First National Bank, Lake Wilson, MN (Charter 11293)

2006 Photo of the old First National Bank building

First National Bank, Lake Wilson, MN (Chartered 1919 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Lake Wilson is a town in Murray County in the southwest part of Minnesota. Lake Wilson was platted in 1883 and incorporated as a village on July 12, 1900. It was named by J. E. Wilson (a landowner in the area) who also named the nearby lake for himself.

On June 16, 1992, Lake Wilson was struck by a devastating F5 tornado that completely destroyed half of the town, which has since been rebuilt.

During the National Bank Note Era Lake Wilson had a population of 219 in 1920, climbing to 329 in 1930, as of 2010 the population was 251.

First National Bank was the only National Bank in Lake Wilson.

Bank History

Organized Dec 12, 1918
Chartered Jan 31, 1919
Bank was Open past 1935
1979, Converted to a State Chartered Bank

The First National Bank of Lake Wilson was organized on December 12, 1918 under national charter #11293. It had no private or state bank as predecessor. It opened on August 19, 1919. The president and chief owner was John Walstead Erickson, the vice president was Alfred Gilbert Lane, and the cashier was James M. Collins, who became vice president about a year later and was succeeded by Henry Arthur Groskreutz, who had previously been the assistant cashier. The bank occupied a new brick building on the main street of town that still stands today, largely unchanged.

The bank was the second to organize in the Lake Wilson, following the State Bank of Lake Wilson (1902). It was the last of the five national banks in Murray County, MN, to organize, and the only one that survived the agricultural depression of the 1920s as an independent institution. The two circumstances are likely related: by organizing relatively late, the bank did not have time to acquire the large portfolio of agricultural loans during the boom years of WWI that later saddled its peers with bad paper during the subsequent bust.

In 1979, the bank converted to a state charter as the First State Bank of Lake Wilson. In 1989 it merged and subsequently operated as part of the Murray County State Bank of Slayton. It became part of the Minnwest Bank system in 1997, and operates as a branch of that network today.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Lake Wilson, MN

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with signatures of J.M. Collins, Cashier and J.W. Erickson, President.

1929 Type 2 $20 bank note with printed signatures of G.A. Swenson, Cashier and J.F. Nepp, President

A total of $70,250 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1919 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 11,288 notes (5,640 large size and 5,648 small size notes).

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

Series/Type	Sheet/Denoms	Serial#s
1902 Plain Back	4x5	1 - 1410
1929 Type 2	5	1 - 3754
1929 Type 2	10	1 - 1460
1929 Type 2	20	1 - 434

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

First National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1919 - 1936):

Presidents:

J. W. Erickson, 1919-1920
Fred Carlson, 1921-1922
J. F. Nepp, 1923-1935

Cashiers:

J. M. Collins, 1919-1919
H. A. Groskreutz, 1920-1922
G. A. Swenson, 1923-1935

Other Bank Note Signers

There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

References

Lake Wilson, MN, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Wilson,_Minnesota
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
"The Early History of Lake Wilson Minnesota," from "A History of Western Murray County from 1688 to 1946," Robert B. Forrest, 1947.
The Minneapolis Star (Minneapolis, Minnesota), December 14, 1979