Freedom National Bank, Freedom, PA (Charter 5454)
Freedom National Bank, Freedom, PA (Chartered 1900 - Closed (Merger) 1973)
Town History
Freedom is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, located along the Ohio River 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Freedom has three borders, including the borough of East Rochester to the northwest, New Sewickley Township to the east and northeast and the borough of Conway to the south. Freedom also runs adjacent with the borough of Monaca across the Ohio River. In the early years of the twentieth century, the chief industries included the production of oil, caskets, and monuments. Today, Freedom is considered a northern suburb of Greater Pittsburgh. The population was 1,569 at the 2010 census.
In 1824, the Harmony Society, founded in Iptingen, Germany, returned to Pennsylvania, from Indiana. The society settled in what is now Ambridge, Pennsylvania, five miles up the Ohio River. One of the reasons the society left Indiana was because of harassment for their abolitionist activities. Their settlement was in Beaver County along the Ohio River. There they founded "Ökonomie," now better known as Old Economy Village. Here the Society gained worldwide recognition for its religious devotion and economic prosperity. The Harmonites were abolitionists, and began placing signs along the Ohio River with one word, "FREEDOM". The area of present-day Freedom, PA, began to be called "Freedom" on maps of the Ohio River used by the steamboat navigators.
The community of Freedom was founded in 1832 by Jonathan Betz and Stephen Phillips, co-owners of a steamboat building business. They purchased about 100 acres of land for $2,000 from General Abner Lacock. The original village was surveyed and plotted by Simon Meredith. All of the lots, streets and alleys were located with special preference to the steamboat-building business, the only business at the time. Later, an additional 39 acres were purchased from Captain William Vicary for $2,500. Vicary himself retained some property in the area, including a stone house; today, the house remains a local landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
About 150 people first located in Freedom and it grew rapidly. The town was laid out on a Tuesday and by the following Saturday, fourteen houses had been built.
In 1833, Freedom contained 40 dwellings, 47 families, and about 320 people. Boat building and distilling were its two main businesses.
By 1837, Freedom had grown to a population of about 600, and 100 dwellings. New businesses included a foundry, and steam engines manufactured by J. Baker and Company, a large steam sawmill, and an extensive distillery and gristmill owned by J. Stahl and Company. The merchants at that time were: Phillips and McConnell, Stile and Fisher, Phillip Bentel, John Donnan, J. W. Mead, three innkeepers: Samuel Furnier, J. W. Snead, and Thomas G. Kerr and two physicians: Drs. William Smith and T. F. Robinson.
Freedom had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized June 4, 1900
- Chartered June 26, 1900
- Succeeded P. Bentel & Company
- Assumed 9543 by consolidation January 8, 1918 (St. Clair National Bank, Freedom, PA)
- Assumed 9543 circulation
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Closed/Merged into Century National Bank & Trust Co., New Brighton, PA, September 1, 1973
In April 1900, Joseph Craig, A.J. Nimke, James A. Harvey, August Blatt and John M. Buckrow, through Representative Showalter, filed application for permission to organize the Freedom National Bank of Freedom, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, capital $25,000.
On June 7, 1900, the long-established banking house of P. Bentel & Co. of Freedom and the recently organized Freedom National Bank consolidated. The newly elected officers were Joseph W. Craig of Sewickley, president; A.J. Minke, vice president; and C.H. Bentel, cashier. The directors were D.J. Snead, A. Blatt, Dr. J.R. Lockhart, Capt. Abram McDonald, J.A. Harvey, C.H. Bentel, A.J. Minke, Joseph W. Craig, and J.J. McElhaney. On June 26, 1900, the comptroller of the currency issued a certificate, authorizing the Freedom National Bank, capital $50,000, to begin business with Joseph W. Craig, president, and Charles H. Bentel, cashier.
The early morning of December 6, 1902, six burglars fled before securing the $18,000 in the safes of the Freedom National Bank. They escaped in two skiffs on the Ohio River and police in the area were trying to locate them. The bank was a two-story brick building on the main thoroughfare with large plate glass windows. It was contiguous with other equally pretentious buildings with several dwellings on the opposite side of the street. A watchman was generally on the premises during the night, however, that night the watchman was sick and another official was unable to be found. This incident happened to fit in well with the schemes of the safe blowers. It was believed the burglars were from the district and had been operating more or less successfully in the Pittsburgh vicinity. The day before around 2 AM, the glass plant at Sharpsburg and the real estate office at Aspinwall six weeks ago were hit. The burglars rapidly forced open the front door of the bank and closed it after them. Being familiar with the arrangements of the bank, they did not force entry through the main bank door which was fitted up with a burglar alarm. Entry into the bank was made through a stairway that led to the second floor which gave them a way in through a closet. Dynamite was used on a first safe, but the contents had been removed before the officers left the bank the previous afternoon. The second safe which contained $15,000 in cash and a number of valuable papers and negotiable bonds was also attacked with dynamite. The first explosion was more muffled, but the second one served to thoroughly awaken a number of people. Theodore Wallace who lived in the house opposite to the bank got out of bed and threw up his front window to determine where the noise came from. Through the dim light glimmering in the bank he had no difficulty in discovering the burglars and they had no difficulty in noting that they were discovered. The burglars lost little time in leaving their still unopened safe with all its contents behind and fleeing to the river to make their escape. The two explosions caused considerable damage to the bank building as well as to adjacent property. All the plate glass of the bank was shattered as were the windows of neighboring houses and some of those on the opposite side of the street.
