Kenduskeag National Bank, Bangor, ME (Charter 518)
Kenduskeag National Bank, Bangor, ME (Chartered 1864 - Liquidated 1906)
Town History
Bangor (/ˈbæŋɡɔːr/ BANG-gor) is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's third-most populous city, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Bangor is known as the “Queen City.” In 1860 its population was 16,407, growing to 28,749 by 1930.
Founded as Kendeskeag Plantation in 1791, Bangor was incorporated as a town in 1834. The name Bangor is said to have been taken from a Welsh tune. It is also the name of Bangor, Gwynedd, the oldest city in Wales.
Modern Bangor was established in the mid-19th century with the lumber and shipbuilding industries. Lying on the Penobscot River, logs could be floated downstream from the Maine North Woods and processed at the city's water-powered sawmills, then shipped from Bangor's port to the Atlantic Ocean 30 miles downstream, and from there to any port in the world. Evidence of this is still visible in the lumber barons' elaborate Greek Revival and Victorian mansions and the 31-foot-high statue of Paul Bunyan. Today, Bangor's economy is based on services and retail, healthcare, and education.
Bangor has a port of entry at Bangor International Airport, also home to the Bangor Air National Guard Base. Historically Bangor was an important stopover on the Great Circle Air Route between the U.S. East Coast and Europe.
Bangor had seven National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all seven of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized June 24, 1864
- Chartered September 19, 1864
- Succeeded Kenduskeag Bank
- Liquidated March 1, 1906
- Absorbed by Kenduskeag Trust Company
On Monday, April 30, 1832, the stockholders of the Kenduskeag Bank were notified by Geo. W. Pickering and Thos. F. Hatch to meet at the Penobscot Exchange Coffee House for the purpose of choosing a board of directors.[2] The directors chosen were Messrs. John Wilkins, J.R. Lumbert, E.H. Allen, G.W. Pickering and Levi Cram. John Wilkins was appointed president and T.S. Dodd, cashier.[3] The first installment of $50 on each share was due to be paid at the bank by June 18th.[4] The bank was opened in July with hours every day from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. except on Saturdays open only in the forenoon. Discount day was Thursday.[5]
The morning of July 4th, 1834, began with a fire starting about 2 o'clock in that part of Bangor known as the Heater, just below the Kenduskeag Bank. The wooden stores and buildings in Merchants Row from Mason building to Washington buildings and through to Fish Street were all consumed so rapidly that the stores could not be removed. The loss was estimated at over $30,000 with about $20,000 insured.[6] In October 1834, the directors elected were John Wilkins, Joseph R. Lumbert, George W. Pickering, and Abner Taylor. John Wilkins was president and T.S. Dodd, cashier.[7]
Look out for Counterfeits!! In March 1836, Five dollar bills of the Kenduskeag Bank, Bangor, were in circulation.[8] Counterfeiters Marshall Andrews and Hiram Andrews of Buckfield and John G. Besse of Paris, Maine, were arrested in the latter place for passing counterfeit $5 bills on the Kenduskeag Bank at Bangor. Besse turned State's evidence and stated that he was employed by the others to go to Canada and get $550 of the money and that they had disposed of all except $35 of it at the time of their arrest. The defendants were bound over in the sum of $500 each to appear at the S.J. Court in May. They gave bail and were released.[9]
On Monday, April 18, 1864, at a special meeting of the stockholders of the Kenduskeag Bank, it was voted to establish the Kenduskeag National Bank being the third national bank in Bangor with a capital of $100,000.[10]
In October 1864, the directors of the Kenduskeag National Bank were G.W. Pickering, T.A. Taylor, G.C. Pickering, T.A. Pickering, and Byron Porter. G.W. Pickering was president.[11]
In January 1865, the directors were Geo. W. Pickering, T.J. Stewart, Timothy Crosby, Chas. Hayward, and Isaac S. Whitman. Geo. W. Pickering was president and T.S. Dodd, cashier.[12]
In September 1881, the Penobscot Savings Bank planned to locate over the Kenduskeag National Bank in the handsome banking block being fitted up on West Market Square directly opposite the Mining Journal office.[13] In October A large Diebold burglar-proof steel safe was ordered by the Kenduskeag National Bank to be placed in the vault which had arrived for Mr. Hayford's new banking house.[14]
On Monday, January 2, 1882, the Kenduskeag National Bank celebrated its fiftieth Birthday by moving into its new, elegant banking rooms on West Market Square. Since 1832 this bank had but three presidents and two cashiers. The present officers were William B. Hayford, president and Howe Hammatt, cashier.[15] The directors elected were W.B. Hayford, T.J. Stewart, Chas. Hayward, Sprague Adams, and S.D. Thurston. W.B. Hayford was president and C.E. Hammatt, cashier.[16]
