First National Bank, Cheyenne, WY (Charter 1800)

Postcard of the First National Bank of Cheyenne, Wyoming, ca1910s.  Courtesy of Adam Stroup

First National Bank, Cheyenne, WY (Chartered 1871 - Receivership 1924)

Town History

A note for $200 dated July 8, 1887, issued by the First National Bank of Cheyenne at 1% per month interest against collateral of 35 shares of Benjamin & Weaver Cattle Company. Courtesy of Bill Lorman

Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city, with 65,132 residents, of the U.S. state of Wyoming. Local residents named the town for the Cheyenne Native American people in 1867 when it was founded in the Dakota Territory. The Laramie County seat is Cheyenne and is located west of the Nebraska state line and north of the Colorado state line. Cheyenne is situated on Crow Creek and Dry Creek.

On July 25, 1868, the United States organized the Territory of Wyoming. Territorial Governor John Allen Campbell arrived in Cheyenne on May 7, 1869, and named Cheyenne the temporary territorial capital. Cheyenne has remained the only capital of Wyoming. On July 10, 1890, the Territory of Wyoming was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming.

In 1870 the population was 1,450 and has continued to grow with 14,087 people in 1900 and 17,361 in the 1930 census.

Cheyenne had five National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all five of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

A March 1869 advertisement for Posey S. Wilson, Banker, located on Seventeenth Street, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

• Organized December 29, 1870
• Chartered March 7, 1871
• Succeeded Henry J. Rogers
• Receivership July 9, 1924

In August 1870, an announcement that the First National Bank of Cheyenne was being organized with the leading shareholders being Messrs. Rogers & Co., and P.S. Wilson, Esq.

In January 1871, Posey S. Wilson, banker, advertised his location in the new brick block, Sixteenth Street, near Ferguson, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

On March 7, 1871, a charter was issued by Hiland R. Hulburd, comptroller of the currency. The directors were A.R. Converse, Thomas Duncan, J.W. Iliff, S.F. Nuckolls, and George F. Price. A.R. Converse was president and P.S. Wilson, cashier. The bank had authorized capital of $500,000, capital stock of 100,000 and paid up capital of $60,000. The First National Bank deposited $30,000 in U.S. bonds to secure a circulation of $27,000 consisting of original series $5, $10, and $20 bank notes.

In June 1871, M.A. Arnold was made cashier of the First National Bank. The directors were now A.R. Converse, Thomas Duncan, D.B. Curtis, Jervis Joslin, George F. Price. Mr. Converse remained president of the bank.

In January 1892, the directors were T.B. Hicks, J.K. Jeffrey, G.E. Abbott, W.E. Weaver, and C.W. Hicks. The officers were T.B. Hicks, president; G.E. Abbott, cashier; and J.H. Loomis, assistant cashier.

On January 28, 1903, Thomas A. Cosgriff of Rawlins, purchased from T.B. Hicks and others a controlling interest in the First National Bank of Cheyenne. Immediately after the transfer of stock a meeting of the directors was held and Mr. Cosgriff was elected president of the bank to succeed Mr. Hicks. Mr. Cosgriff was a member of the firm of Cosgriff Bros., the largest sheep raising and general merchandise concern in Wyoming. He was prominently connected with several other banks. Mr. Hicks had been connected with the First National since 1878 and was president since 1886. In April 1903, Messrs. T.B. Hicks and George E. Abbott of Cheyenne were in Casper having secured a charter for the First National Bank of Casper. It was their intention to ge started in business as soon as possible.Natrona County Tribune, Casper, WY, Thu., Apr. 9, 1903.

