Farmers National Bank, Sheridan, IN (Charter 6070)
Farmers National Bank, Sheridan, IN (Chartered 1901 - Liquidated 1927)
Town History
The origins of Sheridan, which started out as Millwood, are vague, owing partly to the loss of all the town's records in 1913 when a disastrous fire destroyed the town hall and many other buildings. No documentation supports the popular contention that Egbert Higbee started the town in 1860. Higbee, born in Ohio and brought to Adams Township as a child, did, indeed, lay out a town he called Millwood on land adjacent to the district school (built 1851) on the state road. He had acquired his land in parcels and filed his town plat in April 1866. Only two-and-a-half blocks divided into twenty lots, it was oriented in an east–west direction along the south side of the Lafayette-Noblesville state road, which Higbee designated as Main Street (present day Second Street; his “West Street” became Main). Higbee immediately began to sell off lots to enterprising merchants and a few mill owners, and the little village got its start. Higbee himself built a mill and laid out additions to his original plat. Caswell Boxley, however, subdivided the south edge of his land, which adjoined Higbee's plat across the state road and he laid out his own plat of Millwood immediately north and extending west of Higbee's. The initial town orientation was succeeded by one that placed Main Street in a north–south direction. In a few years the hamlet of Millwood applied for a post office and was granted one on January 30, 1871. Since there was already an existing post office in a village of the same name in Kosciusko County, this Millwood was rechristened “Sheridan,” in honor of Civil War general Philip Sheridan. The town had something of an identity crisis for a few years as some people continued to call it Millwood while others used the new name of Sheridan—even in official records. Several significant buildings from that early period survive, including the H.J. Thistlethwaite Building, constructed in 1886 to boast an opera house, a lodge room and retail spaces.
Sheridan, around the turn of the twentieth century had become the second largest town in the county with a thriving commercial district along Main Street. Included were a large variety of stores, several hotels, banks, and lodges still sharing the street with a few dwellings. Many of these buildings survive, including the two large commercial buildings on Main—the Golden Rule general merchandise store and the dry goods store of Stanley Brothers. Both were constructed in the 1890s.
The great conflagration of 1913 started in a lumber company and destroyed much of the south end of downtown—mostly wood-frame structures. The Town Hall, which had stood on the east side of Main south of 5th Street, burned. After the fire, a new brick building was constructed at the southwest corner of Main and Cora (presently Jaycee) streets—previously the site of a livery stable that also burned. The aftermath of the fire resulted in considerable change downtown. Over the next 15 years, scattered houses on Main Street disappeared and were replaced by commercial buildings. Only the far north end of Main Street retained its original residential character. Several new businesses appeared, including several movie houses, although even before the fire, Sheridan had been proud that it possessed more than one nickelodeon. Another type of business that seemed to thrive downtown in the interwar years was the automobile dealership, but little evidence of any of these remain. The last bank of several institutions that had been established in town—the newly formed American State Bank of Sheridan—built its headquarters in 1914 at Main and Fourth. It remained to house a bank until 2006. Another beautiful former bank building built after the fire was the Farmers National Bank of Sheridan, now part of the adjacent hardware store.
Sheridan had three National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and two of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized December 18, 1901
- Chartered December 28, 1901
- Succeeded Thistlethwaite Bank
- Opened for business January 1, 1902
- Liquidated May 9, 1927
- Absorbed by 13050 (Sheridan NB/Farmers & Merchants NB, Sheridan, IN)
The Farmers National Bank began as the Thistlethwaite Bank founded by Edward and Charles Thistlethwaite, located on the west side of Main Street between Fifth and the Stout grocery corner. Henry Wiles was the first cashier and the institution was operated as a private business. In 1903, the Thistlethwaite Bank was reorganized and moved to the corner of Main and Fifth Streets where they built the building occupied by the W.R. Kercheval Grocery. Upon that reorganization, J.E. Kercheval was named cashier. Edward Thistlethwaite donated the lot on which the Farmers National Bank was built.[3]
On Tuesday, January 9, 1912, the annual meeting was held in the Red Men Hall and was attended by about 40 stockholders. With the exception of the addition of one member to the directorate, there were no changes in the officers or directors of the Farmers National Bank. A.R. McKinney was added as a director, making six, the other were J.C. Newby, Ed Thistlethwait, Chas. Thistlethwaite, H.C. Mabrey, and A.N. Johnson. The officers were Ed Thistlethwaite, president; H.C. Mabrey, vice president; J.C. Newby, second vice president; J.E. Kercheval, cashier; G.A. Miller and W.J. Eberwein, assistant cashiers; and M.S. Parr, bookkeeper.[4]
