Montgomery National Bank, Norristown, PA (Charter 1148)

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The old Montgomery National Bank of Norristown, Pennsylvania, Norristown, Pennsylvania, ca2021.
The old Montgomery National Bank of Norristown, Pennsylvania, Norristown, Pennsylvania, ca2021. Courtesy of Google Maps

Montgomery National Bank, Norristown, PA (Chartered 1865 - Open past 1935)

Town History

The Norristown Office of the Philadelphia National Bank, located on 110 West Main Street, after the 1954 merger with The Montgomery National Bank.
The Norristown Office of the Philadelphia National Bank, located on 110 West Main Street, after the 1954 merger with The Montgomery National Bank.

Norristown is a municipality and the county seat of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Located along the Schuylkill River approximately 6 miles from the Philadelphia city limits, Norristown has a population of 34,324 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. It is the fourth most populous municipality in the county and second most populous borough in Pennsylvania.

The area where Norristown sits was originally owned by the family of Isaac Norris. Along with William Trent, Norris purchased the land on October 7, 1704 for 50¢ per acre. In 1712, Norris acquired Trent's share and established a gristmill at the foot of present-day Water Street.

Named the county seat in 1784 when Montgomery County was formed, Norristown was incorporated as a borough in 1812 and subsequently enlarged in 1853. About 500 people lived there at the time of its incorporation. Growing rapidly after the Civil War, it swelled to 22,265 people by 1900. By 1940 it was home to 38,181 Norristonians, making it the most populous borough in Pennsylvania before declining in the decades after World War II.

At its height, Norristown was an industrial, retail, banking, and government center. Breweries, cigar factories, textile mills, icehouses, foundries, rolling mills, and lumber yards provided ample employment for skilled laborers and artisans. The downtown featured two department stores, several theaters, and enough goods and services that residents never had to leave town to find anything they needed.

Norristown had three National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all three of those banks issued National Bank Notes. Norristown also had one Obsolete Bank, the Bank of Montgomery County, that issued Obsolete Bank Notes during the Obsolete Bank Note Era (1782-1866).

Bank History

The Bank of Montgomery County was originally incorporated under an act of March 25, 1824 and the charter was extended by an act approved April 7, 1849. In March 1850, The Montgomery County bank had circulation of $170,649 with $88,408 in specie on hand as reported by the Auditor General to the Legislature. Banks that could show the largest amount of specie in proportion to their notes in circulation were considered best and their notes the safest.

Norristown, Pennsylvania Bank of Montgomery County $10 notes dated Jan. 6, 1855--top note genuine, bottom note with H plate letter counterfeit. The vignette on the left represents a canal and that on the right a reaper and female.  In the center the Goddess of Liberty is seated on a rock with a lime-kiln and sailing vessels in the background.  W.H. Slingluff, Cashier and Boyer, President.
Norristown, Pennsylvania Bank of Montgomery County $10 notes dated Jan. 6, 1855--top note genuine, bottom note with H plate letter counterfeit. The vignette on the left represents a canal and that on the right a reaper and female.  In the center the Goddess of Liberty is seated on a rock with a lime-kiln and sailing vessels in the background.  W.H. Slingluff, Cashier and Boyer, President.
    LOOK OUT FOR THEM.  A batch of new counterfeit notes have just made their appearance.  They are of the denomination of ten dollars and on the Bank of Montgomery County.  They are said to be so well executed that none but the most experienced judges can detect them.  The genuine are letter F and the counterfeit letter H, both dated Jan. 6, 1855.  As this defect may be very easily altered, it would be well for the public to refuse them altogether.  The Lancaster Examiner, Lancaster, PA, Wed., Aug 8, 1855.

William H. Slingluff, esq., president of the Montgomery National Bank of Norristown, resigned that position at the meeting of the board of directors on November 21, 1875, having served as president of that institution for fifty years.

An agreement dated December 15, 1953 to merge The Montgomery National Bank of Norristown into the Philadelphia National Bank was brought before shareholders in the annual meetings in January 1954. On January 19, 1954, stockholders of the Philadelphia Nation voted to approve the merger with the Norristown bank as well as similar mergers with The First National Bank of Lansdale, The Chester-Cambridge Bank & Trust Co. of Chester to be effective on February 20th.

Official Bank Title

1: The Montgomery National Bank of Norristown, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of W.H. Slingluff, Cashier and Benjamin Thomas, President.
1882 Brown Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of W.H. Slingluff, Cashier and Benjamin Thomas, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note, Serial Number 1, with printed signatures of W.F. Zimmerman, Cashier and W.H. Slingluff, President.
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note, Serial Number 1, with printed signatures of W.F. Zimmerman, Cashier and W.H. Slingluff, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $5,706,190 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 408,990 notes (354,006 large size and 54,984 small size notes).

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

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments
Original Series 4x5 1 - 5000
Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 4000
Original Series 50-100 1 - 2000
Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 1127
Series 1875 50-100 1 - 1853
1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 13092
1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 2300
1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 7000
1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 17500
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 17501 - 55206
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 6184
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 1620
1929 Type 2 5 1 - 324
1929 Type 2 10 1 - 6179
1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1657

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1936):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

  • There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

  • Norristown, 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
  • Lancaster Intelligencer, Lancaster, PA, Tue., Mar. 19, 1850.
  • The Lancaster Examiner, Lancaster, PA, Wed., Aug 8, 1855.
  • Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster, PA, Tue., Nov. 23, 1875.
  • The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Mon., Jan. 4, 1954.
  • The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Wed., Jan. 20, 1954.
  • The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Tue., Feb. 23, 1954.
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