Citizens National Bank, Poultney, VT (Charter 9824)
Citizens National Bank, Poultney, VT (Chartered 1910 - Liquidated 1934)
Town History
Poultney is a town in Rutland County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. New York state is on its western border. Castleton, Vermont, is on its northern border. Poultney was home to Green Mountain College, a private liberal arts college that closed in 2019. The Village of Poultney is entirely within the town. The town population was 3,020 at the 2020 census. In 1900, the population was 3,108, peaking at 3,644 in 1910.
One of the New Hampshire Grants, Poultney was charted on September 21, 1761, by Benning Wentworth, Royal Governor of New Hampshire, and named for William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, a British politician and orator. Poultney shares Lake St. Catherine (about 800 acres) with the town of Wells. Poultney lies in a slate belt, where slate roofing, tiles, and building blocks are mined and milled.
Poultney had five National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all five of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized February 2, 1910
- Chartered August 4, 1910
- Conservatorship March 31, 1933
- Liquidated November 2, 1934
- Succeeded by 14234 (Poultney National Bank, Poultney, VT)
- Circulation assumed by 14234 (Poultney National Bank, Poultney, VT)
In January 1910, an application to organized the Citizens National Bank of Poultney, Vermont, capital $50,000, was approved. The applicants were T.D. Southworth, R.G.M. Johnson, E.C. Ripley, F.T. Pember, and Eugene R. Norton. In April the contract for the bank was let to A.A. Norton of Granville, New York, who would add a number of workmen and push the building work rapidly.
On August 4, 1910, the comptroller of the currency issued a certificate authorizing the Citizens National Bank of Poultney to commence business with $50,000 capital, and the following officers: T.D. Southworth, president; Eugene R. Norton, vice president; Clayton E. Bixby, cashier; H.J. Stevens, assistant cashier.
In January 1911, the directors were R.E. Warren, F.W. Barrett, A.A. Greene, A.Y. Gray, T.D. Southworth, T.S. Nelson, R.G.M. Johnson, E.M. Bixby, J.B. Carrigan, George W. Ripley, W. Broughton, O.E. Carvay, E.C. Ripley, C.W. Parry, E.R. Norton, and F.T. Pember. The officers were T.D. Southworth, president; E.R. Norton, vice president; Clayton E. Bixby, cashier; and H.J. Stevens, assistant cashier.
In August 1913, the officers were T.D. Southworth, president; E.R. Norton, vice president; Clayton E. Bixby, cashier; H.J. Stevens, assistant cashier; and George H. Norton, teller. The directors were J.B. Carrigan of Carrigan & Rawson, furniture; F.W. Barrett, merchant; F.T. Pember, president, Farmers National Bank of Granville, NY; E.M. Bixby of Bixby & Son, coal and grain; R.E. Warren, merchant, Hampton, NY; O.E. Carvay, branch manager, Auld & Conger Co.; B.C. Buxton, president, Oskaloosa Savings Bank, Oskaloosa, Iowa; A.Y. Gray of L. & A.Y Gray, bankers, Middletown Springs, George H. Ripley, treas., Ripley Lumber Co.; E.C. Ripley, vice president, Ripley Lumber Co.; A.A. Green, treas. Ruggles Machine Co.; C.W. Parry, president, Poultney Consolidated Slate Co.; R.G.M. Johnson, station agent, D. & H. Co.; T.D. Southworth, treas., Southworth Co., Troy, NY; T.S. Nelson of Rising & Nelson Slate Co.
In January 1922, the stockholders elected the following directors: J.B. Carrigan, F.W. Barrett, F.T. Pember, E.R. Norton, E.M. Bixby, R.E. Warren, O.E. Carvay, Geo. H. Ripley, R.G.M. Johnson, T.D. Southworth, T.S. Nelson, G.H. Norton, A.E. Horton, and E.E. Lewis. The officers re-elected were T.D. Southworth, president; E.R. Norton and Geo. H. Ripley, vice presidents; G.H. Norton, cashier; A.E. Horton and H.J. Stevens, assistant cashiers.
