Genesee Valley National Bank, Geneseo, NY (Charter 886)

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Genesee Valley Bank, Geneseo, New York, Obsolete $1 proof, Haxby NY-915, printed by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, New-York. Looking rather forlorn, a milkmaid sits on a rock holding her wooden pail on her lap. Perhaps the empty pail lying on the ground is the source of her discomfort. A woman raking grain at left appears more cheerful. An oval scene of men tending cattle and sheep is at lower right. The vignette at bottom center shows a safe, key, and coins spilling out from a bag.
Genesee Valley Bank, Geneseo, New York, Obsolete $1 proof, Haxby NY-915, printed by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, New-York. Looking rather forlorn, a milkmaid sits on a rock holding her wooden pail on her lap. Perhaps the empty pail lying on the ground is the source of her discomfort. A woman raking grain at left appears more cheerful. An oval scene of men tending cattle and sheep is at lower right. The vignette at bottom center shows a safe, key, and coins spilling out from a bag. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

Genesee Valley NB/Genesee Valley NB & TC, Geneseo, NY (Chartered 1865 - Open past 1935)

Town History

A 1965 map of Geneseo, New York, showing the location of historical markers, including the first bank on Main Street.
A 1965 map of Geneseo, New York, showing the location of historical markers, including the first bank on Main Street.

Geneseo is a town in Livingston County in the Finger Lakes region of New York. It is at the south end of the five-county Rochester Metropolitan Area. The population of the town was 10,483 at the 2010 census.

The English name "Geneseo" is an anglicization of the Iroquois name for the earlier Iroquois town there, Gen-nis-he-yo (which means "beautiful valley").  The village of Geneseo lies within the western portion of the town. The village and town are known today mainly as the home of the State University of New York at Geneseo.

The town was established in 1789, before the formation of Livingston County. Lemuel Jennings came from Connecticut in 1789 to be Geneseo's first Settler. He was followed a year later by James and William Wadsworth.[1] The brothers came to the Genesee Valley from Connecticut as agents of their uncle, Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, to care for and sell the land he purchased. The Wadsworths were participants in the negotiations of the Treaty of Big Tree between Robert Morris and the Senecas at the site of Geneseo in 1797.

The village of Geneseo became the county seat of Livingston County in 1821 and was incorporated in 1832. The State Normal School, now SUNY Geneseo, opened in 1871. In 1991, the United States Department of the Interior designated large parts of the village a National Historic Landmark.

The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York.  The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides hydroelectric power for downtown Rochester.  The valley of the Genesee River is wide and fertile, with some of the best agricultural land in New York, but it was very prone to flooding, and Geneseo suffered several bad floods until the United States Army Corps of Engineers' construction of the Mount Morris Dam upstream of the community in the 1950s.  Geneseo is also used by many as a bedroom community for jobs in Rochester, 30 miles to the north.

Geneseo had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Key Bank, ca2023, corner of Bank and Main Streets, Geneseo, New York.
Key Bank, ca2023, corner of Bank and Main Streets, Geneseo, New York. Courtesy of Google Maps
  • Organized January 19, 1865
  • Chartered March 14, 1865
  • Succeeded Genesee Valley Bank
  • 1: Assumed Livingston County Trust Company, Geneseo by consolidation June 14, 1930 with title change
  • Bank was Open past 1935

The Genesee Valley Bank was founded by General James S. Wadsworth prior to the Civil War and was chartered as a national bank in 1865. The Livingston County Trust Company was founded in 1915 by the late Congressman, James W. Wadsworth. The son of the latter, former Senator James W. Wadsworth, Jr., would head the new institution as president. Senator Wadsworth was president of the Genesee Valley National Bank from 1929 until 1933 and C. George Neibank, vice president and secretary, was in charge of the Livingston County Trust Company at the time the merger was announced.[2]

In January 1898, the directors elected were James W. Wadsworth, Herbert Wadsworth, Nelson Janes, Charles N. Steward, John R. Strang, Charles W. Fielder, Theodore F. Olmsted. The officers were James W. Wadsworth, president; John R. Strang, vice president; Theodore F. Olmsed, cashier and Charles W. Fielder, assistant cashier.[3]

