First National Bank, Castle Shannon, PA (Charter 9128)

Photo of the First National Bank of Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania, ca1900s. Courtesy of Jerry Dzara

First National Bank, Castle Shannon, PA (Chartered 1908 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Castle Shannon is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 8,316 at the 2010 census. In 1920, the population was 2,353, peaking in 1970 at 12,036.

The first families settled Castle Shannon in 1786 in pursuit of farmland and timber and is widely assumed to be the Haas family. The most prominent farm was owned by David Strawbridge. Following common practices of Irish settlers—primarily from Ulster—in the region to name places and farms after former or ancestral homes in Ireland, he named it Castle Shanahan. Castleshanaghan is a townland in County Donegal, Ireland. Over time, the farm would lend its name to the area, as "Shanahan" would evolve into "Shannon". In 1872, the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad line was completed, providing a direct link from Pittsburgh to the then-village of Castle Shannon. Development was stimulated by two years of free transportation and lumber transport given to anybody building a home.

Castle Shannon was incorporated as a borough in 1919, formed from parts of Baldwin Township, Mt. Lebanon, and Bethel Township.

Castle Shannon had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Upper left is John Schweiger who captured Nick Krewanos, the leader of the gang who is pictured below the bank; upper right is Dr. J.C. Kerr who headed the party that killed one of the bandits; below Dr. Kerr are three members of the posse from left to right Philip Beck, Joseph Nolle and Thomas Nolle, Lower left Stanley W. Rawa, a bank patron who witnessed the May 14th robbery.

Organized April 22, 1908
Chartered May 8, 1908
Opened for business May 25, 1908
Bank was Open past 1935

On May 8, 1908, the Comptroller of the Currency issued a certificate authorizing the First National Bank of Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania, to begin business with capital of $25,000. The officers were Oliver R. Lake, president; A.H. Anderson, vice president; J.P. Kuhlman, cashier; and F.W. Erbe, assistant cashier.

In January 1917, the directors elected were A.D. Robb, J.W. Waterman, J.W. Jones, W.P. Phillips, and James L. McKee.

Around Noon on May 14, 1917, three persons were killed in the First National Bank of Castle Shannon, a Pittsburgh suburb, in a robbery of the bank. A few years earlier the community was shocked by the news of the killing of two employees of a bank in connection with a robbery in McKees Rocks. A first hand account of what transpired at Castle Shannon as reported in the Pittsburgh Daily Post follows:

Three of Gang Are Still at Large One Is Dead, One in Hospital and Third Is Prisoner: The cashier and assistant cashier killed resisting the robbers; two Castle Shannon residents injured during pursuit. 
MOST OF STOLEN MONEY RECOVERED Armed with revolvers, rifles and shotguns, residents of Castle Shannon were aiding detectives last night in a search for three of six bandits who killed the cashier and assistant cashier when they raided the First National Dank of Castle Shannon during the noon hour, taking about $10,000. All but about $2,000 of the money is thought to have been recovered. One of the bandits is dead. Two others, said to have been in the bandits' party, are wounded and one of these probably will die. Two men, who were hurt in an attempt to capture the bandits, will recover.

THE DEAD:
- Daniel H. A. McLean. 45 years old, cashier, of Shady avenue, Mt. Lebanon, died in the Southside Hospital from a bullet wound in the right temple, two hours after the shooting.
- Frank Wylie Erbe, 32 years old, of Venetia near Library, assistant cashier, died in the Southside Hospital. He received six shots in the head and body.
- John Tusch [John Oyech], about 25 years old, one of the alleged bandits, thought to live at 2209 Fifth Avenue, killed instantly when shot through the right temple.
THE INJURED:
- Samuel Beta [Sam Bisco or Sam Barcons], 28 years old, of 2203 Fifth Avenue, one of the alleged bandits, shot through the mouth by one of the posse and thought to be dying in the Southside Hospital.
- Nicholas Yost, a dispatcher for the Pittsburgh Railways Company at Castle Shannon, shot in the right leg while pursuing the bandits.
- Justice George H. Beltzhoover of Castle Shannon, face and hands cut in fight with one of the bandits.
- Nick Krewanos [Nick Kemanos, alias Yockel], 30 years old, of Universal, alleged driver of the bandits' automobile, beaten by the crowd which attempted to take him from county detectives. He is under arrest.

