Maverick National Bank, Boston, MA (Charter 677)
Maverick National Bank, Boston, MA (Chartered 1864 - Receivership 1891)
Town History
Boston is located in Suffolk County. East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts that was annexed by the city of Boston in 1837. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and downtown Boston by Boston Harbor. The footprint of the East Boston neighborhood as it is known today was created in the 1940s by connecting five of the inner harbor islands using land fill. Logan International Airport is located in East Boston.
The opening of the Maverick House Hotel in 1835 marked the start of commercial development of East Boston. The hotel structure dominated Maverick Square and was named for Samuel Maverick, one of the original settlers of the area killed at the Boston Massacre. By 1835, ten wharves had been built. The abundance of wharf area opened the new East Boston to further rapid expansion, and it was the shipbuilding companies that soon became East Boston's most famous industry, and the mainstay of its economy. In 1836, as development began to totally change the former islands, East Boston was annexed to Boston. In 1845, Donald McKay, as a sole owner, established his own shipyard on Border Street. His ships included the Flying Cloud (1851), which made two 89-day passages from New York to San Francisco and the Sovereign of the Seas (1852), which posted the fastest speed ever by a sailing ship (22 knots) in 1854. In the 1840s and 1850s, the principal shipbuilders besides McKay included Paul Curtis and Samuel Hall. In addition, Sylvanus Smith became a noted shipbuilder in East Boston.
Boston had 84 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and 75 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized December 20, 1864
- Chartered December 31, 1864
- Succeeded Maverick Bank
- Receivership November 2, 1891
- Arthur C. Haskell Photographic Collection 1910s-1930s with 9 historic photographs of the interior and exterior of the National Shawmut Bank located in the old quarters of the Maverick National Bank at Water and Congress Streets.
Maverick Bank 1854-1864
This institution was organized as a state bank in East Boston on May 10, 1854, with $400,000 in capital.[1] On September 14, 1854, the Maverick Bank went into operation at rooms in the Winthrop Block. Capital of the bank was $400,000. The officers were Samuel Hall, Esq., president; Noah Sturtevant, Wm. C. Barstow, Henry N. Hooper and F.A. Sumner, directors. Calvin S. Lane was cashier.[2] Mr. Hall was a well-known ship builder of East Boston.[3]
On Monday, November 12, 1855, the annual meeting of the stockholders was held and the following gentlemen were elected directors: Samuel Hall, Noah Sturtevant, Wm. C. Barstow, Henry N. Hooper, Martin L. Hall, William R. Lovejoy, and Paul Curtis. At a subsequent meeting, the directors re-elected Samuel Hall, president. The Maverick Bank was chartered on the 28th of March 1854.[4]
In February 1856, a meeting of the stockholders was called to consider the subject of petitioning the Legislature for permission to move their location from East Boston to the city proper.[5] On March 15th, the bill on this matter was debated in the Senate and rejected 6 to 12.[6] On the 18th, the Senate reconsidered its vote rejecting the bill authorizing the Maverick Bank to change its location, and passed the bill.[7] In June the bank advertised it moved from East Boston to No. 75 State Street, corner of Kilby street, up stairs.[8]
In November 1857, Samuel Phillips, Jr., discount clerk of the Merchants Bank was chosen cashier of the Maverick Bank in place of Calvin S. Lane.[9] Some time earlier a package of bills amounting to $360 went missing and had not been accounted for up to the present time. On the 16th, a package of bills paid into the Clearing House from the Maverick Bank and sent to the Granite Bank in payment of the balances between the two banks was returned because it was $500 short. This led to an examination by the directors of the Maverick Bank that resulted in the discharge of the cashier, teller, and the bookkeeper. The Boston Journal reported that the teller and bookkeeper admitted their habits had not been correct in that they had gambled some, although only in very small sums not over twenty-five cents. The admission above and the fact that the cashier kept knowledge of the deficiency from the directors was the grounds upon which the parties were charged.[10] In December in an open letter, Samuel Hall, president, wrote that Cashier Lane was found innocent and was exonerated in the deficiency. Further, his salary would be paid up to January 1, 1858.[11]
In November 1858, Samuel Hall, president, called at the office of the General Superintendent of Police to obtain help in ferreting out an individual engaged in putting worthless bills of that institution into circulation. Some months ago, several directors had taken some $50,000 in mutilated bills to an iron foundry belonging to one of the bank officers and consigned the notes to the furnace. Nothing further was thought until a five dollar bill with burned edges was paid at the desk. On investigation, the note was traced to a workman employed in the foundry who acknowledged that a bundle of these charred bills had been obtained.[12]
Maverick National Bank 1865-1891
In January 1867, the directors elected were Samuel Hall, N.B. Mansfield, Martin L. Hall, Paul Curtis, William R. Lovejoy, Nehemiah Gibson, and Theodore A. Neal. The officers were Samuel Hall, president; and Samuel Phillips, Jr., cashier. The bank had $400,000 capital as of April 1868, limited to $1,000,000.[13]
