First National Bank, Cumberland, MD (Charter 381)
First National Bank, Cumberland, MD (Chartered 1864 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Cumberland is a city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland. Located on the Potomac River, Cumberland is a regional business and commercial center for Western Maryland and the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia.
Historically Cumberland was known as the "Queen City", as it was once the second largest in the state. Because of its strategic location on what became known as the Cumberland Road through the Appalachians, after the American Revolution it served as a historical outfitting and staging point for westward emigrant trail migrations throughout the first half of the 1800s. In this role, it supported the settlement of the Ohio Country and the lands in that latitude of the Louisiana Purchase. It also became an industrial center, served by major roads, railroads, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which connected Cumberland to Washington, D.C. and is now a national historical park. Today, Interstate 68 bisects the town.
Cumberland was named by English colonists after the son of King George II, Prince William, the Duke of Cumberland. It is built on the site of the mid-18th century Fort Cumberland, the starting point for British General Edward Braddock's ill-fated attack on the French stronghold of Fort Duquesne (present-day Pittsburgh) during the French and Indian War.
During the 19th century, Cumberland was a key road, railroad and canal junction and it became the second-largest city in Maryland after the port city of Baltimore. Cumberland was the terminus, and namesake, of the Cumberland Road (begun in 1811) that extended westward to the Ohio River at Wheeling, West Virginia. This was the first portion of what would be constructed as the National Road, which eventually reached Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
In 1860, the population was 4,078, peaking in 1940 at 39,483. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,076.
Cumberland had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all four of those banks issued National Bank Notes. Cumberland also had five Obsolete Banks that issued Obsolete Bank Notes during the Obsolete Bank Note Era (1782-1866).
Bank History
- Chartered April 15, 1864
- Succeeded Cumberland Bank of Alleghany
- Bank was Open past 1935
- Merged with Second National Bank of Cumberland, MD (Charter 1519) on March 11, 1963
- Acquired by First National Bank of Maryland, Baltimore, MD in December 1980
A list of laws passed by the General Assembly of Maryland at the November session, 1811, included #207, an act to establish a bank and incorporate a company under the name of The Cumberland Bank of Allegany.[1] The bank voluntarily liquidated in 1821 and reopened again in 1833.
On the night of Friday, March 7, 1851, the large frame stable of Messrs. Worthington & Smith in the rear of the National Hotel at Cumberland was set on fire and consumed. The stables were insured, but Mr. Black, proprietor of the hotel sustained a loss of $200. The flames also traveled to the Cumberland Bank, the bridge over Will's Creek and a row of new buildings, but the were subdued before doing any serious damage.[2]
A flood was preceded on Saturday afternoon, April 17, 1852, by a thunder storm and the rain continued to pour down until Tuesday night. On Sunday night, Will's Creek breached the wall between large warehouses of Messrs. Henry and Normand Bruch and those belonging to the Cumberland Bank of Alleghany, immediately below the Town Bridge. One of the three-story warehouses was undermined and fell with a crash. The water passing into the canal basin at the locks flooded Ward's boat yard and wharves, but did very little real damage. In the meantime the Potomac rose higher then it had ever been since 1816.[3]
In January 1854, the Cumberland banks declared dividends with the Cumberland Bank of Alleghany paying a dividend of 6% with an extra dividend of 3% for the last six months; the Cumberland Savings Bank declared a dividend of 4% with 3% for weekly depositors for the past six months; and the Mineral Bank declared a divided of 5% for the last six months.[4]
The charter for the Cumberland Bank of Alleghany expired January 1st, 1855 and at the end of next General Assembly thereafter (March 10th, 1856) under act of 1842, ch. 251; authorized capital stock under act of 1811, ch. 207, $200,000, capital paid in $112,937.50.[5]
The state of the Cumberland Bank of Alleghany as of Monday, July 6, 1857, showed loans and discounts $166,875.71, stock of the bank and other stocks $54,467.30, Real Estate $14,834.90, specie on hand $31,169.85 and total assets $309,049.44. The capital was $112,937.50, circulation $32,705, deposits $145,849.45 and surplus $13,227.85. E.T. Shriver was cashier.[6]
