Citizens National Bank, Alton, IL (Charter 5188)

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A view of Alton, Illinois from Piasa Street looking north, ca2023. Courtesy of Google Maps

Citizens National Bank, Alton, IL (Chartered 1899 - Liquidated 1930)

Town History

Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, about 18 miles north of St. Louis, Missouri. It is a part of the River Bend area in the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. It is famous for its limestone bluffs along the river north of the city, as the former location of the state penitentiary, and for its role preceding and during the American Civil War. It was the site of the last Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debate in October 1858. The former state penitentiary in Alton was used during the Civil War to hold up to 12,000 Confederate prisoners of war. Also, the tallest man in history, Robert Wadlow, was born and raised in Alton. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 census. In 1860 the population was 6,332, growing to 14,210 by 1900.

Alton was developed as a river town in January 1818 by Rufus Easton, who named it after his son. Easton ran a passenger ferry service across the Mississippi River to the Missouri shore. Alton is located amid the confluence of three navigable rivers: the Illinois, the Mississippi, and the Missouri. Alton grew into a river trading town with an industrial character. The city rises steeply from the waterfront, where massive concrete grain silos and railroad tracks were constructed in the 19th and 20th centuries to store and ship the area's grains and produce. Brick commercial buildings are spread throughout downtown. Once the site of several brick factories, Alton has an unusually high number of streets still paved in brick. The lower levels of Alton are subject to floods, many of which have inundated the historic downtown area. The dates of different flood levels are marked on the large grain silos, part of the Ardent Mills, near the Argosy Casino at the waterfront. The flood of 1993 is considered the worst of the last century.

On October 15, 1858, Alton was the site of the seventh Lincoln-Douglas debate. A memorial at the site in downtown Alton features oversized statues of Lincoln and Douglas, as they would have appeared during the debate. Congressional representatives came to Alton when they drafted the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution, to permanently end slavery throughout the Union. Alton resident and US Senator Lyman Trumbull, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, co-wrote the Thirteenth Amendment. His Alton home, the Lyman Trumbull House, is a National Historic Monument.

Alton had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and three of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

  • Organized February 7, 1899
  • Chartered April 24, 1899
  • Liquidated May 17, 1930
  • Succeeded by 13464 (First NB & TC (No Issue), Alton, IL)

On May 15, 1899, the Citizens National Bank began business at the northeast corner of Second and Piasa Streets.[1] The bank was organized by August Schlafly with a capital of $100,000. Its first officers were as follows: August Schlafly, president; Lucas Pfeiffenberger, vice president, C.F. Stelzel, cashier; and L.A. Schlafly, assistant cashier.[2]

In May 1918, C.F. Steizel moved his office from the Citizens National Bank building at Broadway and Piasa to the Alton Banking and Trust Co. building. He vacated because the bank building would be torn down when the Kinloch Telephone Co. vacated to the new Kinloch home at Fourth and Market Streets. The Citizens bank planned to vacate its present quarters in July into temporary quarters at City Hall Square until the new bank building was finished.[3] In September after numerous delays the Citizens National people were hopeful of being able to vacate in time to get the building torn down and the foundations in during the winter.[4] In April 1919, the firm of Hoggson Bros. had the contract to tear down the Citizens National Bank building. Bricks and plaster were rolled down a chute into light wagons below. To prevent great clouds of dust, the contractors were running a stream of water in the trough which carried the materials down. Indications were that the building would be very nearly down to the ground by Saturday the 26th.[5] Workmen uncovered conditions that made them wonder how the building had held together. Years ago the west wall began to bulge out and required extensive work to make it hold. The Kinloch Telephone Co. had installed a great weight of equipment on the third floor and had made cuts in some of the heavy beams to accommodate projecting parts of machines. The building was so weakened by these cuts that not only was the floor endangered, but the walls as well. It was remarkable that the telephone exchange had not crashed on the tenants below and clear on through the bank into the cellar.[6] The new Citizens Bank building was to resemble a boat in so far as its water tightness was concerned. There would be as much money put in the ground of the bank building as would build a magnificient mansion in Alton where less care had to be taken in putting in the foundation and making it proof against the mighty power of the Mississippi River on a rampage.[7] In November 1919, R.A. Williams, superintendent of the Hoggson Bros. Co. reported the most intricate part of the construction was now progressing. The structure was enclosed and the final steps in finishing up the interior demanded more time and thought on the part of the workmen.[8]

On April 3, 1920, the Citizens National Bank gave the public a peep at its handsome new banking house which would be occupied for business on Wednesday, the 7th. Through using the basement and a mezzanine floor, the bank had practically three floors. All the work of the accounting department was placed on the mezzanine. The safety deposit business would be done in the basement. The public would use the main banking floor. Systems of telephones and pneumatic tubes connected all departments of the bank. An elevator served all three floors. The money vaults were in the basement. The interior decorations were in old ivory.[9]

In March 1924, the Citizens National sued the Kinloch Co. for damages due to delays in the construction of the new bank. The defense by Kinloch was that the Government had taken over the company in 1918 due to the war and it was helpless to vacate.[10]

