First National Bank, Waverly, NY (Charter 297)
First National Bank, Waverly, NY (Chartered 1864 - Receivership 1933)
Town History
Waverly is part of the Binghamton metropolitan area. The village was previously a regular stop on the Black Diamond Express passenger service. It is located in the Penn-York Valley, a once thriving Rust Belt railroad region that spans Northeastern Pennsylvania and New York and includes Waverly in New York state and South Waverly, Sayre, and Athens in Pennsylvania. The region's combined population is nearly 30,000 and the village's population was 4,373 as of the 2020 census. In 1870 the population was 2,239 peaking in 1950 at 6,037.
Waverly is so close to New York state's southern border that the village is part of a much larger community that runs into Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Waverly combines with South Waverly, Sayre and Athens, Pennsylvania to make up the larger community of the Penn-York Valley or simply "The Valley", which has a state border running through it. Waverly is also a short distance from the border of Chemung County to the west.
Geoffrey Eli Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is an American former motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He raced at the NASCAR Cup Series from 1979 to 2011, earning 18 wins and a best season finish of third in 1990.
NASCAR's Bodine brothers attended Waverly High School and were born into a racing family as their father and grandfather, Eli Bodine Jr. and Sr., built Chemung Speedrome in 1950. Geoffrey Eli Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is an American former motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He raced at the NASCAR Cup Series from 1979 to 2011, earning 18 wins and a best season finish of third in 1990. Geoff is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers (with Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine), and sister Denise.
Waverly had three National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all three of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Chartered March 2, 1864
- Licensed prior to March 16, 1933
- Conservatorship September 1, 1933
- Receivership October 24, 1933
On March 2, 1864, a charter for the First National Bank of Waverly, New York, capital $50,000 was issued. The president was R.D. Van Duzer with Howard Elmer as cashier.[1]
In May 1870, the First National Bank of Waverly advertised the following services: Government Securities bought and sold at best rates, coupons collected without charge, and Foreign Exchange drawn in amounts to suit. Howard Elmer was president and R.A. Elmer, vice president.[2]
On September 9, 1892, all of Waverly was in mourning over the report of Howard Elmer's death in St. Luke’s Hospital at Bethlehem. Mr. Elmer had been in poor health for some time past and two weeks ago he was taken to the hospital at Bethlehem to be treated. Mr. Elmer was largely interested in the P. & R. Railroad Company, also in the Sayre land company of Sayre, Pennsylvania. He had been president of the First National Bank of Waverly for years. He was born August 2, 1833, in Wawanda, Orange County, New York, the son of Richard Allison and Charlotte Elmer and prepared for college at the Ridgebury and Goshen academies, but poor health prevented his continuance of the course. Soon after his coming to Waverly in 1850 as young man of seventeen, he entered the Waverly Bank, after which he was engaged by the Chemung Canal Bank and the First National Bank of Elmira. In 1864 he organized the First National Bank of Waverly and was until 1868 its cashier, after which he became its president which position he held at the time of his death. In 1870, having great faith in the value of the advantages of the valley in which Waverly was situated, in connection with his brother R.A. Elmer and a company of other gentlemen, he purchased several tracts of land, nearly 1,000 acres which became part of Sayre and its surroundings. The panic of 1873 and consequent depreciation of values for a time checked the growth of the proposed town, but he did not swerve from his course and built the town of Sayre with its wheel foundry, the pipe foundry, and Lehigh Valley car shops. He was also president of the Sayre Land Company and Sayre Water Company and was active manager until his health made it impossible. During the years 1875 and 1876 he was receiver of the Ithaca & Athens and Geneva & Ithaca railroads.[3]
In November 1908, J.A. Rumsey, local cashier of the Wells-Fargo Express Company in Rochester, resigned his position to become assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Waverly. Employees of the company through James P. Henry, general agent, presented Mr. Rumsey with a handsome gold-headed umbrella.[4]
In January 1917, directors and officers of the First National Bank of Waverly were elected as follows: Frederick E. Lyford, president; Percy L. Lang, vice president; Harry E. Ellis, cashier; Frank A. Bell, John I. Ford, Frank K. Howard, Dr. John T. Tucker, George E. Pike, Harry W. Knapp, and Mark Banfield of Van Etten, directors. Mr. Lyman was also re-elected president of the National Bank of Sayre.[5]
On January 1, 1918, James Rumsey, for the past nine years assistant cashier at the First National Bank of Waverly, took a position with the First National Bank of Binghamton. Mr. Ramsey was a member of the Tioga Hose Company and the local lodge of masons.[6]
