First National Bank, Uniontown, PA (Charter 270)

Post card of the First National Bank building in downtown Uniontown, Pennsylvania. J.V. Thompson was instrumental in building this 11 story structure and helping to grow the bank into a powerful financial institution. Courtesy of Adam Stroup

First National Bank, Uniontown, PA (Chartered 1864 - Receivership 1915)

Town History

A modern view of the old First National Bank Building, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, ca2010s. Courtesy of Google Maps.

Uniontown is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 46 miles southeast of Pittsburgh and part of the Greater Pittsburgh Region. The population was 10,372 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat and largest city of Fayette County. Popularly known as "Beesontown", the "town of Union" was founded by Henry Beeson on July 4, 1776, the same day the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

In the late nineteenth century, the town grew based on the development of coal mines and the steel industry. Uniontown was the site of violent clashes between striking coal miners and guards at the local coke works during the bituminous coal miners' strike of 1894. Fifteen guards armed with carbines and machine guns held off an attack by 1,500 strikers, killing five and wounding eight.

As with most of Western Pennsylvania, Uniontown's economy waned during the region's deindustrialization of the late 20th century, when the steel industry restructured and many jobs went elsewhere, including offshore. This decline continued into the 21st century, and the population is about half its peak of 1940.

In 1967, Uniontown was the birthplace of the McDonald's Big Mac sandwich. In 2007, the Big Mac Museum was opened in North Huntingdon Township in Westmoreland County, to the disappointment of some Uniontown residents. For a list of notable persons from Uniontown, including General of the Army George C. Marshall, see the wiki links section below.

Uniontown had five National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and four of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Chartered February 20, 1864
Receivership January 19, 1915

In January 1915, negotiations were about complete between Josiah Van Kirk Thompson, president of the First National Bank of Uniontown, and persons believed to represent the allied interests of United States Steel Corp. or Henry Clay Frick for the sale of 200,000 acres of the richest coking coal lands in Green County, Pennsylvania for about $34 million. What follows was once called the most sensational failure in the history of Pennsylvania.

The Comptroller of the Currency, John S. Williams, issued a statement on January 18, 1915 stating the First National Bank of Uniontown was in an unsatisfactory condition since prior to March 1912. Its liabilities had been largely reduced and liquidated as the result of earnest efforts on the part of the treasury in the past 18 months and it was hoped depositors may all be paid in full. Its directors were attempting to arrange for the reopening of the bank.

Organized in 1864, the First National had stood at the tops of all national banks because of its large surplus and undivided profits in proportion to its capital. For a number of years it had been known as Josiah V. Thompson's bank and in addition to having close ties with the coal operations of Mr. Thompson, it partially financed a large banking and office building in Uniontown. Josiah V. Thompson was president of the bank; J.M. Hustead, vice president; E.S. Hackney, cashier; F.M. Seamans, Jr., assistant cashier; Joseph Rafael, manager of the foreign department; J.V. Thompson, J.M. Hustead, J.D. Ruby, W.M. Thompson, Jon. E. Hess, E. S. Hackney and William Hunt, directors. The condition of the bank at the Dec. 31, 1914 call had deposits of $1,613,244.47 which compared to $2,250,000 a year earlier. The loss was attributed to the knowledge of Mr. Thompson's over-extended loans, but chiefly due to withdrawals necessitated by slack times in the coke industry.

Leading Pittsburgh bankers said the failure would not be felt in Pittsburgh as the situation at Uniontown had been well understood for some time. They ascribed the failure to the inability of Thompson to market his Greene County coal lands.

By December 1915, receiver John H. Strawn expected to have affairs of the bank adjusted to permit the payment of a dividend to depositors. J.V. Thompson was in New York attempting to induce New York financiers to take part in the liquidation of his indebtedness for the benefit of his creditors; creditors had filed nearly 3,000 suits against Mr. Thompson by this time.

In February 1916, Thompson was indicted on 17 counts and with lawyers, former Judge R.E. Umbel and W. Cook McKean, as well as bondsmen, conferred with U.S. Attorney E. Lowry Humes and arranged bail of $10,000. Injunctions were obtained preventing the sale of lands by the county for delinquent taxes amounting to $200,000 dating back to 1914. In May 1916, the Pittsburgh Daily Post published Thompson's balance sheet showing assets exceeding liabilities by over $32 million. His major assets were coal lands valued at over $41 million and securities in coal companies and other companies valued at over $19 million.