In January 1871, the directors were Nehemiah Gibson, Martin L. Hall, Paul Curtis, Theodore A. Neal, N.B. Mansfield, T.W. Hoxie, and Samuel A. Way. The last two gentlemen were elected to fill the vacancies caused by the deaths of Samuel Hall, the late president of the bank, and William R. Lovejoy. At a subsequent meeting of the directors, Nehemiah Gibson was chosen president.[14]
On Tuesday, January 13, 1874, the directors elected were Nehemiah Gibson, Asa P. Potter, G. Washington Warren, Jonas H. French, W.B. Mansfield, Henry F. Woods, and Daniel A. Patch.[15] On December 21, 1874, the officers of the Maverick National opened their doors to the public at one of the finest banking rooms in the city at the corner of Water and Congress streets. Since its move from East Boston on June 11, 1856, it operated its rooms at the corner of State and Kilby Streets. On July 11, 1871, it moved to 54 Devonshire Street where its business had been conducted up to this time. The new location was directly opposite the new Post Office and Sub-Treasury building with commanding views of Post Office Square. The directors leased the rooms for a term of ten years from the Simmons trustees. The officers were Nehemiah Gibson, president; and Asa P. Potter, vice president and trustee of the Way estate.[16]
In January 1878, the directors were Asa P. Potter, Thomas Dana, 2d, Jonas H. French, Nehemiah Gibson, N.B. Mansfield, G. Washington Warren, and Henry F. Woods. At a subsequent meeting of the directors, Asa P. Potter was chosen president; Samuel Phillips, cashier; and Josiah Q. Bennett, assistant cashier.[17]
In January 1891, the Maverick National Bank was located on the corner Water and Congress Streets.[18]
Mr. Potter is an exceptionally handsome man, 51 years old, and the contour of his head and his white imperial and mustache give him the appearance of a military leader. His reputation in banking circles was that of an able organizer. He arrives at his office about 9:30 every morning. He drives from his house on Commonwealth Avenue in a light buggy. He very rarely leaves the bank until after 4 o'clock in the afternoon and then he invariably walks home. Mr. Potter was president of the bank for about 15 years with a wife and four charming daughters and two handsome boys. When Mr. Potter was annoyed by callers who he thought were stealing his time, he would not manifest any anger or impatience. His trick was half-closing his eyes, flushing slightly and smiling critically. This was the attitude in which The Globe found Mr. Potter.[19]
In June 1891, the Maverick bank was remodeling and enlarging its old offices in the Simmons Building on Water and Congress Streets to enable the bank to carry on its constantly increasing business. Formerly the offices of the bank were confined to the corner between the Water Street and Congress Street entrances, the main entrance to the bank being from the corner doorway. By remodeling, the bank closed up the Congress Street entrance and by removing the partition walls it expended into the rooms formerly occupied by the American Loan & Trust Company in the northeasterly corner of the building, thus giving them twice as much room. The floors outside the rails were laid in mosaic tiling, the walls and ceiling were tinted in light and cheerful tones, the desks and woodwork were of cherry and the counters were surmounted by handsome bronze grill work. As one entered the bank through the main entrance and passed down in front of the railing on the Congress Street side, the space formerly occupied by the president's office had been converted into the customers' waiting room. At the end of this passageway and at the beginning of the new portion of the office was the president's room looking into Congress Street. Beside the president's desk was the cashier's department with stenographer and telegrapher and all enclosed within a high bronze railing. Here, a private wire was operated connecting the bank with the principal telegraph offices in the city. This was an absolutely necessary service as one important branch of the business of the bank was the placing of money by telegraph throughout the Unites States and Canada, a great advantage to merchants or anyone wishing to make immediate payments at distant points. The bank did a large foreign exchange business on all parts of Great Britain and Europe, and also China and Japan, making cable transfers.[20]
On November 2, 1891, the Maverick National Bank suspended payment. The decision to close its doors was reached after a protracted conference of the Clearing House committee of the Boston national banks which stated positively that the failure would not entail any wide-spread financial evils. The bank was closed by the national bank examiner, acting under the instructions from the comptroller of the currency. The immediate cause of the bank's suspension was the suicide of Irving Evans and the talk which followed it.[21] In December, a dividend of 40% payable to all creditors was announced by Thomas P. Beal, receiver.[22]
Asa Perkins Potter, President
On June 17, 1929, Asa Perkins Potter, financier, in his 92d year, died in Greenwich, Connecticut. Mr. Potter was formerly president of the Maverick National Bank of Boston, and for many years he had been a leading figure in banking circles of New England. Bostonians of the older generation would recall Asa P. Potter after the failure of the Maverick National Bank, which involved millions of dollars.
