First National Bank of Centreville, IN (Charter 37-2696)

Needed: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

First National Bank of Centreville, IN (Chartered 1863 - Liquidated 1885)

Town History

Centerville is a town in Center Township, Wayne County, in the U.S. State of Indiana. The population was 2,748 at the 2020 United States Census. In 1860 the population was 960, growing to 993 by 1930.

Centerville was platted in 1814 on land bought from the Miami Indians at the Twelve Mile Purchase. It was settled by Quakers originally from Centreville, Delaware. Centre Monthly Meeting in Delaware is part of Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends, whose Indian relations office first sent a delegation of Quakers to Indiana Territory at the request of Chief Little Turtle of the Miami Indians, who visited them in Baltimore. Friends from Delaware lived for a time in Guilford County, North Carolina before permanently moving to Indiana Territory when it opened for settlement. The community is said to be named for its location near the middle of the county, but it’s not in the center. A little-known county seat war was fought in Wayne County in 1873 between Centerville and Richmond. The county seat had been located in Centerville (Center Township) since 1818. By 1870, Richmond (Wayne Township) had surpassed Centerville in business, population, and tax revenue. These factors led the population of Wayne Township to demand the county seat be moved to Richmond. The dispute was played out in the newspapers, courts, and petitions, with Richmond the eventual winner. A new courthouse was erected in Richmond and preparations were made to move records from Centerville to Richmond. Centerville residents twice stopped Richmond's officials’ efforts to move the records, first with guarded locked gates, then by firing on their own courthouse with a three-pound cannon nicknamed “Black Betty.” The cannon was used when Richmond guards were brought in to protect the records. The cannon had been loaded with iron scraps. A crowd demanded the guard come out of the Centerville courthouse. When they refused, the cannon was fired, the door blown off its hinges, and the guards were forced to beat a hasty retreat. Soldiers were brought in the next day to move the records to Richmond. Centerville's tenure as county seat had come to an end. The holes from the cannon shot are still visible over the door of the old courthouse, now the Center Township Library.

In 1828 the National Road, which ran along Centerville's Main Street, was surveyed. It later became the first improved section of the trail in 1850 by a Special Act of Congress.

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

Bank History

Charter 37 Bank History:

• Chartered July 25, 1863
• Liquidated May 18, 1882
• Succeeded by 2696 (First National Bank of Centreville, IN)

Charter 2696 Bank History:

• Organized April 26, 1882
• Chartered May 18, 1882
• Succeeded 37 (First National Bank of, Centreville, IN)
• Liquidated October 3, 1885

On July 25, 1863, a certificate authorizing the commencement of banking operations was issued to the First National Bank of Centreville, Indiana, capital $50,000.

On Tuesday, January 9, 1883, the following were elected directors of the First National Bank of Centreville: Jesse Cates, J.K. Jones, Philip Jenkins, F.V. Snider, and Joseph Ratliff. The officers were Jesse Cates, president; John K. Jones, cashier; and George Cates, assistant cashier.

On March 10, 1884, Joseph W. Jackson, one of the oldest and wealthiest residents of Wayne County, died at his home southwest of Centreville. Mr. Jackson was born in Virginia and 1814 and came to Indiana with his parents in 1821. He was for many years a large stockholder in the First National Bank of Centreville and for some years a director and vice president of the First National Bank of Cambridge City.

On Tuesday, January 13, 1885, the following gentlemen were re-elected officers: Jesse Cates, president; John K. Jones, cashier; George Cates, assistant cashier; Jesse Cates, John K. Jones, Philip Jenkins, Alex. Cheeseman, and Joseph Ratliff, directors.Richmond Independent Telegram, Richmond, IN, Thu., Jan. 15, 1885.

