First National Bank, Birmingham, MI (Charter 9874)
First National Bank, Birmingham, MI (Chartered 1910 - Receivership 1933)
Town History
Birmingham is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor (M-1). As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103. In 1910 the population was 1,607, growing to 9,539 by 1930.
The area comprising what is now the city of Birmingham was part of land ceded by Native American tribes to the United States government by the 1807 Treaty of Detroit. However, settlement was delayed, first by the War of 1812. Afterward the Surveyor-General of the United States, Edward Tiffin, made an unfavorable report regarding the placement of Military Bounty Lands for veterans of the War of 1812. Tiffin's report claimed that, because of marsh, in this area "There would not be an acre out of a hundred, if there would be one out of a thousand that would, in any case, admit cultivation." In 1818, Territorial Governor Lewis Cass led a group of men along the Indian Trail. The governor's party discovered that the swamp was not as extensive as Tiffin had supposed. Not long after Cass issued a more encouraging report about the land, interest quickened as to its suitability for settlement.
The earliest land entry was made on January 28, 1819, by Colonel Benjamin Kendrick Pierce (brother of future U.S. President Franklin Pierce) for the northwest quarter of section 36. Colonel Pierce visited his land several times, but never settled on it. In March 1818, John W. Hunter and his brother Daniel left Auburn, New York, by sleigh and traveled to Michigan by way of Upper Canada. They waited in Detroit for their father and other family members, who arrived by schooner via Lake Erie in July. The family remained in Detroit until spring 1819, when Hunter made an entry for the northeast quarter of section 36, now in the southeast section of current-day Birmingham. Lacking a proper land survey, Hunter mistakenly built his log house on a tract later purchased by Elijah Willits. That house was later occupied by William Hall, a son-in-law of Elisha Hunter, while John W. Hunter built another log house a short distance to the southeast. On September 25, 1821, Elijah Willits made a land entry for the southwest quarter of section 25. Two days later, Major John Hamilton made an entry for the southeast quarter of section 25. Each of these initial land entries met at what is now the intersection of Maple Road and Pierce Street.
For a time, all three men, John W. Hunter, Hamilton, and Willits, operated hotels and taverns from their houses within a short distance from each other. While Hunter did not continue for very long, Hamilton and Willits continued a rivalry for many years, competing with each other for business from travelers on Woodward Avenue between Detroit and Pontiac. The growing settlement was known variously as "Hamilton's", "Hunter's", or "Willits'"; it was later known as "Piety Hill".
The settlement's original plat was surveyed and recorded on August 25, 1836, in the northwest quarter of section 36, then owned by Rosewell T. Merrill, who also ran the town foundry and the thrashing machine factory. Merrill named his plat "Birmingham" after Birmingham, England; he envisioned that it would also become a great industrial center. Elijah Willits recorded a plat on his property on December 20, 1837. John W. Hunter followed suit with two plats on his property on January 31, 1840, and June 21, 1842, while Major Hamilton laid out a plat on October 7, 1846. Several other properties were subsequently platted as additions. The plats made in 1836 and 1837 were in anticipation of completion of the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad.
Now known as 'Birmingham', the village first received mail through the "Bloomfield" post office. Birmingham established its own post office on April 5, 1838. The settlement incorporated as a village in 1864, comprising the northern half of section 36 and the southern half of section 25, with a total land area of one square mile.
Birmingham had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized September 7, 1910
- Chartered October 18, 1910
- Succeeded Exchange Bank of Whitehead & Mitchell (a private institution)
- Assumed Birmingham Savings Bank December 28, 1931
- Conservatorship March 22, 1933
- Receivership October 14, 1933
Few men as young as Mr. Almeron Whitehead can look back over a business career as successful as his. He was a member of the firm of Whitehead & Mitchell, dealers in drugs, groceries, crockery, etc., and personally looked after their interests in the Exchange Bank of Whitehead & Mitchell. He was a co-founder with Mr. Mitchell in the weekly paper, the Birmingham Eccentric. Mr. Whitehead was born in Waterford Township near Elizabeth Lake on October 28, 1851, the son of Almeron and Ann (Mais) Whitehead, natives of New York, the father born in Newburg and the mother in the metropolis. He was reared on a farm in Waterford Township and received his education in the district schools and the high school at Pontiac. He left the farm at the age of 22 years and came to Birmingham where he was employed by Capt. J.A. Bigelow, his brother-in-law, as a clerk at $100 per year. After four years he went on the road for the Detroit Paper Company, but after a year of travel, returned to Birmingham and formed a partnership with Mr. Bigelow. The connection lasted 3 years after which he and Geo. H. Mitchell engaged in the sale of drugs and groceries. They added to their business interests and finally became the proprietors of the bank and newspaper previously mentioned.[1]
George H. Mitchell was born in Birmingham May 28, 1854. He received a common school education and began his business life as a clerk at the age of 16 for J.A. Bigelow where he remained two years. He then began clerking and telegraphing for F. Hagerman, druggist, where he remained 8 years. About April 1st, 1881, he formed a partnership with Mr. Whitehead and started in the drug and grocery business on a small scale. Neither of the partners had any great means, as they had been obliged to work for themselves, and their parents were not in a condition to supply them with any money. Good business ability accomplished what even wealth could not have done, the firm furnishing the basis for all other enterprises. They began the publication of the Birmingham Eccentric, an independent local newspaper, in May 1878. The firm of Whitehead & Mitchell conducted the Exchange Bank and also controlled the telephone exchange. Mr. Mitchell was township treasurer and village clerk. In social, as in business life, he was one of the leading men of Birmingham.[2]
