First National Bank, Connellsville, PA (Charter 2329)

NEEDED: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

First National Bank, Connellsville, PA (Chartered 1876 - Liquidated 1928)

Town History

A photo, ca2020, of the banking house at 129 Main Street (now Crawford Ave.) that once housed the First National Bank of Connellsville. Courtesy of Google Maps

Connellsville is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh on the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the Monongahela River. It is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 7,637 at the 2010 census, down from 9,146 at the 2000 census.

During the French and Indian War, a British army commanded by General Edward Braddock approached Fort Duquesne and crossed the Youghiogheny River at Stewart's Crossing, which is situated in the middle of what is now the city of Connellsville.

Connellsville was officially founded as a township in 1793 then as a borough on March 1, 1806, by Zachariah Connell, a militia captain during the American Revolution. In February 1909, balloting in New Haven and Connellsville resulted in these two boroughs joining and becoming the first city in Fayette County on May 12, 1911.

Due to the city's location in the center of the Connellsville Coalfield, coal mining, coke production, and other accompanying industries became the major sources of employment and revenue during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Connellsville became known at the "Coke Capital of the World" due to the amount and quality of coke produced in the city's many beehive ovens.

Connellsville has the distinction of having been served at one time by five railroads: the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Western Maryland Railroad, the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, and the Norfolk and Western Railroad.

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

Bank History

Organized Mar 25, 1876
Chartered Apr 8, 1876
Assumed 4861 by consolidation Mar 3, 1913 (Yough National Bank, Connellsville, PA) and assumed its circulation
Liquidated Jun 22, 1928
Absorbed by 6452 (Citizens National Bank, Connellsville, PA; Receivership Feb 12, 1931)

On April 8, 1876, The First National Bank of Connellsville was authorized to begin business with a capital of $50,000.

In January 1900, the officers were John D. Frisbee, president; Jos. R. Stauffer, first vice president; J.M. Kurtz, second vice president; E.T. Norton, cashier; Geo. W. Stauffer, Assistant cashier; H.C. Norton, teller; H.E. Schenck, bookkeeper. Directors were John D. Frisbee, Joseph R. Staffer, H.C. Huston, John Barge, Robert Norris, William Weihe, and J.M. Kurtz.

The Yough Trust Co., formerly the Yough National Bank was organized on February 1, 1913 with capital of $200,000. Joseph Scisson was president and E.H. Floto cashier. Directors were Joseph Schisson, E.T. Norton, W.F. Stauffer, Jacob L. Kendall (of Pittsburgh), Robert Norris, E.R. Floto, H.M. Kephart, W.D. McGinnis, Dr. H.C. Hoffman, S.J. Barry, E.C. Higbee, and T.J. Hooper. The company planned to open for business on March 3rd.

Oh Feb. 18, 1913, at the annual meeting of the directors of the First National Bank of Connellsville, John D. Frisbee was elected president for the 38th consecutive year. E.T. Norton was re-elected first vice president and cashier; and W.F. Stauffer of Scottdale, second vice president. On March 3rd the First National merged with the Yough National Bank and the latter became the Yough Trust Company. The Yough Trust Company would operate until February 26, 1927, when the Title & Trust Company of Western Pennsylvania absorbed all of its property and assets.

On January 31, 1927, Eugene T. Norton, former president and prominent Mason died in Trenton, NJ from injuries sustained in the wreck of a Philadelphia and Reading train. Norton was returning home from New York and was in the dining car of the train. He began his banking career as a messenger in 1882 and was promoted to president in 1915.

In March 28, 1928, the First National Bank sold its assets to the Citizens National Bank.

The Citizens National Bank of Connellsville was declared insolvent and closed July 31, 1930 by the Comptroller of the Currency.

An issue of protection of a few at the expense of many

In March 1931, Judge McVicar of the District Court of the United States for the Western District of Pennsylvania handed down a decision in the case of George H. Smith, receiver of the Citizens National Bank of Connellsville, against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad company, sustaining the contention of the receiver. As a result of this decision, various securities aggregating $54,000 in par value were to be added to the assets of the bank, and all depositors in the bank benefited proportionately. In February, 1928, the old First National bank (later taken over by the Citizens National bank) pledged these securities in order to protect a deposit account of the railroad company. The pledge continued until the closing of the Citizens bank, when railroad threatened to sell the securities in order to pay the balance of S40,000 then on deposit to the credit of the railroad. The receiver thereupon instituted an injunction proceeding to restrain the sale of the securities and to compel their return to him.

In the decision made by Judge McVicar, the pledge agreement was held to be illegal and void, and the pledged securities were ordered to be returned to the receiver, without the prior payment of the railroad's deposit balance. The court's reasoning was that the power to pledge was contrary to the spirit of the Acts of Congress:

    “which have for their primary purpose the safekeeping and protection of the deposits of all the depositors of a bank. If the act under consideration is construed so that national banks possess implied power to pledge all their assets, or a material portion thereof, as security for a few private depositors, it takes away from the great majority of the depositors the greatest security which the law intended that they should have, and it violates the public policy of the nation as declared in its national-banking laws.  Public policy will not, therefore, tolerate a practice which might, sooner or later, in the event of financial trouble with the bank, enable it to pay and protect the favored few at the expense of the equally deserving many."

The case attracted wide interest since this was the first time in the history of American banking that this question was raised with respect to a national bank. There were a number of similar cases pending in other states, but the Comptroller of the Currency had decided to let the fate of those cases depend upon the decision in the local case.

Attorney H. Eastman Hackney, of Uniontown, presented the case for the receiver, and Attorneys Smith, Buchanon, Scott, and Gordon of Pittsburgh represented the railroad. The railroad stated its intention to appeal the case.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Connellsville, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $20 bank note with stamped signatures of H.C. Norton, Cashier and Robert Norris, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $2,123,200 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1876 and 1928. This consisted of a total of 169,856 notes (169,856 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
Series 1875	3x10-20	1 - 1948
1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 6930
1882 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 9000
1882 Value Back	3x10-20	9001 - 9193
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	1 - 24393

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

The First National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1876 - 1928):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

Robert Norris signed notes as Vice President.
There are currently no known Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

Connellsville, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connellsville,_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://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
Intelligencer, Journal, Lancaster, PA, Mon., Apr. 10, 1876.
The Weekly Courier, Connellsville, PA, Fri., Feb. 9, 1900.
The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Feb. 2, 1913.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., Feb. 19, 1913.
Republican and Herald, Pottsville, PA, Mon., Jan. 31, 1927.
The Daily Courier, Connellsville, PA, Mon., Mar. 21, 1927.
The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Thu., Jan. 15, 1931.
The Evening Standard, Uniontown, PA, Mon., Mar. 9, 1931.