First National Bank, Mount Pleasant, PA (Charter 386)
First National Bank, Mount Pleasant, PA (Chartered 1864 - Liquidated 1932)
Town History
Mount Pleasant is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It stands 45 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. As of the 2020 census, the borough's population was 4,245. In 1860, the population was 497 growing to 5,869 by 1930.
Mount Pleasant borough is located at what was originally the junction of two Native American paths. With the coming of Europeans, those two paths - now known as Pennsylvania Routes 31 (east/west) and 819 (north/south) - became key access roads to the western wilderness and more populated areas in the east. The crossroads attracted settlers who established businesses to serve travelers passing through. Mount Pleasant became a borough on February 7, 1828. In the past, Mount Pleasant was a center of an extensive coke-making industry. Other products included flour, lumber, iron, glass, foundry products, etc.
Mount Pleasant had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all four of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Chartered April 18, 1864
- Liquidated March 2, 1932
- Absorbed by The Citizens Savings & Trust Company of Mount Pleasant
In April 1864, The First National Bank of Mount Pleasant, Capital $50,000, C.S. Overholt, president, and John Sherrick, Cashier was organized.
Christian Stauffer Overholt, aged 87, died early the morning of January 31, 1911. Mr. Overholt was the last surviving member of the family that established the distilling firm of Overholt & Company at West Overton, Westmoreland Co., in 1805. He was born in West Overton, the youngest son of Abraham and Maria Overholt. At an early age he became associated with this father and brothers in business and upon the death of his father, he succeeded to the management of the family estate and business. For years, Mr. Overholt was president of the First National Bank of Mt. Pleasant and was for many years a trustee of Bucknell University. In 1898, Gov. Daniel H. Hastings appointed him one of the commissioners of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition at Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. Overholt married Miss Catherine Lippincott Newmeyer who died in 1894. Mr. Overholt was an uncle of Henry Clay Frick.
William B. Neel was born January 4, 1826, near Mount Pleasant and received a fair education, considering the quality of schools in that day. He was reared in agricultural pursuits and followed farming throughout his life. He was engaged in the coke industry and owned coal shares in West Virginia. He was one of the organizers in 1865 of the First National Bank of Mt. Pleasant and a director of the bank for 25 years. He passed away on April 25, 1913.
On January 18, 1928, directors elected these officers: John D. Hitchman, president; George W. Stoner, vice president; Charles Stoner, cashier; C.O. Christner, assistant cashier; Miss Alice Ramsay and Miss Nelie Queen, clerks. The office of second vice president held by the late Isaac Sherrick was discontinued. The bank dropped one director at the death of Mr. Sherrick. At the Citizens Savings & Trust Co., stockholders elected the following officers: John A. Warden, president; John D. Hitchman, vice president and treasurer; James S. Mack, vice president; and Morris Pigman, assistant treasurer.
On January 21, 1932, Mount Pleasant's three banking institutions, the Citizens Savings & Trust Company, the First National Bank and the Peoples National Bank, merge into one named the Citizens Savings & Trust Company with resources of approximately $2 million. Business would be carried on in the quarters of the Citizens Savings & Trust Co. Funds and records of the Peoples National were transferred during the night to the new quarters. The business of the Citizens and First National had been conducted in the same building separated by partitions. Officers of the combined institution were John A. Warden, president; James S. Mack and John D. Hitchman, vice presidents; John L. Ruth, secretary; John D. Hitchman, treasurer; Morris N. Pigman, assistant treasurer. For the convenience of persons with boxes at the Peoples, the bank's quarters remained opened for a reasonable lenght of time. The announcement of the merger was made by John A. Warden, president of the Citizens Savings & Trust Co., John D. Hitchman, president of the First National, and James S. Mack, president of the Peoples National after a meeting of the officers and directors of the three banks held the day before. The Citizens Savings & Trust Co. owned the entire stock of the First National Bank for several years and also owned controlling interest of the Peoples National.
The Citizens Savings & Trust Company dated back to the early 1870s. It was organized by William Hitchman and W.B. Neel as the Mount Pleasant Bank, a private banking enterprise. In 1893 it was converted into a national bank, The Citizens National Bank (Charter 4875), and on August 3, 1903, was organized under its present name. It consolidated with the Citizens National Bank in 1906 which liquidated on April 1, 1906.
The Peoples Bank was organized in 1908 by Rev. Charles R. Ferner who was its first president.
On November 25, 1932, John D. Hitchman, 62, president of the Citizens Savings & Trust Company at Mount Pleasant and controller of Westmoreland County for two terms, died suddenly in Frick Memorial Hospital. He had been in the banking business since quitting Princeton University to take a job as a bank teller. He was the son of William J. and Louise Ogle Hitchman. John D. Hitchman was a former captain of Co. E and Headquarters Co., 110th Infantry.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Mount Pleasant, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,335,460 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1932. This consisted of a total of 211,224 notes (195,480 large size and 15,744 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments Original Series 3x1-2 1 - 400 Original Series 4x5 1 - 5475 Original Series 4x10 1 - 3188 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 1911 Series 1875 4x10 1 - 2444 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 6284 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 4900 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 7900 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 7901 - 24268 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2117 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 507
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1932):
Presidents:
- Christian Stauffer Overholt, 1864-1875
- John Sherrick, 1876-1878
- Henry W. Stoner, 1879-1904
- John Dickey Hitchman, 1905-1931
Cashiers:
- John Sherrick, 1864-1875
- Henry Jordan, 1876-1894
- George W. Stoner, 1895-1896
- John Dickey Hitchman, 1897-1904
- George W. Stoner, 1905-1920
- Charles F. Stoner, 1921-1931
Other Known Bank Note Signers
Bank Note History Links
- First National Bank, Mount Pleasant, PA History (NB Lookup)
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Mount Pleasant, PA, 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
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Fri., Apr. 22, 1864.
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Thu., Feb. 2, 1911.
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Mon., Apr. 28, 1913.
- The Daily Courier, Connellsville, PA, Thu., Jan. 19, 1928.
- The Daily Courier, Connellsville, PA, Thu., Jan. 21, 1932.
- Bradford Evening Star and The Bradford Daily Record, Bradford, PA, Fri., Nov. 25, 1932.