First National Bank, Wallingford, CT (Charter 2599)
First National Bank, Wallingford, CT (Chartered 1881 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, centrally located between New Haven and Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The community was named after Wallingford, in England. The population was 44,396 at the 2020 census. In 1870, the population was 3,676 and it reached 9,001 by 1900.
The Connecticut General Assembly created the town on October 10, 1667. This original plot of land near the Quinnipiac River is now considered Main Street. Starting on May 12, 1670, there were 126 people who lived in temporary housing, and five years later in 1675 there were 40 permanent homes.
In 1697 Wallingford was the site of the last witchcraft trial in New England. Winifred Benham was thrice tried for witchcraft and acquitted all three times.
The 1878 Wallingford tornado struck on August 9 of that year. It killed at least 29 and possibly as many as 34 people in Wallingford, the most by any tornado event in Connecticut history.
In terms of Wallingford's manufacturing and design history, silver-producing companies like Hall, Elton & Co., Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co., and R. Wallace & Sons are of particular note. Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. as well as Wallingford's Watrous Manufacturing Co. later became part of the International Silver Company, which was headquartered in the neighboring city of Meriden.
Wallingford had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized August 31, 1881
- Chartered December 14, 1881
- Bank was Open past 1935
- Merged with the Union and New Haven Trust Company on April 13, 1956
For many years prior to the establishment of the First National Bank, Wallingford depended upon New Haven and Meriden to supply its banking needs except for a brief period when partial service was rendered by the private bank of Wm. Y. Beach. An organization certificate was executed August 12, 1881 and nine days later after subscriptions to the original $100,000 in capital stock were secured, the following directors took the oath of office: Samuel Simpson, L.M. Monroe, G.W. Hull, R.H. Cowles, Hezekiah Hall, E.M. Judd, W.J. Leavenworth, and L.M. Hubbard, all of Wallingford, and W.S. Hull of Madison. Payments were made in three installments: $10,000 by December 8, 1881; $50,000 by December 9, 1881; and $40,000 on August 9, 1882. On December 14, 1881, the Comptroller of the Currency authorized the bank to commence business. A decision to purchase a lot had been made on September 26, 1881 on South Main Street from Geo. W. Whittlesey and a bank building was erected. Temporary offices were secured in one half of the store at Wallace block, then occupied by Mr. Valentine as a shoe store, fitted up for a bank and opened in January 1882. In January 1883, the move was made into the new building, part of which was also rented to the Dime Savings Bank which they occupied until 1907.
Table 1. Early Directors. Click on expand to see a table of the early directors and the years they served.
| Director | Years | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Samuel Simpson | 1881-1894 | Deceased |
| Lyman M. Monroe | 1881-1903 | Deceased |
| Gurdon W. Hull | 1881-1894 | Deceased |
| Robert H. Cowles | 1881-1916 | Deceased |
| Hezekiah Hall | 1881-1883 | Deceased |
| Edward M. Judd | 1881-1882 | Resigned |
| Walter J. Leavenworth | 1881-1906 | Deceased |
| Leverett M. Hubbard | 1881-1906 | Deceased |
| William S. Hull | 1881-1882 | Resigned |
| Robert Wallace | 1882 | Resigned |
| Albert D. Judd | 1882-1903 | Deceased |
| Frank A. Wallace | 1882 | |
| Henry Hull | 1883-1902 | Deceased |
| William H. Newton | 1894-1913 | Resigned |
| Charles H. Tibbits | 1894-1923 | Deceased |
| Linus H. Hall | 1902...1927 | |
| George M. Hallenbeck | 1903-1920 | Deceased |
| Clifford W. Leavenworth | 1906...1945 | Deceased |
| William H. Edsall | 1906 | |
| George E. Dickerman | 1908 | |
| John J. Prior | 1913 | |
| Frederick M. Cowles | 1917 | |
| Roland F. Andrews | 1921 | |
| Harry E. Dickerman | 1922-1956 |
- For the table above, if no end date or reason is given, person was a director through at least 1923.
Table 2. Vice Presidents and Assistant Cashiers for the First National Bank.
| Vice President's Name | Years Served | Assistant Cashier's Name | Years Served |
|---|---|---|---|
| G.W. Hull | 1886-1889 | F.M Cowles | 1912-1913 |
| W.J. Leavenworth | 1889-1890 | W.R. Dunn | 1920-1922 |
| A.D. Judd | 1890-1893 | E.A. Hillbom | 1922-1925 |
| L.M. Hubbard | 1893-1901 | ||
| C.H. Tibbits | 1901...1923 |
On January 13, 1891, the bank held its annual meeting and re-elected as directors Samuel Simpson, Lyman M. Monroe, Leverett M. Hubbard, Robert H. Cowles, Frank A. Wallace, Albert D. Judd, Henry Hull, Gurdon W. Hull, and Walter J. Leavenworth. The following week the directors elected Samuel Simpson, president; Albert D. Judd, vice president; Walter J. Leavenworth and Robert H. Cowles, examiners. L.M. Hubbard was nominated for the office of examiner, but declined to serve any longer.
