Columbia County NB, Benton, PA (Charter 6328)

From Bank Note History
Jump to navigation Jump to search
NEEDED: an image of a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.
NEEDED: an image of a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Columbia County NB, Benton, PA (Chartered 1902 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Benton is a borough in northeastern Columbia County, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1793 and named for the Township from which it was formed. The population was 824 at the 2010 census. It is 17 miles north of Bloomsburg using PA-487 and 32 miles west of Wilkes-Barre.

Frank Charles Laubach (September 2, 1884 – June 11, 1970), from Benton, was known as "The Apostle to the Illiterates." In 1955, he founded Laubach Literacy, which helped introduce about 150,000 Americans to reading each year.

Benton had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

  • Organized July 1, 1902
  • Chartered July 3, 1902
  • Bank was Open past 1935
  • Consolidated January 16, 1956 with The Farmers National Bank of Orangeville, Charter 11058 (no issue), and adopted the new name of The Columbia County Farmers National Bank of Orangeville.

In March 1902, subscribers to the new bank at Benton, Columbia County announced it would be called the Columbia County National Bank with capital of $25,000. The officers elected were John G. McHenry, president and Liddon Flick, vice president. The directors were John G. McHenry and G.F. Seely of Benton, J. Boyd McHenry of Cambra; Charles A Wesley of Stillwater; George B. Hummer of Elk Grove; and Liddon Flick and Frank W. Larned of Wilkes-Barre. The bank opened on Saturday, July 5, 1902 with over a hundred depositors.

In January 1905 the stockholders elected the following directors: Geo. B. Hummer, C. A. Wesley, J.B. McHenry, Chas. F. Seely, Russell Karns, B. Frank Mather, John G. McHenry, W.L. Yorks and Alfred McHenry. Officers elected were John G. McHenry, president; C.A. Wesley, vice president; Alfred McHenry, cashier; and Roy Edgar, assistant cashier.

In 1910, Sixty buildings were in ruins and thirty families were homeless at Benton, Columbia County as a result of someone's carelessness in throwing a fire cracker on the Fourth of July. The blaze broke out at 2:30 at the Crossley barn where some boys had been discharging fire crackers. The flames spread rapidly to other buildings, fanned by a stiff north wind. A call was made to Bloomsburg for aid, but the blaze had burned itself out by the time the local fire company reached the scene. The loss was estimated at $300,000. Among the prominent buildings destroyed were the Columbia County National Bank, The Exchange Hotel, the People's store and post office. The vaults of the ruined bank contained $200,000 in currency that was salvageable. The fire was the worst in Columbia County's history. Very little insurance was carried. There were no fire fighting facilities in Benton and only slight resistance could be offered against the flames. Several years earlier an attempt was made to install a water system for fire protection, but citizens got an injunction restraining the promoters from establishing a system, their concern being that it would make the taxes too high. The thirty homeless families were cared for by neighbors during the night and the burgess issued a call for a meeting of all citizens. Only one person was injured during the disaster, Mrs. Ross Hess, an aged woman, being burned while making an attempt to rescue some furnishings.

Twenty buildings were under construction and plans were made for 12 others by October 1910. Daniel J. Donovan was rebuilding his two-story hotel on the site of the old Exchange hotel. Among the other buildings is a handsomely designed brick structure to house the Columbia County National Bank. The contract for the new bank was let with the Berwick Lumber and Supply company for the sum of $8,153.79, they being the lowest bidder.

In November 1912, the Hon. John G. McHenry resigned as president of the Columbia County National Bank of Benton due to ill health and financial troubles. A.R. Pennington of Benton was elected president to fill Mr. McHenry's unexpired term. The Rohr McHenry Distilling company in which Mr. McHenry was heavily invested asked for and received a receivership. The financial difficulties stemmed from the costly Fourth of July fire that destroyed its bonding house and much product. The bank sent letters to depositors not to be alarmed by the distilling company going into bankruptcy claiming ample security was available to cover all loans.

John G. McHenry died in December 1912. He was a 3-term Pennsylvania Congressman and Superintendent of State Grange National Banks. He was instrumental in organizing grange banks as well as the Columbia County National Bank of Benton and for that reason this bank is closely associated with those Grange banks.

For more information on the Grange National Banks in Pennsylvania, this article provides a brief history of those twelve banks, why they were formed, and the men and women behind them.

On January 10, 1956, the consolidation of the Farmers National Bank of Orangeville and the Columbia County National Bank of Benton was approved by the stockholders. The consolidation occurred on January 16 and the new name was The Columbia County Farmers' National Bank of Orangeville, although banks under that name operated in both communities.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Columbia County National Bank of Benton, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of Robert J. McHenry, Cashier and A.R. Pennington, President.
1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of Robert J. McHenry, Cashier and A.R. Pennington, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
NEEDED: an image of a Small size bank note
NEEDED: an image of a Small size bank note

A total of $555,120 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1902 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 69,798 notes (56,056 large size and 13,742 small size notes).

This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments
1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 500
1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 700
1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 2425
1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 1600
1902 Plain Back 4x5 2426 - 7973
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1601 - 4841
1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1166
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 602
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 166
1929 Type 2 5 1 - 1166
1929 Type 2 10 1 - 768
1929 Type 2 20 1 - 204

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1902 - 1936):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

  • There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

  • Benton, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benton,_Pennsylvania
  • 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://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
  • The Wilkes-Barre Record, Wilkes-Barre, PA, Thu., Mar. 20, 1902.
  • Wilkes-Barre Weekly Times, Wilkes-Barre, PA, Sat., July 12, 1902.
  • The Columbian, Bloomsburg, PA, Thu., Jan. 12, 1905.
  • The Scranton Truth, Scranton, PA, Tue., July 5, 1910.
  • Pittston Gazette, Pittston, PA, Wed., Sep. 28, 1910.
  • The Danville Morning News, Danville, PA, Sat., Feb. 11, 1911.
  • The Danville Morning News, Danville, PA, Fri. Nov. 8, 1912.
  • The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Fri., Dec. 2, 1955.
  • The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Thu., Jan. 12, 1956.
Retrieved from "https://banknotehistory.mywikis.wiki/w/index.php?title=Columbia_County_NB,_Benton,_PA_(Charter_6328)&oldid=23905"