The planned merger of the Genesee Valley National Bank with the Livingston County Trust Company was announced April 1, 1930. The merger was expected to form a banking institution with the ability to meet all the needs of the community and to provide a more complete and efficient banking service particularly by adding a trust department. The National Bank had capital stock of $150,000 and the Trust Co. had $100,000. Following this action by the two boards, stockholders were notified that a meeting was scheduled on May 26, 1930 to vote on the merger.[4]

Stockholders approved the merger plans on May 26, 1930. The new banking institution took the title Genesee Valley National Bank and Trust Company with capital stock of $200,000 represented by 10,000 shares of stock with a par value of $20 per share.[5] The new directors were B.E. Brophel, John F. Connor, Frank K. Cook, Lockwood R. Doty, William A. Dwyer, John T. Fetherston, John W. Hotchkiss, Richard S. Folts, Walter E. Lauderdale, E. Walter Moses, Theodore F. Olmsted, Mortimore E. Ross, Samuel R. Tomkinson, James J. Wadsworth, James W. Wadsworth, Jr. Officers elected on June 15, 1930 were James W. Wadsworth, Jr., president; Lockwood R. Doty, vice president; C.G. Niebank, Executive officer; William M. Shirley, cashier; and Harry E. Ritchie, Kenneth M. Doty, and F. Benjamin Linfoot, assistant cashiers.[6]

In December 1951, James E. Welch of Geneseo was promoted to president. Welch, who had been vice president and trust officer succeeded the late Judge Elliott A. Horton. Welch entered the banking field in 1925 in the Livonia State Bank and moved to the former Livingston County Trust Company in October 1929. When that company merged with the Genesee Valley Bank, he continued with George Niebank as executive vice president. Kenneth Doty was promoted to vice president and trust officer. He had served for many year in the bond and trust department.[7]

In January 1979, First Commercial Banks, Inc., of Albany, announced the merger of the Genesee Valley National Bank into its First Trust & Deposit Co. of Syracuse.[8] The merger was completed on March 30, 1979 and Genesee Valley National became part of Key Bank of Central New York in Syracuse.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Genesee Valley National Bank, Geneseo, NY

2: Genesee Valley National Bank and Trust Company of (6/14/1930), Geneseo, NY

Bank Note Types Issued

Original series $1 bank note with pen signatures of James Stanley Orton, Cashier and Daniel H. Fitzhugh, President.
Original series $1 bank note with pen signatures of James Stanley Orton, Cashier and Daniel H. Fitzhugh, President. Courtesy of Adam Stroup
1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of Theodore F. Olmsted, Cashier and John R. Strang, Vice President.
1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of Theodore F. Olmsted, Cashier and John R. Strang, Vice President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com
1929 Type 1 $5 bank note, SN1, with printed signatures of Wm. M. Shirley, Cashier and J.W. Wadsworth, Jr., President.
1929 Type 1 $5 bank note, SN1, with printed signatures of Wm. M. Shirley, Cashier and J.W. Wadsworth, Jr., President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note, with the bank's second title and printed signatures of Wm. M. Shirley, Cashier and J.W. Wadsworth, Jr., President.
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note, with the bank's second title and printed signatures of Wm. M. Shirley, Cashier and J.W. Wadsworth, Jr., President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $4,310,910 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 552,204 notes (467,164 large size and 85,040 small size notes).

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

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments
1: Original Series 3x1-2 1 - 3200
1: Original Series 4x5 1 - 5350
1: Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 2470
1: Series 1875 4x5 1 - 4605
1: Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 2978
1: 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 15818
1: 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 12035
1: 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 5500
1: 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 4000
1: 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 9500
1: 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 7400
1: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 9501 - 36760
1: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 7401 - 24075
1: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 3066
1: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1550
1: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 520
2: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 3566
2: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1614
2: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 368
2: 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 12748
2: 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 6651
2: 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1537

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

The Genesee Valley National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1936):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

Wiki Links

Sources

  • Geneseo, 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://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
  1. ↑ Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, Fri., Oct. 15, 1965.
  2. ↑ Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, Tue., Apr. 1, 1930.
  3. ↑ Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, Sat., Jan. 15, 1898.
  4. ↑ Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, Thu. Apr. 24, 1930.
  5. ↑ Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, Tue., May 27, 1930.
  6. ↑ Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, Mon., June 16, 1930.
  7. ↑ Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, Sun., Dec. 23, 1951.
  8. ↑ Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, Tue., Jan. 23, 1979.
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