Illinois National Bank, Peoria, IL (Charter 5361)

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NEEDED: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Illinois National Bank, Peoria, IL (Chartered 1900 - Liquidated 1915)

Town History

Peoria (/piˈɔːriə/ pee-OR-ee-ə) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Central Illinois, consisting of the counties of Fulton, Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford, which had a population of 402,391 in 2020.

Established in 1691 by the French explorer Henri de Tonti, Peoria is the oldest permanent European settlement in Illinois according to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. Originally known as Fort Clark, it received its current name when the County of Peoria organized in 1825. The city was named after the Peoria tribe, a member of the Illinois Confederation. On October 16, 1854, Abraham Lincoln made his Peoria speech against the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Prior to prohibition, Peoria was the center of the whiskey industry in the United States. More than 12 distilleries operated in Peoria by the end of the 19th century, more than any other city in the U.S.

A major port on the Illinois River, Peoria is a trading and shipping center for a large agricultural area that produces corn, soybeans, and livestock. Although the economy is well diversified, the city's traditional manufacturing industries remain important and produce earthmoving equipment, metal products, lawn-care equipment, labels, steel towers, farm equipment, building materials, steel, wire, and chemicals. Until 2018, Peoria was the global and national headquarters for heavy equipment and engine manufacturer Caterpillar Inc., one of the 30 companies composing the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and listed on the Fortune 100; in the latter year, the company relocated its headquarters to Deerfield, Illinois.

The city is associated with the phrase "Will it play in Peoria?", which originated from the vaudeville era and was popularized by Groucho Marx.

Peoria had nine National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all nine of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

  • Organized May 7, 1900
  • Chartered May 21, 1900
  • Succeeded Peoria Savings, Loan & Trust Company
  • Liquidated June 1, 1915
  • Consolidated with 3254 (Merchants NB/Merchants & Illinois NB, Peoria, IL)
  • Circulation assumed by 3254 (Merchants NB/Merchants & Illinois NB, Peoria, IL)

In 1889, Lieut. Martin Kingman organized the People's Savings Bank in Lower Peoria, and upon selling that interest, he organized the Peoria Savings, Loan & Trust Company, which commenced business on January 1, 1891, in the new Young Mens' Christian Association Building, where this bank had one of the finest banking rooms in the city.

The Illinois National Bank of Peoria, organized in 1900, was the successor of the Peoria Savings, Loan & Trust Company. Martin Kingman became the first president of the institution, which began business with a capital stock of $150,000. Within a year the bank had accumulated a surplus of $5,000 and undivided profits of similar amount. Since the consolidation in April, 1915, the Merchants and Illinois National Bank developed into one of the important financial institutions of central Illinois. It had deposits of $6,580,089.96 and resources amounting to $8,409,237.43. 

    The Mechanics National Bank of Peoria, the predecessor of the Merchants National Bank of Peoria, was organized on March 11, 1865. The first board of directors consisted of Messrs. Benjamin L.T. Bourland, Isaac Underbill, Samuel Coskery, William F. Bryan, William B. Newell, Richard A. Culter, George Spurck, Henry Mansfield and Jacob Littleton. The first officers were as follows:  Isaac Underbill, president; William F. Bryan, vice president; Samuel Coskery, cashier; and William B. Newell, assistant cashier. On November 13, 1866, the following officers were elected:  H.N. Wheeler, president; John Boyd Smith, cashier. In 1884, the name of the bank was changed to the Merchants National Bank of Peoria. The directors at that time were Messrs. H.N. Wheeler, E.A. Proctor, John C. Yates, Charles T. Luthy, John D. McClure, William F. Bryan and John B. Smith. The officers were as follows: H.N. Wheeler, president; and J.B. Smith, cashier. On January 13, 1885, the following officers were elected:  E.A. Proctor, president; John D. McClure, vice president; John B. Smith, cashier; and Thad S. Ely, assistant cashier. At the annual meeting of shareholders, held January 12, 1886, the following directors were elected: E. A. Proctor, John D. McClure, Bernard Cremer, A.J. Hodges, Henry Sandmeyer, Charles C. Clark and John B. Smith.  In April, 1915, the capital stock of the Merchants National Bank was increased to $500,000 and the name changed to Merchants and Illinois National Bank of Peoria, after effecting a consolidation with the Illinois National Bank of Peoria.

William C. White has been connected with one of the important financial institutions of central Illinois as president of the Merchants and Illinois National Bank of Peoria since April, 1915, when the Illinois National Bank, of which he had served as president since January, 1912, was consolidated with the Merchants National Bank. He was born in Peoria, Illinois, his parents being Andrew J. and Amanda (Carr) White, the former a native of Pennsylvania, while the latter was born in Cambridge, Ohio. Andrew J. White was a prominent contractor of Peoria, having come to Peoria from the Keystone state in 1856.

The early education of William C. White was received in the primary and grammar schools of Peoria and was supplemented by three years of work in the high school of this city. He put aside his textbooks in his junior year to accept a position in the implement firm of George M. Moore & Company, where, however, he remained but a short time, resigning in a few months to become a messenger in the Commercial National Bank. Mr. White remained in the banking business ever since with the exception of two years which he spent on the farm. Mr. White spent several years with the Commercial National Bank, leaving that institution to join his father on his farm six miles out of Peoria. Here he remained for two years, at the end of which time he returned to Peoria and entered the Peoria Savings Loan & Trust Company as teller in 1894. From that time on, his rise was rapid. Mr. White soon gained the confidence and respect of all with whom he came in contact, and his excellent banking ability, and his thorough acquaintance with the details of the business led to his appointment as assistant cashier upon the organization of the Illinois National Bank in 1900. He was elected cashier in 1908 and in January, 1912, upon the death of Frank Trefzger, succeeded the latter as president of the institution. Since its consolidation with the Merchants National Bank in April, 1915, he has occupied the presidency of the Merchants and Illinois National Bank of Peoria.

In 1896, in Peoria, Mr. White married Miss Mary Bigham, of Peoria, and they were the parents of a son and a daughter. Herbert B. White, assistant cashier of the Merchants and Illinois National Bank of Peoria, was stationed at Fort Sheridan during World War I and held the rank of sergeant. Virginia White, a graduate of Wellesley college with the class of 1925, was the wife of Donald E. Harker of Chicago.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Illinois National Bank of Peoria, IL

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $50 bank note with pen signatures of Frank Trefzger, Cashier and Martin Kingman, President.
1882 Brown Back $50 bank note with pen signatures of Frank Trefzger, Cashier and Martin Kingman, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1882 $5 Date Back $5 bank note with printed signatures of William C. White, Cashier and Frank Trefzger, President.
1882 $5 Date Back $5 bank note with printed signatures of William C. White, Cashier and Frank Trefzger, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $1,145,400 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1900 and 1915. This consisted of a total of 74,372 notes (74,372 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 4x5 1 - 5450
1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 3540
1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 10295
1882 Date Back 50-100 1 - 1200
1882 Date Back 3x50-100 1 - 478

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1900 - 1915):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

  • There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

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