On August 22, 1907, Hon. Posey S. Wilson died at the Park Avenue Hospital. He was born in Agency City, Iowa, on December 16, 1844, son of Captain George Wilson who served at Fort Crawford under Zachary Taylor.  His mother, Mary Street, was the daughter of General Joseph M. Street, agent for the Sac and Fox Indians and a Virginia by birth.  P.S. Wilson traveled as far west as Salt Lake City in 1863, lived in Denver in later years, was cashier of the First National Bank of Cheyenne, and held several important positions in Washington, DC. In 1885, as superintendent of the Denver Mint, Hon. P.S. Wilson had disbursement authority of about $30,000 annually to mint employees.  He was interred in the family burying ground in Lexington, Missouri.

On Wednesday, July 9, 1924, the directors of the First National Bank decided to close the bank pending an investigation by national bank examiners, so as to conserve and protect both depositors and stockholders. President George E. Abbott gave three principal reasons for the closure: Extraordinary depreciation in values, particularly in cattle, agricultural products and lands, excessive taxation, the policy of the bank whereby it helped smaller banks of the state in an effort to support the business interests of the state. Besides President Abbott, the officers were F.E. Warren and John A. Martin, vice presidents; A.D. Johnston, cashier; and Daniel McUlvan, assistant cashier. According to the statement of June 30th, deposits were about $4 3/4 million and total resources were $6,986,209.14. That same day the Citizens National Bank of Cheyenne also failed. Due to the closing of the Cheyenne First National Bank, five other banks were compelled to close and several more were being closely watched.

In December 1928, F.L. Lokdra was appointed receiver of the defunct First National Bank of Cheyenne, succeeding T.E. McClintlock who resigned to accept the position of vice president of the Denver Joint Stock Land Bank. Mr. Kokdra had been the assistant receiver since McClintlock had been appointed after the failure of the bank in July 1924. A dividend of 4% was paid in August which brought the total amount to approximately $175,000, or 49% of the banks deposits returned to depositors since the bank's failure.

On Sunday, August 23, 1942, George E. Abbott, a former Wyoming state treasurer, state senator and president of the First National Bank of Cheyenne died.

For more information on the Wyoming bank failures in 1924, see "Wyoming National Bank Massacre of 1924," by Peter Huntoon, Chapter P18, Encyclopedia of US National Bank Notes.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Cheyenne, WY

Bank Note Types Issued

Series of 1875 $5 Wyoming Territory bank note with pen signatures of G.E. Abbott, Cashier and Thomas A. Cosgriff, President. Huntoon Collection

1882 Brown Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of G.E. Abbott, Cashier and Thomas A. Cosgriff, President. A gutter fold error may be seen at the lower right corner. Courtesy of Bill Lorman

1882 Brown Back $10 bank note with blue stamped signatures of A.D. Johnston, Cashier and T.A. Cosgriff, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1902 Date Back $5 bank note with stamped signatures of A.D. Johnston, Cashier and T.A. Cosgriff, President. Courtesy of Bill Lorman

A total of $1,897,250 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1871 and 1924. This consisted of a total of 207,244 notes (207,244 large size and No 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 - 2500	Territory
Original Series	3x10-20	1 - 800	Territory
Series 1875	4x5	1 - 665	Territory
Series 1875	3x10-20	1 - 1656	Territory
1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 8900
1882 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 1399
1902 Date Back	4x5	1 - 5250
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 4300
1902 Plain Back	4x5	5251 - 19945
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	4301 - 15946

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1871 - 1924):

Presidents:

• Amasa Rice Converse, 1871-1884
• Truman B. Hicks, 1885-1902
• Thomas A. Cosgriff, 1903-1915
• George Edmund Abbott, 1916-1923

Cashiers:

• Henry J. Rogers, 1871-1871
• Posey Street Wilson, 1871-1871
• Mowry Aldrich Arnold, 1871-1871
• Jonathan Edwards Wild, 1872-1889
• George Edmund Abbott, 1890-1907
• Albert Drummond Johnston, 1908-1923

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• First National Bank, Cheyenne, WY History (NB Lookup)
• Wyoming Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Cheyenne, WY, 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
• The Daily Journal of Commerce, Kansas City, MO, Tue., Feb. 13, 1877.