Thompson sold 12,000 acres of his coal land in Greene County on December 8, 1916 to the H.C. Frick Coke Co. The sale was said to be the largest ever recorded in Western Pennsylvania with proceeds to pay the Thompson creditors led by A.C. Robinson, chairman of the Thompson creditors' committee. The value of the lands was estimated at between $6 and $7 million. Subsequent sales of Thompson's coal lands through at least 1922 would equal or exceed this one.

Aldrich-Vreeland Act. It is interesting to note that the emergency currency authorized by the Aldrich-Vreeland Act greatly expanded the amount of currency briefly late in 1914 and early 1915. Emergency issues were all returned by July 1915 except for $151,703.11 issued to the First National Bank of Uniontown due to its failure. The Act resulted in a change in national bank notes, chiefly the introduction of date backs and change in the securities clause to include 'other securities' beside U.S. obligations. In July of 1918, sales of 2,000 shares of Liberty Coal Company and 7,000 shares of Wetzel Coal and Coke Co. owned by Thompson and deposited with the Comptroller of the Currency were ordered by Judge W.H.S Thomson, U.S. district court in Pittsburgh. The stocks were expected to realize $1.7 million. This was part of the Thompson bankruptcy case and necessary to cover fees and commissions incurred by sales of land to the H.C. Frick Coke Co.

Thompson was indicted for criminal violations of the banking laws in March 1920 with trial expected in May. The United States Supreme Court had upheld the U.S. attorneys office in the Thompson case, overruling Judge Charles P. Orr of the United States district court in Pittsburgh. The indictments which dated back to February 8, 1916 for offenses in 1914 were finally dropped on November 7, 1921.

On October 25, 1919, Comptroller of the Currency John Skelton Williams' nomination to another five-year term was voted unfavorably by the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency. The committee heard from a group of stockholders of the defunct First National Bank of Uniontown that mistakes had been made by the Comptroller's office in handling the assets of the institution. The 9 to 7 vote was cast along party lines attempting to prevent Mr. Williams' confirmation. He would serve until 1921.

J.V. Thompson in 1903 built an ornate mansion at the western edge of Uniontown called Oak Hill. He also built the 11-story First National Bank Building in downtown Uniontown. He died bankrupt in 1933 having made and lost fortunes in coal lands. Oak Hill was sold to the Sisters of St. Basil, who renamed it Mount St. Macrina. His will left many invaluable historical effects including signatures of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, to his heir, step-daughter Rosemary Thompson. Rosemary was 17-years old and the daughter of Rose S. Thompson who married Josiah in 1929. Auctions of a glittering array of antiques and priceless furniture went to pay his creditors.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Uniontown, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Date Back $100 bank note with signatures of E.S. Hackney, Cashier and J.V. Thompson, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $1,300,450 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1915. This consisted of a total of 44,200 notes (44,200 large size and No small size notes).

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

Series/Type	Sheet/Denoms	Serial#s	Sheet Comments
Original Series	4x5	1 - 3500
Original Series	3x10-20	1 - 2000
Series 1875	3x10-20	1 - 1680
1882 Brown Back	50-100	1 - 931
1902 Red Seal	50-100	1 - 1027
1902 Date Back	50-100	1 - 1200
1902 Date Back	3x50-100	1 - 2291

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

First National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1915):

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

Uniontown, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniontown,_Pennsylvania
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
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Jan. 10, 1915.
Carlisle Evening Herald, Carlisle, PA, Mon., Jan. 11, 1915.
The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Mon., Jan. 18, 1915.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Dec. 26, 1915.
Reading Times, Reading, PA, Sat., Dec. 9, 1916.
Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., July 24, 1918.
The Evening Standard, Uniontown, PA, Tue., Dec. 12, 1922.
The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA, Sat., Nov. 11, 1933.
Huntoon, Peter, "Emergency Currency: The Aldrich-Vreeland Act & Series of 1882 and 1902 Date Back National Bank Notes," Paper Money, Nov/Dec 2021, No. 336, pp 405-412.