In October 1913, H.H. Newby was selected by the directors to fill the vacancy occasioned by the transfer of W.J. Eberwein to the First National Bank. Mr. Newby was postmaster of Sheridan for 12 years and was well-known to the people in the community. Morris Parr was promoted to the position of assistant cashier.[5]
In July 1914, the officers were Chas. Thistlethwaite, president; H.C. Mabrey and A.R. McKinney, vice presidents; J.E. Kercheval, cashier; M.S. Parr and H.H. Newby, assistant cashiers; and Amy Lindstrom, bookkeeper. The directors were Dr. J.C. Newby, H.C. Mabrey, Ed Thistlethwaite, Chas. Thistlethwaite, A.R. McKinney, and J.E. Kercheval.[6]
In May 1918, the Farmers National Bank announced the opening on June 1st, 1918 of the new banking home. The bank would open to the public on Saturday night, June 1st with refreshments served. The officers were H.C. Mabrey, president; A.R. McKinney, vice president; J.E. Kercheval, cashier; M.S. Parr and H.H. Newby, assistant cashiers; LaMar Thistlethwaite and Lora Cline, bookkeepers.[7]
In February 1919, M.S. Parr who recently left the Farmers National to take a place in a trust company at Elkhart would again become identified with the banking interests of Sheridan. He accepted a position with the First National Bank of Sheridan and would move back in March.[8]
On Tuesday, January 13, 1925, stockholders re-elected the old board of directors as follows: J.E. Kercheval, H.C. Mabrey, A.R. McKinney, Charles Thistlethwaite, L.O. Wallace, and John C. Wright. The officers were J.E. Kercheval, president; H.C. Mabrey, vice president; R.S. Baker, cashier; J.A. Branson, assistant cashier; Ilo Pritsch, Doris Baker, and Effie Newcomer, Bookkeepers.[9]
On Thursday, April 7, 1927, the Farmers and Merchants National Bank sold its bank building on the corner of Main and Fourth Streets occupied by them less than one week to the American State Bank and would move at once to the Farmers National Bank room. The American State would move to the building vacated by them and would open for business on Friday morning. The merger of the Sheridan National Bank and the Farmers National Bank united two of the oldest and strongest banks of Hamilton County with combined resources of more than one million dollars. J.E. Kercheval, president of the Farmers National was the president of the new Farmers and Merchants National Bank. R.S. Baker with nine years experience in the Farms bank was cashier. The capital stock was $80,000 with a surplus of $8,000. The board of directors included both old boards, namely: Charles Thistlethwaite, H.C. Mabrey, A.R. McKinney, John C. Wright, J.E. Kercheval, L.O. Wallace, Phil hare, C.E. Chew, W.S. Pressler, L.C. Higbee, Ingle Harris, I.H. McMurtry, Frank Ringer and H.S. Moredock. The equipment and cash were removed from the south building Saturday evening after the close of business. The Sheridan National, one of the merging institutions was re-organized a few week earlier from the First National bank of Sheridan. The latest merger was a voluntary one with both institution for the sole purpose of making one big, strong bank to eliminate duplication of expense and was in line with the modern trend of business to cut down overhead and lessen the cost of doing business. The new bank accepted none of the farms or real estate of the Farmers National Bank; this was turned over to a trustee. Any unaccepted paper would also be taken care of by this trustee and would not be assumed by the new institution.[10]
Official Bank Titles
1: The Farmers National Bank of Sheridan, IN
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $619,450 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1901 and 1927. This consisted of a total of 49,556 notes (49,556 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 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 1660 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 4000 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 4001 - 6992 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 3737
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1901 - 1927):
Presidents:
- Dr. John Colip Newby, 1902-1906
- Abram W. L. Newcomer, 1907-1907
- Dr. John Colip Newby, 1908-1911
- Edward Thistlethwaite, 1911-1912
- Dr. John Colip Newby, 1913-1913
- Charles Thistlethwaite, 1914-1914
- Henry C. Mabrey, 1915-1920
- James Ellis Kercheval, 1921-1926
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Sheridan, IN, 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
- ↑ The Sheridan News, Noblesville, IN, Fri., December 29, 1911.
- ↑ The Sheridan News, Noblesville, IN, Fri., December 29, 1911.
- ↑ The Sheridan News, Noblesville, IN, Fri., Apr. 8, 1927.
- ↑ The Sheridan News, Noblesville, IN, Fri., Jan. 12, 1912.
- ↑ The Sheridan News, Noblesville, IN, Fri., Oct. 3, 1913.
- ↑ The Sheridan News, Noblesville, IN, Fri., July 10, 1914.
- ↑ The Sheridan News, Noblesville, IN, Fri., May 31, 1918.
- ↑ The Sheridan News, Noblesville, IN, Fri., Feb. 7, 1919.
- ↑ The Sheridan News, Noblesville, IN, Fri., Jan. 16, 1925.
- ↑ The Sheridan News, Noblesville, IN, Fri., Apr. 8, 1927.