First National Bank, Riegelsville, PA (Charter 9202)

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Postcard of the First National Bank of Riegelsville, Pennsylvania, ca1910s. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

First National Bank, Riegelsville, PA (Chartered 1908 - Open past 1935)

Town History

The small stone bank of the First National Bank of Riegelsville, Bucks County, robbed of $9,100 in June 1940. The bank is on Delaware Avenue a short distance from Route 611, the main Philadelphia-Easton highway.  Miss Olivia Shick, 22, of Riegelsville (left inset) was cashing a check in the bank when the bandits walked in. Mr. William Sherer, 28, an employee of the Riegel Paper Co. (right inset) walked in while the holdup was in progress.[1]

Riegelsville is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on the Delaware River. It is approximately 9 miles south of Easton. It is included in the Philadelphia–Wilmington–Camden metropolitan statistical area, despite being so closely connected to the Lehigh Valley. The population was 847 at the 2020 census. In 1880 the population was 308, growing to 725 by 1930.

Benjamin Riegel founded Riegelsville. The original, and now historic, Riegelsville Inn that he built in 1838 still stands. This historic stone inn has offered food and lodging to Bucks County travelers for over 160 years. The community was named for the Riegel family, as early landowners. They established paper mills across the Delaware River in Warren County, New Jersey. The Benjamin Riegel House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Riegelsville was a mill town in the late 1880s and 1900s. The borough overlooks the Delaware River, spanned by the Riegelsville Bridge, built in 1904 by John A. Roebling's Sons, Co. and connecting with Riegelsville, New Jersey. It is one of the approximately three dozen bridges spanning the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

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

Bank History

In April 1908, the stockholders of the First National Bank of Riegelsville met for organization and elected the following directors: R.A. Shimer, Lee S. Clymer, Jacob Kohl and John B. Poore, Riegelsville; Edward Hughes, Warren Paper Mills, New Jersey; W.E. Calvin, Carpentersville, New Jersey; S.D. Mann, Ferndale; W.C. Evans, Kintnersville; H.K. Riegel, Durham; Dr. G.M. Grim, Ottsville; and Ivan Bachman, Stouts. The directors organized by choosing the following officers: Lee S. Clymer, president; R.A. Shimer, first vice president; J.B. Poore, second vice president. The banks capital of $25,000 comprising 250 shares was distributed among 70 shareholders. It was proposed to purchase ground to erect a banking house.[2] On Monday evening, May 4th, at a meeting of the directors, William Clymer's property on Airie Street was purchased as the site for the new bank building at a cost of nearly $1,800. Plans for a stone building, likely one and one-half stories were being prepared by three architects.[3] In September 1908, Henry Wells resigned as cashier of the People's Bank of West Conshohocken to accept a similar position with the First National Bank of Riegelsville. The new limestone building was expected to be finished in about two months.[4][5] In December Mr. Wells moved into the house adjoining the new bank building.[6]

On January 18, 1909, the First National opened for business in its new building, having moved in from the temporary quarters on Saturday afternoon.[7]

On Tuesday, January 10, 1911, the stockholders elected the following directors: Lee S. Clymer, R.A. Shimer, John B. Poore, G.J. Hollenbach, Dr. H.W. Johnson of Riegelsville; Dr. G.M. Grim of Ottsville; S.D. Mann of Ferndale; William E. Calvin of Carpentersville, New Jersey; H.K. Riegel of Durham. The directors elected the following officers: Lee S. Clymer, president; R.A. Shimer and John B. Poore, vice presidents; Henry Wells, cashier.[8]

Around 2:30, Tuesday afternoon, December 18, 1928, six armed and masked bandits held up the First National Bank of Riegelsville, eight miles south of Easton and escaped with over $7,000. Three persons, two of them employees were locked in the bank vault and the bandits then made their escape. Miss Dorothy Poore, daughter of John B. Poore, the president of the bank, was the only customer in the bank when the six armed men, one of them carrying a machine gun, burst through the main entrance and ordered her and William L. Leattor, 31, the cashier, and Claude C. Wolfinger, assistant cashier, to throw up their hands. Without any waste of time the three were ordered to lie on the floor and the six men then started a systematic search, scooping up all the money in the cages and from the drawers.[9] The bandits had the lower part of their faces covered with handkerchiefs and wore false noses. In their hurry they overlooked $20,000 in cash for a payroll which was in an open safe inside the vault. Wolfinger, Leattor and Miss Poore were placed inside the vault, but the bandits were unable to close the door because of a catch which they did not know how to operate. The bandits made off lugging a bag of silver and bills which the cashier said weighed about 150 pounds. They jumped into a Packard sedan and headed for the hills in the direction of Quakertown. The three hurried outside and caught a glimpse of the machine and it was said to have borne 1928 New Jersey license plates No. 1917. Witnesses were unable to get the letter in front of the number.[10]

