Hazleton National Bank, Hazleton, PA (Charter 4204)
Hazleton National Bank, Hazleton, PA (Chartered 1890 - Closed (Merger) 1994)
Town History
Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania with a population of 25,340 at the 2010 census, making it the second largest city in Luzerne County behind the county seat of Wilkes-Barre. Hazleton was incorporated as a borough on January 5, 1857, and as a city on December 4, 1891.
The Greater Hazleton Area is located at the foothills of the Pocono Mountains, a popular vacation destination that offers year-round recreation.
In 1818, anthracite coal deposits were discovered in nearby Beaver Meadows by prospectors Nathaniel Beach and Tench Coxe. This caught the attention of railroad developers in Philadelphia. A young engineer from New York (named Ariovistus "Ario" Pardee) was hired to survey the topography of Beaver Meadows and report the practicality of extending a railroad from the Lehigh River Canal (in Mauch Chunk, present day Jim Thorpe) to Beaver Meadows. Pardee, knowing that the area of Beaver Meadows was already controlled by Coxe and Beach, bought many acres of the land in present-day Hazleton. The investment proved to be extraordinarily lucrative. The land contained part of a massive anthracite coal field. Pardee will forever be known as the founding father of Hazleton because of many of these contributions and particularly because he laid out the patch town that would one day become Hazleton.
Pardee incorporated the Hazleton Coal Company in 1836, the same year the rail link to the Lehigh Valley market was on the brink of being completed. The Hazleton Coal Company built the first school on Church Street, where Hazleton City Hall is now located. Pardee also built the first church in Hazleton (located at the intersection of Church and Broad Streets) and the first private school in Hazleton (located on the south side of Broad Street between Wyoming and Laurel Streets). Ario Pardee died in 1892. The following year (1893), his son, Israel Platt Pardee, built a 3-story, 19-room mansion in Hazleton; it would later be added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The coal industry attracted many immigrants for labor. The first wave, in the 1840s and 1850s, consisted mostly of German and Irish immigrants. The second wave, from the 1860s to the 1920s, consisted mostly of Italian, Polish, Russian, Lithuanian, Slovak, and Montenegrin immigrants. The coal mined in Hazleton helped establish the United States as a world industrial power, primarily fueling the massive blast furnaces at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.
Hazleton had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized December 14, 1889
- Chartered January 10, 1890
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Merged into First Valley Bank in Bethlehem, PA, March 19, 1994
The Hazleton National Bank with capital of $100,000 was authorized to begin business in January 1890. Stockholders of the Hazleton National Bank met at the office of the Hazleton Savings bank on Tuesday, January 11, 1890 to elect directors for the ensuing year. The results were selection of the following gentlemen: E.L. Bullock, John E. Kern, F.M. Brundage, A.S. Van Wickle, F.W. Cooper, H.B. Conahan, J.E. Roderick, William Schwartz, Henry Knies, T.D. Jones, H.E. Sutherland, A.M. Eby, William Lauderbach, Elliott A. Oberrender, and E.P. Kisner. The board selected A.S. Van Wickle as president, Elliott P. Kisner, vice president, and Erastus S. Doud, cashier. The original site of the bank was on the south side of Broad Street between Laurel and Wyoming Streets. This site was the former location of the Hazleton Savings Bank, purchased by the Hazleton National Bank. The bank opened its doors on February 1, 1890.
The bank's first president, Augustus S. Van Wickle, was an anthracite coal producer with mines in Milnesville. Van Wickle was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1856 and was a son of Simon and Anna R. Van Wickle. His father was a Pennsylvanian and an extensive coal operator in this region and his mother was a descendant of the famous Randolph family of Virginia. He was educated in Providence, Rhode Island, and was a graduate of Brown University with the class of 1876. After completing his education, A.S. Van Wickle came to Hazleton and engaged in the coal business with his father who at the time was president of the Ebervale and South Mountain Coal Company. Van Wickle was married in 1882 to Bessie Pardee, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Ario Pardee. Van Wickle served as president for over five years. The first vice president was Elliott P. Kisner, the "Sage of Kastanienwald," whose name lived in the first syllable of "Kis-Lyn" School, which became the RCA Keystone Job Corps Center.
Members of the original Board of Directors were: E.L. Bullock (1890-1923), Beaver Brook coal operator; H.B. Conahan, (1890-1917), hero of the Stockton mine disaster of 1868, prominent coal contractor, former select councilman and former city assessor; William Schwartz (1890-1902), leading merchant; T.D. Jones (1890-1917), coal operator; A.M. Eby (1890-1922), civil war hero, who was cashier and secretary for many years; Elliott P. Kisner (1890-1893); E.A. Oberrender (1890-1893), of the Coxe coal mining staff; A.S. Van Wickle (1890-1899); John E. Kern (1890-1894), prominent local resident; Dr. F.M. Brundage (1890-1892), Conyngham doctor who served as U.S. Consul to Aix La Chapelle, Germany; Frank W. Cooper (1890-1893), son of a Harleigh coal operator; James E. Roderick (1890-1918), State Chief of the Bureau of Mines; Henry Knies (1890-1905) pioneer merchant; H.E. Sutherland (1890-1891), Hazleton Stationer; and William Lauderbach (1890-1923), founder of Lauderbach and Company.
