Central National Bank, Green Castle, IN (Charter 2896)

Needed: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Central National Bank, Green Castle, IN (Chartered 1883 - Closed (Merger) 1993)

Town History

Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, and the county seat of Putnam County. It was founded in 1821 by Ephraim Dukes on a land grant. He named the settlement for his hometown of Green Castle, Pennsylvania. It is located near Interstate 70 approximately halfway between Terre Haute and Indianapolis in the west-central portion of the state.

Greencastle is well known as being the location of DePauw University. DePauw University is a private national liberal arts college, founded as Indiana Asbury University in 1837 as an all men's school. In 1867, Laura Beswick, Mary Simmons, Alice Allen, and Bettie Locke Hamilton (then Bettie Locke), the chief founder of Kappa Alpha Theta, America's first college women's fraternity, became the University's first four female co-eds.

The population was 10,326 at the 2010 census. In 1880, the population was 3,644, growing to 4,613 by 1930.

Green Castle had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Organized February 10, 1883
Chartered March 5, 1883
Bank was Open past 1935
For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
Merged into National City Bank in Indianapolis, IN, May 1, 1993
Robbed by John Dillinger on October 23, 1933 of $74,782 (Dillinger claimed the take was only $32,000).

On February 10, 1906, a grand opening was given by the Central National Bank of Green Castle for its friends and customers. The bank officers spent several thousand dollars in refurnishing and refitting the large room on the corner of Washington and Jackson streets, and with its mosaic floors, Italian marble counters and wainscoting, beveled chipped glass, bronze grille work set in solid mahogany frames, with hand-decorated ceilings and walls; it was said to be one of the handsomest furnished banking rooms in Indiana. The officers and directors were kept busy all day extending the "glad hand" to hundreds of customers and friends. The room was tastefully decorated with palms and flowers. Each woman that called received a carnation and souvenirs; apples and cigars were handed out freely to the men. The Central National Bank had a surplus and profits in excess of its capital stock amounting to $100,000. R.L. O'Hair, formerly president of the State Bankers' Association, was president and J.L. Randell was the cashier.

In May 1933, the Indiana Clemency Commission granted ten state prisoners paroles. One of the prisoners considered was John Dillinger, sentenced September 15, 1924 in Morgan County to serve ten to twenty-one years for conspiracy to commit a felony and assault and battery with intent to rob. On May 10, 1933, after serving nine and a half years, Dillinger was paroled.

On Sep. 22, 1933, John Dillinger, alias John Hall, aged 30, of Indianapolis, charged with robbing the Commercial Bank at Daleville on July 17, was arrested in Dayton, Ohio. He had $2,604 in new currency, five pistols and two suitcases filled with ammunition in his room. He was wanted for questioning with bank robberies at Indianapolis and New Carlisle, Ohio. The gang was blamed for more than 17 bank robberies. Dillinger who was paroled from the Indiana State Prison three months earlier was being guarded in jail by Dayton, Ohio deputies with rifles and shotguns.

Efforts of Indianapolis police to obtain custody of Dillinger, Indiana's "Public Enemy No. 1," were halted temporarily because authorities at Dayton released him to Lima, Ohio police. He was in Lima awaiting an indictment for the Bluffton Bank job. On October 13, Dillinger was freed from jail at Lima by three gunmen and Sheriff Jess Sarber was killed. One of the three men who freed Dillinger was Harry Pierpont.

On October 23, four unmasked robbers entered the Central National Bank shortly before closing time, turned submachine guns on workers and customers and gathered up $74,782.09 in cash and bonds and escaped. Two of the robbers were identified tentatively as escaped convicts and two others were believed to be men connected with the Lima slaying and jail delivery. Rex Thorlton, grocery manager, walked into a bandit during the robbery and found a machine gun muzzle in his ribs. He hesitated at the command to line up with the other victims and the robber said, "Get moving. We haven't got all day." Finished emptying the vault, the men lifted sacks of loot and left deliberately, walking to their car in a path kept clear of bystanders by a machine gunner at the door. The bandit car, a large Studebaker sedan bearing Ohio license number A63-617, sped east through the business district, but was halted at the city limits by a Pennsylvania freight train. The car was whirled about and cut back west through the residential district traveling south on the Manhattan road.

Pictures of criminals were shown to persons in the bank at the time of the holdup. From the collection of pictures they picked out the following as resembling closely the members of the holdup gang:

Harry Pierpont, escaped convict.
Walter Deitrich, escaped convict.
Harry Copeland, paroled convict sought in connection with the slaying of Sheriff Jess Sarber of Lima, Ohio, and the robbery of the State bank of Massachusetts Avenue in Indianapolis.
John Dillinger, desperado delivered from the Lima jail at the time Sheriff Sarber was killed.

