on August 13, 1810, and was of German parentage. At the age of 16 he was left an orphan, and being thrown upon his own resources he served as farm hand, fisherman and salesman at different periods, finally engaging in teaching. In the spring he went to Port Deposit and found employment at Boggs' Hotel. In 1834 he engaged as bookkeeper for a lumber firm, and his industry and business capacity attracted the attention of David Rinehart, a wealthy lumber dealer, who took him into partnership. He subsequently became a large property owner. He was elected State Senator from Cecil County in 1863, and again in 1864, retiring in 1867, and in 1871 was unanimously nominated by his party for Governor. He was defeated, however, for that position by Hon. William Pinkney Whyte. As a banker he was probably as well-known as any one in Maryland. For a number of years he conducted a private institution at Port Deposit, and in 1850, he, with others, started the Cecil Bank at Port Deposit, and later was connected with banks in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Hagerstown, Washington and Baltimore. The crowning feature of his life was, perhaps, the establishment of the Tome Institute of learning.[6] In July 1898, Mrs. Evalyn S. Tome was elected president of the Port Deposit and Elkton National Banks. The majority of the stock of the Elkton bank was held by Mrs. Tomes, Mrs. Creswell, and Mrs. David Scott.[7]
In August 1900, the officers were E.S. Tome, T.C. Bond, vice president; and L.G. White, cashier. The bank had capital $100,000 and surplus $120,000.[8]
On Monday, January 20, 1908, at the annual meeting of the stockholders the election resulted in all the old directors being re-elected as follows: E.V. Stockham, G.W. Albaugh, E.T. Doreus, W.G. Baker, Jr., and Dr. J.I. France. The directors organized by electeding E.V. Stockham, president and G.W. Albaugh, vice president. Mr. Thomas C. Bond, Jr., was the acting cashier.[9]
In January 1913, the stockholders of the Cecil National Bank elected the following directors: E.V. Stockham, R.P. McClenahan, Oliver P. Hagerty, John M. Campbell, and James Gardner. At the National Bank of Port Deposit, the following directors were elected: S.C. Rowland, R.K. Rawlings, William H. Cole, Jr., E.H. Rowland, W.W. Hopkins, M. Acker, John H. Kimble, James H. Harlow, and J.T.C. Hopkins, Jr.[10] In May 1913, Samuel C. Rowland of Baltimore and Port Deposit, president of the National Bank of Port Deposit, made an agreement with Edward V. Stockham, president of the Cecil National Bank of Port Deposit to acquire a majority of the capital stock of that bank, the deal closing before June 1st. This meant the Cecil National and the National Bank of Port Deposit would be absorbed by the reorganized Cecil National Bank. The officers of the Cecil National besides Mr. Stockham were R.P. McClenahan, vice president; and I.G. White, cashier. The officers of the National Bank of Port Deposit besides Mr. Rowland were W.W. Hopkins, vice president and J.T.C. Hopkins, cashier.[11] In December 1913, the directors were S.C. Rowland, James Gardner, John H. Kimble, John B. Ramsey, M. Acker, E.H. Rowland, W.W. Hopkins, W.H. Cole, Jr., R.K. Rawlings, Roy P. McClenahan, and J.T.C. Hopkins, Jr. The officers were S.C. Rowland, president; W.W. Hopkins, Vice president; and J.T.C. Hopkins, Jr., cashier. The bank had capital $50,000, surplus $30,000, and total assets $900,000, making it one of the largest banks in the State outside of Baltimore.[12]
In January 1914, the officers were S.C. Rowland, president; W.W. Hopkins, vice president; J.T.C. Hopkins, Jr., cashier; and C.H. Reckefus, assistant cashier. The directors were John B. Ramsay, chairman, Merchants-Mechanics National Bank of Baltimore; S.C. Rowland, vice president, Baltimore Trust Company; W.W. Hopkins, treasurer, Jacob Tome Institute; James Gardner, president, Armstrong Stove and Mfg. Co., Perryville; E.H. Rowland, Port Deposit; W.H. Cole, Jr., Fish and Game, Perryville; R.K. Rawlings, president, Cecil Farmers' Telephone Co.; M. Acker, merchant, Port Deposit; John H. Kimble, secretary, Jacob Tome Institute; R.P. McClenahan, McClenahan Granite Co.; and J.T.C. Hopkins, Jr., cashier.[13]
On Sunday, December 5, 1915, Washington W. Hopkins, secretary and treasurer of Jacob Tome Institute, died at his home near Port Deposit from pneumonia in the 79th year of his age. He was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Lafayette College with the degree of L S.B. He practiced law in Lancaster City until 1870 when he was summoned by his uncle, Jacob Tome, to take charge of his legal affairs at Port Deposit. When Mr. Tome conceived the idea of giving the Tome School to the poor children of Port Deposit, Mr. Hopkins was his chief adviser and carried out the plans of the donor. Mr. Hopkins was selected by Mr. Tome as one of the original trustees in 1894. He was elected secretary and treasurer of the institute and remained in that position until his death. Mr. Hopkins was a Civil War veteran, having served in the army as a member of the 22d Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, fighting all through the war in the Western theatre (Kentucky and Tennessee) and rising to a Captaincy and Staff Officer with General Hooker at the siege of Atlanta. In politics Mr. Hopkins was a Republican, having in earlier years been a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature from Lancaster County, having faithfully served his party in this county so far as his busy life would permit.[14] He is survived by his wife who was Miss Mary Loag of Port Deposit, and two daughters, Miss Christine and Miss Marian Hopkins. He was a brother of R.C. Hopkins, a trustee of the Tome Institute, and a cousin of S.C. Rowland, the president.The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., Dec. 10, 1915.
