First National Bank, Wellsborough, PA (Charter 328)

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The old First National Bank of Wellsborough, Pennsylvania, ca2019. The Citizens & Northern Bank building is on the corner of Main and Crafton Streets.
The old First National Bank of Wellsborough, Pennsylvania, ca2019. The Citizens & Northern Bank building is on the corner of Main and Crafton Streets. Courtesy of Google Maps

First National Bank, Wellsborough, PA (Chartered 1864 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Wellsboro (Wellsborough) is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. It is located 52 miles northwest of Williamsport. The population was 3,472 at the 2020 census. In 1900, 2,945 people lived here; in 1910, 3,183 lived here.

Early in the 20th century, Wellsboro was the shipping point and trade center for a large area. It had fruit evaporators, flour and woolen mills, a milk-condensing plant, marble works, saw mills, foundry and machine shops, and manufactories of cut glass, chemicals, rugs, bolts, cigars, carriages, and furniture. It is the county seat of Tioga County,[3] and also home to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.

Wellsboro was settled in 1806 and incorporated in 1830 and was named in honor of Mary Wells, wife of one of the original settlers, Benjamin Wistar Morris. The town was the home of George W. Sears (1821 – 1890), a sportswriter for Field & Stream magazine in the 1880s and an early environmentalist. His stories, appearing under the pen name "Nessmuk", popularized self-guided canoe camping tours of the Adirondack lakes in open lightweight solo canoes and what is today called ultralight camping. Wellsboro was also the site of one of the first factories where light bulbs were mass-produced, using machines whose design remains essentially unchanged from the early 20th century when the Corning company established the plant in the town.

The Robinson House, Jesse Robinson House, Wellsboro Armory, and Wellsboro Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Wellsborough had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

On March 21, 1864, the First National Bank of Wellsborough was authorized to begin business with capital of $50,000. William Bache was president and John L. Robinson, cashier.[1]

On September 17, 1874, five-masked burglars gagged and bound President Robinson's family and then compelled the president to go with them to the bank and open the safe which they robbed of $50,000. They then took him back home, stole his daughter's finger-ring, kissed his wife who fainted and then rode off in two carriages with gray horses. They went towards Elmira, New York. A $5,000 reward was offered for their capture.[2][3]

G.B. Graham, alias George Mason, a notorious cracksman, was charged with burglarizing the First National Bank of Wellsboro, Tioga County, and similar depredations in Philadelphia. He was arrested on July 25, 1876, at the Monongahela House, Pittsburg and was awaiting the action of eastern authorities.[4] He was registered as G.B. Graham of Cleveland. On August 8th, Chief of Police Hartzell of Pittsburgh received a telegram from J.H. Robinson, stating that George Mason had been identified as one of the thieves who robbed the bank in 1874. Mason had a hearing in Wellsboro and had been committed to jail pending a final hearing.[5]

In February 1885, Joseph Howard, alias Killoran, one of the most notorious bank robbers in the country, was arrested by a Pinkerton detective on Saturday at Ninth and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, and taken to the Central Station to await a requisition from Michigan authorities for the robbery of the Coldwater National Bank on July 18, 1883. Two men entered the Coldwater bank, and while one engaged the teller in conversation the other slipped behind the railing and picked up a package containing $10,000 in bills which was lying on a desk. Howard, who was the one who talked with the teller, managed to escape, but the one who stole the package was captured and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. Howard only arrived in town on Saturday morning and in the afternoon was met in the street by a detective who recognized him at once and had him arrested. Howard had a varied career. He was one of the men who, with Frank McCoy, Jimmy Hope and others, were publicly whipped for attempted robbery of the Del ware National Bank at Wilmington and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, but escaped. He was engaged in the robbery of the First National Bank of Wellsboro with Jimmy Hope, Ike Marsh, alias "Big Ike," Tom Curley, Mike Welsh, George Mason and others, and was also connected with George Bliss, alias "White," alias "Miles," in the robbery of the Barre Bank, Vermont. Bliss and Howard were arrested in New York. Bliss was taken to Barre and Howard pleaded guilty to the Waterford Bank robbery in New York in order to prevent his going back to Vermont. He was implicated in the robbery of the Kensington National Bank, and also in the Beneficial Saving Fund Bank robbery affair in Philadelphia, and had worked with the best burglars and professional bank sneak thieves in the country. He was originally a pickpocket, but gradually worked his way up to his present position at the head of his profession. He was genteel, well-educated, dressed in good style, and was what would be styled a gentleman of leisure, whose inclinations would lead him to be a quiet, religious person, but whose past exploits lead the Pinkertons to consider him as the ablest and shrewdest bank robber in this country. Howard was indignant when arrested, but his "injured innocence" dodge was of no avail, and when the requisition arrived, he would have to go back from "wine" to "Cold Water," in Michigan![6][7]

