Jefferson County NB, Watertown, NY (Charter 1490)
Jefferson County NB, Watertown, NY (Chartered 1865 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York. It is approximately 25 miles south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about 5 miles east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the town of Watertown to the south, east, and west, and is served by the Watertown International Airport and the Watertown Daily Times newspaper. In the middle of Watertown lies the Public Square Historic District, which was built in 1805 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1984. Watertown is located 13 miles southwest of the U.S. Army base at Fort Drum; it is the service and shopping destination for personnel there and their families. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city has 24,685 residents, making it the largest city in the North Country.
The area was first surveyed in 1795, and was settled in March 1800 due to the abundant hydropower the Black River provided. The city was designated as the county seat of Jefferson County when it was split off from Oneida County in 1805. Watertown was incorporated as a village in 1816, and became a city in 1869. By then, it was booming as an industrial center for Upstate New York. By the early 20th century the city was said to have more millionaires per capita than any other city in the nation. During the mid 1960s, Chicago attracted many of the younger residents from the area along with their businesses, leading to the demolition of many historic buildings and a steady decline in population. By 2000, the city had lost over 7,000 residents.
The city serves as the commercial and financial center for the North Country. Located 30 miles from the Canadian border, shopping by Canadian visitors is important to Watertown's economy. The city also receives numerous tourists and summer residents. Watertown, South Dakota, was named in the city's honor.
Watertown had seven National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all seven of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized June 19, 1865
- Chartered July 26, 1865
- Conversion of Jefferson County Bank
- Absorbed 4296 October 31, 1925 (City National Bank, Watertown, NY)
- Assumed its circulation
- Bank was Open past 1935
- Purchased by and consolidated with the Watertown National Bank (Ch2657), September 1943
The Jefferson County Bank was the first banking institution organized in Jefferson County, incorporated by an act passed April 17, 1816 with a capital not exceeding $100,000 in shares of $10 par value. The petitioners were John Brown Roswel Woodruff, Eliphalet Edmonds, David I. Andrus, Ethel Bronson, Jabez Foster Egbert Ten Eyck, Hoel Lawrence, Frederick White, Abel Cole, and others. A committee was appointed to apportion the stock and select the site of the banking house; the committee consisted of Elisha Camp of Hounsfield, Jesse Hopkins of Henderson, Ebenezer Wood of Ellisburg, Jabez Foster of Watertown, Clark Allen of Lorraine, Samuel C. Kennedy of Rodman, Ethel Bronson of Rutland, John Durkee of Champion, Thomas Brayton of Wilna, Silvius Hoard of Antwerp, Musgrove Evans of Le Ray, John Paddock of Brownville and Eliphalet Edmonds of Adams. After a prolonged and excited strife between Watertown and Brownsville, the later uniting with other interests, succeeded in getting the bank located at Adams.
The first directors elected June 20, 1817, were John Paddock, Hoel Lawrence, Ebenezer Wood, Clark Allen, David I. Andrus, S.F. Hooker, Elisha Camp, Frederick White, David Hale, Samuel C. Kennedy, John Cowles, Eliphalet Edmonds and Joseph Sterling. The first president was J. Paddock. The bank began business with a paid-up capital of only $50,000, such was the scarcity of money at the time. The bank did not do well at Adams and after a temporary suspension was in 1824, by an act for the Legislature, moved to Watertown. In 1828, it became one of the safety fund banks and remained as such until 1853 when it was reorganized under the general banking laws of the state of New York.
The Jefferson County Bank had as its presidents John Paddock, 1816; Jabez Foster, 1817-19; Ethel Bronson, 1820-1825; Jabez Foster, 1825-1826; Perley Keyes, 1826-33; Micah Sterling, 1833-34; Orville Hungerford, 1834-45; Norris M. Woodruff, 1845-54; R. Lansing, 1855-56; T.H. Camp, 1857-77. The cashiers were James Wood, 1816-20; O. Hungerford, 1824-33; O.V. Brainard, 1833-66; Myers Thompson, 1866-71; S.T. Woolworth, 1871-77.[1]
In 1877, the directors were T.H. Camp, R. Lansing, P. Mundy, W.C. Pierrepont, J.C. Sterling, A.M. Farwell, Levi H. Brown, R.E. Hungerford, L.A. Johnson, G.R. Massey, and J.C. Knowlton. Robert Lansing, a the long-serving director, had been prominent as vice president, declining to continue as its chief officer. The quarterly statement published October 1, 1877, showed loans and discounts, $408,048.68; capital stock, surplus and undivided profits, $207,909.91; circulation $86,370; and deposits $291,991.88.
