Lehigh Valley National Bank, Bethlehem, PA (Charter 2050)
Lehigh Valley National Bank, Bethlehem, PA (Chartered 1872 - Liquidated 1932)
Town History
Bethlehem is a city along the Lehigh River in Northampton and Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of the eastern portion of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, and Scranton. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County, and 19,343 were in Lehigh County.
Bethlehem lies in the center of the Lehigh Valley, a region of 731 sq mi that is home to more than 800,000 people. Together with Allentown and Easton, the Valley embraces the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area, including Lehigh, Northampton, and Carbon counties within Pennsylvania, and Warren County in the adjacent state of New Jersey. Smaller than Allentown but larger than Easton, Bethlehem is the Lehigh Valley's second-most populous city. In turn, this metropolitan area comprises Pennsylvania's third-largest metropolitan area.
The Norfolk Southern Railway's Lehigh Line (formerly the main line of the Lehigh Valley Railroad), runs through Bethlehem heading east to Easton, Pennsylvania and Phillipsburg, New Jersey across the Delaware River. The Norfolk Southern Railway's Reading Line runs through Bethlehem heading west to Allentown and Reading.
On April 2, 1741, William Allen, a wealthy Philadelphia merchant and political figure, who later founded the city of Allentown, deeded 500 acres along the banks of the Monocacy Creek and Lehigh River to the Moravian Church. On Christmas Eve of that year David Nitschmann and Count Zinzendorf, leading a small group of Moravians, founded the mission community of Bethlehem at the confluence of the Monocacy and Lehigh. They came to set up missionary communities among the Native Americans and unchurched German-speaking Christians. They named the settlement after the Biblical town Bethlehem of Judea, said to be the birthplace of Jesus.
In 1762, Bethlehem built the first water-works in America to pump water for public use. In the autumn of 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, many Patriots fled from Philadelphia to Bethlehem and the surrounding area as the British advanced in the east. The Marquis de Lafayette recovered from an injury received at the Battle of Brandywine in Bethlehem. Several members of the Continental Congress fled north to Bethlehem before the congress eventually reconvened in Lancaster. While George Washington and his troops stayed in Valley Forge, Washington stored his personal effects at the farm of James Burnside in Bethlehem, as of 1998 this is operated as a historical museum known as James Burnside Plantation.
In 1845 the prosperous village was incorporated into a free borough in the County of Northampton. After the Civil War the Borough of South Bethlehem was formed. In 1886 the Borough of West Bethlehem (in Lehigh County) was formed. In 1904, the Boroughs of West Bethlehem (in Lehigh County) and Bethlehem (in Northampton County) merged. In 1917, the Borough of South Bethlehem and Bethlehem merged to become the City of Bethlehem. Bethlehem Steel executive Archibald Johnston (1865-1948) was elected as the new city's first mayor.
Bethlehem became a center of heavy industry and trade during the industrial revolution. The Bethlehem Steel Corporation (1857–2003), founded and based in Bethlehem, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. Bethlehem Steel was also one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the world and one of the most powerful symbols of American industrial manufacturing leadership.
Bethlehem Steel began producing the first wide-flange structural shapes made in the United States and they pioneered the production of the now-ubiquitous "I-beam" used in construction of steel-framed buildings, including skyscrapers. It manufactured construction materials for numerous New York and other city skyscrapers, as well as for major bridges.
The company became a major supplier of armor plate and ordnance products during World War I and World War II, including the manufacture of 1,100 warships. After roughly 140 years of metal production at its Bethlehem plant, Bethlehem Steel ceased operations there in 1995, in the face of overseas competition and declining demand.
