Farmers and Merchants NB, Baltimore, MD (Charter 1337)
Farmers and Merchants NB, Baltimore, MD (Chartered 1865 - Liquidated 1930)
Town History
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, the fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was designated an independent city by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851, and today it is the most populous independent city in the nation. As of 2021, the population of the Baltimore metropolitan area was estimated to be 2,838,327, making it the nation's 20th largest metropolitan area. Baltimore is located about 40 miles north northeast of Washington, D.C., making it a principal city in the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area (CSA), the third-largest CSA in the nation, with a 2021 estimated population of 9,946,526.
The Battle of Baltimore was a pivotal engagement during the War of 1812, culminating in the failed British bombardment of Fort McHenry, during which Francis Scott Key wrote a poem that would become "The Star-Spangled Banner", which was eventually designated as the American national anthem in 1931. During the Pratt Street Riot of 1861, the city was the site of some of the earliest violence associated with the American Civil War.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the oldest railroad in the United States, was built in 1830 and cemented Baltimore's status as a major transportation hub, giving producers in the Midwest and Appalachia access to the city's port. Baltimore's Inner Harbor was once the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States. In addition, Baltimore was a major manufacturing center.
On February 7, 1904, the Great Baltimore Fire destroyed over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours, leaving more than 70 blocks of the downtown area burned to the ground. Damages were estimated at $150 million in 1904 dollars. As the city rebuilt during the next two years, lessons learned from the fire led to improvements in firefighting equipment standards.
Baltimore had 28 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all 28 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized June 12, 1865
- Chartered June 24, 1865
- Conversion/Succeeded Farmers and Merchants Bank
- Liquidated September 3, 1930
- Absorbed by Union Trust Company of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Bank History Links:
The Farmers and Merchants National Bank was chartered in 1810. In the old Globe Inn, which historians described as a "farmers tavern" at Baltimore and Howard Streets, in March 1808, first step was taken in the organization of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Baltimore, originally located at the corner of Bank Lane and Calvert Street. The first president was William Graham, who was succeeded in 1819 by Judge Nicholas Brice, who in turn presided over the bank's affairs until 1841 when Dr. John Hanson Thomas was elected to the office.
On October 13, 1856, Mr. James M. Mott, formerly of the Union Bank of Maryland, was elected cashier to full the vacancy occasioned by the death of John Loney, Esq. on the 10th of October.
On April 13, 1863, the stockholders of the Farmers and Merchants Bank elected the following gentlemen: Daniel B. Banks, John K. Caldwell, Francis B. Loney, John R. Conway, Evans Rogers, Henry W. Archer, and Daniel J. Foley. At a meeting of the board on the 16th, John Hanson Thomas was unanimously re-elected president. James Sloan, Jr., was cashier.
On January 14, 1868, the stockholders of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank elected the following gentlemen: J. Hanson Thomas, Daniel B. Banks, John R. Conway, Francis B. Loney, Daniel J. Foley, Otho H. Williams, and Henry W. Archer. At a meeting of the board on the 15th, J. Hanson Thomas was unanimously re-elected president. James Sloan, Jr., was cashier.
On January 14, 1890, the following were elected directors: James Sloan, Jr., Otho H. Williams, Wm. P. Harvey, Faris C. Pitt, Robert Ober, Abraham Strauss, and William H. Blackford. On the 16th the board unanimously re-elected James Sloan, Jr., president. Chas. T. Crane was cashier.
On January 9, 1900, the following were elected directors: James Sloan, Jr., Otho H. Williams, Wm. P. Harvey, Robert Ober, Henry A. Parr, J. Hough Cottman, Thos. J. hayward, Edwin Warfield, and Samuel J. Lanahan. On the 11th the board unanimously re-elected James Sloan, Jr., president. Chas. T. Crane was cashier.
On January 12, 1904, the following were elected directors: William P. Harvey, Robert Ober, J. Hough Cottman, Thomas J. Hayward, Edwin Warfield, Samuel J. Lanahan, Charles T. crane, Rober N. Sloan, and F.C. Latrobe. On the 14th the directors re-elected Charles T. Crane and William P. Harvey president and vice president, respectively. C.G. Osburn was cashier.
On February 11, 1904, at a meeting of the Clearing House Association, it was decided that all banks having connections with the association would open the next day so money for the usual Saturday pay-rolls could be supplied. Clearing the wreckage from the great fire of February 7th was expected to cost about $2 million. The vault of the Farmers and Merchants was opened on the morning of the 11th and the contents which were unharmed were removed to a place of safety. The bank was in a temporary location at 301 North Charles Street on the corner with Saratoga. As soon as the question of widening Lombard Street was settled, the directors would consider the question of rebuilding on their old site at Lombard and South Streets. Some of the directors were said to favor a one-story structure.
On January 23, 1905, the building committee of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank decided to award the contract for the erection of the new banking house to the Wells Brothers Company. The contract for the construction of the vault, which would be one of the largest in the city, was awarded to the L.H. Miller Safe and Iron Works. Baldwin & Pennington were the architects and the cost was estimated at $80,000. Mr. Charles T. Crane, president of the bank, said that the bank would be back at the old site before the jubilee celebration next September. The new home would be a one-story structure 56 feet high above the sidewalk, with a frontage of 53 feet on South Street and 82 feet on Lombard Street. The building, designed in the modern French Renaissance style, would be constructed of fireproof materials throughout, the outside walls being of red brick with limestone cornice and trimmings and a granite base. The structure would be lighted entirely from the outside windows of more than 12 feet wide and 25 feet high. The entrance door, window frames and sash would be of bronze, and the glazing would be of wire glass protected with ornamental iron guards. The interior would be finished with marble floors, paneled oak wainscoting nine feet high with decorated plastered walls above supporting the ornamental plastered ceiling.