In August 1921, the First National Bank of Waverly was empowered by the Federal Reserve Board to act as trustee, executor, administrator, registrar of stocks and bonds, guardian of estates, or in any fiduciary capacity which trust companies were permitted to act under state and national laws. The First National was completing extensive alterations and additions to its banking house to care for its expanding business. To provide for the improvements, the bank purchased the buildings adjoining its property on both Fulton and Broad Streets. A section was taken from each to permit enlarging the banking quarters. Work was begun on an additional vault adjoining the old vault. In it were 550 safe deposit boxes, leaving the old vault free for exclusive use by the bank itself. A third vault located in the basement was used for storage and filing purposes. The enlarged banking quarters removed entirely the steel cages and partitions once deemed necessary for protection. Marble counters were added surmounted by glass partitions extending half way to the ceiling. The officers of the bank were Frederick E. Lyford, president; Percy L. Lang, Frank L. Howard, vice presidents; Harry A. Ellis, cashier; F.A. Bell, H.W. Knapp, Geo. N. Pike, J.T. Tucker, H.I. Seeley of Waverly; H.A. Briggs of Van Ette, and John I. Ford, Chemung; directors.[7]
In January 1925, at the annual meeting of the stockholders, the following directors were elected: Frank L. Howard, Percy L. Lang, Harry A. Ellis, Frank A. Bell, Harry W. Knapp, John T. Tucker, George N. Pike, Hart I. Seely, John I. Ford and H.A. Briggs. The directors subsequently met and elected F.L. Howard, president and trust officer; Percy L. Lang, first vice president; Harry W. Knapp, second vice president; Louie C. Jones and Harry J. Brown, assistant cashiers; Margaret Falsey and Victor Buley, tellers.[8]
On Tuesday, January 10, 1933, the directors re-elected were Frank L. Howard, George N. Pike, John T. Tucker, Harry W. Knapp, Frank A. Bell, Hart I. Seely, Hawley A. Briggs, Guy S. Carpenter, George V. Dayton, Walter S. Peck, and Clifford Dounce. The officers re-elected were F.L. Howard, president and trust officer; Harry W. Knapp and Pierson Salmon, vice presidents; Louie C. Jones, cashier and assistant trust officer; and Harry J. Brown, assistant cashier.[9]
On Sunday, August 2, 1936, Pierson Hart Salmon of Springfield, Massachusetts, former Elmira and Waverly banker, died at the family home at Lake Lamoka, New York. He was associated with the First National Bank and Trust Company of Elmira for about a quarter of a century, leaving in 1931 and later becoming vice president of the First National Bank of Waverly. At that time he was chairman of the committee on agriculture of the New York State Bankers' Association. When the directors decided to close the Waverly bank, he was named conservator. In 1933 he became associated with an international credit bank at Springfield, Massachusetts. He was an enthusiastic hunter and fisherman invariably spending his weekend as his cottage on Lake Lamoka.[10]
Official Bank Title
1: The First National Bank of Waverly, NY
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,273,410 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1933. This consisted of a total of 218,713 notes (196,512 large size and 22,201 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 - 5125 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 4250 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 5725 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 811 ABCA plate approved June 22, 1900 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 5700 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 9300 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 9301 - 27517 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2846 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 798 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 325 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 12
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1933):
Presidents:
- Richard Denton Van Duzer, 1864-1867
- Howard Elmer, 1868-1892
- Frederick Eugene Lyford, 1893-1922
- Frank Loring Howard, 1923-1932
Cashiers:
- Howard Elmer, 1864-1867
- C. A. Thompson, 1868-1870
- Richard Allison Elmer, 1871-1883
- Frederick Eugene Lyford, 1884-1892
- Percy L. Lang, 1893-1913
- Harry Arthur Ellis, Sr., 1913-1924
- Louie Catharine Jones, 1926-1932
Other Known Bank Note Signers
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Waverly, NY, 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 Pittsburgh Commercial, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., Mar. 9, 1864.
- ↑ The Athens Gleaner, Athens, PA, Thu., May 12, 1870.
- ↑ Elmira Star-Gazette, Elmira, NY, Sat., Sep. 10, 1892.
- ↑ The Times-Union, Rochester, NY, Wed., Nov. 18, 1908.
- ↑ Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, Thu., Jan. 11, 1917.
- ↑ Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, Thu., Dec. 27, 1917.
- ↑ The Evening Times, Sayre, PA, Sat., Aug. 6, 1921.
- ↑ The Evening Times, Sayre, PA, Wed., Jan. 14, 1925.
- ↑ The Evening Times, Sayre, PA, Tue. Jan. 10, 1933.
- ↑ Elmira Star-Gazette, Elmira, NY, Mon. Aug. 3, 1936.