First National Bank, Brunswick, ME (Charter 192)
First National Bank, Brunswick, ME (Chartered 1864 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Peary–MacMillan Arctic Museum, and the Maine State Music Theatre. It was formerly home to the U.S. Naval Air Station Brunswick, which was permanently closed on May 31, 2011, and has since been partially released to redevelopment as "Brunswick Landing".
In 1739, Brunswick was incorporated as a town. It became a prosperous seaport, where Bowdoin College was chartered in 1794. The Androscoggin River falls in three successive stages for a total vertical drop of 41 feet, providing water power for industry. Brunswick became a major producer of lumber, with as many as 25 sawmills. Some of the lumber went into shipbuilding. Other firms produced paper, soap, flour, marble and granite work, carriages and harness, plows, furniture, shoes and confections. The town was site of the first cotton mill in Maine, the Brunswick Cotton Manufactory Company, built in 1809 to make yarn. Purchased in 1812, the mill was enlarged by the Maine Cotton & Woolen Factory Company. In 1857, the Cabot Manufacturing Company was established to make cotton textiles. It bought the failed Worumbo Mill and expanded the brick factory along the falls. Needing even more room, the company in 1890 persuaded the town to move Maine Street.
Principal employers for Brunswick include L.L. Bean, Bath Iron Works, as well as companies that produce fiberglass construction material and electrical switches. A number of health services providers serving Maine's mid-coast area are located in Brunswick. The former Naval Air Station Brunswick was a major employer in Brunswick prior to its closure.
Brunswick had three National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all three of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Chartered January 11, 1864
- Succeeded Maine Bank
- Conservatorship March 21, 1933
- Licensed June 6, 1933
- Bank was Open past 1935
In April 1857, the Senate passed a bill to incorporate the Maine Bank at Brunswick.[1] On June 6, 1857, the incorporators and stockholders organized, choosing the following directors: Henry H. Boody, S.R. Jackson, Robert Bowker, G.F. Mustard, J.D. Lincoln, Charles Moutelle, N.T. Palmer, Jesse D. Wilson, and Wm. Woodside. The directors subsequently met and chose S.R. Jackson, Esq., as president. The capital stock of $75,000 was all taken and the bank would commence business in October.[2]
In June 1867, Ai Brooks, Esq., resigned the cashiership of the First National Bank and would depart July 1st to accept an unsolicited election to the same office in the Freeman's National Bank of Augusta.[3] In August 1868, Ai Brooks, Jr., Esq., cashier of the Freemans National Bank, Augusta, was appointed cashier of the First National Bank of Lewiston to fill the vacancy created by the death of Mr. Small. Mr. Brooks was a native of Lewiston, and was in the old Lewiston Falls Bank with Mr. Small for several years which he left about 9 years earlier to accept the position of cashier in the Maine Bank, Brunswick. He new would return to his native city and to the bank where he served his apprenticeship with the reputation of being one of the most efficient bank cashiers in the state. [4]
On Tuesday evening, March 15, 1960, Samuel L. Forsaith, 81, chairman of the board of the First National Bank of Brunswick and for over half a century town treasurer, died suddenly at a Portland Hospital. A native of Brunswick, he was born March 25, 1878 in the same home on Maines Street where he resided his entire life. It stood next door to the bank he served as president a quarter century. His parents were Capt. Edward B. and Marion B. Wiswell Forsaith. In 1896 he entered the banking business almost immediately following graduation from Brunswick High School. In 1901 he was elected treasurer of the Brunswick Savings Institution, but resigned the next year to become cashier of the First National Bank. He was elected a trustee of the Brunswick Savings Institution in 1901 and in 1910, became a director of the First National. In 1932, he was elected president of the First National, succeeding the late Franklin C. Webb, and continued in that capacity until 1956 when he was voted chairman of the board. In his more active days, Mr. Forsaith was among a small group of Brunswick men who purchased the land which became Brunswick Golf Course. He was a widely known participant in state tournaments and in later years he competed in the senior tournaments. He was survived by his sister, Miss Isabel S. Forsaith of Brunswick. [5]
In December 1961, merger of the First National Bank of Brunswick and the First National Bank of Portland had been proposed for stockholder approval The total assets of the merged bank would exceed $90 million. [6] On Tuesday, January 30, 1962, the merger was approved by stockholders of both concerns and now awaited federal approval. [7] On Friday, March 16th, Comptroller of the Currency James J. Savon approved 11 mergers and consolidations including that of the First National Bank of Portland and the First National Bank of Brunswick. [8]
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Brunswick, ME
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,576,360 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 141,340 notes (113,272 large size and 28,068 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments Original Series 3x1-2 1 - 1500 Original Series 4x5 1 - 2000 Original Series 4x10 1 - 3000 Series 1875 4x10 1 - 1250 Series 1875 50-100 1 - 280 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 4499 1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 664 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 3425 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 3900 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 3901 - 12172 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1216 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1342 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 354 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 10596
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1935):
Presidents:
- Samuel Randall Jackson, 1864-1870
- Dr. Nathaniel T. Palmer, 1871-1903
- Frederick H. Wilson, 1904-1915
- Franklin C. Webb, 1916-1931
- Samuel Lincoln Forsaith, 1932-1935
Cashiers:
- Ai Brooks, Jr., 1864-1867
- John Patten Winchell, 1868-1900
- Osceola Jackson Ripley, 1901-1901
- Samuel Lincoln Forsaith, 1902-1931
- William H. Farrar, 1932-1935
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Brunswick, ME, 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
- ↑ Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME, Thu., Apr. 16, 1857.
- ↑ Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME, Sat., June 20, 1857.
- ↑ The Portland Daily Press, Portland, ME, Sat., June 27, 1868.
- ↑ Sun-Journal, Lewiston, ME, Thu., Aug. 6, 1868.
- ↑ Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME, Wed., Mar. 16, 1960.
- ↑ Biddeford-Saco Journal, Biddeford, ME, Fri., Dec. 1, 1961.
- ↑ The Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME, Wed., Jan. 31, 1962.
- ↑ The Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME, Sat., Mar. 17, 1962.