BANDITS AWAIT TIME Driving their automobile up Popular Street, before noon on the day of the robbery, four of the bandits stopped the machine in front of the home of Dr. John C. Kerr at Pine Street, and waited until 12:20 o'clock, assuring themselves that there were only a few persons in the bank. Two others, who walked beside the automobile, remained outside, between the Kerr home and the entrance of the bank. Four of the men walked through the door and drew automatic handguns from their pockets. Stanley W. Rawa, foreman for the Brown Brothers Lumber Company, was standing near the cashier's window. Cashier McLean and Erbe, his assistant, were the only persons in the cage. The bandits walked up to the cage. Two of them began firing at McLean and Erbe between the brass bars; a third leveled a revolver at Rawa with his left hand, and fired through another window at the bank employees from the weapon in his right hand. The fourth man tied Rawa's hands and attempted to tie a handkerchief around his face. Rawa resisted and kicked the man in the leg. The bandit then struck Rawa on the chin with the barrel of his revolver, while his companion tied the knot in the rope which bound Rawa's hands. Rawa identified Tusch later in Laughlin's undertaking rooms as the man who had tied him. Tusch had been killed during the pursuit. While two of the bandits centered their attention on Rawa the other two were firing at McLean and Erbe. Cashier McLean picked up a revolver from a drawer near his window and began stepping backward toward the vault. He fired as he backed away. Erbe also picked up a revolver and began firing as he backed toward the vault with McLean. As both dropped behind the desk between the window and the vault the bandits, standing outside the cage kept firing at them. Wounded in the head and left leg, McLean sank to the floor near the vault. Forcing the door to the interior of the cage, the bandits started to walk toward the vault. Erbe, lying low under his window, opened fire on them. Both of the men dropped behind desks and began firing at Erbe, who, pierced by half a dozen shots, dropped his revolver and fell limp and helpless. The two remaining men in the bank backed Rawa into a corner and watched him and the door. Rawa saw the fight when the handkerchief became loose and fell from his eyes. He made no effort to escape.

Slain bank officers, Frank W. Erbe, assistant cashier to the left and D.H.A. McLean, cashier, to the right, of the First National Bank of Castle Shannon.

The bandits quickly stepped over the bullet-riddled bodies of McLean and Erbe, entered the vault, seized several packages of paper money and left the bank. Attracted by the shots residents nearby ran to the bank. Someone gave Justice Beltzhoover a shotgun and he attempted to halt the bandits as they left the bank, but the gun was not loaded and the thugs beat him on the face and hands with their own weapons before they jumped in their automobile and got away for the time. After going a short distance in the automobile the bandits separated, two of them going in the direction of the Castle Shannon Golf Club's grounds toward the east and the other two along the Washington Pike.
YOST SHOT IN LEG The two who started east ran through the yard of Dr. John C. Kerr, climbed a fence and ran up the hillside toward the orchard of the golf club. The two who had remained outside and did not take an active part in the crime had disappeared when the shooting began. Yost, the dispatcher, saw the men running after they had left the yard of Dr. Kerr and he gave chase, but one of them turned on him and fired, the bullet entering his right leg, and he was compelled to give up the pursuit. Dr. Kerr jumped in an automobile with other residents and started after the two bandits, who were headed for the golf links. J.J. Boyle, a druggist, headed another posse which started along the Washington Pike. Reaching the crest of the hill the automobile party of Dr. Kerr, came upon two men suspected of being the bandits. The men turned and leveled their revolvers at the pursuers. Dr. Kerr and the men in the automobile with him fired shot after shot, at the fugitives. They returned the fire, but soon one of the men dropped. His companion picked up the dead man's revolver and a package of money.
BETS IS CAPTURED Crouching between two fallen trees, the fugitive thrust his revolver toward his pursuers and was about to fire when a bullet struck him in the mouth, and he fell unconscious. He was identified as Bets and was placed in an automobile and taken to Castle Shannon, where a crowd had formed around the bank by that time and was threatening summary vengeance to the bandits if they were captured. His package contained $3,000. A rush was made on the automobile in an effort to take the bleeding man away from the posse. Detectives and deputy sheriff who had arrived, assisted by citizens, prevailed upon the crowd to be quiet, and Bets, still unconscious, was placed in an automobile and taken to the Southside Hospital by Detectives Harry Cochran and James Wall. The body of the dead man was taken to the undertaking establishment. Many persons crowded the establishment, but no one could identify the victim. The body was taken to the morgue. Steve Schmeko of 2203 Fifth Avenue was taken to the morgue that night by Sheriff George W. Richards, where he identified the man killed by the pursuers as John Tusch and said he boarded in the same house with Tusch. Linen and wearing apparel bearing the name of 'J.T. Tusch' was found in the Fifth Avenue house.

