First National Bank, Los Gatos, CA (Charter 10091)
First National Bank, Los Gatos, CA (Chartered 1911 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Los Gatos (Spanish for 'The Cats') is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just southwest of San Jose in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Los Gatos is part of Silicon Valley, with several high technology companies maintaining a presence there. Notably, Netflix, the streaming service and content creator, is headquartered in Los Gatos and has developed a large presence in the area.
In the early 20th century, the town became a thriving agricultural town with apricots, grapes and prunes being grown in the area. By the 1920s, the Los Gatos area had a local reputation as an arts colony, attracting painters, musicians, writers, actors and their bohemian associates as residents over the years. The violinist Yehudi Menuhin lived there as a boy; the actresses Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland (sisters) were graduates of Los Gatos High School; John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath there (the location is now located in Monte Sereno); Justin Goodsell, a renowned quantum mechanics spectroscopy scientist, was born in this town, and a prominent Beat hero Neal Cassady lived there in the 1950s. Along with much of the Santa Clara Valley, Los Gatos became a suburban community for San Jose beginning in the 1950s, and the town was mostly built-out by the 1980s.
Los Gatos had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized September 15, 1911
- Chartered October 10, 1911
- Conservatorship March 16, 1933
- Licensed July 7, 1933
- Bank was Open past 1935
In September 1911, the comptroller of the currency approved the application of Z.S. Riggs, N.G. Rogers, F.W. Knowles, C.H. Caldwell and W. Darneal to organized the First National Bank of Los Gatos, California, with a capital of $25,000. On Saturday, September 16, 1911, the subscribers to the capital stock met at Judge Pearce's Courtrooms and elected the following directors: Zedd S. Riggs, Charles N. Cooper, Noah G. Rogers, C.H. Caldwell, W.H. Alison. The directors elected the following officers: Charles N. Cooper, president; Zedd S. Riggs, vice president; and Milton Alison, cashier. A room was secured in the Vermont Building opposite the head of University Avenue.
On Tuesday, January 14, 1913, the following were chose directors for the ensuing year: W.H. Alison, Chas. N. Cooper, Charles H. Caldwell, Zedd S. Riggs, and Noah G. Rogers. On Friday, January 19th, the directors elected Chas. N. Cooper, president; Zedd S. Riggs, vice president; and Milton Alison, cashier.
On Monday, September 1st, Mr. C.F. Hamsher took charge as the new cashier. For the past three years he had been assistant cashier of the Savings Union Bank and Trust Co. of San Francisco and purchased the stock of Cashier A.P. Manning and Assistant Cashier C.L. Stone. He also was elected a director of the bank. Mr. Hamsher purchased the W.P. Mauzy home on Saratoga Avenue. His wife and two children were expected to join him in Los Gatos. Prior to the Savings Union Bank and Trust Co., he was for three years the cashier of the Bank of South San Francisco and prior to that was for 14 years employed in the Bank of Mound City at Mound City, Missouri.
In January 1953, directors elected were S. Dean Balch, Frank F. Dickey, Bruce C. Kennedy, Leland H. Walker, William C. Balch and Paul E. Curtis. Reappointed officers were S. D. Balch, chairman of the board, Paul E. Curtis, president; W.C. Balch, vice president and secretary; Herman H. Boschken, cashier and assistant secretary; and E. Pearle Hook, assistant cashier.
In February 1954, final approval for the purchase of the First National Bank of Los Gatos by American Trust Company was received from the State Banking Department and the Federal Reserve. The local bank would become the Los Gatos office of American Trust Co. The deal, first announced at the end of December 1953 reportedly involved the sale of 500 shares of stock at $1,190 per share for a total of $595,000. Paul E. Curtis, president of the First National Bank, would retire. American Trust Co. operated many offices in Northern California and 6 offices in Santa Clara County at San Jose, Santa Clara, Campbell, Gilroy, Sunnyvale, and Palo Alto.
During 1954, American Trust Company, the nation's 18th largest, acquired the First National Bank of Los Gatos and on Dec. 31st, merged with the Monterey County Trust & Savings Bank. These acquisitions added 68,300,000 in deposits for total deposits of $1,337,122,966. James K. Lockhead was president. The American Trust Co. was one of the oldest banks in the West and traced its history through predecessor institutions to the San Francisco Accumulating Fund, founded in 1854.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Los Gatos, CA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $403,790 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1911 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 24,356 notes (3,836 large size and 20,520 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Date Back 3x50-100 1 - 779 1902 Plain Back 3x50-100 780 - 959 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1460 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 850 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 252 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 3168 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 1644 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 336
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1911 - 1935):
Presidents:
- Dr. Charles N. Cooper, 1912-1913
- Zedd Smith Riggs, 1914-1917
- Dr. Frank Wesley Knowles, 1918-1918
- Clarence Ford Hamsher, 1919-1932
- David L. McKay, 1933-1935
Cashiers:
- Milton Alison, 1912-1912
- Albert P. Manning, 1913-1913
- Clarence Ford Hamsher, 1914-1918
- Herbert Leverne Roberts, 1919-1935
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Los Gatos, CA, 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
- The San Francisco Call, San Francisco, CA, Wed., Sep. 6, 1911.
- The Los Gatos News, Los Gatos, CA, Fri., Sep. 22, 1911.
- Los Gatos Mail, Los Gatos, CA, Thu., Jan. 23, 1913.
- Los Gatos Mail, Los Gatos, CA, Thu., Sep. 4, 1913.
- Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer, Los Gatos, CA, Wed., Jan. 14, 1953.
- Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer, Los Gatos, CA, Tue., Dec. 29, 1953.
- The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, CA, Sun., Jan. 30, 1954.
- Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer, Los Gatos, CA, Tue., Feb. 2, 1954.