Euclid Avenue National Bank/Euclid-Park NB, Cleveland, OH (Charter 3545)

Photo of Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, ca1905. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Needed: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Euclid Avenue National Bank/Euclid-Park NB, Cleveland, OH (Chartered 1886 - Liquidated 1905)

Town History

Cleveland is a city in Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in Northeast Ohio along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the U.S. maritime border with Canada and lies approximately 60 miles west of Pennsylvania.

The largest city on Lake Erie and one of the major cities of the Great Lakes region, Cleveland ranks as the second-most populous city in Ohio and 54th-most populous city in the U.S. with a 2020 population of 372,624. The city anchors the Cleveland metropolitan area, the 33rd-largest in the U.S. at 2.18 million residents, as well as the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton combined statistical area, the most populous in Ohio and the 17th-largest in the country with a population of 3.63 million in 2020.

Cleveland was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River by General Moses Cleaveland, after whom the city was named. Its location on both the river and the lake shore allowed it to grow into a major commercial and industrial center, attracting large numbers of immigrants and migrants. Cleveland is a port city, connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Its economy relies on diverse sectors that include higher education, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and biomedicals. The GDP for the Greater Cleveland MSA was $135 billion in 2019.

The Civil War vaulted Cleveland into the first rank of American manufacturing cities and fueled unprecedented growth. Its prime geographic location as a transportation hub on the Great Lakes played an important role in its development as an industrial and commercial center. In 1870, John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in Cleveland, and in 1885, he moved its headquarters to New York City, which had become a center of finance and business. In 1860 the population was 43,417, growing to 381,768 by 1900.

Cleveland had 29 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and 28 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

• Organized July 16, 1886
• Chartered July 31, 1886
• 1: Assumed 5006 by consolidation July 1, 1903 with title change (Park National Bank, Cleveland, OH)
• 2: Assumed 5805 by consolidation February 13, 1904 (Bankers National Bank, Cleveland, OH)
• 2: Assumed 3950 by consolidation July 1, 1904 (State National Bank, Cleveland, OH)
• 2: Liquidated April 29, 1905
• 2: Consolidated with 2690 (First National Bank, Cleveland, OH)

On Sunday evening, April 18, 1891, Joseph M. Dubroy, a clerk in the Euclid Avenue National Bank and wife, and M. Odell, brakeman on the C.C. and C. railroad and wife were arrested in Toronto, Ontario. Dubroy was charged with stealing $2,000 from the bank and the others with being his confederates. Louis M. Odell was placed on trial in the criminal court in Cleveland for embezzlement and receiving $2,000, property of the Euclid Avenue National Bank. Joseph Dubroy, the clerk in the bank was brought to the city from the penitentiary to give evidence for the defendant. When first arrested Dubroy told Cashier Severance that he had divided the money with Odell before leaving Cleveland, but it was understood that he intended to swear that the division was not made until the fugitives arrived in Canada. If the latter assertion was established to the jury's satisfaction, Odell could not be convicted. It all depended upon where the booty was divided. Odell was found guilty and would join Dubroy who was serving 3 years in the penitentiary.

In May 1903, directors of the Euclid Avenue National Bank and the Park National Bank reached an agreement to consolidate the two concerns. The new bank would be known as the Euclid-Park National Bank with a capital of $1,500,000, surplus of $500,000, and assets of more than $13,000,000. H.A. Bishop, president of the Park National Bank since 1895, would become the president of the combined institution. On June 30, the stockholders of the Euclid Avenue and Park National Banks met and approved the merger agreement concluded a month earlier. Beginning July 1st, the old business of both banks would be carried on in the Park National quarters under the name of the Euclid-Park National Bank. The contract called for the sale of 5,000 shares of First National Stock to a committee of three men representing the Cleveland Trust interests at $145. The Coal and Iron National Bank (Charter 5191) would be liquidated and the First National would increase its capital to $1,000,000 and move into the quarters of the Coal and Iron Bank. It was thought by leading bankers of the city that the amalgamation of interests between the First and Coal and Iron National was but a stepping stone to a still larger institution. The promoters of the present enterprise were definitely known as desiring to make the First National of Cleveland one of the largest in the West.

On January 6, 1904, it was announced that the Euclid-Park National Bank would absorb the business of the Bankers National Bank of Cleveland on January 12th, the latter institution to go out of existence and the consolidated bank to keep the name of the Euclid-Park National Bank. The Bankers National began business in May 1901 with a capital of $600,000. The Euclid-Park National was one of the largest national banks in the state.

On July 1, 1904, the stockholders of the State National Bank and the Euclid-Park National Bank voted to consolidate the two concerns. The combined capitalization amounted to $2,000,000 and deposits amounted to $12,000,000.

On February 18, 1905, an agreement was reached between the First National Bank and the Euclid-Park National Bank for a merger between these two great national banking institutions of Cleveland. The consolidation would place in Cleveland one of the largest and richest national banks in the country, ranking with the first dozen similar institutions in New York. Their combined resources were over $25,000,000.

Official Bank Titles

1: The Euclid Avenue National Bank of Cleveland, OH

2: The Euclid-Park National Bank of Cleveland, OH (7/1/1903)

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of E.G. Tillotson, Cashier and S.L. Severance, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1882 Brown Back $20 bank note with printed signatures of C.E. Farnsworth, Cashier and H.A. Bishop, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $2,139,410 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1886 and 1905. This consisted of a total of 271,492 notes (271,492 large size and No small size notes).

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

Series/Type	Sheet/Denoms	Serial#s	Sheet Comments
1: 1882 Brown Back	4x5	1 - 32238
1: 1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 10772
2: 1882 Brown Back	4x5	1 - 9570
2: 1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 15293

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1886 - 1905):

Presidents:

• John L. Woods, 1886-1892
• Charles Francis Brush, 1893-1893
• Solon Long Severance, 1894-1902
• Horace Alonzo Bishop, 1903-1904

Cashiers:

• Solon Long Severance, 1886-1892
• Edwin Gray Tillotson, 1893-1895
• Charles Emery Farnsworth Jr, 1897-1904

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• Kaufman Hays (VP 1897...1902)

Bank Note History Links

• Euclid Avenue NB/Euclid Park NB, Cleveland, OH History (NB Lookup)
• Ohio Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Cleveland, 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
• Detroit Publishing Co, C. C. & Detroit Publishing Co, P. (ca. 1905) Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, ca. 1905. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress May 2, 2024.