On Wednesday morning, April 7, 1954, J. Thomas C. Hopkins, Jr., eldest son of J.T.C. and Amanda Wylie Hopkins of Bel Air, died at his home near Port Deposit after having been seriously ill since March 4th. He would have reached his 74th birthday in May. Educated in the public school at Bel Air, Mr. Hopkins was first employed in the old Harford Bank in Bel Air. At the age of 19 he went to Port Deposit to become a runner in the Cecil National Bank and eventually became the bank's president. For the past several years he had been associated with various farm loan organizations, his connections in recent years being with the Equitable Life Assurance Society. He was also an appraiser for the State Roads Commission and operated a dairy farm near Port Deposit.[15]
On Monday, November 27, 1933, the Cecil National Bank of Port Deposit reopened on a 100% basis under license issued by the Deputy Comptroller at Washington according to officials of the Federal Reserve branch. Dr. W.G. Jack, who was conservator for the institution was the new president of the bank; Pierre LeBrun was vice president; and Walter Touchstone, cashier.[16] The institution had been closed sine the bank holiday and for several months was in charge of J.T.C. Hopkins as conservator. About two months ago, Dr. William J. Jack succeeded Mr. Hopkins. The bank reopened with a capital of $50,000 and a surplus of $50,000. The officers and directors of the new institution were Dr. W.J. Jack, president; Pierre Lebrun, vice president; Walter Touchstone; Robert I. Stebbings, Dean Moore, George C. Logan, Miss P. Estelle Butchenhart, Messrs. Lebron and Jack, directors.[17]
Official Bank Title
1: The Cecil National Bank of Port Deposit, MD
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,134,050 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1934. This consisted of a total of 299,570 notes (279,736 large size and 19,834 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 - 8074 Original Series 4x5 1 - 11000 Original Series 4x10 1 - 4500 Original Series 3x20-50 1 - 800 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 4232 Series 1875 4x10 1 - 2625 Series 1875 3x20-50 1 - 829 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 7686 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 2259 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 2100 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 1360 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 4400 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 3420 1902 Plain Back 4x5 4401 - 14470 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 3421 - 9999 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1760 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 990 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 288 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 1008 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 493 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 105
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1934):
Presidents:
- Jacob Tome, 1865-1897
- Evalyn S. (Nesbitt) Tome France, 1898-1905
- Edward Villeroy Stockham, 1906-1913
- Samuel Carson Rowland, 1913-1921
- Edwin Henry Rowland, 1922-1922
- John Thomas Chew Hopkins, Jr., 1923-1932
- Dr. William Griffith Jack, (Jr.), 1933-1933
Cashiers:
- Charles H. Haines, 1865-1865
- John T. Webb, 1866-1866
- John Breckenridge Ramsay, 1867-1872
- Robert Cabeen Hopkins, 1873-1899
- Lucius Gerry White, 1900-1913
- John Thomas Chew Hopkins, Jr., 1913-1917
- John Haines Kimble, 1918-1918
- John Thomas Chew Hopkins, Jr., 1919-1922
- Walter Touchstone, 1924-1933
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers.
Bank Note History Links
- Cecil National Bank, Port Deposit, MD History (NB Lookup)
- E. S. Tome/ E. S. France, National Bank President (SPMC PM#270)
- Maryland Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Port Deposit, MD, 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 Cecil Whig, Elkton, MD, Sat., Mar. 30, 1850.
- ↑ The Cecil Whig, Elkton, MD, Sat., Jan. 10, 1857.
- ↑ Delaware Gazette and State Journal, Wilmington, DE, Tue., Dec. 5, 1865.
- ↑ The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., Jan. 24, 1896.
- ↑ The Cecil Whig, Elkton, MD, Sat., Jan. 22, 1898.
- ↑ The Aegis, Bel Air, MD, Fri., Mar. 18, 1898.
- ↑ The Democratic Advocate, Westminster, MD, Sat., July 16, 1898.
- ↑ The Cecil Whig, Elkton, MD, Sat., Aug. 18, 1900.
- ↑ The Cecil Whig, Elkton, MD, Sat., Jan. 25, 1908.
- ↑ The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., Jan. 24, 1913.
- ↑ The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., May 23, 1913.
- ↑ The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., Dec. 5, 1913.
- ↑ The Cecil Whig, Elkton, MD, Sat., Feb. 7, 1914.
- ↑ The Cecil Whig, Elkton, MD, Sat., Dec. 11, 1915.
- ↑ The Aegis, Bel Air, MD, Thu., Apr. 8, 1954.
- ↑ The Evening Sun, Baltimore, MD, Mon., Nov. 27, 1933.
- ↑ The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., Dec. 1, 1933.