On May 20, 1885, the sale of real estate belonging to the Richmond National Bank came off at auction at the court-house this morning at 10 o'clock. Col. W.T. Dennis acted as auctioneer in his usual excellent style. The only parcel of particular interest was the bank building. The building was put up. There was quite a crowd present. Among the bidders were the city council committee, C.C. Binkley, James Stephens, Jesse Cates, David Lovett. Soon all dropped out but Cates and the committee. The latter bid $9,300, Cates raised one, to $9,400, they went to $9,500, he made it $9,600 and got it. Mr. Lovett was president of the Citizens National Bank of Greensburg and wanted to get up a strong stock company and start a new bank, but he bid S8,000 and quit. Mr. Cates haggled it up to $9,600, his last bids were a hundred at a time, and didn't seem overly pleased to get it. There was talk that the Centreville bank wanted to come to Richmond, and wanted the building for that purpose; also, that Mr. Cates wanted it to start a bank of his own. The Item asked him about it. Now, Mr. Cates hasn't liked the Item very well for about four years. Said he, in response to the question, "If I can't get money enough to start one of my own, I will," and immediately went dumb as an oyster.

The receiver, A.D. Lynch, said he would receive Cates' bid in consideration, subject to the approval of the comptroller of the currency. The thought was that the bank building, including the safe for which the Coffins paid about $5,000, and the furniture, ought to have realized $12,000, and the receiver did not feel authorized to accept anything less than that. On July 10th, the comptroller of the currency approved the sale to Jesse Cates for $9,600. A new banking company with capital stock of $100,000 would be organized to resume business at the Richmond National stand. This would provide the coveted place for Mr. Cates' son, then at Centreville. The Centreville bank would be liquidated and a small private bank established in its place.

In October 1885, George Cates said about 3/4 of the proposed $100,000 stock was subscribed and that the opening of the new bank in Richmond was dependent on the rapidity of the success in liquidating the bank at Centreville. The name of the bank was also an uncertainty as the Citizens, the Commercial, and the Third National were under consideration with the latter most in favor. In November 1885, the name of The Union National Bank of Richmond was adopted for the new bank to take the place of the old Richmond National Bank. The stockholders were Jos. C. Ratliff, Allen M. Harris, Jonathan Roberts, Eli Roberts, Henry S. Roberts, Joseph W. Gilbert, Joseph A. Knabe, Geo. W. Stevenson, M.C. Henley, and Jonathan Baldwin, all of Richmond; John K. Jones, George L. Cates, Mary S. Snyder, and Phillip Jenkins, all of Centreville; Jesse Cates, and Oliver G. Davis of Williamsburg; Alex Cheesman of Olive Hill; and Daniel W. Harris of Greens Fork. At the meeting, Jesse Cates, john K. Jones, George W. Stevenson, Jonathan Baldwin, O.G. Davis, Eli Roberts, M.C. Henley, Joseph C. Ratliff and D.W. Harris were elected directors. The directors proceeded to elect Jesse Cates, president; Jos. C. Ratliff, vice president; John K. Jones; cashier; and George Cates, assistant cashier.

Official Bank Title

1: The First National Bank of Centreville, IN

Bank Note Types Issued

Series of 1875 $5 proof sheet, First National Bank of Centreville, IN (Charter 37). Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

1882 Brown Back $50-$100 proof sheet, First National Bank of Centreville, IN (Charter 2696), approved August 26, 1882. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Charter 37 Bank Note Types Issued:

A total of $255,400 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1863 and 1882. This consisted of a total of 56,972 notes (56,972 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	3x1-2	1 - 6500
Original Series	4x5	1 - 4250
Original Series	3x10-20	1 - 1400
Series 1875	4x5	1 - 1225
Series 1875	3x10-20	1 - 868

Charter 2696 Bank Note Types Issued:

A total of $53,400 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1882 and 1885. This consisted of a total of 712 notes (712 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	50-100	1 - 356

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1863 - 1882):

Charter 37 Bank Presidents and Cashiers:

Presidents:

• Oliver T. Jones, 1863-1864
• Jacob B. Julian, 1865-1872
• James Forkner, 1873-1880
• Jesse Cates, 1881-1881

Cashiers:

• Benjamin Lloyd Martin, 1863-1863
• William A. Peelle, 1864-1864
• Oliver T. Jones, 1865-1874
• John K. Jones, 1875-1881

Charter 2696 Bank Presidents and Cashiers:

Presidents:

• Jesse Cates, 1882-1885

Cashiers:

• John K. Jones, 1882-1885

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• George L. Cates, Assistant Cashier 1883...1885

Bank Note History Links

• First National Bank of Centreville, IN History (Charter 37) (NB Lookup)
• First National Bank of Centreville, IN History (Charter 2696) (NB Lookup)
• Indiana Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Centreville, IN, 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