General George H. Ford bought the Simpson Building, coming into full ownership on May 1, 1891. The price was about $75,000. The building was constructed in 1847 by the late Hon. James Brewster. It extended 70 feet on Chapel Street and was four stories high. Hon. Samuel Simpson, the head of the Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co., Wallingford, purchased it in 1871. On July 6, 1891, the directors settled the question of the presidency by electing Colonel W.J. Leavenworth in place of Samuel Simpson, who resigned.
At the annual meeting of the Dime Savings bank on July 14, 1891, the following directors were elected: Samuel Simpson, L.M. Hubbard, J. Atwater, Rev. H. Mallon, C.N. Jones, P.W. Hall, and G.E. Dickerman. A.D. Judd was also elected as director to fill a vacancy. The officers selected were Samuel Simpson, president, L.M. Hubbard, first vice president; J. Atwater, second vice president; L.B. Bishop, secretary and treasurer.
The new residence to be erected on the corner of Curtis Ave and Main St. by Samuel Simpson for his granddaughter, Mrs. C.H. Tibbits will be the most elegant and elaborate display of architectural beauty and design of any building in the borough and the cost was only exceeded by the mansion of H.L. Judd on S. Main Street. Allen & Tyler of New Haven were the architects.
The new banking office was opened to the public on Wednesday night, January 24, 1923. Holmes and Winslow of New York City were the architects and they had a large amount of experience designing buildings of this type. The building was 40 x 72 feet of semi fire-proof construction with Indiana limestone façade. The general contractors were Loucks and Clarke of Wallingford and the interior contract went to Eugene Ohmer of New York City. The security and safe deposit vault, constructed by the Mosler Safe Company, was 8 x 14 feet and 8 feet high of reinforced concrete 18 inches thick with steel lining and protected by an electric alarm system installed by the Duplex Electric Company of New York. Duplex Electric also installed the daylight holdup alarm connected to the same system.
On Tuesday, January 11, 1927, the stockholders elected the following directors: Frederic M. Cowles, president; Linus H. Hall, vice president; Clifford W. Leavenworth, William H. Edsall, Harry E. Dickerman, John J. Prior, Rollin F. Andrews, Charles D. Morris, and David R. Lyman. Mr. Lyman was newly elected to the board.
On March 28, 1956, stockholders of the First National Bank of Wallingford and the Union and New Haven Trust Company approved a merger plan whereby the New Haven institution would purchase the assets of the Wallingford bank and assume all its liabilities. The purchase of the stock by the Union and New Haven Trust Company totaled $1,160,000 on the basis of 2,000 shares being sold for $580 per share. After the merger the resources of the New Haven bank exceeded $65 million; the bank was organized in 1868.
Erik Hillbom of the Wallingford branch and Edward M. Gaillard, president of the Union and New Haven Trust Company stated the local bank would operate as the Wallingford branch with all personnel retained. The Wallingford branch was headed by Mr. Hillbom as president. Vice presidents were Harry Dickerman and Dr. David Lyman. Mr. Cowles was cashier and Daniel A. Santoro was assistant Cashier. The chairman of the board of directors was Frederic M. Cowles, former president. The merger became effective on April 13.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Wallingford, CT
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $3,883,920 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1881 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 404,341 notes (331,036 large size and 73,305 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments Series 1875 4x5 1 - 14655 Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 8070 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 8100 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 6860 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 13000 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 10100 1882 Value Back 4x5 13001 - 24878 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 10101 - 17312 1902 Plain Back 3x50-100 1 - 2884 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 6328 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 3152 1929 Type 1 6x50 1 - 248 1929 Type 1 6x100 1 - 84 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 9986 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 4447
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1881 - 1936):
Presidents:
- Samuel Simpson, 1882-1890
- COL Walter James Leavenworth, 1891-1905
- Frank Albert Wallace, 1906-1925
- Frederic Morgan Cowles, 1926-1935
Cashiers:
- Hon. William H. Newton, 1882-1912
- Frederic Morgan Cowles, 1913-1925
- Erik Andrew Hillbom, 1926-1935
Other Bank Note Signers
- Linus Hezekiah Hall, Vice President
- There are currently no known or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Connecticut Bank Note History
- General information on Wallingford (Wikipedia)
- General information on New Haven County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Connecticut (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Wallingford, CT, 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 Bankers' Magazine, Vol. 108, Jan. 1924-June 1924 p. 337.
- The Meriden Daily Journal, Meriden, CT, Tue., Jan. 13, 1891.
- The Journal, Meriden, CT, Tue., Jan. 20, 1891.
- The Morning Journal-Courier, New Haven, CT., Mon. Mar. 9, 1891.
- The Journal, Meriden, CT., Tue., July 7, 1891.
- The Journal, Meriden, CT., Wed., July 15, 1891.
- The Morning Journal-Courier, New Haven, CT, Wed., Nov. 4, 1891.
- The Journal, Meriden CT, Tue., Jan. 16, 1923.
- Record-Journal, Meriden, CT., Tue., Jan. 23, 1923.
- Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT, Wed., Jan. 12, 1927.
- Record Journal, Meriden, CT, Tue., Sep. 3, 1935.
- Record-Journal, Meriden, CT, Thu., Mar. 29, 1956.