Citizens National Bank, Towanda, PA (Charter 2337)
Citizens National Bank, Towanda, PA (Chartered 1876 - Closed (Merger) 1971)
Town History
Towanda is a borough and the county seat of Bradford County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located 66 miles northwest of Wilkes-Barre, on the Susquehanna River. The name means "burial ground" in the Algonquian language. As of the 2020 census, the population of Towanda was 2,833.
Towanda was settled in 1784 and became the county seat in 1812. It was variously known for some years as Meansville, Overton, Williamson, Monmouth and Towanda, and incorporated in 1828. The town's early name, Meansville, for William Means who laid it out in 1812, occasioned 'considerable animosity,' and the present one was adopted in 1828. Towanda was once known primarily for its industrial interests, which included flour, planing and silk mills, a foundry and machine shop, dye works, and manufacturers of talking machines, cut glass, toys and furniture. The population in 1860 was 1,622, peaking at 4,663 in 1900.
Towanda had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, the First National Bank (Charter 39) and the Citizens National Bank (Charter 2337), and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized May 10, 1876
- Chartered June 29, 1876
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Merged into Northern National Bank and Trust Company in Wellsboro, PA, October 1, 1971
On June 29, 1876, the Citizens National Bank of Towanda, Pennsylvania, was authorized to begin business with a capital of $150,000.[1]
In January 1883, the directors were E.T. Fox, B.M. Peck, James MacFarlane, Wm. Dittrich, S.W. Little, B. Kuykendall, and P.R. Ackley. E.T. Fox and Geo. W. Buck were continued as president and cashier.[2]
In November 1886, the Citizens National Bank purchased the grounds on the corner of Main and Bridge Streets and planned to erect a bank building at once.[3]
On Monday morning, November 10, 1890, B.M. Peck, President Judge elect, resigned as president and also as a director. William Stevenson of Sayre was chosen to fill the vacancy on the board and E.O. Macfarlane was elected president.[4]
In September 1903, Morris Shepard, ex-sheriff of Bradford County, was elected president to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Colonel Edward Overton. Mr. Shepard had been a director of the bank for 12 years.[5]
On January 25, 1909, Morris Shepard, president of the Citizens National Bank died. He was born in Bradford County in 1838, the son of agriculturists. He served two successful terms as a county commissioner and was elected sheriff of Bradford County in November 1887.[6] On August 9th, 1909, Henry Streeter, Esq., was found dead in bead. He was born at Montrose, the only son of Hon. F.B. Streeter who was President Judge of Bradford County from 1865 to 1874. He graduated from Union College, Schenectady, NY, and was admitted to the Bradford Bar in 1872. For 30 years he was the legal representative of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Co. in Bradford County. At the time of his death, he was president of the Citizens National Bank.[7] On Monday, December 20, 1909, directors named William Maxwell of Towanda president to succeed the late Henry Streeter. John M. Rahm was chosen vice president to succeed Mr. Maxwell.[8]
On Tuesday, January 12, 1915, the directors re-elected were J.K. Newell, John M. Rahm, Benjamin Kuykendall, John W. Codding, A.H. Burchill, A.B. McCraney, W.L. Barclay, C.E. Murphy and Henry P. Newell. The officers re-elected were J.K. Newell, president; John M. Rahm, vice president; Henry P. Newell, cashier.[9]
In January 1964, the officers of the Citizens National Bank of Towanda were Robert L. Bennett, president and trust officer; William J. Chaffee, vice president; F.W. Miller, cashier, assistant trust officer and secretary of the board; Jesse A. Marks, assistant trust officer; and Robert S. Harris and Richard F. Hall, assistant cashiers. The directors were David R. Smith, Paul R. Harden, William J. Chaffee, Robert L. Bennett, Karl D. Shiner, Manley G. Bird, William L. Winter, Jesse A. Marks, John F. Beirne, F. William Miller, and David M. Turner.[10]
On Tuesday, February 4, 1969, at a reorganization meeting of the bank's board of directors, Raymond E. Rubert of Towanda RD 3 was elected president and trust officer of Citizens National Bank and Trust Co. Rubert, formerly executive vice president of the bank was also named chairman of the board. He was formerly with the Bank of America in California and New York City. Rubert succeeded Towanda attorney Robert L. Bennett who was president of the bank for some 20 years. Bennett retired from the presidency, but remained on the board. Other officers elected were Col. John F.A. Beirne, vice president; F. William Miller, vice president and cashier; Robert S. Harris, vice president; Richard Hall, assistant vice president and assistant trust officer; Noble N. Betts, assistant cashier; and Wilson Quiggle, assistant vice president and manager of the loan department.[11]