On September 17, 1925, the consolidate of two leading Watertown banks was announced. Stockholders of the Jefferson County National Bank and the City National Bank met and ratified the action. The two banks had combined resources of $9,000,000. The Jefferson County National Bank was the oldest national bank in Northern New York, having received its charter in 1816.[2]
On September 3, 1927, Stuart D. Lansing, president of the Jefferson County National Bank and the Bagley Sewall Co., large paper machine manufacturers, died, aged 61. He was a cousin of Robert Lansing, Secretary of State in the Wilson cabinet and was widely known as a yachtsman and former Commodore of the Crescent Yacht Club at the Thousand Islands.[3][4]
In 1932, the directors were J. Victor Baron, vice president, Sherman Paper Co.; A. Bickelhaupt, president, Redwood National Bank, Redwood; Clarence W. Campbell, president, First National Bank of Dexter; Nelson R. Caswell, president, First National Bank, Gouverneur; Clarence S. Cook, president, St. Lawrence County National Bank, Canton; George Duffy, Dist. Supt., Metropolitan Life Ins. Co.; Joseph Ellis, Globe Store; William H. Gilman, attorney at law; G. Seymour Knowlton, treasurer, Knowlton Bros., Inc.; Edward S. Lansing, vice president, Bagley & Sewall Co.; Walter G. Massey, vice president, J.B. Wise, Inc.; Carl G. Nill, Watertown; C. Fred Peck, vice president, Seaver & Peck; Roscoe Sargent, attorney at law, Sandy Creek; Daniel B. Schuyler, president; Frederic H. Taylor, F.H. Taylor, Inc.; James B. Vock, president, Farmers National Bank, Theresa; William W. Waddingham, vice president; Harvey R. Waite, president, Agricultural Ins. Co.; Leland G. Woolworth, president, Hardiman-Woolworth Co. The officers were G. Seymour Knowlton, chairman of the board; D.B. Schuyler, president; C.W. Campbell, W.W. Waddingham, L.G. Woolworth, vice presidents; C.A. Dunham, cashier; R.W. Oakes and E.K. Hampson, assistant trust officers; M.S. Whitney, trust officer; F.B. Rice, assistant trust officer; C.K. Fitzgibbon, auditor; and R.A. Wetterhahn, manager, North Side Branch. The North Side Branch was located at the corner of Main and Mill Streets.
On November 16, 1941, Robert J. Buck, 76, coal dealer and former president of the Jefferson County National Bank and chairman of the board of the Northern New York Trust Co. died at the family home in Watertown. Buck was a native of St. Albans Bay, Vermont, and postmaster of Watertown from 1903-1912.[5]
The Northern New York Trust Co. was founded in 1910 by Floyd L. Carlisle. The National Bank and Loan Co. and the National Union Bank, at the time two of the oldest national banks of Watertown, were merged into the trust company in 1910. Mr. Carlisle became president a few years later, serving until 1922. He was succeeded as president by H. Edmund Machold, vice president of F.L. Carlisle & Co. R.J. Buck was chairman of the board in 1932 and B.A. Gray president when the trust company became a member of the Marine Midland Group of banks. At the close of 1931, the Northern New York Trust Co. had capital funds of $1,532,000, deposits of over $9,700,000 and total resources in excess of $11,400,000.[6]
On June 5, 1964, Daniel B. Schuyler died at the age of 88. He was at one-time president of the old Jefferson County National Bank, later vice president and a director of the Watertown National Bank which became the National Bank of Northern New York, and finally head of the Marcy, Buck & Schuyler, Inc. until his retirement. Mr. Schuyler was descended from pioneer Jefferson County families, his ancestors having been among the early residents of Three Mile Bay. He was born on May 22, 1876, one of five children of John Lansing and E. Adelle Main Schuyler of Three Mile Bay. He was a descendant of one of five Schuyler brothers who came to America from Holland in the 17th century. He was of the line that included General Philip Schuyler, the distinguished Albany patriot of the Revolutionary War. After his graduation from high school, he went to New York where for 10 years he was associated with the American Exchange National bank. In July 1904, he resigned as bookkeeper in the New York City bank to become a bookkeeper for the Champion Paper Co. of Carthage. He joined the Jefferson County National Bank in 1905 when George B. Massey was president; John C. Knowlton, vice president; Smith T. Woolworth, cashier and George V.S. Camp, assistant cashier. He succeeded George V.S. Camp, as cashier, who died suddenly in 1907. Mr. Schuyler served as the president for more than 17 years until September 1943 when the bank was purchased by and consolidated with the Watertown National Bank. He was a vice president of the Watertown National until March 1944 when he resigned to become vice president and treasurer of the March, Buck & Winslow, Inc., local retail and wholesale coal, warehousing and trucking which his son, John L., headed as president. His son died two months later and he became the active head of Marcy Buck & Winslow, Inc., being elected president and treasurer on July 11, 1944. The firm became Marcy, Buck and Schuyler when he acquired the controlling stock and continued as head of the firm until he retired in September 1948.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Jefferson County National Bank of Watertown, NY
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $6,238,770 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 791,940 notes (596,188 large size and 195,752 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments Original Series 3x1-2 1 - 2530 Original Series 4x5 1 - 4700 Original Series 4x10 1 - 2825 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 2299 Series 1875 4x10 1 - 4327 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 4308 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 4677 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 4330 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 2868 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 12350 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 10260 1902 Plain Back 4x5 12351 - 69610 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 10261 - 46573 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 16000 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 8674 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 2160 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 21410 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 10425 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 2913
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1935):
Presidents:
- Talcot Hale Camp, 1865-1896
- John C. Knowlton, 1897-1903
- George Bragg Massey, 1904-1912
- Robert Jones Buck, 1913-1922
- Stuart Douglas Lansing, 1923-1925
- Daniel Bailey Schuyler, 1926-1935
Cashiers:
- Orville Valora Brainard, 1865-1867
- Myers Thompson, 1868-1870
- Smith Thaddeus Woolworth, 1871-1906
- George Van Santvoord Camp, 1907-1914
- Daniel Bailey Schuyler, 1915-1925
- Charles A. Dunham, 1926-1935
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Watertown, 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://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project
- City of Watertown History
- ↑ History of Jefferson County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, L.H. Everts & Co., Philadelphia, (1878), p. 153.
- ↑ The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca, NY, Thu., Sep. 17, 1925.
- ↑ Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, sat., Sep. 3, 1927.
- ↑ Times Union, Brooklyn, NY, Sun., Sep. 4, 1927.
- ↑ Buffalo Courier Express, Buffalo, NY, Mon., Nov. 17, 1941.
- ↑ Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, Mon., Feb. 22, 1932.