Farmer's National Bank, Ephrata, PA (Charter 4923)
Farmer's National Bank, Ephrata, PA (Chartered 1893 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Ephrata (/ˈɛfrətə/ EF-rə-tə) is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is located 42 miles east of Harrisburg and about 60 miles west-northwest of Philadelphia and is named after Ephrath, an ancient Israelite town, Bethlehem, that is now a Syriac Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic speaking community in Palestine. Ephrata's sister city is Eberbach, Germany, the city where its founders originated. In its early history, Ephrata was a pleasure resort and an agricultural community.
Ephrata's population has steadily grown over the last century. In 1900, 2,452 people lived there, and by 1940, the population had increased to 6,199. The population was 13,818 at the 2020 census. Ephrata is the most populous borough in Lancaster County.
Ephrata is noteworthy for having been the former seat of the Mystic Order of the Solitary, a semimonastic order of Seventh-Day Dunkers. The community, which contained both men and women, was founded by Johann Conrad Beissel in 1732. Many of the members were well-educated; Peter Miller, second prior of the monastery, translated the Declaration of Independence into seven languages, at the request of Congress. At the period of its greatest prosperity the community contained nearly 300 persons.
Ephrata had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, the Farmer's National Bank and the Ephrata National Bank (Charter 2515), and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized May 27, 1893
- Chartered July 13, 1893
- Bank was Open past 1935
- Merged with Farmers National Bank of Lititz (5773) July 13, 1972, forming Farmers First National Bank of Lititz
The Farmer's National Bank of Ephrata opened in July 1893 in the Mt. Vernon Inn on the railroad side. The first board of directors consisted of the following: H.J. Meixell, Jacob Konigmacher, Dr. J.F. Mentzer, J. Milton Sprecher, Walter S. Johns, Adam Geist, P.W. Weidman, A.M. Baker and Henry Myer. The officers were H.J. Meixell, president, Jacob Konigmacher, vice president; and H.M. Shnavely, cashier. The had capital of $50,000 and the statement issued on October 3, 1893 reported total resources of $98,962. A new structure was erected in 1898 on the site of the present location on West Main Street. Business was conducted there until 1914 when the new banking house was built.
On Tuesday, January 9, 1912, the stockholders elected the following directors: E.S. Geist, Jacob Konigmacher, John F. Mentzer, A.M. Baker, J.Milton Sprecher, M.W. Buch, J.C. McConnell, Henry Westerhoff, and Jacob K. Keller.
By July 1914, work on the new bank building for the Farmers National was going forward under the direction of Mr. Perinchef of the Bankers' Bureau of New York City who were in charge of the work.
In 1915, the directors were Dr. J.F. Mentzer, E.S. Geist, Jacob K. Keller, J. Milton Sprecher, Henry Westerhoff, Jacob J. Baker, M.W. Buch, Dr. J.C. McConnell, and Isaac E. Erb. The officers were J.F. Mentzer, president, J. Milton Sprecher, vice president, H.M. Shnavely, cashier; and H.R. Mohler, assistant cashier.
In January 1923, the officers were J.F. Mentzer, president; H.M. Shnavely, first vice president; Henry Westerhoff, second vice president. Mr. Shnavely was head of the trust department. Other directors were E.S. Geist, Dr. J.C. McConnell, Isaac E. Erb, M.W. Buch, J.J. Baker, I. Leonard Sprecher, and S. Milo Herr. Mr. H.R. Mohler became cashier, succeeding Mr. Shnavely who was elected vice president. Looking back, the first vice president, Mr. Konigmacher, was succeeded upon his death in November 1912 by Mr. A.M. Baker who in turn was succeeded at his death by Mr. Sprecher. Mr. Westerhoff succeeded Mr. Sprecher at the latter's death.
In January 1933, the directors were Dr. J.F. Mentzer, I. Leonard Sprecher, Henry Westerhoff, Jacob J. Baker, William R. Good, Everett S. Geist, John S. Butzer, Isaac E. Erb, and M.W. Buch. The officers were Dr. J.F. Mentzer, president; Henry Westerhoff, vice president; H.M. Shnavely, vice president and trust officer; H.R. Mohler, cashier; and S.C. Wolfskill, assistant cashier.
In January 1972, the directors of the Farmers National Bank of Ephrata and the Farmers National Bank of Lititz announced an agreement in principle to a consolidation of the two banks. Jack S. Watson, president of the Farmers National Bank of Lititz said Ephrata shareholders would receive four shares for each share held. On July 13, 1972, the merger of Farmers First National Bank of Lititz and Farmers National Bank of Ephrata became effective.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Farmer's National Bank of Ephrata, PA
2: The Farmers National Bank of Ephrata, PA [1929]
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,752,150 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1893 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 226,969 notes (188,756 large size and 38,213 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 - 9590 1: 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 3124 1: 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 4015 1: 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 3024 1: 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 2175 1: 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 1740 1: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 2176 - 16640 1: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1741 - 10796 2: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 3194 2: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1540 2: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 474 2: 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 4048 2: 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 2363 2: 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 554
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1893 - 1936):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Bank Note Signers
- Jacob Konigmacher, Vice President 1893-1912
- There are currently no known Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History
- General information on Ephrata (Wikipedia)
- General information on Lancaster County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Ephrata, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephrata,_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://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project
- The Lancaster Examiner, Lancaster, PA, Wed., Jan. 10, 1912.
- Harrisburg Telegraph, Harrisburg, PA, Sat., July 11, 1914.
- The Ephrata Review, Fri., Mar. 19, 1915.
- Lancaster New Era, Lancaster, PA, Sat., Feb. 23, 1923.
- The Ephrata Review, Ephrata, PA, Fri., Feb. 10, 1933.
- Lancaster New Era, Lancaster, PA, Thu., Jan. 13, 1972.
- The Ephrata Review, Thu., Dec. 28, 1972.