First National Bank, Elmer, NJ (Charter 6707)

Post card showing the First National Bank of Elmer (ca1910). Courtesy of Adam Stroup

First National Bank, Elmer, NJ (Chartered 1903 - Still in business (August 2021))

Town History

Modern view of the First National Bank of Elmer, New Jersey (ca2014). Courtesy of Google Maps

Elmer is a borough in Salem County, New Jersey, and home of the annual Appel Farm Arts and Music Festival, which celebrated its 23rd year in 2012. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 1,395.

Elmer was incorporated as a borough via public referendum January 24, 1893. The town was named after Judge Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Elmer, a jurist respected state-wide, who had presided over Salem County’s then-famous Treadway murder case and also produced the first compendium of New Jersey state statutes. As a Congressman, Elmer was largely responsible for securing a post office for the town.  The Borough of Elmer flourished as a transportation center with the opening of the West Jersey Railroad line between Bridgeton and Woodbury in 1862.

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

Bank History

• Organized January 31, 1903
• Chartered April 2, 1903
• Opened for business May 5, 1903
• Bank was Open past 1935
• For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
• Bank still in business (August 2021)

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Elmer, NJ

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of Wm. H. Ward, Cashier and Charles C. Smith, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of Wm. H. Ward, Cashier and Charles C. Smith, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $1,584,180 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1903 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 127,751 notes (100,300 large size and 27,451 small size notes).

This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:

Series/Type	Sheet/Denoms	Serial#s	Sheet Comments
1902 Red Seal	3x10-20	1 - 2356
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 4640
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	4641 - 22719
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 3144
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 802
1929 Type 2	10	1 - 2995
1929 Type 2	20	1 - 780

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

First National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1903 - 1936):

Presidents:

• Samuel Preston Foster, 1903-1924
• Charles C. Smith, 1925-1935

Cashiers:

• Thomas Sexton Newell, 1903-1905
• Jasper B. Wainwright, 1906-1916
• William Howey Ward, 1917-1935

Other Bank Note Signers

• Charles C. Smith signed as Vice President

Wiki Links

• New Jersey Bank Note History
• General information on Elmer (Wikipedia)
• General information on Salem County (Wikipedia)
• General information on New Jersey (Wikipedia)

Sources

• Elmer, NJ, 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
• Elmer Borough home page, accessed Aug. 31, 2021