Citizens National Bank, Lehighton, PA (Charter 6531)
Citizens National Bank/Citizens NB & TC, Lehighton, PA (Chartered 1902 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Lehighton (/liˈhaɪtən/) is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is located 28.9 miles northwest of Allentown and 77.5 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Due in part to water power from the Lehigh River, Lehighton was an early center for U.S. industrialization. Lehighton had silk and lace mills, a meat-packing house, shirt factory, automatic-press works, car shops, stoneworks, and foundries. The Lehigh Valley Railroad was for years a major employer up until the post-World War II era when railroad and industry restructuring led to job and population losses.
As of the 2020 U.S. census, Lehighton's population was 5,248, down from a peak population of 7,000 in 1940. Lehighton is the most populous borough in Carbon County and still the county's business hub. The Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long tributary of the Delaware River, flows through Lehighton.
Lehighton had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, the Citizens National Bank (Charter 6531) and the First National Bank (Charter 2308), and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized November 13, 1902
- Chartered December 13, 1902
- Bank was Open past 1935
In December 1902, A.S. Beisel, principal of the Lansford schools and lately superintendent of schools for Carbon County, was elected cashier of the new Citizens National Bank of Lehighton. He resigned his position at Lansford.
On Sunday, February 17, 1907, Dr. Wesley A. Derhammer died at his home at Lehighton. He was a graduate of Jefferson Medical college, Philadelphia and commence the practice of medicine in Lehighton. In later years he relinquished the practice of medicine to a great extent and devoted his time to other interests. He visited San Jose, Costa Ria, and investigated the coffee business and then became interested in a coffee plantation. On his return, he equipped a building and commenced coffee roasting on a small scale. The business developed rapidly and at the time of this death, he had a modern factory with thousands of dollars worth of green coffee on hand and enjoyed a very large patronage. He was instrumental in the organization of the Citizens National Bank and he also helped to organize the Lehighton Water Company and was a director of both.
In August 1908, George W. Beard & Co., Inc., were receiving sub bids for the proposed Citizens National Bank building.
Rev. John H. Kuder, pastor of the Trinity Lutheran Church, was elected a member of the board of directors to succeed Owen Andreas, resigned.
In December 1928, the Citizens National Bank announced it would change its title to Citizens National Bank and Trust Company, effective January 8. It would locate in the Caster Building. Fiduciary powers were granted to the bank years ago and during that period the Trust department had become well-established and in order to build up this end of the business, the directors decided to change the name. Stockholders approved the change at the annual meeting in January 1929. The officers elected were H.B. Kennell, president; Dr. C.J. Kistler, vice president; and A.F. Smith, cashier and trust officer. The directors were H.B. Kennell, Dr. C.J. Kistler, M.S. Jordan, A.A. Beltz, F.D. Klingaman, A.F. Smith, W.B. Adams, and E.A. Boyer. Early in spring work was planned to begin on the new building, the Carter building adjoining on one end and the Christman building on the other wing of the present bank building would be converted into one large banking house.
On Tuesday, January 14, 1941, stockholders elected the following directors: H.B. Kennell, Dr. C.J. Kistler, William J. Zahn, E.A. Boyer, W.A. Ebert, Lloyd R. Moyer, and George Schwartz. On Wednesday, January 22d, H.B. Kennell was re-elected president for the 31st consecutive year at a meeting of the board. A. Fred Smith was re-elected cashier and trust officer. Other officers re-elected included Dr. C.J. Kistler, vice president; William J. Zahn, second vice president; Joseph N. Bennett, assistant cashier; Edwin M. Koch, clerk and bookkeeper; and Ella McCormick, Mrs. Fred Keegan, and Mrs. Barbara LeVan, bookkeepers.
In July 1942, the First National Bank and Citizens National Bank of Lehighton were acquired by the Hazleton National Bank (Charter 4204) and became the Lehighton office of the Hazleton National Bank. Mr. Charles F. Bretney was in charge of the Lehighton branch of the Hazleton National with the position of assistant cashier with Harold M. Griest as assistant cashier. Mr. Bretney started in banking in 1899, serving in Weatherly and New Tripoli as well as Lehighton. In 1915 he became cashier of the First National Bank, holding that position until August 1st when the First National and the Citizens National Bank were merged with the Hazleton National Bank.
Business was conducted in the quarters of the First National Bank, the building having been purchased by the Hazleton National. All safe deposit box holders at the First National would remain the same and the safety boxes of the closed Citizens National were transferred to the First National for the convenience of the owners. The officers of the Hazleton National Bank were C. Marvin Pardee, president; James F. Koch, vice president & trust officer; John H. Wettstine and B.F. Morse, vice presidents; Robert S. Gicking, cashier; Herman J. Swettman, assistant cashier; James H. Powers, Jr., and Arnold Krause, assistant trust officers. The directors were Karl Baberadt, Dr. John R. Dyson, Elmer J. Geissler, Atty. Edward J. Gormley, Harry Pardee Keller, James F. Koch, Geo. B. Markle, Jr., Benjamin F. Morse, William Lauderbach Morse, Charles Marvin Pardee, Frank Pardee, Jr., and John Wettstine.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Citizens National Bank of Lehighton, PA
2: Citizens National Bank and Trust Company of (2/1/1929), Lehighton, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,226,290 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1902 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 279,916 notes (230,720 large size and 49,196 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1: 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 5250 1: 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 3800 1: 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 9950 1: 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 6320 1: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 9951 - 28584 1: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 6321 - 18558 2: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 1008 2: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 480 2: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 4090 2: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2212 2: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 574 2: 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 4500 2: 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 2805 2: 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 635
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1902 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Lehighton, 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
- Republican and Herald, Pottsville, PA, Wed., Dec. 10, 1902.
- The Allentown Leader, Allentown, PA, Wed., Feb. 20, 1907.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sun., Aug. 9, 1908.
- The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Thu., May 13, 1915.
- Mauch Chunk Times-News, Mauch Chunk, PA, Sat., Dec. 15, 1928.
- The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Thu., Jan. 10, 1929.
- The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Wed., Jan. 15, 1941.
- The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Thu., Jan. 23, 1941.
- The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Wed., Oct. 7, 1942.
- Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Mon., Aug. 3, 1942.
- Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Thu., Sep. 21, 1989.