Plans for a new building to house the Hazleton National Bank were prepared in March 1890 and, allowing two weeks for bids, a contract was expected to be let about April 1, 1890. Bidders were advised work was expected to start by 1 May and finish around 15 August. The brick building would be 22 X 92 feet with two large fire-proof vaults and one burglar-proof vault lined with steel throughout. The bank would conduct business in the building owned by Wm. Kisner on the corner of Laurel and Mine streets waiting for construction to finish. The bank was able to move into its new building on Broad and Laurel Streets on December 1, 1890.
The new national bank was closely associated with the Hazleton Savings Bank, a bank charted under Pennsylvania State law with William Kisner, president, C.F. Kisner, Cashier, and E.S. Doud, Assistant Cashier. Under state law the Hazleton Savings Bank could act as Assignee, Agent, Attorney; to receive and execute trusts unlike a national bank at the time. The board was composed of Messrs. William Kisner, Frank Martz, Reuben Beisel, E.S. Doud, and Elliot P. Kisner. By Jan. 1892 it was reported that all accounts less 50 had been transferred to the Hazleton National Bank and those would have been closed if the holders could be found, the Post Office having no clue to their present addresses. The Hazleton Savings Bank was incorporated May 23, 1871 and reincorporated in 1890. Two large suits in 1892 attempted to recover the value of stocks declared utterly worthless, claiming the bank officers had deceived and defrauded stockholders. The suits were settled amicably by a compromise.
On Nov. 16, 1922, the bank was authorized by the banking department, State of Pennsylvania, to conduct a trust business.
Assets as of June 30, 1989 amounted to $283,650,000 and trust assets totaled $179,046,000. Mergers played an important part in the history of the bank. Beginning in March 1942, the First National Bank of Weatherly was acquired and became the Weatherly office of the Hazleton National Bank. In July of that same year, the First National Bank of Lehighton and Citizens National Bank of Lehighton were acquired and became the Lehighton office of the Hazleton National Bank. In May, 1945, the Hazleton National Bank acquired another office, the Weissport National Bank and thus, the Weissport office the Hazleton National Bank was formed. In March 1957, the fifth office of the Hazleton National Bank was opened in the Hazleton Shopping Center. In February 1964, the enlarged and remodeled West End Branch was formally opened to the public. Continued growth in Lehighton made the building at 147 N. First St. obsolete. On Nov. 15, 1969, the bank moved to its present location in a newly constructed office at 120 N. First Street. In 1969, the First National Bank of Nuremberg was acquired, giving the bank six branch offices.
On March 19, 1994, the Hazleton National Bank merged and became part of First Valley Bank in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Hazleton National Bank, Hazleton, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,841,620 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1890 and 1994. This consisted of a total of 340,320 notes (140,048 large size and 200,272 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 - 2125 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 8140 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 535 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 235 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 4950 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 3960 1902 Plain Back 4x5 4951 - 14106 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 3961 - 9871 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 12066 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 7668 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 1916 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 42580 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 22672 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 5120
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1890 - 1994):
Presidents:
- Augustus Stout Van Wickle, 1890-1893
- Israel Platt Pardee, 1894-1928
- James Lee Pardee, 1929-1930
- Bert E. Kunkle, 1931-1935
Cashiers:
- Erastus Scranton Doud, 1890-1890
- Amantes Montgomery Eby, 1891-1893
- Conrad Henry Lindemann, 1894-1900
- Amantes Montgomery Eby, 1901-1917
- Bert E. Kunkle, 1918-1930
- James F. Koch, 1931-1935
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History
- General information on Hazleton (Wikipedia)
- General information on Luzerne County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Hazleton, PA, 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
- The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Fri., Jan. 3, 1890.
- The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Wed., Jan. 15, 1890.
- The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Sat., Mar. 1, 1890.
- The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Mon., Mar. 10, 1890.
- The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Tue., Mar. 11, 1890.
- The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Mon., Dec. 1, 1890.
- The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Tue., Jan. 20, 1891.
- The Wilkes-Barre News, Wilkes-Barre, PA, Thu., Mar. 31, 1892.
- The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Tue., May 17, 1892.
- Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Mon., Jan. 13, 1975.
- Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Thu., Sep. 21, 1989.