First National Bank, Wellsville, NY (Charter 2850)

Postcard of the First National Bank of Wellsville, New York, ca1900s. This building opened in 1906. Courtesy of Adam Stroup

First National Bank, Wellsville, NY (Chartered 1883 - Liquidated 1917)

Town History

First National Bank of Wellsville, New York, ca2016. Courtesy of Google Maps

Wellsville is a Town and largest community in Allegany County, New York. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 7,099. Wellsville is centrally located in the south half of the county, 8 miles north of the Pennsylvania border. Wellsville is also the name of the main village within this town. The village and the town have two separate, paid governments. Alfred State College maintains a branch campus in the town, with the main campus in Alfred 7 miles east.

Wellsville was named after a man named Gardiner Wells, who was, according to local history, the one person who didn't show up for the meeting when the residents were naming the town. Wells was the major landowner of the real estate pieces, now the downtown Main Street section of Wellsville. Several decades after the founding of the town and village, oil was discovered in Wellsville in 1879 by O.P. Taylor in his famous "Triangle No. 1" well in Petrolia, west of Wellsville. A second boom occurred with the discovery of "Secondary Recovery", led by Bradley Producing, based in Wellsville. The method uses water, so abundant in Wellsville, to force the oil from the "oil sands". The Sinclair Refinery was built in Wellsville at the beginning of the 20th century, not closing down until 1957 after two major fires and falling oil prices.

Since World War II, Wellsville's economy has been dominated by skilled engineering and manufacturing with a cluster of multinational companies in the energy sector. It also has a cluster of ceramic artists and artisans fed by its proximity to Alfred University's ceramics school.

The area that is now Wellsville was part of Scio through the first half of the 19th century. It was incorporated as Wellsville and set apart from Scio in 1857. For a brief time during the early 1870s, Wellsville changed its name to "Genesee". On April 4, 1871, the New York State Legislature officially changed Wellsville's name to Genesee. After much political wrangling, by a special act of the legislature, the name Wellsville was again designated as the official name of the town, June 8, 1873. The village of Wellsville was first incorporated in 1857 and then again in 1873.

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

Bank History

Organized December 11, 1882
Chartered January 2, 1883
Succeeded Hoyt & Lewis
Liquidated July 1, 1917
Succeeded by First Trust Company of Wellsville

The First National Bank of Wellsville opened for business on January 1, 1883. The capital stock was $100,000.

On Wednesday, January 21, 1885, the following officers were chosen: H.N. Lewis, president; W.F. Jones, vice president; F.H. Furman, cashier; D.O. Batterson, bookkeeper; W.B. Bundy, correspondence clerk; and Frank Macken, collection clerk.

In November 1890, Mr. J.B. Jones assumed a position in the First National Bank under his uncle, the Hon. William F. Jones of Wellsville. Previously, he filled a responsible position in the Monroe Bank of Rochester.

In January 1891, the following directors we elected: William F. Jones, E.J. Farnum, George E. Brown, William Duke, and F.H. Furman. William F. Jones was chosen president and F.H. Furman, cashier.

In May 1899, the operation performed on Frank H. Furman, cashier of the First National Bank of Wellsville at the Hornellsville Sanitarium was a success. The abscess was treated and the bullet which Mr. Furman fired into his left ear while temporarily insane from suffering was removed. He would recover and serve as Cashier for the Citizens National Bank of Springfield until his death on August 31, 1915.

The FNB of Wellsville expected to occupy its handsome new banking building about July 1, 1906. The counters and woodwork had not yet arrived, delaying the finishing work. The new building was one of the finest in the United States. It was exquisitely beautiful from an architectural standpoint and was of enduring construction, costing $37,000. Double mahogany doors opened in front under a large limestone portico into the vestibule. Inner swinging doors lead into the customers' lobby, with mosaic tiling, mottled Vermont marble counter rails surmounted with bronze railings and plate glass. There were five windows opening from this circular lobby to the quarters of the receiving teller, paying teller, discount clerk and two bookkeepers. At the right of entrance were the president's and cashier's room and at the left was the lady customers' room. There were also several other rooms. The burglar proof safety vault had an outer door weighing nine tons with time locks. The inner door had five inches of case-hardened armor plate. Behind were two sliding doors of chilled steel bars. The vault was double lined throughout with chilled steel bars embedded in 24 inches of solid concrete. Inside were 125 safe deposit boxes. The officers were J.B. Jones, president; Hon. A.C. Barnum, vice president; and George B. Wilcox, cashier. Mr. Jones had been president for four years. He was both conservative and enterprising and one of the leading young financiers of the country. Mr. Farnum was ex-judge of the county and Mr. Wilcox was an expert in his line. Hon. Wm. F. Jones, whose business ability guided the institution many years as president, and in other ways, was still active in the official management. The bank had total resources of $794,556 and circulation of $99,100.

