Exchange National Bank/Long Beach NB, Long Beach, CA (Charter 8510)

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Exchange National Bank/Long Beach NB, Long Beach, CA (Chartered 1907 - Liquidated 1924)

Town History

Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 43rd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California, the second most populous city in Los Angeles County, and the largest city in California that is not a county seat city.

Incorporated in 1897, Long Beach lies in Southern California, in the southern part of Los Angeles County. Long Beach is approximately 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, and is part of the Gateway Cities region. The Port of Long Beach is the second busiest container port in the United States and is among the world's largest shipping ports. The city is over an oilfield with minor wells both directly beneath the city as well as offshore.

The city is known for its waterfront attractions, including the permanently docked RMS Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific. The town grew as a seaside resort with light agricultural uses. The Pike was the most famous beachside amusement zone on the West Coast from 1902 until 1969; it offered bathers food, games and rides, such at the Sky Wheel dual Ferris wheel and Cyclone Racer roller coaster. Gradually the oil industry, Navy shipyard and facilities and port became the mainstays of the city. In the 1950s it was referred to as "Iowa by the sea", due to a large influx of people from that and other Midwestern states.

Long Beach had seven National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all seven of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

• Organized December 14, 1906
• Chartered January 10, 1907
• Opened for business January 15, 1907
• 2: Liquidated July 21, 1924
• 2: Absorbed by Bank of Italy, San Francisco

In January 1907, the Exchange National Bank opened its rooms for business at the southeast corner of Third Street and Pine Avenue. The first officers of the Exchange National Bank were A.J. Wallace, president; M.V. McQuigg, vice president; W.H. Wallace, cashier; and Charles Malcom, assistant cashier.

In August 1911, some important changes were made in the organization of the Exchange National Bank at Third Street and Pine Avenue. Charles A. Wiley, formerly cashier of the State Banking & Trust Co. of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, became cashier, succeeding Mr. E.D. Kennedy. Mr. Wiley and his wife were locating in Long Beach, having traveled through Washington, Oregon and Northern California looking for a location for the past two months. Mr. Wiley and friends sold their bank in Sioux Falls in the Spring. He had previously been engaged in banking at Kearney, Nebraska, Council Bluffs, Iowa and Sioux Falls, South Dakota since 1885. Another new addition, Mr. P.H. Updike, formerly of Harvard, Nebraska, and engaged in banking there since 1886, sold in 1908 when he moved to California. Mr. Updike and Mr. Willey were elected directors to fill vacancies caused by the resignation of Mr. Kennedy and by the death of Mr. F.W. Stearns. Messrs. Wm. H. Wallace and Ed. H. Wallace retained their financial interests and remained active as vice president and assistant cashier of the bank. It was reported that A.J. Wallace would remain president of the bank and M.V. McQuigg would also retain his interest in the institution. Frank R. McQuigg would retire from the bank to devote his attention to properties owned by his father and himself.

In December 1911, as announcements of calls for meetings to elect the directorates of the local banking institutions were published, it was noted that the greatest change would be in the Exchange National Bank where the board would be increased to seven by the election of officers of the State Bank to the Exchange board. The consolidation of these two banks had been going on quietly for the past few months and the new policy to be pursued by the State Bank as a trust and savings institution was expected to be declared at the annual meeting of the directors which were for practical purposes now one. A consolidation was expected as Messrs. P.H. Updike and Chas. A. Wiley had obtained controlling interests in both institutions.

Long Beach had seven banks with aggregate deposits of $3,835,117.77 at the end of 1910, growing to $5,326,203.86 by the end of 1911.  The seven banks included the Postal Savings bank which the Government established on October 7, 1911. The officers for the Postal Savings bank were Uncle Sam, president; George F. Hirsch, cashier and postmaster; and Miss Julia M. Reed, assistant cashier.  Directors were approximately a hundred million Americans, too numerous to mention.