On Tuesday, January 13, 1925, stockholders re-elected the following directors: R.H. Levis, L.A. Schlafly, J.F. McGinnis, E.M. Dorsey, H.M. Schwepp, Geo. M. Levis, and G. Taphorn.[11]

In June 1926, the officers of the institution were as follows: G.M. Levis, president; L.A. Schlafly, vice president; E.W. Joesting, cashier; and W.B. Allen, assistant cashier. The bank had capital of 200,000, surplus $200,000 and undivided profits of over $280,000 with total assets of over $5 million.[12][13]

A 1972 advertisement for the First National Bank and Trust Company in Alton, Illinois.[14]

Merger of the Alton National Bank and the Citizens National Bank was announced in December 1929. Those plans became effective early in the following year when stockholders of both banks approved the consolidation. The simplest method of effecting the merger was to form a new banking corporation.[15] On January 9th, 1930, the Citizens National Bank of Alton filed with the Auditor of Public Accounts of the State of Illinois as a trust company. Its statement as of December 31, 1929, showed total resources of $6,129,912.36 and $50,000 of securities deposited with the Auditor to secure Trust Deposits. L.A. Schlafly and E.J. Verlie, two of the directors swore to the correctness of the statement made to the Auditor in Springfield.[16] In April, notice was published that due to delays in the alterations in the banking rooms of the Alton National Bank building, the opening of the new First National Bank and Trust Company (Charter 13464) was postponed from April 14 to Monday, May 19. The Citizens National and Alton National banks would continue business in their current respective locations until May 19, 1930.[17] On May 14th, C.A. Caldwell who would head the new bank as president said it was decided not to defer the change any longer because of the red tape involved in any delays due to legal requirements. The bank would be ready to take care of business, but no formal opening with flowers and music was planned, but that may occur later. The new officers of the bank were as follows: C.A. Caldwell, president; George M. Levis, chairman of the board; Samuel Wade, L.A. Schlafly, and H.H. Hewitt, vice president; Emil Joesting, cashier; W.B. Allen and L.M. Carr, assistant cashiers; George M. Levis, R.H. Levis, E.M. Dorsey, H.M. Schweppe, L.A. Schlafly, E.J. Verlies, John M. Olin, F.W. Olin, H.B. Sparks, George S. Milnor, William Duncan, Samuel Wade, and C.A. Caldwell, directors. The Citizens National Bank building would be vacated and sold.[18] 

On October 18, 1930, The First Trust and Savings Bank announced it had purchased the Citizens National Bank building at Broadway and Piasa Streets a few days ago.  President D.A. Wyckoff said he was hoping to be able to open for business in the new home by December 1st. Plans were being made for redecorating the bank building and making other improvements necessary before his bank could occupy its new quarters.[19] It was formerly located in the Pfeiffenberger building on West Third Street.[20] The bank would close on January 23, 1933, and be liquidated.[21]

Official Bank Title

1: The Citizens National Bank of Alton, IL

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with SN 1D and pen signatures of C.F. Stelzel, Cashier and August Schlafly, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with stamped signatures in purple ink of E.W. Joesting, Cashier and George M. Levis, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of E.W. Joesting, Cashier and George M. Levis, President. The right SN was printed with a non-standard C prefix more commonly found on Replacement notes. This variety was discovered for a Windham, NY Ch12164 SN 2 note. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $1,775,940 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1899 and 1930. This consisted of a total of 203,326 notes (195,628 large size and 7,698 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 4x5 1 - 8150
1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 4440
1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 7250
1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 5380
1882 Value Back 4x5 7251 - 10361
1882 Value Back 3x10-20 5381 - 6850
1902 Plain Back 4x10 1 - 19106
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1283

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1899 - 1930):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Known Bank Note Signers

  • No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

Sources

  • Alton, IL, 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. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Sat., Jan. 20, 1912.
  2. ↑ Francis Murray Huston, Financing an Empire: History of Banking in Illinois (4 volumes) (Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1926), Vol. 4, pp 500-501.
  3. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Sat., May 18, 1918.
  4. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Tue., Sep. 17, 1918.
  5. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Thu., Apr. 24, 1919.
  6. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Sat. May 3, 1919.
  7. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Wed., July 2, 1919.
  8. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Mon., Nov. 24, 1919.
  9. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Sat., Apr. 3, 1920.
  10. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Fri., Mar. 21, 1924.
  11. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Wed., Jan. 14, 1925.
  12. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Sat., June 26, 1926.
  13. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Wed., Jan. 6, 1926.
  14. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Fri., Feb. 18, 1972.
  15. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Wed., Jan. 15, 1936.
  16. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Sat., Jan. 11, 1930.
  17. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Thu., Apr. 10, 1930.
  18. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Wed., May 14, 1930.
  19. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Sat., Oct. 18, 1930.
  20. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Sat., July 25, 1931.
  21. ↑ Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, IL, Thu., June 15, 1933.
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