First National Bank, Jermyn, PA (Charter 6158)
First National Bank, Jermyn, PA (Chartered 1902 - Closed (Merger) 2001)
Town History
Jermyn, known as "The Birthplace of First Aid in America", is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, on the Lackawanna River, 12 miles northeast of Scranton. A productive anthracite coal field was in the region in 1900 when 2,567 people lived here. In 1910, 3,158 residents of Jermyn were tallied. In the early years of the twentieth century, coal mines, cut glass works, silk, powder, grist, planing, and saw mills, bottling works, and fertilizer factories dotted the borough. The population was 2,169 at the 2010 census.
Jermyn was incorporated as a borough in 1870 and celebrated its centennial in 1970 with a week-long celebration. The borough, originally named Gibsonburg, was named for John Jermyn, a businessperson in the mining industry.
Jermyn had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized February 19, 1902
- Chartered March 14, 1902
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Acquired the First National Bank of Jessup (Charter 9600) on July 1, 1989
- Merged into Community Bank, NA in Canton, NY, May 11, 2001
The First National Bank of Jermyn opened for business on May 15, 1902. It didn't take long for some of the new currency to reach the area. The Carbondale Daily News noted that on examination, the note was signed by president Cure, but cashier Crawford in the rush of the opening neglected to affix his signature.
On January 21, 1903, the officers and directors were re-elected and included John W. Cure, president; S.C. Whitmore, first vice president; C.F. Baker, second vice president; Justus Bishop, Andrew Mitchell, Jr., M.D. Lathrope, T.B. Crawford, George W. Cramer, M.D. Cure, George S. Dunn, and W.J. McDermott.
On January 14, 1913, the stockholders elected the following directors: John W. Cure, S.C. Whitmore, C.F. Baker, A. Mitchell, Jr., T.M. Hart, H.A. Willman, William J. McDermott, A.B. Winter, Anthony Propst, and T.B. Crawford. The directors re-elected to following officers: J.W. Cure, president; F.E. Whitmore, first vice president; C.F. Baker, second vice president; and T.B. Crawford, cashier.
In January, 1922, the officers re-elected were: J.W. Cure, president; S.C. Whitmore and Charles F. Baker, vice presidents; and T.B. Crawford, cashier. The officers with A. Mitchell, Jr., M.J. McDermott, Anthony Probst, William V. Hart, H.D. Carey, and W.S. Badger formed the directorate.
On January 2, 1926, the management formally opened its new building. Starting with capital of only 25,000 and no surplus in 1902, it soon was apparent this small capital was insufficient and in January 1910, the stockholders voted to increase the capital to $50,000. The bank continued to grow and stockholders again increased the capital to $100,000 with a surplus of $100,000 from earnings. The opening featured music by Hogarth's orchestra. The bank had 36 feet of block caenstone walls. The floors of the public lobby were Verde antique with a border of dark Tennessee marble. The partitions were of Botinso marble and the grill work and cages were of ornate bronze. Facing the enclosure was the mammoth Mosler Don steel vault with an eighteen-ton circular door. The whole vault weighed 26 tons and was protected by a time clock and the Duplex burglar alarm system.
In January 1932, Directors and officers were as follows: John W. Cure, president; John Mellow, vice president; T.B. Crawford, vice president and cashier, Elwood Allen, John W. Cure, W.J. McDermott, T.B. Crawford, Anthony Propst, William V. Hart, H.D. Carey, W.J. Bell, Kusma Leschak, and John Mellow, directors.
Three officials of the former First National Bank of Jessup have been added to the board of the First National Bank of Jermyn, according to an announcement by I. Leo Moskovitz, president and chief executive officer of the Jermyn institution. It was announced 11 months ago that directors of First Jermyn Bank Corp. and First Jessup Corp. had reached an agreement in principle to merge the two companies. The appointment of the officials of the Jessup institution to the board of the Jermyn institution indicates finalization of that merger. The Jermyn bank, founded in 1902, had its main-office in that borough and a branch at Keyser Oak Plaza in Scranton. Those added to its board were Dr. Edmund J. Biancarelli, former president of the Jessup bank and its holding company, David M. Epstein, a lawyer, and Robert T. Kelly, CPA, both of whom served on as directors of the Jessup institutions. Biancarelli, Epstein and Kelly join a board that also includes Moskovitz, William M. Davis, David Fiegleman, Kuzma Leschak, Ralph J. Lomma, Peter A. Sabia and Garfield Thomas.
On Tuesday, February 16, 1999, The First National Bank of Jermyn and NBO National Bank officially became First Liberty Bank & Trust. The combined institution had nine locations in Carbondale, Jermyn, Jessup, Olyphant, Daleville, Pittston, Minooka, Scranton (Keyser Ave.) and Scranton (Wyoming Ave.). The National Bank of Olyphant, (Charter 14079) changed its title to NBO National Bank on May 1, 1995.
On May 11, 2001, First Liberty Bank & Trust became an affiliate of Community Bank, NA of Canton, New York.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Jermyn, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $817,470 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1902 and 2001. This consisted of a total of 66,190 notes (40,512 large size and 25,678 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 - 1790 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 2910 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 2911 - 4959 Plate dated 1902 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 3379 Plate dated 1922 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2058 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 580 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 324 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 7415 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 2111
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1902 - 2001):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
- Truman Beecher Crawford, 1902-1933
- Leon Edward Moore Sr., 1934-1935
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History
- General information on Jermyn (Wikipedia)
- General information on Lackawanna County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Jermyn, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jermyn,_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
- Carbondale Daily News, Carbondale, PA, Mon., May 19, 1902.
- Carbondale Daily News, Carbondale, PA, Wed., Jan. 21, 1903.
- The Tribune, Scranton, PA, Wed., Jan. 15, 1913.
- The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA, Wed., Jan. 11, 1922.
- The Scranton Republican, Scranton, PA, Sat., Jan. 2, 1926.
- The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA, Wed., Jan. 13, 1932.
- The Tribune, Scranton, PA, Sat., Feb. 18, 1989.
- The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA, Sun., Feb. 14, 1999.