In September 1908, John B. Jones, the former Wellsville president and the president and chief stockholder of the Oklahoma Trust Company was in Wellsville for several weeks. He had become one of the foremost bankers in the new state of Oklahoma. On Monday, June 8, 1908, the Oklahoma Trust Company with headquarters in Muskogee was issued a license by the state banking board. This was the biggest trust company in the state with paid up capital of $300,000. It leased the banking rooms of the Canadian Valley Banking Company. The officers were President, J.B. Jones, Wellsville, New York; vice president Wm. Roeir, Tulsa; secretary, J.A. Paulhamus, Muskogee; Cashier, E.C. Allison, Independence, Kansas. Royal S. Litchfield, president of the First National Bank at Independence; Thomas H. Owen of Muskogee; and J.H. Huckleberry of Muskogee were directors.

On August 26, 1912, a warrant was issued for the arrest of J. Bainbridge Jones, president of the Oklahoma Trust Company that was being liquidated. The charge was that he appropriated $11,630 from the bank in violation of state banking laws. About $47,000 was taken out of the state guaranty fund to protect depositors of the bank, and this and the Columbia bank failure started the opposition on the part of state bankers to the state guaranty fund. In October 1913, J. Bainbridge Jones, former Muskogee banker and now mining magnate and race horse man at Lexington, Kentucky, was set down from his sulky and fined for not trying to win the heat, placing only third. Jone's horse, "Our Colonel" was the class of the 2:06 pace for $1,000. Danny Murphy would bring "Our Colonel in first in the 2d, 3rd and 4th heats. In addition to the $200 fine, Jones saw Murphy get the $100 for driving the winner. On April 6, 1914, Judge Pollock in federal court quashed the indictments against J. Bainbridge Jones, director and treasurer of the American Union Trust Company.

In February 1917, the First Trust Company of Wellsville with capital of $150,000 had the following incorporators:  Edward C. Brown, Frank W. Higgins, John Milton Carpenter, Stanley F. Booth, Edmund A. Rathbone, Frank E. Richart, Lee Fassett, Bayard C. Tullar, William Duke, Jr., George B. Root, Jr., Jesse L. Grantier, Louise A. Brown, Frank M. Leonard, Francis B. O'Connor, James Leonard Moore, and Riley Allen.

On August 26, 1941, Frank W Higgins, chairman of the board of directors of the First Trust Company and choice of four United States presidents for Wellsville postmaster passed away. Mr. Higgins was born in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland. He came alone to the United States from Ireland when a youth and worked his way to Wellsville where he applied his wood finishing skills and went into the carriage-building business. His wood finishing was considered the finest and he formed a partnership with John Rauber which lasted until 1897. He affiliated himself with the Republican Party as soon as he was able to vote and rose to chairmanship of the Allegany County Republican Committee. President William McKinley in 1897 named him postmaster. President Theodore Roosevelt renamed him to a four-year term. He was then out of office for several years until President Warren G. Harding named him followed by a final four-year appointment by President Calvin Coolidge. In 1897 he quit the carriage business and became interested in real estate. In January 1908 he was named a director of the First National Bank of Wellsville and in 1910 became the cashier. When the First Trust Company was organized to take over the First National, Mr. Higgins continued as a stockholder and director. In 1923, he was elected vice president until 1936 when he was named chairman of the board. He owned extensive business and residential property at the time of his death.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Wellsville, NY

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of George B. Wilcox, Cashier and W.F. Jones, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1902 Date Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of an unknown cashier and J.L. Valkenburgh, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $951,820 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1883 and 1917. This consisted of a total of 83,708 notes (83,708 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
1882 Brown Back	4x5	1 - 3151
1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 2070
1902 Red Seal	3x10-20	1 - 6300
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 9406

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1883 - 1917):

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

Wellsville, 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
Buffalo Morning Express, Buffalo, NY, Sat., Dec. 16, 1882.
Buffalo Weekly Express, Buffalo, NY, Thu., Jan. 22, 1885.
Buffalo Morning Express, Buffalo, NY, Mon. Mon., Nov. 3, 1890.
Buffalo Weekly Express, Buffalo, NY, Thu., Jan. 22, 1891.
The Buffalo Times, Sat., Buffalo, NY, May 20, 1899.
Star-Gazette, Elmira, NY, Mon., June 4, 1906.
Star-Gazette, Elmira, NY, Sat., Oct. 27, 1906.
Star-Gazette, Elmira, NY, Sat., Sep. 12, 1908.
New-State Tribune, Muskogee, OK, Thu., June 11, 1908.
Muskogee Times-Democrat, Muskogee, OK, Mon. Aug. 26, 1912.
Muskogee Times-Democrat, Muskogee, OK, Wed. Oct. 15, 1913.
The Shawnee Daily News-Herald, Mon., Apr. 6, 1914.
The Buffalo News, Buffalo, NY, Sat., Feb. 24, 1917.
Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, Thu., Aug. 28, 1941.
Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo, NY, Thu., Aug. 28, 1941.