PURSUERS' STRATEGY Meanwhile the posse pursuing the two bandits along the Washington Pike, who had fled from the bank in the automobile, was headed by Justin Brown of Dormont and J.M. Schweiger of Castle Shannon. Paul Schenot and August Schenot took another automobile and started out the pike. Near Greentree they passed an automobile containing one man. Stopping their car in the middle of the pike a short distance ahead, the pursuers pretended to repair it. When the car reached them it had to be brought to a stop because of the blocked roadway. The car driven by Brown and Schweiger appeared just then, and occupants of both automobiles commanded the lone driver between them to throw up his hands. The man proved to be Nick Krewanosa of Universal. The captors say that his first words after being ordered to throw up his hands were: "Me got no money." They took him from his automobile, put him into the one they were riding in and drove back to Castle Shannon, where he was identified by Rawa as one of the men who had bound and gagged him in the bank. Krewanosa was taken to the office of the county detectives later.
SUSPECT CAUGHT ON CAR The posse and detectives say they learned that a man carrying a small box made his way down the hill from the Washington Pike, near the place where Krewanosa was captured, going toward the Castle Shannon barns of the Pittsburgh Railways Company. No trace of him could be found. After returning to Castle Shannon some of the deputy sheriffs were told by J.A. Weber, conductor on a Fair Haven car, that a passenger he carried appeared nervous and when the car reached Pittsburgh he called detectives and had the man arrested. The prisoner said be was Wetzel Bornak of California, Pa. When asked about the robbery he denied knowledge of it and said he was unable to speak English. After being questioned, Bornak was released last midnight.
DYING MAN GIVES NAMES Deputy Sheriffs Frank Morgan and David Matthews and County Detectives John T. Burke and Charles Heidler say that Bets recovered consciousness for a time while being taken to the hospital and gave the detectives the names of his alleged accomplices. After the fight in the bank and the escape of the bandits, temporarily, 15 empty shells were found near the unconscious form of McLean, indicating that he had reloaded his revolver and fought until struck in a vital part of the body by a bullet from the gun of one of the bandits. Glass between the brass bars in the cage was shattered and more than a dozen bullets lodged in the walls. "I am only sorry that the men did not submit to the bandits and let them have what they wanted without offering resistance. In any case the loss would have been covered by insurance," was the comment of President Robb.
GIRL HAS INFORMATION Miss Catherine Haney, who lives next door to the McLean home on Shady Avenue, Mt. Lebanon, told the detectives last night that four men in an automobile and three men walking beside the machine passed through Mt. Lebanon at 10:30 o'clock yesterday morning. The men asked the direction to the bank in Castle Shannon. She could not identify the dead man as one of these. McLean was known to many persons in Pittsburgh banking circles. He was employed formerly in the First National Bank at Pittsburgh. He was born in Clifton, Ohio, in 1872 and spent the early part of his life in Southern Virginia. In 1900 he entered the employ of the Second National Bank, which was later merged with the First National Bank, as a messenger, and rose to the office of auditor of the bank. He left the bank to take up the position of credit and collection manager for the Pickering Company. In 1911 he accepted the position of cashier of the bank where he met his death yesterday. Three children, Margaret McLean, Harold McLean and Raymond McLean, survive and make their home with a brother, Joseph P. McLean, in Shady Avenue, Mt. Lebanon, where Mr. McLean had resided since the death of his wife three years ago. Two other brothers and three sisters also survive. C.S. McLean, who is cashier of the First National Bank in Everett. Washington; John A. McLean of Galveston, Tex.; Mrs. Bouldin Crowder and Miss Belle McLean of Clarksville, Va., and Mrs. Greer Jones of South Hills, Va. His mother. Mrs. Anna Amelia McLean, also survives, making her home with Mrs. Crowder in Clarksville, Va. Assistant Cashier Erbe was unmarried and lived with his mother, Mrs. Hannah Erbe, in Venetia, near Library. He was a member of the Library Baptist Church. He leaves his mother and four brothers.