Figuring in its tenth bank consolidation in six years, and its third this year, the Union Trust Company announced on June 13, 1930 that its board of directors had unanimously approved a merger with the Farmers and Merchants National Bank, the oldest national bank in existence in Baltimore. Directors of the national bank approved the plan at noon. The merged bank would take the name of the Union Trust Company of Maryland, creating an institution with resources of approximately $75,000,000. William H. Gideon, president the Farmers and Merchants National Bank, would become vice chairman of the board of the Union Trust Company. John Schoenewolf remained chairman of the board and John Dennis president. The Union Trust Company, about two weeks ago, announced that it had acquired control of Monumental City Bank with resources of about $750,000, and earlier in the year it consummated a merger with the National Bank of Baltimore, at the time the oldest national bank, with resources of about $23,000,000. The three consolidations in the year added nearly $34,000,000 to the trust company’s resources. Resources of the Farmers and Merchants were approximately $11,000,000 of which $1,100,000 was capital, surplus and undivided profits, and a balance of about $10,000,000 of deposits. The Union Trust Company's statement showed deposits of $54,300,000, capital, surplus and undivided profits, and reserves of $8,700,000, making total resources $63,000,000. Combined the institutions would have about $64,000,000 in deposits and nearly $73,000,000 in resources.
The Farmers and Merchants National Bank operated four offices and the Union Trust Company fourteen offices in various parts of the city, so that the new institution would start off with eighteen offices. The main office of the Farmers and Merchants was located at South and Lombard streets, while its three branch offices occupied excellent banking locations at North and Linden Avenues, Baltimore and Lloyd Streets and Eastern and Highland Avenues. Terms of the merger provided stockholders of the Farmers and Merchants three and a half shares of Union Trust stock for each ten shares of stock of the national bank. Upon exchange of sufficient number of shares, the Farmers and Merchants would be liquidated and operated as the Farmers and Merchants office of the Union Trust Company. Directors of the national bank were: Carter G. Osburn, Frank J. Taylor, Benjamin Harris Brewster, Jr., William H. Gideon, Timothy Ryan, Jr., Jesse A. Davis, Sherlock Swann, Samuel P. Morton, Jr., Henry M. Warfield, William Hofmeister and J.C.M. Lucas.
The Union Trust Company had acquired in the course of its existence the following institutions:
- Citizens State Bank, Govans, 1919
- First National Bank of Catonsville, 1921.
- American Exchange and Savings Bank 1924
- Westport Bank, 1924
- Liberty Bank, 1925
- Commerce Trust Company, 1927
- Overlea Bank, Overlea, 1928
- Overlea Bank, Essex, 1928
- West Baltimore Bank, 1928
- Commercial Bank of Maryland, Arlington, 1928
- Commercial Bank of Maryland, Pimlico, 1928
- National Bank of Baltimore, 1930
- Monumental City Bank, 1930
The National Bank of Baltimore, in turn, figured in two consolidations in 1911, acquiring the Third National Bank and the Commercial and Farmers National.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Baltimore, MD
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $9,707,120 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1930. This consisted of a total of 1,163,798 notes (1,104,680 large size and 59,118 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments Original Series 4x5 1 - 10000 Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 8200 Original Series 50-100 1 - 2508 Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 7000 Series 1875 50-100 1 - 668 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 4582 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 4106 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 7000 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 7600 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 54000 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 38700 1902 Plain Back 4x5 54001 - 143115 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 38701 - 82979 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 6255 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2948 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 650
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1930):
Presidents:
- Dr. John Hanson Thomas, 1865-1878
- James Sloan, Jr., 1879-1899
- Charles Thomas Clark Crane, 1900-1917
- Carter Gibson Osburn, 1918-1925
- William Herman Gideon, 1926-1929
Cashiers:
- James Sloan, Jr., 1865-1878
- Edward Sinclair Beall, 1879-1882
- Charles Hall Pitts, 1883-1887
- Charles Thomas Clark Crane, 1888-1899
- Carter Gibson Osburn, 1900-1916
- William Saunders Hammond, 1916-1917
- John E. Marshall, (Sr.), 1918-1928
- Dederick Conrad Weaver Ward, Jr., 1929-1929
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Maryland Bank Note History
- General information on Baltimore (Wikipedia)
- General information on Baltimore County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Maryland (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Baltimore, MD, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,_Maryland
- 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
- Baltimore Metrocenter Survey, Survey No.: B-1253, Surveyor and Date: Fred B. Shoken, May 1985.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Wed., Oct. 15, 1856.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Thu., Oct. 16, 1856.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Sat., Apr. 18, 1863.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Mon., Jan. 20, 1868.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Fri., Jan. 17, 1890.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Fri., Jan. 12, 1900.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Fri., Jan. 15, 1904.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Fri., Feb. 12, 1904.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Fri., Mar. 11, 1904.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Tue., Jan. 24, 1905.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Fri., Jan. 27, 1905.
- The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Sat., June 14, 1930.