On Tuesday morning, January 10, 1928, stockholders elected the following directors: F.W. Barrett, E.M. Bixby, A.E. Horton, R.G.M. Johnson, E.E. Lewis, G.H. Ripley, and E.C. Ripley, Jr., of Poultney; T.S. Nelson, West Pawlet; E.R. Norton, Granville; T.D. Southworth and F.C. Warren, Hampton. The directors re-elected following officers for the ensuing year: T.D. Southworth, president; E.R. Norton and G.H. Ripley, vice presidents; G.H. Norton, cashier, A.E. Horton, assistant cashier; and Miss Ruth E. Miner, teller.
On Tuesday morning, January 10, 1933, the stockholders elected the following directors: B.C. Buxton, F.C. Warren, N.G. Knapp, E.R. Norton, and F.W. Barrett. The officers re-elected were B.C. Buxton, president; E.R. Norton and F.W. Barrett, vice presidents; George H. Norton, cashier; and Arthur E. Horton, assistant cashier.
On April 2, 1933, Norman G. Knapp of Poultney was appointed as conservator of the Citizens National Bank. The bank was attempting to reopen by reorganizing and issuing preferred stock.
On July 27, 1934, the conservatorship was terminated and control was returned to the board of directors of the Citizens Nation for the purpose of carrying out the plan of reorganization including the transfer of certain of its assets to The Poultney National Bank. Norman G. Knapp said he expected that the new bank would receive its charter in a few days and open the following week.
On August 4, 1934, the Poultney National Bank opened for business. The new organization was headed by Dr. E.J. Hudson and the directors were H. Harold Rawson, A.E. Horton, P.J. Carmody, and F.W. Wallace. John E. Holmes was cashier and George H. Norton was teller. Liquidation of the accounts of the Citizens National would start at once under the direction of Ford C. Warren, M. McCarty and N.G. Knapp, assisted by Miss Ruth Miner.
In January 1945, two men implicated in the "Frenzied finance" which caused the closing of the Poultney National Bank in 1942 and who were given prison sentences for their part in the crime were admitted to parole. They were John E. Holmes, 57, of Poultney, former cashier of the bank, and Richard J. Howland, 45, of Cleverdale, New York. Holmes was principal in defalcations at the bank. Howland, owner of a hotel at Cleverdale, Lake George, was a former depositor in the bank and an abettor of Holmes. The cashier pleaded guilty in U.S. Court at Rutland and was sentenced to two years, March 9, 1944. Howland was also found guilty by a jury and given a two-year sentence on the same date.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Citizens National Bank of Poultney, VT
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $815,400 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1910 and 1934. This consisted of a total of 65,410 notes (54,820 large size and 10,590 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 4640 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 4641 - 13705 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1348 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 400 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 77 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 25
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1910 - 1934):
Presidents:
- Thaddeus DeWitt Southworth, 1910-1927
- George Harris Ripley, 1928-1930
- Benjamin Clift Buxton, 1931-1932
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- Eugene R. Norton, Vice President 1910-1933
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Poultney, VT, 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 Wall Street Journal, New York, NY, Sat., Jan. 22, 1910.
- Rutland Daily Herald, Rutland, VT, Mon., Apr. 25, 1910.
- The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Fri., Aug. 5, 1910.
- Rutland Daily Herald, Rutland, VT, Wed., Jan. 18, 1911.
- The Poultney Journal, Poultney, VT, Fri., Aug. 29, 1913.
- The Poultney Journal, Poultney, VT, Fri., Jan. 13, 1922.
- The Poultney Journal, Poultney, VT, Fri., Dec. 1, 1922.
- Rutland Daily Herald, Rutland, VT, Thu., Jan. 12, 1928.
- Rutland Daily Herald, Rutland, VT, Fri., Jan. 13, 1933.
- The Burlington Free Press, Burlington, VT, Mon., Apr. 3, 1933.
- Rutland Daily Herald, Rutland, VT, Fri., July 27, 1934.
- Rutland Daily Herald, Rutland, VT, July 27, 1934.
- Rutland Daily Herald, Rutland, VT, Sat., Aug. 4, 1934.
- The Bennington Evening Banner, Bennington, VT, Tue., Jan. 2, 1945.