Pierpont and Dillinger were familiar with the lay of the Putnam County land, local residents said. Pierpont once worked at a factory in Fern, a community near Greencastle, and Dillinger had relatives in the county. Dillinger was closely connected with the sensational escape of ten convicts from Indiana state prison on Sept. 26, and would have helped shelter the fugitives if he had not been arrested in Ohio shortly before the break, officers believed. They were of the opinion that he was delivered from the Lima jail by part of the prison fugitives. The Greencastle holdup came on the heels of police station raids in two Indiana cities in which formidable arsenals were seized from officers. Within the last few days heavily armed men entered police headquarters at Auburn and Peru and rifled the gun cases. The loot included machine guns, rifles, sidearms, tear gas guns and cartridges, and bulletproof vests. These raids aroused the fears of Indiana law enforcement officers that the gangsters were preparing to perpetrate a series of desperate crimes and the foray in Greencastle was viewed as one of the first expeditions.

Harry Copeland, member of the Dillinger convict gang, was taken into court at Greencastle on Feb. 15, 1934, but his arraignment was continued after Miss Bess Robbins, his attorney, told Judge Wilbur S. Donner that within 10 days she would be ready to dispose of the case without further expense to Putnam County taxpayers. The attorney told the court that Copeland promised her he would plead guilty, thereby avoiding possible extradition to Ohio where he was wanted for the murder of the Lima Sheriff. Miss Robbins pointed out that if convicted in Ohio he would face the death penalty, whereas a guilty plea at Greencastle would result in a life sentence. Putnam County authorities said they could not finance a trial if Putnam were to demand one and they were unable to pay special guards to watch the jail if he were confined there. Copeland was returned to the state prison at Michigan City for same keeping. He was held there as a parole violator. Copeland was captured in Chicago in 1933 when he wrecked his automobile while drunk. He would get a life sentence in the state prison at Michigan City.

Dillinger is known to have participated with the Dillinger Gang in 12 separate bank robberies, between June 21, 1933, and June 30, 1934. He was shot and killed by special agents on July 22, 1934.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Central National Bank of Green Castle, IN

In the 1880s, the town's name was changed from Green Castle to Greencastle as part of a nation-wide effort to standardize and simplify names of towns in America. At the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), it was common when plates for a new series were ordered following an extension to correct revised town names; however, The Central National Bank of Green Castle, Indiana (Charter 2896) kept is two-word version of the town's name when its Brown Back proof was approved in March 1883 and even its Series of 1929 notes have Green Castle, Indiana. It was more common for the BEP to correct this information on the plate as occurred for The First National Bank of Green Castle, Pennsylvania. In that case, the presence of two proofs indicates that The First National Bank almost got to keep its original title. This was an informal title change imposed by the Comptroller of the Currency. The change is subtle in the tombstone containing the town name, but is readily apparent by comparing the postal locations in script for the two proofs. The change for Green Castle, Indiana (Charter 219) to Greencastle, also occurred for Series of 1882 Brown Backs, but only one proof is known and it was dated February 20, 1883. The Citizens National Bank of Greencastle, Pennsylvania (Charter 5857) and coincidentally The Citizens National Bank of Greencastle, Indiana (Charter 10409) both arrived too late and only the modern version of their town names may be found on their notes.

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with pen signatures of J.L. Randel, Cashier and R.L. O'Hair, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of S.A. Hays, Vice President and F.L. O'Hair, President. Courtesy of Adam Stroup

1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of H.L. Wells, Cashier and F.L. O'Hair, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $1,851,480 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1883 and 1993. This consisted of a total of 148,722 notes (126,696 large size and 22,026 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 - 5667
1902 Red Seal	3x10-20	1 - 4800
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 6500
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	6501 - 21207
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 2612
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 726
1929 Type 2	10	1 - 1602
1929 Type 2	20	1 - 396

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1883 - 1993):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

Silas Alfred Hays, Vice President 1921...1929
There are currently no known Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

Green Castle, IN, 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 Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, IN, Sat., Feb. 10, 1906.
The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, IN, Thu., May 11, 1933.
The Evansville Journal, Evansville, IN, Fri., Sep. 22, 1933.
The Richmond Item, Richmond, IN, Sat., Sep. 23, 1933.
The Call-Leader, Elwood, IN, Fri., Sep. 29, 1933.
The Franklin Evening Star, Franklin, IN, Sat., Sep. 30, 1933.
The Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, IN, Fri., Oct. 13, 1933.
The Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, IN, Fri., Oct. 13, 1933.
The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, IN, Tue., Oct. 24, 1933.
The Kokomo Tribune, Kokomo, IN, Fri., Feb. 16, 1934.