On June 1, 1917, Samuel Bisco [Sam Barcons] was discharged from the Southside Hospital where he had been confined since the robbery when he was shot and was being held on a murder charge. Bisco was taken to the morgue where he identified the body of John Oyech, slain by the posse after his attempted escape. County detectives were said to have obtained a confession from Bisco and then placed him in Central station where he was held for the coroner.

On December 11, 1917, Sam Barcons, alleged murderer of Daniel H.A. McLean and Frank W. Erbe during the robbery of the First National Bank of Castle Shannon, withdrew his plea of not guilty and substituted a plea of guilty to both murders before Judge John A. Evans in criminal court. His attorneys requested the privilege of changing the defendant's plea, and after a consultation with the district attorney, Judge Evans discharged the jury. Witnesses were then called so that the court may determine the degree of the crime. Alma Matisco, a nurse in the Southside Hospital, told of the defendant making a statement to her admitting that the robbery had been planned with his confederates at their Watson Street house. County detectives and employees of the district attorney's office testified to the admissions. Lieutenant John C. Kerr of the medical corps at Camp Hancock, who was practicing in Castle Shannon at the time of the tragedy, told how he and Squire George Beltzhoover had tried to intercept the bandits as they were leaving the bank building. In the chase that followed John Fedatoff, one of the robbers, was killed and Barcons captured at Wlldwood. James McKee, an auditor, testified to finding the bodies of the wounded men and said that of the $13,500 carried off, nearly $9.000 was never recovered. Nick Yokel, who was indicted with Barcons, would be called for trial soon.

A sentence of death was passed upon Nick Kemanos, alias Yockel, by Judge James R. Macfarlane for the murder of Daniel H.A. McLean and Frank W. Erbe. Attorney A.L. Cramer who defended Kemanos filed an appeal from Judge Macfarlane's denial of a new trial. Kemanos was reported to have died in jail.

In January 1919, after several stays of execution, Samuel Barcons, alias Betz, was electrocuted at the state penitentiary at Rockview.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: First National Bank of Castle Shannon, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with pen signature of S.V. Barton, Cashier. The Vice President's signature has faded and is currently unknown.

1929 Type 1 $5 bank note with printed signatures of S.V. Barton, Cashier and A.D. Robb, President.

A total of $108,550 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1908 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 13,484 notes (10,208 large size and 3,276 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 - 770
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 617
1902 Plain Back	4x5	771 - 1505
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	618 - 1047
1929 Type 1	6x5	1 - 324
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 171
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 51

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1908 - 1936):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

Castle Shannon, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Shannon,_Pennsylvania
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
Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Tue., May 12, 1908.
Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., Jan. 10, 1917.
Harrisburg Telegraph, Harrisburg, PA, Mon., May 14, 1917.
Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Tue., May 15, 1917.
Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., June 3, 1917.
Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., Dec. 12, 1917.
Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Thu., May 30, 1918.
Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Jan. 5, 1919.
The Tribune, Scranton, PA, Tue., Jan. 14, 1919.