Mauch Chunk National Bank, Mauch Chunk, PA (Charter 6534)
Mauch Chunk National Bank, Mauch Chunk, PA (Chartered 1902 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Jim Thorpe is a borough in and the county seat of Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Jim Thorpe is part of the Lehigh Valley, and its population was 4,781 at the 2010 census.
The town has been called the "Switzerland of America", due to the picturesque scenery, mountainous location, and architecture, and also the "Gateway to the Poconos". It is in eastern Pennsylvania about 80 miles north of Philadelphia and 100 miles west of New York City. It is historically known as the burial site of Native American sports legend Jim Thorpe.
Jim Thorpe was founded in 1818 as Mauch Chunk, a name derived from the term Mawsch Unk (Bear Place) in the language of the native Munsee-Lenape Delaware peoples. The company town was founded by Josiah White and his two partners, founders of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N). The town would be the lower terminus of a gravity railroad, the Summit Hill & Mauch Chunk Railroad, which would bring coal to the head of the LC&N Lehigh Canal for transshipment to the Delaware River, 26.7 miles downstream at Easton. It would thereby ship LC&N's coal to Philadelphia, Trenton, New York City, and other large cities in New Jersey and Delaware, and by ocean to the whole East Coast. Canal shipping was eventually replaced by railroad shipping.
Mauch Chunk had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all four of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized October 1, 1902
- Chartered December 15, 1902
- Opened for business December 31, 1902
- Succeeded First National Bank, Charter 437 and Linderman NB, Charter 2852
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Still in business as Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank (March 2022)
In January 1901, Stockholders elected the following directors:[2]
- First National Bank of Mauch Chunk--George Ruddle, W.B. Mack, M.S. Kemmerer, John Stedman, W.R. Butler, W.A. Leisenring, and Edgar Twining.
- Second National Bank of Mauch Chunk--Thomas L. Foster, John L. Dolan, Leonard Yeager, Lafayette Lentz, William G. Freyman, William R. Stroh, N.D. Cortright, Jr., Austin Boyer, and J.M. Dreisbach.
- Linderman National Bank of Mauch Chunk--J.I. Blakslee, Frederick Bertolette, Henry Lobien, Jonas Sondheim, Anthony Derkes, C.E. Stedman, Alonzo P. Blakslee, J.W. Wilhelm, and S.S. Smith.
The First, Second and Linderman National Banks of Mauch Chunk were going out of business at the end of 1902. The Second National transformed into the Mauch Chunk Trust Company. The First and Linderman banks merged into a new bank, The Mauch Chunk National Bank with capital stock of $250,000. A charter for the new institution was expected from Washington in December.[3]
In January 1910, stockholders elected the following directors:
- Mauch Chunk National--M.S. Kemmerer, W.B. Mack, J.H. Wilhelm, W.B. Butler, Alonzo P. Blakslee, C.A. Rex, John R. Kemmerer, D.J. Pearall, W.A. Leisenring, Edgar Twining, and John Ruddle.
- Mauch Chunk Trust Company--W.G. Freyman, John C. Dolan, N.D. Cortright, J.M. Dreisbach, Leonard Yeager, Charles Neast, W. Kishbaugh, H.D. Y. Lentz, Austin Boyer, Alonzo F. Corby.
- Citizen's National Bank, East Mauch Chunk--Quinton Stemler, Frank Schwartz, J.M. Hess, James H. Leibenguth, H.J. Siegfried, C.H. Creamer, and J.C. Ryan.
Mauch Chunk National Bank directors who were re-elected were: P.J.A. Binder, J.C. Loose, Wm. T. Twining, R.S. Ruddle, P.R. Swank, J.W. Dieckman, and Alan S. Loose.[4]
In December 1941, Gerald J. Jackson, formerly employed as cashier at the First National Bank of Weatherly, would move to Mauch Chunk as cashier of the Mauch Chunk National Bank.[5]
Official Bank Title
1: The Mauch Chunk National Bank, Mauch Chunk, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $5,839,660 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1902 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 710,285 notes (585,092 large size and 125,193 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 7500 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 15400 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 23250 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 15600 1902 Plain Back 4x5 23251 - 73875 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 15601 - 49498 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 10004 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 5350 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 1232 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 15924 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 7638 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 2115
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1902 - 1936):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Bank Note Signers
Wiki Links
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History
- General information on Mauch Chunk (Wikipedia)
- General information on Carbon County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Mauch Chunk, 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://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project
- "The Mauch Chunk National Bank-Charter #6534," Paper Money, March/April 2022, Vol. LXI, No. 2, Whole Number 338, pp 135-137.
- The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Thu., Jan. 10, 1907.