Bethlehem had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and three of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized September 6, 1872
- Chartered September 26, 1872
- Liquidated December 19, 1932
- Absorbed by 138 which assumed its circulation (First National Bank/First NB & TC, Bethlehem, PA)
On January 14, 1890, the following directors were elected: Robert P. Linderman, T.M. Dodson, C.O. Skeer, A.D. Shimer, J.J. Hoffman, Garrett B. Linderman, Charles M. Dodson, Francis Weiss, and W.A. Wilbur.[1]
On January 29, 1893, L.J. Giering's jewelry store sustained damages of over $2,000 from flames the result of overheating of Councilman Alvin J. Hills' Building. The building was situated on Main Street, near Market, and was once occupied by the Lehigh Valley National Bank. It was one of a block of large business structures in the heart of the business part of Bethlehem.[2]
In January 1894, the directors elected were: R.P. Linderman, T.M. Dodson, C.M. Dodson, J.J. Hoffman, Francis Weiss, G.B. Linderman, A.D. Shimer, W.A. Wilbur, and C.O. Skeer.[3]
On Tuesday, January 9, 1900, stockholders elected the following directors: Robert P. Linderman, T.M. Dodson, Garret B. Linderman, Chas. M. Dodson, A.D. Shimer, J.J. Hoffman, Francis Weiss, and W.A. Wilbur.[4]
On Tuesday, April 7, 1931, George J. Frantz, assistant cashier of the Lehigh Valley National Bank for the past 15 years was promoted to cashier. He entered the service of the bank 33 years earlier and rose from the ranks through his integrity and efficiency.[5]
On Tuesday, January 19, 1932, Robert E. Wilbur was re-elected president at the reorganization meeting of the board of directors. Robert P. Linderman, Jr. was named assistant to the president and other officers chosen were: G.R. Radford, E.W. Cromwell, vice presidents; George J. Frantz, cashier and trust officer; Hubert H. Stem, assistant cashier and assistant trust officer; Edgar W. Shelly, bookkeeper; H.L. Moyer and O.O. Hartney, note tellers; Norwood Wagner, clerk to note tellers; David J. Hottle, first teller; Frank Faulsky, second teller; Elvin Seifert, third teller; Frank J. Werst, savings teller; Nellie Musselman, assistant savings teller; Charles De Rocco, head bookkeeper.[6]
On July 6, 1932, merger of three local banks into a new concern to be known as the First National Bank and Trust Company was announced. The merged banks were the First National Bank and Trust, the Bethlehem Trust, and the Lehigh Valley National.[7] On Monday, December 19, 1932, shareholders of the Lehigh Valley National met in the banking house on West Broad Street, Bethlehem, and voted by a large majority to ratify the merger agreement.[8]
On Sunday, February 5, 1933, at midnight, the task of transferring safety deposit boxes from the Lehigh Valley National Bank and the Bethlehem Trust Company was begun under heavy police guard. Groups of uniformed officers from the city police force alternated throughout the night and day protecting the large motor trucks that were moving the boxes to their new location.[9] In December 1933, the State Liquor Control Board took an option on the property at 54 West Broad Street formerly occupied by the Lehigh Valley National Bank.[10]
Official Bank Title
1: The Lehigh Valley National Bank of Bethlehem, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $4,185,860 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1872 and 1932. This consisted of a total of 479,816 notes (379,508 large size and 100,308 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 - 4600 Original Series 4x5 1 - 5500 Original Series 4x10 1 - 2710 Original Series 3x20-50 1 - 1224 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 3737 Series 1875 4x10 1 - 3505 Series 1875 3x20-50 1 - 2996 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 2050 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 1740 1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 840 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 2145 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 1423 1882 Date Back 50-100 1 - 14 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 3000 1902 DB/PB 4x5 3001 - 3500 Type uncertain 1902 Plain Back 4x5 3501 - 38252 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 2400 1902 DB/PB 3x10-20 2401 - 2800 Type uncertain 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 2801 - 23850 1902 Date Back 3x50-100 1 - 548 1902 Plain Back 3x50-100 549 - 718 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 10601 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 4899 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 1218
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Lehigh Valley National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1872 - 1932):
Presidents:
- Garret Broadhead Linderman, 1873-1885
- Francis Weiss, 1886-1887
- Robert Packer Linderman, 1888-1902
- Truman Monroe Dodson, 1903-1907
- Charles Millard Dodson, 1908-1909
- William Emil Doster, 1910-1918
- Robert Eldredge Wilbur, 1919-1931
Cashiers:
- Albert Newton Cleaver, 1873-1873
- Henry Guetter Borhek, 1874-1888
- George A. Reed, 1889-1910
- George W. Halliwell, 1911-1915
- Frank P. Snyder, 1916-1930
- George J. Frantz, 1931-1931
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 Bethlehem (Wikipedia)
- General information on Northampton County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Bethlehem, 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 Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Wed., Jan. 15, 1890.
- ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Mon., Jan. 30, 1893.
- ↑ The Allentown Leader, Allentown, PA, Thu., Jan. 11, 1894.
- ↑ The Allentown Leader, Allentown, PA, Jan. 19, 1900.
- ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Wed., Apr. 8, 1931.
- ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Wed., Jan. 20, 1932.
- ↑ The Plain Speaker, Hazelton, PA, Wed., July 6, 1932.
- ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Tue., Dec. 20, 1932.
- ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Mon., Feb. 6, 1933.
- ↑ The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Thu., Dec. 14, 1933.