Asa Potter was perhaps the leading banking man of New England. He did things on a big scale and the more conservative State Street bankers arched their brows at his doings. The Maverick Bank was one of the oldest and biggest in the city. Mr. Potter was Boston born and bred and possessed a spirit of daring and adventure, taking a prominent part in the building of Western finance and industry spanning the country East and West with steel rails. At the age of 14 Asa Potter entered the employ of Samuel A. Way. a leading paper merchant of Boston, and he rose rapidly in the estimation of his employer. When Samuel Way died, Potter was made executor of Way’s will. That put him in touch with banks and bankers and he entered the banking business, becoming president of the Maverick Bank. The bank grew and prospered and Potter made money fast. He astonished conservative Boston houses by investing a million in Gov bonds, then at a low ebb, but they gradually rose and proved his sound financial judgment, netting the bank a large profit and enhancing his reputation in the field of finance.
When, the Maverick Bank closed its doors it was a dark day in Boston financial circles. It came as a thunder bolt out of a clear sky, although a small circle of financiers claimed that it was not unexpected by them. It involved some of the biggest men in the community in business and financial circles, among them Col. Jonas H. French, prominent In Democratic State politics and owner of extensive Cape Ann quarries.
The downfall of Potter was due to the failure of the brokerage firm of Irvin A. Evans, also known as “Nervy Evans” because he took big chances in the Stock Market. The bank had permitted Evans to borrow way beyond the limit set by law. The transactions were covered up by dummy notes, some of which were signed by bank messengers and elevator operators. Evans & Co. failed for more than $600,000. On October 16, 1891, Irving Evans committed suicide by shooting himself at his Summer home in New Hampshire. Potter released the members of the Evans firm of their obligations, taking the collateral amounting to $150,000, placing the greater part of the burden on the bank in the form of a note signed by one of his bookkeepers. This was only temporary relief until the bank examiners stepped in.
The Comptroller of the Currency at Washington suggested that the loan be reduced to the legal limit. No attention was paid to this. Ultimately the matter got into the courts. Potter was indicted and after a long, drawn-out contest, was discharged by order of the late Justice William Putnam of the United States Circuit Court, on the ground that District Attorney Sherman Hoar failed to establish by legal evidence Potter’s connection with the false entries on the bank’s books. The failure of the Maverick Bank became a Nation-wide subject of discussion and comment and a special committee of the United States Senate, with Senator Chandler of New Hampshire as chairman, conducted an investigation of the failure of the Comptroller Department to enforce the laws. In its report to Congress the committee characterized the Federal bank examiner as a tool of the bank, who had failed to do his duty to the department and the public.
According to this committee, they found that the bank’s stock of $400,000, its surplus of $800,000 and its undivided profits of more than $255,000 had disappeared. A stock assessment of 100% enabled the bank to pay all but a small balance to depositors, but nothing was ever collected from Potter. Potter was convicted on 15 counts for criminal certification of checks drawn in favor of Evans & Co., when there was no money to their credit, but the United States Supreme Court reversed the Judgment, because of the refusal of the trial judge to allow certain evidence. In the sensational trial which dragged on for months, a little black trunk belonging to Potter figured, but the court declined to permit the Government to look over its contents. The Senate committee roundly criticized the receiver for surrendering this trunk, supposed it contained evidence of criminality, and recommended new laws which, in their opinion, would prevent another such financial catastrophe. Soon after Potter’s discharge from the courts, he took up his residence in Connecticut and for several years was a small figure on Wall Street. He retired from active business in 1914 and gave Boston a wide berth.[23]
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Maverick National Bank of Boston, MA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,765,730 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1891. This consisted of a total of 346,192 notes (346,192 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 - 21350 Original Series 4x5 1 - 14500 Original Series 4x10 1 - 2350 Original Series 3x20-50 1 - 1600 Original Series 100-100 1 - 200 Original Series 500 1 - 100 Treasury SN 3596-3695 Series 1875 3x1-2 1 - 7060 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 18000 Series 1875 4x10 1 - 6121 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 13442 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 2000
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1891):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Boston, MA, 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
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Thu., Mar. 16, 1854.
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Thu., Sep. 14, 1854.
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Sat., Jan. 1, 1848.
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Tue., Nov. 13, 1955.
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Mon., Feb. 4, 1856.
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Mon., Mar. 17, 1856.
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Wed., Mar. 19, 1856.
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Thu., June 19, 1856.
- ↑ Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME, Tue., Nov. 24, 1857.
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, Wed., Nov. 25, 1857.
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Tue., Dec. 22, 1857.
- ↑ The Buffalo Commercial, buffalo, NY, Wed., Nov. 17, 1858.
- ↑ The Bankers' Magazine, Vol. 22, June 1867-July 1868, p. 979.
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Wed., Jan. 11, 1871.
- ↑ The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Wed., Jan. 14, 1874.
- ↑ The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Mon., Dec. 21, 1874.
- ↑ The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Wed., Jan. 9, 1878.
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Mon., Jan. 12, 1891.
- ↑ The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Sun., Jan. 25, 1891.
- ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Mon., June 29, 1891.
- ↑ Fall River Globe, Fall River, MA, Mon., Nov. 2, 1891.
- ↑ Boston Evening transcript, Boston, MA, Sat., Dec. 26, 1891.
- ↑ The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Tue., June 18, 1929.