The First National Bank of Irwin was next on December 9th, 1902, this time the watchman and Miss Bessie Fulton, the telephone girl at Irwin, were bound, wire connections severed and the vault blown open. Safe deposit boxes were ransacked and valuable papers, jewelry and the post office supply of stamps valued at $1,000 were taken. The bank's funds in a strong box were safe. But at Jacksonville, the thieves took two horses and a carriage from J.G. White's farm and headed south.
In July 1903, the contract for the erection of a new bank building for the Freedom National went to Anderson & Cook of Beaver for approximately $60,000. The architect, James T. Steen of Pittsburgh designed a four-story brick and terra cotta building, 60X85 feet to be located at Third Avenue and Sixth Street. The bank would use the first floor while above would be fire suites of rooms on each floor. Modern safety vaults, marble floors and wainscoting would be provided. The banking quarters Mr. J.W. Craig was president of the bank.
On the morning of April 18, 1960, Charles H. Bentel, the well-known Freedom banker died at age 69. He was a son of the late Phillip Bentel, a former member of the Harmony Society who for many years conducted a banking business at Freedom. Charles was associated with his father in the business until the latters death and afterwards conducted the business until it was merged with the Freedom National Bank of which he was cashier at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife, formerly Miss Amanda Clark of Allegheny and three children.
In January 1914, the directors were A.J. Minke, August Blatt, Daniel J. Snead, W.M. Potter, George Linnenbrink, and G.H. Miller. The officers were A.J. Minke, president; T.L. Craig, first vice president; August Blatt, second vice president; and E.L. McCauley, cashier.
In January 1918, the Freedom National Bank and the St. Clair National Bank consolidated. E.J. Schleiter, president of the St. Clair National would serve as president of the merged institution, and H.R. Ross, the cashier of the St. Clair National, would serve as vice president. E.O. McCauley, cashier of the Freedom National and T.M. Fletcher, assistant cashier of the St. Clair would be the cashiers of the new institution. H.O. Mengel would be the assistant cashier. The merger would combine the capital of the two banks making it $175,000. The Freedom National Bank was one of the oldest banks in the county and was capitalized at $100,000 and the St. Clair at $75,000. On June 14, 1918, Herbert O. Mengel of Freedom was elected cashier at a meeting of the directors. He was the youngest man in the county to hold such a position, succeeding E.O. McCauley who recently resigned. Mr. Mengel was formerly assistant cashier in the Citizens National Bank of Monaca.
On December 28, 1936, Joseph J. Kasunic, former assistant cashier of the Freedom national Bank was sentenced to serve a year and a day in a penitentiary by Judge R.M. Gibson in United States District Court. Kasunic pleaded guilty to a charge of false entries and abstraction of money.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Freedom National Bank, Freedom, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,117,990 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1900 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 184,527 notes (158,324 large size and 26,203 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 - 5700 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 5650 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 390 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 9200 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 9201 - 13646 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 14195 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2738 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 840 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 3814 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 921
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Freedom National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1900 - 1973):
Presidents:
- Joseph Watson Craig, 1900-1911
- August J. Minke, 1912-1917
- Edward John Schleiter, 1918-1930
- Daniel J. Snead, 1931-1935
Cashiers:
Other Bank Note Signers
- D.J. Snead signed notes as vice president.
- There are currently no known Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History
- General information on Freedom (Wikipedia)
- General information on Beaver County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Freedom, PA, 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://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
- The Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Fri., Apr. 26, 1900.
- The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Thu., June 7, 1900.
- The Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., June 27, 1900.
- The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Dec. 7, 1902.
- Courier-Post, Camden, NJ, Tue., Dec. 9, 1902.
- The Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., July 15, 1903.
- The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Fri., Apr. 13, 1906.
- The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., Jan. 14, 1914.
- The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Thu., Jan. 18, 1918.
- The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Sat., June 15, 1918.
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Tue., Dec. 29, 1936.