Eaton National Bank, Eaton, OH (Charter 7557)
Eaton National Bank, Eaton, OH (Chartered 1905 - Closed (Merger) 2014)
Town History
Eaton is a city in, and the county seat of Preble County, Ohio, approximately 24 miles west of Dayton. The population was 8,375 at the 2020 census, down 0.4% from the population of 8,407 at the 2010 census. In 1900, the population was 3,155, growing to 3,347 by 1930.
Eaton was founded and platted in 1806 by William Bruce. The village derives its name from Gen. William Eaton (1764–1811), the U.S. Consul at Tunis, who led a diverse army in a harrowing march from Egypt to Tripoli to meet U.S. Naval forces. In addition to the city of Eaton and the county of Preble, various streets in Eaton (Barron, Decatur, Israel, Wadsworth, and Somers) were named in honor of heroes of the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary War.
In 1822, Cornelius Van Ausdal built a three-story building, possibly the first, building of its kind in the area, at the northwest corner of Main and Barron Streets. This building, used by the Van Ausdal & Co. mercantile business, became the home of the Eaton National Bank.
Eaton had three National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all three of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized January 10, 1905
- Chartered January 14, 1905
- Succeeded Eaton Banking Company
- Opened for business January 18, 1905
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Acquired The First National Bank of New Paris, OH (Charter 9211) on September 1st, 1978
- Merged into LCNB National Bank in Lebanon, OH, January 24, 2014
In May 1892, a new banking company was organized in Eaton known as the Eaton Banking Company. The officers were E.S. Stotler, president; Harvey Paddock, vice president; J.H. Musselman, cashier; and J.M. Gale, assistant cashier. The capital stock was $50,000.
On Friday, September 21, 1901, a meeting of the officers resulted in the consolidation of the Eaton Banking Company and the Farmers' and Citizens' Bank. Business would be conducted as the Eaton Banking Company in their banking room. This consolidation resulted in the largest and strongest financial institution in Preble county. E.S. Stotler would remain the president, and C.F. Brooke, Jr., would be the vice president. Mr. Brooke had been a banker for more than 22 years and had always been chief manager of the banks in which he had been interested. J.H. Musselman was cashier since organization of the Eaton Banking Company. He was twice elected treasurer of the county. John M. Gale was his assistant; his career marked him as a man of sterling worth and good business ability. Judge Elam Fisher became one of the stockholders and he with Samuel Swisher and Charles E. Morlatt would compose the finance committee. In addition the the names above, Charles P. Thum, John Glick and George W. Deem were the stockholders.
On January 14, 1905, the Eaton Banking Company converted to a national charter with the title Eaton National Bank. The directors were W.A. Eidson, Elam Fisher, C.E. Marlatt, Samuel Swisher, J.M. Gale, J.H. Conger, and C.F. Brooke. The officers were Samuel Swisher, president; C.F. Brooke, vice president; J.H. Musselman, cashier; and J.M. Gale, assistant cashier.
In January 1914, the officers were Samuel Swisher, president; C.F. Brooke, vice president; J.H. Musselman, cashier; J.M. Gale, assistant cashier, and Miss Nellie Nelson, bookkeeper. Elam Fisher, Jonas Markey, C.E. Morlatt and the officers constituted the board of directors.
On Tuesday, January 10, 1922, the old officers were re-elected at the annual meeting of stockholders. S. Swisher would serve again as president; J.H. Musselman, vice president; J.M. Gale, cashier; C.J. Hunter, assistant cashier and H.N. Swain and H.L. Mettert, tellers. The directors were the president, vice president, and cashier; Elam Fisher, John H. Stotler, C.E. Morlatt, and C.C. Spring.