The First National Bank of Cumberland succeeded the Cumberland Bank of Alleghany and commenced business on July 1, 1864, with authorized capital $500,000 and capital paid in $100,000. The directors were Joseph Shriver, Alpheus Beall, J.W. Jones, J.B.H. Campbell, and Hopewell Hebb. The officers were Joseph Shriver, president; and E.T. Shriver, cashier.[7] This was the second bank chartered as a national bank in the state of Maryland. Upton Bruce was first president. He was followed by David Shriver who was president in 1824 until the death of The bank was already 52 years old, the oldest in Western Maryland. It had been charted by the Maryland Legislature of 1811 and the business operations began in 1812 under the name of the Cumberland Bank of Alleghany. Actually the bank was first chartered as the Cumberland Bank of Alleghany, but the engraver of the original bank notes incorrectly spelled the county's name "Alleghany." To meet legal requirements, the directors authorized a change of the title from Allegany to Alleghany rather than go to the expense of new engraving and recalling many notes already in circulation. The bank would have for names: Cumberland Bank of Alleghany (1812-1864); First National (1864-1959; First National Bank and Trust Company (1959-1962); First-Second (1962-1965) which came about when the Second National Bank of Cumberland was merged with the First.[8] On May 1, 1965, the name was changed to The First National Bank and Trust Company of Western Maryland.[9]
From the time of David Shriver, the bank's second president in 1824, until the death of Henry Shriver in 1945, there were four Shriver's as directing heads of the institution. David who was superintendent in charge of construction of the Cumberland Road (National Pike) served until his death in 1852. He was succeeded by Joseph Shriver whose died in 1886 when Robert Shriver was elected president. After 26 years and upon Robert's death in 1912, Henry Shriver became president, thus completing more than a century of Shriver's as president. He died in 1945. Succeeding heads of the bank were Harry A. Pitzer, Isaac Hirsch, and A.W. Tindal followed by William S. Jenkins. A brother of the late Henry Shriver was Robert S. Shriver, father of R. Sargent Shriver, head of the Peace Corps and brother-in-law of President John F. Kennedy.
Originally located on South Mechanic Street and then at the corner of Baltimore and George Streets, the First-Second had its main office at 71 Baltimore Street (corner of Liberty) in the 60s with a branch office at Baltimore and George and a motor drive-in branch at Union and George Streets and another branch in Cresaptown.
In September 1883, Mr. James A. Millholland, general manager of the George's Creek and Cumberland Railroad, was elected a director of the First National Bank of Cumberland vice Mr. Alpheus Beall, recently deceased.[10]
On December 6, 1911, James A. Millholland, long identified with railroad interests in Western Maryland, died late in the afternoon from an affliction of the kidneys after an illness of a few days. He died within two days of his 69th birthday. He received his education in the common schools of Reading, Pennsylvania. When his father resigned the presidency of the Consolidation Coal Company and the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad, James A. Millholland became second vice president of these companies, continuing until 1879 when he became general manager of the Georges Creek and Cumberland Railroad Company. In this capacity he continued until June 16, 1893, when he was made president. When the road was sold to the Western Maryland Railway in 1907, he retired. He was vice-president and treasurer of the Accurate Machine Company of Cumberland; president of the Chinese Trading Company of Philadelphia; a director of the First National Bank of Cumberland, and trustee of the Western Maryland Hospital, Cumberland, and the Allegany County Academy.[11]
On Monday, October 12. 1950, A.W. Tindal, president announced that the First National would become The First National Bank and Trust Company. The change in title was done in order to indicate more fully the scope and nature of the bank's services.[12]
