First National Bank, Perkasie, PA (Charter 5736)

ca1920 postcard of the First National Bank. Courtesy of Mark Hotz

First National Bank, Perkasie, PA (Chartered 1901 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Advertisement from The First National Bank of Perkasie, Pennsylvania from 1901. The ad shows Capital of $50,000 and the bank officers and directors as listed in the Bank History.

Perkasie is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. Perkasie is 21.5 miles southeast of Allentown and 39.2 miles north of Philadelphia.

Both the town of Perkasie and Pocasie Creek derive their name from the Lenape Unami phrase Pèhpahkàsink/Poekskossing, which translates to "One who goes to the place to crack nuts". The Dutch/Swedish (before the British settlements) pronounced the word with an r and it stuck. There was doubtless a village on the site of the present town before William Penn’s Perkasie Manor was settled." "The "Manor" of Perkasie was one of several in Bucks County and contained 11,462 acres. Laid out and surveyed in 1708, it embraced most of Hilltown and Rockhill Township."

Establishments in the borough early in the 20th century included silk mills, brickyards, lumber mills, tile works, a stone crusher, and manufacturers of cigars, tags and labels, and wire novelties. The population in 1900 was 1,803; in 1910, 2,779 people lived in Perkasie. The population was 9,120 at the 2020 census.

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

Bank History

Organized January 10, 1901
Chartered March 7, 1901
Opened for business March 18, 1901
Bank was Open past 1935
Merged with four other banks to form the Bucks County Bank & Trust Co., February 10, 1955

On March 7, 1901, the acting comptroller of the currency, Thomas P. Kane, authorized The First National Bank of Perkasie to commence the business of banking with capital of $50,000. The directors were Henry G. Moyer, Charles E. Freed, Leidy F. Harpel, Grier Scheetz, Leidy Fulmer, C.S. Gulick, Edwin C. Leidy, John S. Bissey, Henry O. Moyer, and Dr. George M. Grim. Officers were Henry G. Moyer, president; Charles E. Freed, vice president; and Milton C. Pyle, Cashier.

On February 10, 1955, a merger of four banks in upper Bucks County into one institution with assets of 16.5 million dollars and capitalization of $1,814,000 was approved by stockholders. The banks were the Quakertown Trust Co., The First National Bank of Perkasie, the Perkasie Trust Co., and the Dublin National Bank. The title of the resulting institution was the Bucks County Bank & Trust Co. with Quakertown president D. H. Erdman as head of the new bank. The new bank applied for a state charter.

Official Bank Title

1: The First National Bank of Perkasie, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $20 bank note with pen signatures of Walter K. Terry, Cashier and Henry G. Moyer, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of Walter K. Terry, Cashier and Charles B. Weaver, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $1,226,400 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1901 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 98,368 notes (81,416 large size and 16,952 small size notes).

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

Series/Type	Sheet/Denoms	Serial#s	Sheet Comments
1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 3100
1882 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 5800
1882 Value Back	3x10-20	5801 - 8953
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	1 - 8301
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 1724
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 520
1929 Type 2	10	1 - 2690
1929 Type 2	20	1 - 798

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1901 - 1936):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

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

Wiki Links

Sources

Perkasie, 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://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
The Central News, Perkasie, PA, Thu., June 6, 1901.
The Central News, Perkasie, PA, Thu., May 2, 1901.
The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA, Thu., Feb. 10, 1955.
The Gettysburg Times, Gettysburg, PA, Fri., Feb. 11, 1955.