On December 31, 1937, a reorganization of the officers of the Eaton National Bank, necessitated by the death of Samuel Swisher, president, was effected at a special meeting of the board of directors. W.C. Swisher was named chairman of the board and John M. Gale president. Other officers were C.J. Hunter, executive vice president; Henry E. Eby, vice president; H.A. Sharkey, cashier; H.N. Swain and H.L. Mettert, assistant cashiers. M.F. Michael, a retired Eaton shoe merchant, was named to the board. Mr. Gale was the only member of the board having served in that capacity since the bank was founded in 1905.
In February 1978, the Eaton National Bank and Trust Company and the First National Bank of New Paris jointly announced their merger. The Eaton National had opened a branch facility in West Alexandrian and began a $650,000 remodeling and rebuilding project at the main office in Eaton, changing the structure from a modern style to a colonial. Several promotions were announced by William S. Clayton, chairman of the board following the recent annual meeting. Jeffrey A. Maffett was promoted to executive vice president , Joan G. Kreitzer to vice president and cashier, Roy M. Wyant to vice president; and Robert W. Kay to assistant cashier. Mr. Maffett was a graduate of Defiance College and had attended the Wisconsin School of Banking. He was vice president of the Ohio Community Bankers Association. Mrs. Kreitzer was a member of the board, a member of the Eaton City Council, and United Way Advisory Board.
Stockholders of the two banks met on July 5th to consider the purchase of the First National by the Eaton National Bank and Trust Co. There were 11,576 shares voting in favor out of the 15,000 shares outstanding for the Eaton National. Stockholders of the New Paris bank voted 95.6% in favor of the merger. Assets of Eaton National were $32 million while the New Paris bank's were in excess of $6.5 million. After approvals from the comptroller of the currency and the Federal Reserve, all employees of the New Paris bank would become employees of Eaton National.
On Saturday, July 22, 1978, the grand opening of the completely renovated and remodeled facility at 110 W. Main St. occurred from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. The project began in April 1977 which saw a new structure built around the old, while bank operations continued without interruption. Other exterior changes made included razing the former Mobil service station on the corner of Beech and Main Streets for additional parking. Everett Maffett, president, said the purpose was to provide a banking facility to better serve Eaton National's customers.
The merger was effective Friday, September 1st, 1978. John Bettelon was the new vice president and manager of the New Paris branch of the Eaton National bank and Trust Company. He was an assistant vice president of Second National Bank of Richmond. In November 1978, Everett L. Maffett was elected a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; he would be one of three Class A directors. His three-year term would begin January 1, 1979. Before assuming his position at Eaton National in 1967, he was executive vice president and directors of the Sarasota bank and Trust Co. of Sarasota, Florida, and executive vice president of American Security Corp. and Investors National Life Insurance Co., Marion, Ohio.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Eaton National Bank, Eaton, OH
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $879,500 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1905 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 88,354 notes (53,476 large size and 34,878 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 3x10-20 1 - 720 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 4500 1902 DB/PB 3x10-20 4501 - 4700 Type uncertain 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 4701 - 12649 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 3722 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 622 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 200 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 7614
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1905 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Eaton, OH, 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
- Hamilton Evening Journal, Hamilton, OH, Thu., May 26, 1892.
- The Dayton Herald, Dayton, OH, Sat., Sep. 21, 1901.
- The Richmond Item, Richmond, IN, Thu., Jan. 12, 1905.
- The Dayton Herald, Dayton, OH, Thu., Jan. 15, 1914.
- Palladium-Item, Richmond, IN, Wed., Jan. 11, 1922.
- The Richmond Item., Richmond, IN, Sat., Jan. 1, 1938.
- Palladium-Item, Richmond, IN, Sun., Jan. 29, 1939.
- Palladium-Item, Richmond, IN, Wed., Feb. 1, 1978.
- Palladium-Item, Richmond, IN, Wed., Feb. 8, 1978.
- Palladium-Item, Richmond, IN, Thu., July 13, 1978.
- Palladium-Item, Richmond, IN, Thu., July 18, 1978.
- Palladium-Item, Richmond, IN, Thu., Aug. 31, 1978.
- Palladium-Item, Richmond, IN, Mon., Nov. 20, 1978.