First National Bank, Canastota, NY (Charter 4419)

From Bank Note History
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The First National Bank of Canastota, located at at Center and Peterboro Streets, New York, ca2023.
The First National Bank of Canastota, located at at Center and Peterboro Streets, New York, ca2023. Courtesy of Google Maps

First National Bank, Canastota, NY (Chartered 1890 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Canastota is a village located inside the Town of Lenox in Madison County, New York. The population was 4,804 at the 2010 census. Canastota is located about 25 miles east of Syracuse and 32 miles west of Utica along I-90.

Kniste Stota was the historic name of the village, a term used by the local Oneida Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy, meaning "cluster of pines near still waters". The village recently celebrated the bicentennial of its settlement by European-Americans.

One early historic property is the Judge Nathan S. Roberts House, which dates to about 1820.

Canastota is well known as an onion-growing town, and that effort used to account for a large portion of the income in the village. The village was incorporated in 1835, but was reorganized in 1870. Located along the banks of the Erie Canal, which was completed through the Mohawk River valley by 1825, Canastota was a vibrant trading and commerce town during the mid-nineteenth century for a wide agricultural area. When the canal was superseded by construction of railroads, and later the New York Thruway, some canal towns were cut off from the main lines of commerce. During the 1850s, Charles Spencer became famous for constructing some of the best compound microscopes in the world, and Canastota became known as a "microscopic Mecca" despite its rural location. Robert Tolles, whose lenses later allowed observers to plumb the limits of light microscopy, studied with Spencer in Canastota and later partnered with him.

Canastota is home of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Having produced two world champions in Carmen Basilio and Billy Backus, Canastota was a natural choice as a site for the museum and outdoor stage. The museum is located a short distance from the New York State Thruway. Each second weekend in June, Canastota has hosted numerous past and current champions, including Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Joe Frazier. A Sunday parade and an induction ceremony is held to honor past and current Hall of Fame inductees.

Canastota had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, the Canastota National Bank (Charter 1525) and the First National Bank (Charter 4419) and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes. Canastota also had one Obsolete Bank that issued Obsolete Bank Notes during the Obsolete Bank Note Era (1782-1866).

Bank History

The old Canastota Savings & Loan Association located in the Delang building on Peterboro Street, Canastota, New York.
The old Canastota Savings & Loan Association located in the Delang building on Peterboro Street, Canastota, New York. Courtesy of Google Maps, ca2023

On September 19, 1890, the comptroller of the currency authorized The First National Bank of Canastota to begin business with capital of $50,000. The president was Le Grand Colton and the cashier was J. Clarence Rasbach.[1]

On Tuesday, January 10, 1911, at the First National Bank meeting, L.G. Colton, J.W. Stanton, J.C. Rasbuch, F.W. Dew, H.M. Quackanbush were elected directors. The first four directors named were chosen president, vice president, cashier, assistant cashier and teller in the order named.[2]

In 1939, Frederick W. Dew headed one of the oldest businesses in Canastota, the First National Bank, established in 1856 as the Canastota Bank located at the site occupied by the modern organization. The Canastota Savings and Loan Association of which J. Fenn Smith was president, was founded February 9, 1889.[3]

The First Trust & Deposit Co. of Syracuse acquired the assets of the First National Bank of Canastota in February of 1946. They opened a branch office in Canastota on February 4, 1946 with Clifford W. Cramp as vice president in charge. Cramp joined the First Trust in 1917, going to the First National Bank of Canastota in 1938 to become vice president. In 1941 he was elected president of the bank. Cramp was a past president of the Civic Club of Canastota, chairman of the planning and zoning commission and a member of the Board of Education. Albert B. Merrill was president of the First Trust.[4]

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Canastota, NY

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of C.J. Rasbach, Cashier and William H. Ludlow, Vice President.
1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of C.J. Rasbach, Cashier and William H. Ludlow, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of G.M. Lewis, Cashier and F.W. Dew, President.
1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of G.M. Lewis, Cashier and F.W. Dew, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $282,890 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1890 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 22,750 notes (19,684 large size and 3,066 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 - 2310
1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 222
1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 1180
1902 DB/PB 3x10-20 1181 - 1300 Type uncertain
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1301 - 2389
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 292
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 69
1929 Type 2 10 1 - 696
1929 Type 2 20 1 - 204

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1890 - 1936):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

Wiki Links

Sources

  • Canastota, NY, 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://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
  1. The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY, Sat., Sep. 20, 1890.
  2. The Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY, Thu., Jan. 12, 1911.
  3. Syracuse Herald-Journal, Syracuse, NY, Mon., Mar. 20, 1939.
  4. The Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY, Sun., Feb. 3, 1946.