Bangor was shocked Tuesday afternoon, February 8, 1887, by the sudden death of Hon. William B. Hayford, 59, ex-Mayor of Bangor. He was president of the Kenduskeag National Bank, also of the Bangor and Piscataquis and Green Mountain railroads, trustee of Bangor Savings Bank, and a large landowner and lumber operator in Maine and New Brunswick. Mr. Hayford had recovered from an ill turn two weeks ago. He was at the bank in the forenoon attending to business until dinner time. He ate his dinner as usual and sat down in a reclining chair in the library, saying to his wife he would take a nap, and died instantly from heart disease.[17]
On Tuesday, January 10, 1905, at the annual meeting, stockholders elected the following directors: James Adams, John B. Foster, Hiram H. Fogg, Frederick W. Hill, Augustus B. Farnham, Linwood C. Tyler, Amos W. Knowlton, Newburg; John M. Oak, and Charles D. Stanford. Augustus B. Farnham was president and George F. Bryant, cashier.[18] In December Tyler-Fogg & Co. and parties interested with them purchased a controlling interest in the Kenduskeag National Bank, paying $128 per share. The stockholders of the Kenduskeag bank obtained a charter for a trust company at the last session of the legislature and it was considered likely that a little later the new management would surrender the national bank charter and organize as a trust company. It was known that Gen. Augustus B. Farnham who had been president of the bank since the resignation of Hon. James Adams, would resign and that L.C. Tyler of the Tyler-Fogg Co. would succeed him as president of the bank.[19]
In January 1906, a meeting of the stockholders of the Kenduskeag National Bank of Bangor was called for February 5, when the question of voluntary liquidation would be decided. While formal action in the matter was thus deferred a director of the bank said that liquidation had been decided upon and that the business of the bank would at once be taken over by a trust company to be known as the Kenduskeag Trust Company, with $100,000 capital stock, without any interruption whatever in the usual transactions of the institution. The capital stock of the new trust company has all been subscribed at the rate of $150, thus giving the company $150,000 working capital. The stockholders were representative men in many lines of business in Bangor and the vicinity. Linwood C. Tyler of the banking firm of Tyler, Fogg & Co., long prominent in financial circles, was president of the Kenduskeag Trust Co. The Kenduskeag National Bank was the oldest in Bangor, having been incorporated in 1832, and for three quarters of a century it had conducted a safe and successful business, the change to a trust company being made solely because of the wider scope of operations under a trust company charter. The bank's premises at 34 Broad Street would be improved and renovated. The vaults there were among the best and most secure in the State.[21] On January 5th, the last annual meeting of the Kenduskeag National Bank was held at 11 o'clock and the same officers and old board of directors were elected. The usual routine business was transacted and the matter of voluntary liquidation and reorganization under the name of the Kenduskeag Trust Co. was not touched upon.[22]
In March 1906, the officers of the Kenduskeag Trust Company were Linwood C. Tyler, president; Frederick W. Hill, vice president; Geo. F. Bryant, treasurer; and H. E. Collett, secretary. The executive board consisted of Hiram H. Fogg, Frederick W. Hill, Linwood C. Tyler, John M. Oak, Walter L. Morse, G. Irving Rice and Charles D. Stanford. The company was located at 34 Broad Street, Bangor, Maine.[23]
Wednesday, May 31, 1916, marked the physical consolidation of the two largest banks in Bangor when the First National Bank and the Kenduskeag Trust Company would locate under one roof in the splendid building erected at the corner of State and Exchange Streets, erected by the Graham Realty Co. The first floor and basement would be occupied on a long lease from the Graham Realty Company by the bank. The marble work was furnished by the Bowker-Torrey Co. of Boston and the bronze grill work by the Art Metal Construction Company of Jamestown, New York. The vaults were furnished by the York Safe and Lock Co., the fittings being furnished by the Library Bureau of Boston. The various wood finishings were furnished by Morse & Company of Bangor. The board of directors was composed of the following professional men of Bangor and vicinity: Isaiah K. Stetson, president; Henry McLaughlin, Charles W. Coffin, Irving G. Stetson, Alden P. Webster, Harry L. Arnold, Charles H. Bartlett, Charles D. Stanford, Walter L. Morse, John G. Dunning, H.E. Collett, Daniel Webster, J. Norman Towle, John F. Woodman, F. Parker Debaco. The bank's officers were Isaiah K. Stetson, president; Irving G. Stetson, and H.E. Collett, vice presidents; and E.G. Wyman, cashier. The entire force of the Kenduskeag Trust Company would be taken over to the new bank so that the depositors would of the former institution would be served by the same men as had served them at the old bank.[25]