In December of 1964 the bank purchased the assets of three banks, including Farmers National Bank of Liberty, the Pattison National Bank of Elkland and the First National Bank of Knoxville. The First National Bank of Wellsborough then changed its name to Northern National Bank and Trust Company.

Citizens & Northern Corporation is a bank holding company with assets exceeding $2.4 billion and is headquartered in Wellsboro, PA. Banking and lending services are provided by its subsidiary, C&N, from 30 banking and loan production offices in Bradford, Cameron, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Sullivan, Tioga, Bucks, York, Lancaster and Chester Counties in Pennsylvania and Steuben and Chemung Counties in New York. Citizens & Northern Bank was formed October 1, 1971, following the consolidation of Northern National Bank of Wellsboro and Citizens National Bank of Towanda. Citizens & Northern continued to expand, opening several new branches from 1971 through 2005. In 2005, Citizens & Northern Bank merged with Canisteo Valle Corp., allowing the bank to acquire two New York State offices in Canisteo and Hornell. In April of 2019, Citizens & Northern Bank finalized a merger with Monument Bank in Bucks County, PA, which added two full-service branches and a loan production office. Following the merger, Citizens & Northern Bank rebranded its outward appearance to the current C&N seen today. C&N continued to bolster its presence in Southeastern Pennsylvania by merging with Covenant Bank in August of 2020. The addition of Covenant Bank included a second branch in Doylestown and a branch in Paoli in Chester County.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Wellsborough, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $100 bank note with pen signatures of Henry C. Cox, Cashier and J.M. Robinson, President.
1882 Brown Back $100 bank note with pen signatures of Henry C. Cox, Cashier and J.M. Robinson, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with pen signatures of E.W. Gleckler, Cashier and W.D. Van Horn, President.
1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with pen signatures of E.W. Gleckler, Cashier and W.D. Van Horn, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1902 Plain Back $20 bank note with pen signatures of H.E. Webster, Cashier and C.M. Applegate, Vice President.
1902 Plain Back $20 bank note with pen signatures of H.E. Webster, Cashier and C.M. Applegate, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of H.E. Webster, Cashier and Howard F. Marsh President.
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of H.E. Webster, Cashier and Howard F. Marsh President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $4,101,180 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 356,882 notes (305,508 large size and 51,374 small size notes).

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

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments
Original Series 3x1-2 1 - 3100
Original Series 4x5 1 - 8775
Series 1875 4x5 1 - 7745
1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 2000
1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 1720
1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 6300
1902 Red Seal 50-100 1 - 450
1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 15500
1902 Date Back 50-100 1 - 200
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 15501 - 47272
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 5696
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 1528
1929 Type 2 10 1 - 6454
1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1576

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1935):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

  • C. Milton Applegate, Vice President 1925...1927
  • There are currently no known Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

  • Wellsborough (Wellsboro), 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 Pittsburgh Daily Commercial, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., Mar. 30, 1864.
  2. ↑ Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster, PA, Fri., Sep. 18, 1874.
  3. ↑ The Perry County Democrat, Bloomfield, PA, Wed., Sep. 23, 1874.
  4. ↑ The Daily Evening Express, Lancaster, PA, Wed., July 26, 1876.
  5. ↑ Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Tue., Aug. 8, 1876.
  6. ↑ Detroit Free Press, Detroit, MI, Thu., July 19, 1883.
  7. ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Mon., Feb. 9, 1885.
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