On June 27, 1940, the First National Bank of Riegelsville was robbed of $10,000. Pennsylvania motor policemen had surrounded the bank for days after receiving a tip the bank was to be robbed for the payroll of the Riegel Paper Co. which was distributed on June 26th. When the robbery failed to materialize the troopers left and the bank was robbed the next day. Four men, one armed with a machine gun, walked into the bank and forced two officials and five customers into a vault. On July 30th the Asbury Park National Bank was robbed of $106,000. New Jersey State police said they believed the bandits were the same ones that hit the Riegelsville bank. Clues left behind in the getaway car abandoned in Bound Brook, New Jersey, included a loaded pistol and emptied money sacks from the Asbury Park bank as well as Pennsylvania license plates.[11] 

Dr. T. Wilson Barkley who had known of the police guard became suspicious when he saw a car stop and several men enter the bank. From his residence four doors away, he telephoned W. Leslie Leattor, the president of the Riegelsville bank, inquiring if everything was all right. The president answered, "Yes, everything is all right.  Call back later." This aroused the doctor's suspicions. He sent his wife to get the car's license number while he telephoned the State Police at Doylestown. Assistant Cashier Raymond E. Philips was able to convince one of the bandits that the inner vault containing additional money could not be opened because of a time-locking device. The bandit got mad, saying "you should have a sign outside.  It would have saved us a lot of trouble." The robbery was the second in the bank's history, the first was on December 18, 1928, when six bandits got away with $7,000, overlooking $17,000.[12]

On Tuesday, January 13, 1942, stockholders elected the following directors: L.K. Johnson, William L. Leattor, J.C. Bachman, Leroy Smith, Harry W. Griffin, William H. Smith, and H.W. Good.[13]

On Monday, January 17, 1949, Howard W. Good was elected president of the First national bank of Riegelsville at a reorganization meeting in the bank. Other officers were J.C. Bachman, vice president; Claude C. Wolfinger, cashier; Robert C. Bachman, assistant cashier and harry W. Griffin, secretary.[14]

On Friday March 13, 1964, the Federal Reserve Board approved a merger of Girard Trust Corn Exchange Bank of Philadelphia and the First National Bank of Riegelsville. The merger provided Girard with its first office in Bucks County. First National shareholders received 3 1/4 shares of Girard stock and a cash payment of $20 for each share of First National stock. Girard, with offices in Philadelphia, Delaware and Montgomery Counties, reported deposits of $757 million on June 30, 1963. First National reported deposits of $5.7 million on December 31, 1962. Directors of First National formed an advisory board with Howard W. Good, First national president, as chairman. Claude C. Wolfinger would head the Riegelsville office and was also an assistant vice president of Girard.[15]

On December 17, 1971, Howard W. Good, 76, of Ottsville, was dead on arrival Friday at Doylestown Hospital. He was a partner in the Good Brothers Ford auto agency of Ottsville since 1921. One of the oldest Ford agencies in the country, it was founded by his father in 1913. He also was an agent for the Harleysville Mutual Insurance Company for 50 years. He was a former director and president of the First National Bank of Riegelsville and served on the advisory board after the bank merged with the Girard Trust Company. He was a veteran of World War I, having served in the balloon service. He was a high school principal for four years before entering the automobile business.[16]

Official Bank Title

1: The First National Bank of Riegelsville, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $20 bank note with stamped signatures of Henry Wells, Cashier and John B. Poore, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of William L. Leattor, Cashier and John B. Poore, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $461,280 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1908 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 37,296 notes (30,132 large size and 7,164 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 3x10-20 1 - 2970
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 2971 - 7533
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 734
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 192
1929 Type 2 5 1 - 312
1929 Type 2 10 1 - 993
1929 Type 2 20 1 - 303

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1908 - 1935):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Known Bank Note Signers

  • No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

Sources

  • Riegelsville, 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
  1. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Fri., June 28, 1940.
  2. ↑ The Allentown Leader, Allentown, PA, Thu., Apr. 9, 1908.
  3. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Fri., May 8, 1908.
  4. ↑ Reading Times, Reading, PA, Thu., Sep. 3, 1908.
  5. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Mon., Sep. 14, 1908.
  6. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Fri., Dec. 18, 1908.
  7. ↑ News Herald, Perkasie, PA, Thu., Jan. 28, 1909.
  8. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Fri., Jan. 13, 1911.
  9. ↑ Mauch Chunk Times-News, Mauch Chunk, PA, Wed., Dec. 19, 1928.
  10. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Wed., Dc. 19, 1928.
  11. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Fri., Aug. 2, 1940.
  12. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Fri., June 28, 1940.
  13. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Wed., Jan. 14, 1942.
  14. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Tue., Jan. 18, 1949.
  15. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Sat., Mar. 14, 1964.
  16. ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Sat., Dec. 18, 1971.
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