In January 1912, the officers were Peter H. Updike, president; William J. Gardiner, William H. Wallace, M.V. McQuigg, and W.J. Morrison, vice presidents; Charles A. Wiley, cashier; Ed H. Wallace, assistant cashier. All the officers along with A.M. Goodhue, T.A. Stephens, Richard Loynes, Edward Updike, Thomas F. Rice and Robert H. Young, were directors. Owing to the great increase of business, the Exchange National was compelled to secure extra clerks and had employed two young women to aid in the work. Edward Updike, father of P.H. Updike, president of the Exchange National Bank arrived in Long Beach with Mrs. P.H. Updike from Omaha.

Also in January 1912, the last annual meeting of the State Bank of Long Beach was held when stockholders elected the following directors:  A.M. Goodhue, W.J. Morrison, T.A. Stevens, Richard Loynes, Charles A. Wiley, and P.H. Updike. These directors would serve until the formalities connected with the liquidation of the State Bank were completed. A resolution authorizing the liquidation of the State Bank was adopted after the old officers had been re-elected.

In 1884 in rural Iowa two men at a crossroads became fast friends in that slow section just because there was nobody else there with whom to fraternize. It wasn't much of a town, there being practically nothing there except a telegraph office of the Monroe Railroad station and a district school house.  The schoolmaster and the night telegraph operator visited and became pals.  Decades ago they lost track of one another. The telegraph operator moved eventually to Monroe, Iowa and became a prosperous banker.  His name was F.B. Kingdon and in 1919 he arrived in Long Beach with his family for the winter.  The country district school teacher became a banker as well.  In 1912, he arrived in Long Beach from Oklahoma long ahead of Kingdon and became a vice president of the Exchange National Bank.  Banker Kingdon casually dropped into the Exchange National Bank to cash a check and on that instant he spotted his lonesome nights chum, Cashier William J. Gardiner. In October 1927, William J. Gardiner, wealthy retired businessman, formerly of Des Moines, Iowa, and later of Long Beach, California, died aboard the Holland American liner Volendam which departed Rotterdam.  Mr. Gardiner had been in Europe for several months for his health, becoming ill. He was accompanied by his wife and she made preparations to bring him home. A specialist from California who had been treating Mr. Gardiner was to meet the boat when it arrived at Hoboken, New Jersey. Mr. Gardiner was well-known in Clay County as a banker at Clay Center, Nebraska.

On Tuesday, January 14, 1913, Charles A. Wiley was elected president; W.J. Gardiner, formerly a vice president, was made cashier; W.H. Wallace, W.J. Morrison, and M.V. McQuigg were re-elected vice presidents; and Ed. H. Wallace was made assistant cashier. John F. Craig was elected a director in place of Edward H. Updike of Omaha and Ed H. Wallace was elected a director in place of M.V. McQuigg. The other directors re-elected were W.J. Gardiner, A.M. Goodhue, Richard Loynes, W.J. Morrison, Thomas F. Rice, T.A. Stephens, Peter H. Updike, W.H. Wallace, Charles A. Wiley, and R.H. Young. Peter H. Updike gave up the duties as president to retire to private life, but was still on the bank's directorate.

In January 1921, officers of the Exchange National Bank expected to be re-elected were Charles A. Wiley, president; W.J. Morrison and L.A. Davis, vice presidents; W.J. Gardiner, cashier; H.R. Maltby, and Glover C. Lawry, assistant cashiers. The directors were Charles A. Wiley, W.J. Morrison, L.A. Davis, W.J. Gardiner, John F. Craig, W.S. Stevens, George L. Craig, Ralph H. Click, L.J. Massie, J.E. Carter, Jr., and B.H. Paul.

On May 19, 1921, Leo M. Meeker, the new president of the Exchange National assumed his new duties. He spent the morning meeting patrons of the bank and acquainting himself with details of the bank's activities under the guidance of Charles A. Wiley who would continue to act as chairman of the board of directors and chairman of the loan committee. Mr. Meeker would move to Long Beach with his wife and child as soon as possible. J.R. Davis, the new cashier, also expected to take up residence soon.