In December 1962, directors of the First National Bank and Trust Company and the Second National Bank approved plans to merge the two institutions according to a joint announcement by William S. Jenkins, president of First National and John H. Mosner, president of Second National. The merged bank would be known as the First-Second National Bank and Trust Company, subject to approval of the comptroller of the currency and the stockholders. The resulting institution would operate under the charter of the First National which dated back to 1812. Based on statements of September 14th, the resulting bank would have approximately $36,000,000 in deposits and total resources would exceed $40,000,000, making this the largest bank in the area. Under the terms of the proposal, each outstanding share of First National would become one share of the resulting bank. Shareholders of Second National would received 1 3/8 shares of the resulting bank for each share of Second held. The main office of the First-Second National Bank and Trust Company would be the main office of the Second National at 71 Baltimore Street. The present office of First National at 153 Baltimore Street together with First National's motor drive-in branch at the corner of South George and Union Streets, and the Cresaptown branch would continue to be operated by the resulting bank. Jenkins would become president of the resulting bank, Mosner, the senior vice president; and Hugh D. Shires would become vice president and cashier. Shires was the vice president and cashier of First National.[13]
On Monday, March 11, 1963, the merger became effective and the first deposit was made by the Allegany County Community College's student loan fund by Dr. Robert S. Zimmer, college president and Roy Weed, collage business manager.[14]
On Tuesday, October 21, 1980, the First National Bank of Maryland announced that an agreement had been reached which would lead to its acquisition of the First National Bank & Trust Company of Western Maryland which operated seven offices in Allegany County with assets of more than $115 million. Under terms of the proposed merger, shareholders of the Western Maryland bank would receive 1.75 shares of First Maryland Bancorp stock, trading at about $20.75 per share for each of their shares. The Western Maryland bank had 336,578 shares outstanding showing that the market value of the transaction was about $12.2 million. First Maryland Bancorp, parent company of First National Bank of Maryland, announced its third quarter earnings were about 2% ahead of the same period last year amounting to $5,099,000 or $1.10 per share.[15] First Maryland Bancorp acquired a number of smaller Maryland banks in 1980 including the First National Bank and Trust Company of Western Maryland and Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Cambridge with two offices in Dorchester County.[16]
Official Bank Title
1: The First National Bank of Cumberland, MD
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $3,079,860 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 289,384 notes (224,488 large size and 64,896 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 - 3850 Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 2000 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 1470 Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 1490 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 5000 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 5866 Var. 2 Battle of Lexington vignette. ABCA plate only. Reentered to add BEP to border at bottom center. 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 6400 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 10100 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 10101 - 30046 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 2948 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 3826 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 1056 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 11004 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 5462 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1450
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
- Edwin Thomas Shriver, 1864-1885
- Joel Llewellyn Griffith, 1886-1920
- Harry Austin Pitzer, Sr., 1921-1935
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Cumberland, MD, 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
- ↑ Maryland Gazette, Annapolis, MD, Thu., Jan. 16, 1812.
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Sat., Mar. 8, 1851.
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Sat., Apr. 24, 1852.
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Sat., Jan. 7, 1854.
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Sat., Mar. 10, 1855.
- ↑ Democratic Alleganian, Cumberland, MD, Sat., Aug. 15, 1857.
- ↑ Civilian and Telegraph, Cumberland, MD, Thu., Jul 7, 1864.
- ↑ Cumberland Evening Times, Cumberland, MD, Wed., Apr. 15, 1964.
- ↑ Cumberland Evening Times, Cumberland, MD, Thu., June 12, 1969.
- ↑ Frostburg Mining Journal, Frostburg, MD, Sat., Sep. 22, 1883.
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Thu., Dec. 7, 1911.
- ↑ Cumberland Sunday Times, Cumberland, MD, Sun., Oct. 11, 1959.
- ↑ Cumberland Evening Times, Cumberland, MD, Thu., Dec. 6, 1962.
- ↑ Cumberland Evening Times, Cumberland, MD, Mon., Mar. 11, 1963.
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Wed., Oct. 22, 1980.
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Fri., Nov. 14, 1980.