Hamilton National Bank, Fort Wayne, IN (Charter 2439)
Hamilton National Bank, Fort Wayne, IN (Chartered 1879 - Liquidated 1917)
Town History
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is 18 miles west of the Ohio border and 50 miles south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Census, making it the second-most populous city in Indiana after Indianapolis, and the 76th-most populous city in the United States.
Fort Wayne was built in 1794 by the United States Army under the direction of American Revolutionary War general Anthony Wayne, the last in a series of forts built near the Miami village of Kekionga. Named in Wayne's honor, the European-American settlement developed at the confluence of the St. Joseph, St. Marys, and Maumee rivers, known originally as Fort Miami, a trading post constructed by Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes around 1706. The modern city was platted in 1823 following its revitalization after the War of 1812 and its siege. It underwent tremendous growth after completion of the Wabash and Erie Canal and advent of the railroad.
Hugh McCulloch was an American financier who played a central role in financing the American Civil War. He served two non-consecutive terms as U.S. Treasury Secretary under three presidents. He was originally opposed to the creation of a system of national banks, but his reputation as head of the Bank of Indiana 1857 to 1863 persuaded the Treasury to bring him in to supervise the new system as Comptroller of the Currency 1863–65.Born in Kennebunk, Maine, he was the son of Hugh McCulloch Sr., one of the largest shipbuilders in New England, and Abial Perkins. He was educated at Thornton Academy in Saco, Maine, and attended Bowdoin College for two years, leaving due to ill health. He taught school, then studied law in Boston, and in 1833 began practicing law at Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was cashier and manager of the Fort Wayne branch of the state chartered Bank of Indiana and president of the larger organization from 1835 to 1857, and president of its successor, the privately owned Bank of Indiana, from 1857 to 1863. His house at Fort Wayne, the Hugh McCulloch House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Fort Wayne had nine National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all nine of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized November 10, 1879
- Chartered November 17, 1879
- Succeeded Hamilton Bank
- Liquidated April 30, 1917
- Consolidated with 2701 (11) (First National Bank, Fort Wayne, IN)
In 1853, Allen Hamilton, Hugh McCulloch, and Jesse L. Williams formed the Allen Hamilton and Company, a private bank. The business was located on the west side of Clinton street, south of Columbia. It was succeeded in 1874 by the Hamilton Bank. Hamilton settled in Fort Wayne in the 1820s.
In November 1875, the Hamilton Bank of Fort Wayne filed articles in the office of the Secretary of State showing an increase of capital from $140,000 to $200,000, all paid up. The articles were signed by Charles W. McCulloc, president and John W. Dohr, cashier.
On November 3, 1879, the stockholders of the Hamilton Bank met and unanimously decided to reorganized under the national banking law as the Hamilton National Bank. The capital of the bank, $200,000, officers and directors would remain the same. On November 17th, John Jay Knox, comptroller of the currency, authorized The Hamilton National Bank to commence business.
In January 1917, the following officers were elected by the Hamilton National Bank: Charles McCulloch, president; J.R. McCulloch, vice president; F.H. Poole, cashier; Henry Taylor, assistant cashier; William Thiel, Jr., assistant cashier. The directors were August Freese, Louis Fox, A.W. Heit, Charles McCulloch, L.C. Waring, Herman Michael, John B. Reuss, Benj. Rothschild, John A. Theinie, Dr. Allen Hamilton, and J.R. McCulloch.
On April 30, 1917, stockholders of the First National Bank of Fort Wayne voted to increase the capital stock to $400,000, to purchase all assets of the Hamilton National Bank and assume liabilities and to change the title of the bank to The First and Hamilton National Bank of Fort Wayne. No event more notable or important had ever taken place in Fort Wayne's financial history than the merger of the First and the Hamilton National banks. These two old and firmly established institutions consolidated their capital and resources in the largest financial institution in all of Indiana save for three of the national banks in the much larger city of Indianapolis. This merger gave the consolidated bank a capital of $900,000 and total resources of more than $10,000,000. A banking concern of this magnitude would be considered of noteworthy importance in any city. Few cities of Fort Wayne's class could boast a fiduciary establishment so large. This consolidation would be of advantage to Fort Wayne’s fast expanding industry and commerce and possibly the means to influence new growth in all branches of business. Fort Wayne's financial institutions were noted the country over for their progressive yet conservative character and it was written bright in the pages of banking finances of the United States that this city had never had a bank crash. Fort Wayne bankers always had the confidence of the public. These banks and their predecessors had their history finely interwoven with Fort Wayne's marvelous progress. Both the Hamilton and the First National Bank were old institutions. The First National Bank of Fort Wayne, was the first national bank to be chartered in Indiana and the eleventh in the United States, a somewhat poetical recognition of the late Hon. Hugh McCulloch, pioneer citizen and financier of the city, for he was virtually the father of the national banking system. So, too, was the case of the elder Hamilton, also a pioneer citizen and financier, and founder in Fort Wayne of one of the city's best known families as well as one of its oldest and best known banks. The Hamilton bank was founded in 1853 by Allen Hamilton, Hugh McCulloch and Jesse L. Williams. That the Hon. Charles McCulloch, son of the Hon. Hugh McCulloch, was to retire from active work in banking after a long term as president of the Hamilton bank, would be regretted but not begrudged him. In a long lifetime of hard work, John H. Bass would become chairman of the board of the merged institution and Mr. Charles H. Worden, for many years vice president and later president of the First, would be president of the consolidated bank.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Hamilton National Bank of Fort Wayne, IN
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,857,450 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1879 and 1917. This consisted of a total of 306,444 notes (306,444 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 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 5500 Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 16812 Series 1875 50-100 1 - 200 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 5000 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 10300 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 19000 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 13700 1882 Value Back 4x5 19001 - 22770 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 13701 - 16129
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1879 - 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
- Indiana Bank Note History
- General information on Fort Wayne (Wikipedia)
- General information on Allen County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Indiana (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Fort Wayne, 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
- The Evansville Journal, Evansville, IN, Thu., Nov. 11, 1875.
- The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Mon., Nov. 3, 1879.
- Fort Wayne Daily Gazette, Fort Wayne, Thu., Nov. 20, 1879.
- The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Mon. Mar. 16, 1903.
- The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne, IN, Wed., Jan. 10, 1917.
- The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Tue., Mar. 27, 1917.
- The Fort Wayne News, Fort Wayne, IN, Sat., Apr. 28, 1917.