In December 1921, Leo M. Meeker wrote the Changes, assuming that the were constructive, were an indication of progress and this applied to a name as well. Long Beach was one of the most progressive cities, not merely in California, but in the whole United States. Its ambitions and ideals were big and broad. Its businessmen, institutions and citizens generally had just pride and loyalty in its progress. The management on the Exchange National Bank considered that the city should have at least one bank featuring the name Long Beach. It felt the bank had outgrown its former name inasmuch as nearly all shareholders were residents. These points guided the management in its decision to change the name of the bank from the Exchange National Bank to the Long Beach National Bank. Authorization was received on December 22nd from the comptroller of the currency, and henceforth the institution would be known as The Long Beach National Bank. All pass books, records, drafts and checks bearing the former name would be honored.

In January 1923, the trust department of the Long Beach national bank, long crowded into the quarters needed by bank officials, was moved into the room just east of the banking room formerly occupied as an office by Clark Hall. Mr. Hall likewise moved one door east into the room formerly occupied by The Telegram as a down town office. L.A. Davis resigned as vice president, having acquired an interest in the First National Bank of Hollywood and was a vice president of that institution which was a branch of the First National of Los Angeles. Mr. Davis was living on South New Hampshire Avenue, Los Angeles.

On Tuesday, January 8, 1924, the directors elected were Mayor C.A. Buffum, John F. Craig, Julian R. Davis, John S. Dutton, Leo M. Meeker, Bert H. Paul and Jack R. Williams. The officers elected were Leo M. Meeker, president; John S. Dutton, first vice president; Julian R. Davis, vice president and cashier; Edward Everett, vice president and trust officer. The junior officers including the assistant cashier were all re-elected. President Meeker stated that the directors were greatly pleased at the progress made during the past year and that they were confident that 1924 would record even greater achievements. The bank's main office was at Pine at First with the Seventh St. Office at 717 Pine at Seventh, and the third office was at American at Fourth.

In May 1924, merging of the Long Beach National Bank and Bank of Italy involving $1,000,000 was one of the largest banking deals ever consummated in the city. In July, the Long Beach National Bank which had been succeeded by the Bank of Italy, finished its elegant new branch bank at the southeast corner of Seventh Street and Pine Avenue.

On August 6, 1935, William H. Wallace, 65, for more than a quarter of a century identified with the growth and development of Long Beach, died early in the morning at an Anaheim hospital where he had been a patient for six hours. Death apparently was due to poison from a tooth ulceration. Mr. Wallace was born in Ontario, Canada, and graduated from University in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1895. He was in the banking business at Redwood Falls, Minnesota, and then moved to Long Beach in August 1906. He established the Exchange National Bank at Third Street and Pine Avenue and served as cashier and later as vice president. He continued with the bank after it had merged with the State Bank under the name of the Exchange National Bank at First Street and Pine Avenue. Mr. Wallace was one of the first boosters for the harbor. One June 24, 1912, as vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, he presided over the ceremony opening the first municipal dock built with the first harbor bond issue.

Official Bank Titles

1: The Exchange National Bank of Long Beach, CA

2: The Long Beach National Bank, Long Beach, CA (12/21/1921)

Bank Note Types Issued

Large size bank note here. Example: 1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of John Doe, Cashier and Jill Smith, President. Courtesy of... (Set Height x260px)

A total of $1,617,700 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1907 and 1924. This consisted of a total of 197,296 notes (197,296 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: 1902 Red Seal	4x5	1 - 1100
1: 1902 Red Seal	4x10	1 - 1200
1: 1902 Date Back	4x5	1 - 8850
1: 1902 Date Back	4x10	1 - 8200
1: 1902 Plain Back	4x5	8851 - 20050
1: 1902 Plain Back	4x10	8201 - 20200
2: 1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	1 - 6774

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1907 - 1924):

Presidents:

• Albert Joseph Wallace, 1907-1911
• Peter Holmes Updike, 1912-1912
• Charles A. Wiley, 1913-1920
• Leo Martin Meeker, 1921-1924

Cashiers:

• William Havelock Wallace, 1907-1909
• Edwin D. Kennedy, 1910-1910
• Charles A. Wiley, 1911-1912
• William J. Gardiner, 1913-1920
• Julian R. Davis, 1921-1924

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• John Stout Dutton (VP 1924)
• Robert Harry Muckler (VP 1923...1924)

Bank Note History Links

• Exchange NB/Long Beach NB, Long Beach, CA History (NB Lookup)
• California Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Long Beach, CA, 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