Merchants National Bank, Aurora, IL (Charter 3854)

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The Merchants National Bank (left) and Young Womens' Christian Association (YWCA) (right) in Aurora, Illinois, ca1920s.
The Merchants National Bank (left) and Young Womens' Christian Association (YWCA) (right) in Aurora, Illinois, ca1920s. Courtesy of Adam Stroup

Merchants National Bank, Aurora, IL (Chartered 1888 - Closed (Merger) 2000)

Town History

Needed: a recent photo of the bank or another postcard.
Needed: a recent photo of the bank or another postcard.

Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located primarily in DuPage and Kane counties, it is the second most populous city in Illinois, after Chicago, and the 144th most populous city in the United States. The population was 197,899 at the 2010 census, and was 180,542 as of the 2020 Census.

Founded within Kane County, Aurora's city limits have expanded into DuPage, Will, and Kendall counties. Once a mid-sized manufacturing city, Aurora has grown since the 1960s. From 2000 to 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked the city as the 46th fastest growing city with a population of over 100,000.

In 1908, Aurora adopted the nickname "City of Lights", because in 1881 it was one of the first cities in the United States to implement an all-electric street lighting system. Aurora's historic downtown is located on the Fox River, and centered on Stolp Island.

Aurora began as two villages: East Aurora, incorporated in 1845 on the east side of the river, and West Aurora, formally organized on the west side of the river in 1854. In 1857, the two towns joined, incorporating as the city of Aurora. Representatives could not agree which side of the river should house the public buildings, so most of them were built on or around Stolp Island in the middle of the river.

Aurora had nine National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and eight of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

  • Organized October 27, 1887
  • Chartered March 9, 1888
  • Bank was Open past 1935
  • For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
  • Merged into Old Kent Bank in Grand Rapids, MI February 12, 2000

The Merchants' National Bank of Aurora, Illinois was organized Tuesday, November 1, 1887 with J.O. Curry, president, S.C. Gillett, vice president, and W.C. Estee, cashier.[1] Hon. W.S. Frazier, mayor of Aurora, was a director.[2]

Henry L. McWethy, 81, of McWethy Brothers Insurance Company at Aurora died in March 1930. He founded his insurance agency in 1871, heading it since that time, and was vice president of the Merchants' National Bank.[3]

In November 1933, Frank J. Knight, 66, Chairman of the Board of Directors died at the Copley Hospital in that city of heart disease. Before becoming identified with the Aurora bank as cashier, Mr. Knight had served as treasurer of Du Page County and as a director of the Gary-Wheaton Bank.[4][5] C.W. Ross, former president of the Red River National Bank of Grand Forks, North Dakota was elected president to succeed Mr. Knight.[6]

On July 17, 1939, Fred W. Zabel, former Davenport banker was elected vice president. The Merchants' National at the time was the oldest and largest bank in Aurora, and the only one that reopened without reorganization after the 1933 bank holiday. It had capital of $500,000 and deposits of about $5 million. Mr. Zabel was supreme vice governor of the Loyal Order of Moose and was elevated to the post of Supreme governor in September 1939. Aurora was a city of 50,000 people and very close to Mooseheart, the national Moose capital.[7]

On June 20, 1941, two alert employees of the Merchants' National bank of Aurora frustrated a well-laid plot of thieves to exchange a wad of chewing gum for several hundred dollars of the bank's deposits. After stopping the theft they pursued one of the plotters down Aurora's Broadway and captured him after he had taken refuge in a 5 and 10 cent store. The man arrested, who said he was Charles Waller, 50 years old, of New York City, pushed a stick with the gum on it thru Teller Henry Fletcher's window after Fletcher had been lured out by a telephone call. A $500 bundle of bills stuck to the gum, but it dropped off when another teller, William Robbie, Jr., saw him and shouted an alarm. It was Fletcher who tackled the thief and brought him down. The police were looking for a man who was in the bank and was believed to have been an accomplice of Waller. Bank officials said they had been warned recently that the chewing gum trick, an old one, had cost a Peoria bank $1,600.[8]

Official Bank Title

1: The Merchants National Bank of Aurora, IL

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of W.C. Estee, Cashier and S.C. Gillett, Vice President.
1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of W.C. Estee, Cashier and S.C. Gillett, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $50 bank note with printed signatures of W.G. Nicholson, Cashier and F.J. Knight, President. This is a Replacement note. Courtesy of Cody Regennitter
1929 Type 1 $100 bank note with printed signatures of W.G. Nicholson, Cashier and F.J. Knight, President.
1929 Type 1 $100 bank note with printed signatures of W.G. Nicholson, Cashier and F.J. Knight, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $1,765,800 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1888 and 2000. This consisted of a total of 49,536 notes (42,762 large size and 6,774 small size notes).

This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments
1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 5880
1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 327
1902 Red Seal 50-100 1 - 84
1902 Date Back 50-100 1 - 600
1902 Date Back 3x50-100 1 - 2680
1902 Plain Back 3x50-100 2681 - 4305
1929 Type 1 6x50 1 - 857
1929 Type 1 6x100 1 - 272

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1888 - 2000):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

Wiki Links

Sources

  • Aurora, IL, 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 Semi-Weekly Advocate, Belleville, IL, Fri., Nov. 4, 1887.
  • The Streator Free Press, Streator, IL, Thu., Mar. 10, 1904.
  • Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, Tue., Mar. 18, 1930.
  • Chicago Eagle, Chicago, IL, Mon. Nov. 20, 1933.
  • Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, Tue., Nov. 28, 1933.
  • The Hope Pioneer, Hope, ND, Thu., July 19, 1934.
  • Quad City Times, Davenport, IA, Tue., July 18, 1939.
  • Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, Sat., June 21, 1941.
  1. ↑ The Semi-Weekly Advocate, Belleville, IL, Fri., Nov. 4, 1887.
  2. ↑ The Streator Free Press, Streator, IL, Thu., Mar. 10, 1904.
  3. ↑ Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, Tue., Mar. 18, 1930.
  4. ↑ Chicago Eagle, Chicago, IL, Mon. Nov. 20, 1933.
  5. ↑ Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, Tue., Nov. 28, 1933.
  6. ↑ The Hope Pioneer, Hope, ND, Thu., July 19, 1934.
  7. ↑ Quad City Times, Davenport, IA, Tue., July 18, 1939.
  8. ↑ Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, Sat., June 21, 1941.
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