On Friday, October 1, 1971, the Board of Directors of the newly consolidated Citizens and Northern National Bank and Trust Company of Bradford and Tioga Counties held its organizational meeting at the bank's office in Troy. Raymond E. Rubert, chairman and president of the former Citizens National Bank, Towanda, was elected Chairman of the Board Directors. William K. Francis, Executive Vice President of the former Northern National Bank, Wellsboro, was given the title of president. A newly created post of Chairman of the Executive Committee was a title placed upon Elwyn S. Lewis, former Chairman of Northern National Bank. Other titles were Northern's President Basil J. Reese, and Citizens Vice President, Col. John F.A. Beirne, as Vice Chairmen of the Board and Citizen’s Assistant Vice president and Controller, James W. Seipler, with the added title of Cashier. Other officers elected primarily to their former official titles: Vice Presidents Robert W. Anderson, Enoch A. Blackwell, H. Kenneth Hall, Paul R. Harden, Robert S. Harris, Ruth E. Krise, F. William Miller, Donald E. Russell, Jean L. Ward; Vice President and Trust Officer Paul Ritter; Assistant Vice President and Trust Officer Richard R. Hall; Assistant Vice President Merle L. Haight; Manager (Troy) James Merritt, Jr.; Assistant Cashiers Noble N. Betts, Jr., Robert Bolt, Kean A. Butler, Robert L. Dickerson, Constance L. Elliott, R. Holleran, Eugene W. Lewis, Ann L. Neinhueser, Lauretta J. Thurston, Joyce A. Tuttle, and Richard L. Wilkinson; Corporate Secretary Vada Price; Assistant Trust Officer Arlene Wetherbee; and Auditor Margaret Shumway.[12]
Official Bank Titles
1: The Citizens National Bank of Towanda, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $3,850,940 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1876 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 514,511 notes (436,748 large size and 77,763 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments Series 1875 4x5 1 - 20449 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 15000 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 9000 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 11750 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 9000 1882 Value Back 4x5 11751 - 12374 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 9001 - 9468 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 26175 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 16721 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 6068 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 3238 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 788 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 9700 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 5783 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1716
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1876 - 1935):
Presidents:
- Job Potter Kirby, 1876-1876
- Eleazer Taylor Fox, 1877-1887
- Hon. Benjamin Mason Peck, 1888-1890
- Edward Overton MacFarlane, 1891-1896
- Edward Overton Jr., 1897-1903
- Morris Shepard, 1904-1908
- Henry Streeter, 1909
- Judge William A. Maxwell, 1910-1911
- John Knox Newell, 1912-1918
- Benjamin Kuykendall Sr., 1919-1935
Cashiers:
- George Anson Guernsey, 1876-1879
- George W. Buck, 1880-1889
- John Knox Newell, 1890-1911
- Henry Passmore Newell Sr., 1912-1930
- Edward J. Barnes, 1931-1935
Other Known Bank Note Signers
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Towanda, 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
- ↑ The Daily evening Express, Lancaster, PA, Fri., June 30, 1876.
- ↑ The Canton Independent-Sentinel, Canton, PA, Fri., Jan. 26, 1883.
- ↑ The Canton Independent-Sentinel, Canton, PA, Fri., Nov. 12, 1886.
- ↑ The Daily News, Athens, PA, Fri., Nov. 14, 1890.
- ↑ Pittston Gazette, Pittston, PA, Wed., Sep. 30, 1903.
- ↑ Pittston Gazette, Pittston, PA, Tue., Jan. 26, 1909.
- ↑ Pittston Gazette, Pittston, PA, Tue., Aug. 10, 1909.
- ↑ The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA, Wed., Dec. 22, 1909.
- ↑ Star-Gazette, Elmira, NY, Wed., Jan. 13, 1915.
- ↑ The Evening Times, Sayre, PA, Wed., Jan. 15, 1964.
- ↑ Star-Gazette, Elmira, NY, Thu., Feb. 6, 1969.
- ↑ The Canton Independent-Sentinel, Canton, PA, Oct. 14, 1971.