In 1887, the Exchange Bank of Whitehead and Mitchell started in a small corner of the store. It was fenced off and 'half-heartily resembled an office.' Upon the death of Erastus Beebe, $500 in cash was was left and Mitchell was the administrator. He opened an account with the New York Exchange Bank and became the agency for that institution. Thus, the bank grew large enough to warrant its own building. The private bank continued until 1910 when state law required an affiliation with either a national or state charter, so the First National Bank of Birmingham was formed with Mr. Whitehead as president. In 1920, their building on Woodward Avenue was erected and Mr. Whitehead continued to direct the affairs of the bank.[3][4][5]
On Friday, February 13, 1931, Timothy R. Donovan died of a heart attach at Harper Hospital where he was admitted for a minor operation. He was born in Lynn, Massachusetts on august 10, 1865, the son of Daniel Donovan, a prominent shoe manufacturer. In 1886, he came to Saginaw where he became manager and part owner of the Gately & Donovan Clothing Co. Until recently, he was president of the Gately Clothing Co. of Detroit. He was married to Elizabeth Bigelow of Birmingham in 1910, moving to the village at that time. Mr. Donovan was an ardent sportsman, making annual hunting trips to England where he owned game lands. He was keenly interested in riding activities, Mrs. Donovan being a prominent equestrienne. He was a former director of the Griswold First State Bank and served a president of the First National Bank of Birmingham. He was president of the Donovan Building Co. which built the Donovan building on Woodward Avenue and Duffield Street in 1923.[6]
On Monday, December 14, 1931, a warrant charging embezzlement of $1,400 from the Birmingham Savings Bank was issued for Miss Darice Rowley on complaint of the bonding company. Miss Rowley was 25 years old and employed as a clerk for three years until a shortage was discovered in October.[7] In November 1932, the judge ruled that the prosecution could only submit one charge and the prosecutor elected to allow the jury to decide whether she was guilty of the lesser offense of making false entries rather than embezzlement. Ms. Rowley was acquitted by the jury on November 3rd.[8]
On Thursday, December 17, 1931, officers of the First National Bank of Birmingham announced they had purchased outright the Birmingham Savings Bank. The Savings Bank would remain open 60 days to permit safe deposit box holders to transfer their possessions.[9]
The First National Bank of Birmingham did not reopen after the bank holiday proclaimed February 14, 1933. On Friday, June 2, 1933, the Reconstruction Finance Corp. approved a conservator's loan and authorized the purchase of $60,000 in preferred stock in the new Birmingham National Bank which succeeded the closed First National Bank. Charles E. James, Federal conservator of the First National announced payment of 25% to depositors of the closed bank, 5% more than planned made possible by the RFC's actions. Mr. James, a director in the new institution, said the directors would meet to elect officers and set a date for opening which would give Birmingham two banks after many weeks without banking facilities.[10]
The Birmingham National Bank, charter 13703, opened on Thursday, June 15, 1933.[11]
In March 1935, Charles E. James, executive vice president of the Birmingham National Bank was elected president to succeed F.W. Johnson, resigned. Mr. Johnson resigned due to the pressure of his own business requiring his full attention.[12]
Minnie T. Jarvis, one time cashier of the old Exchange Bank of Whitehead and Mitchell died early Wednesday morning, January 29, 1941, at her home at 267 Woodland Avenue following an illness of 7 months. Miss Jarvis remained with the bank until 1933 when it closed temporarily, later to reopen as the Birmingham National Bank.[13]
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Birmingham, MI
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,235,940 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1910 and 1933. This consisted of a total of 128,996 notes (106,172 large size and 22,824 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 550 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 440 1902 Plain Back 4x5 551 - 16252 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 441 - 9549 1902 Plain Back 3x50-100 1 - 742 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 2247 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1027 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 316 1929 Type 1 6x50 1 - 158 1929 Type 1 6x100 1 - 56
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1910 - 1933):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Birmingham, MI, 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 Free Press, Detroit, MI, Mon., Aug. 29, 1892.
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, Detroit, MI, Mon., Aug. 29, 1892.
- ↑ The Times, Harbor Beach, MI, Fri., July 29, 1887.
- ↑ The Windsor Star, Winsor, ON, Canada, Mon. July 26, 1926.
- ↑ Birmingham Eccentric, Birmingham, MI, Wed., July 28, 1926.
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, Detroit, MI, Sun., Feb. 15, 1931.
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, Detroit, MI, Tue., Dec. 15, 1931.
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, Detroit, MI, Fri., Nov. 4, 1932.
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, Detroit, MI, Fri., Dec. 18, 1931.
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, Detroit, MI, Sat., June 3, 1933.
- ↑ Lansing State Journal, Lansing, MI, Fri., June 16, 1933.
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, Detroit, MI, Sun., Mar. 24, 1935.
- ↑ Findagrave.com Memorial ID 233132439