On March 4, 1941, Linwood C. Tyler died suddenly in Bangor. For over 50 years he had been identified with the business activities of Bangor. Mr. Tyler was a member of a family which settled at a point near the North Bangor Church in 1807 which is now known as Tyler Hill. He was the son of Joseph P. and Lucinda Pullen Tyler and was born in this city on September 12, 1864. After graduating from Bangor High School in 1883, he secured employment at the First National Bank, working there ten years. He organized the Kenduskeag Trust Company which succeeded to the Kenduskeag National Bank located on Broad Street on what became the Rice and Miller Co. store to the south of their block. The Eastern Trust and Banking Co. had previously been organized by Francis H. Clergue of Bangor occupying quarters at the rear room of the Kenduskeag National Bank and when the success of trust companies was indicated by Mr. Clergue's enterprise, the Kenduskeag Trust Co. was organized to act along the lines of a modern banking business. The latter institution was purchased by the First National Bank and many years later that bank was combined with the Merrill Trust Company. Mr. Tyler organized the banking, investment and insurance firm of Tyler, Fogg & Co. after the sale of the Kenduskeag Trust Co. and the new company occupied quarters on the ground floor of the seven-story Morse-Oliver block at State and Exchange Streets, the block being destroyed in the memorable fire of April 30, 1911. (Photo of Exchange Street Ruins with armed guard. Shown is the First National Bank and empty space where the Morse Oliver Block once stood.) The In that year Mr. Tyler organized the insurance firm of L.C. Tyler & Sons, Inc., with investments combined with insurance. The corporation had offices in the Graham Block at Central and Harlow Streets, his sons, Job Collett Tyler and Joseph P. Tyler, being in the corporation and their father president and treasurer of the corporation.[26]
Official Bank Title
1: The Kenduskeag National Bank of Bangor, ME
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $479,300 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1906. This consisted of a total of 45,664 notes (45,664 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 Original Series 3x1-2 1 - 700 Original Series 4x5 1 - 2000 Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 1600 Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 2386 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 4156 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 574
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1906):
Presidents:
- George W. Pickering, 1864-1875
- William Bicknell Hayford, 1876-1886
- Frederick Willard Hill, 1887-1896
- James Adams, 1897-1902
- Augustus Bowman Farnham, 1903-1905
Cashiers:
- Theodore Sedgwick Dodd, 1864-1877
- Charles Howland Hammatt, 1878-1881
- George H. Hopkins, 1882-1886
- William H. S. Lawrence, 1887-1895
- George F. Bryant, 1896-1905
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Bangor, ME, on Wikipedia
- Bangor Historical Society, online collections database. Includes a Stereographic Photo from the Kenduskeag Bridge across to Broad Street after the Fire of January 1, 1869. The Horse Hoes Hardware store was next to the circular block, then the Kenduskeag National Bank and the Grand Trunk Railway Ticket Office.
- 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
- ↑ Commercial, Bangor, ME, Mon., Mar. 5, 1906.
- ↑ Penobscot Journal, Bangor, ME, Tue., Apr. 17, 1832.
- ↑ Penobscot Journal, Bangor, ME, Tue., May 8, 1832.
- ↑ Penobscot Journal, Bangor, ME, Tue., Jan. 5, 1832.
- ↑ Penobscot Journal, Bangor, ME, Tue., July 3, 1832.
- ↑ Rutland Weekly Herald, Rutland, VT, Mon., July 14, 1834.
- ↑ Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME, Tue., Oct. 14, 1834.
- ↑ Portland Press Herald, Portland, Mon. Mar. 21, 1836.
- ↑ Boston Post, Boston, MA, Sat., Apr. 2, 1836.
- ↑ Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME, Wed., June 22, 1864.
- ↑ Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME, Thu., Oct. 20, 1864.
- ↑ Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME, Tue., Jan. 17, 1865.
- ↑ Maine Mining Journal, Bangor, ME, Fri., Sep. 2, 1881.
- ↑ Commercial, Bangor, ME, Oct. 15, 1881.
- ↑ Boston Post, Boston, MA, Sat., Dec. 31, 1881.
- ↑ Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME, Wed., Jan. 12, 1881.
- ↑ Sun-Journal, Lewiston, ME, Wed., Feb. 9, 1887.
- ↑ The Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME, Wed., Jan. 11, 1905.
- ↑ Commercial, Bangor, ME, Tue., Dec. 5, 1905.
- ↑ Commercial, Bangor, ME, Sat., Dec. 31, 1910.
- ↑ The Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME, Tue., Jan. 9, 1906.
- ↑ Commercial, Bangor, ME, Tue., Jan. 9, 1906.
- ↑ Commercial, Bangor, ME, Mon., Mar. 5, 1906.
- ↑ Commercial, Bangor, ME, Tue., May 30, 1916.
- ↑ Commercial, Bangor, ME, Tue., May 30, 1916.
- ↑ Commercial, Bangor, ME, Wed., Mar. 5, 1941.