National Bank, Chesapeake City, MD (Charter 6845)

Postcard of The National Bank of Chesapeake City, Maryland, ca1911. The bank is on the Corner of Second Street and Bohemia Avenue. Courtesy of Fred Maples

National Bank, Chesapeake City, MD (Chartered 1903 - Liquidated 1922)

Town History

The old National Bank of Chesapeake City, Maryland, ca2022. Courtesy of Google Maps

Chesapeake City is a town in Cecil County, Maryland. The population was 736 at the 2020 census.

The town was originally named by Bohemian colonist Augustine Herman the Village of Bohemia — or Bohemia Manor — but the name was changed in 1839 after the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) was built in 1829. Today, the town contains numerous old homes from that era that have been converted into bed and breakfasts, restaurants and the local historical museum.

The town was separated into north and south sections when the C&D Canal was built through the middle of the town. The two were connected by a drawbridge until 1942 when that was destroyed by a freighter that struck it. The current bridge opened in 1949. The new bridge had to be tall enough to allow supertankers to pass beneath it, resulting in a structure so high and long that cars no longer went into the city to cross the canal. Business declined for decades thereafter.

Chesapeake City is the location of the Old Lock Pump House of the C&D Canal, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The South Chesapeake City Historic District was listed in 1974.

Chesapeake City had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Postcard of the National Bank of Chesapeake City, ca1905. Courtesy of Fred Maples

Organized June 4, 1903
Chartered June 19, 1903
Opened for business July 1, 1903
Liquidated May 12, 1922
Absorbed by The Elkton Banking & Trust Co. of Maryland, Elkton

In June 1902, the following were the officers of the recently organized National Bank of Chesapeake City: president, Joseph H. Steele, Chesapeake City; vice president, William S. Evans, Elkton; cashier, John Banks, Chesapeake City; teller, Groome Steele, Chesapeake City. On June 19, the Comptroller of the Currency issued a certificate authorizing the National Bank of Chesapeake City to commence business, with a capital of $25,000.

The funeral of John Banks, former county treasurer and cashier of the National Bank of Chesapeake City, who died at his home on April 9, 1906, from a hemorrhage resulting from swallowing a fishbone was largely attended by people from all sections of Cecil county. The honorary pallbearers were Judge Austin L. Crothers, Manly Drennen, John M. Tucker, of Elkton; Joseph H. Steele, Dr. W.C. Karsner, Bennett Steele, J. Groome Steele, James S. Hopper, Byron Bouchelle and Dr. Delmar Smithers, of Chesapeake City. The active pallbearers were Messrs. J.P. Steele, George K. Houck, Hugh W. Caldwell, Chesapeake City; William S. Evans, Col. I.D. Davis and Chas. B. Finley. In May 1906, the directors elected Byron Bouchelle cashier to succeed the late John Banks. The vacancy on the board of directors was filled by the election of ex-Sheriff Harvey H. Mackey of Blake.

In January 1911, the stockholders re-elected the following directors: Joseph H. Steele, J. Polk Steele, Waitman Smithers, W.S. Evans and William B. Davis. Joseph H. Steele was chosen President, W.S. Evans, Vice President, Richard S. Wallis, Cashier, and J. Groome Steele, Assistant Cashier.

In January 1918, the following Directors were elected: James S. Hopper, William S. Evans, Esq., James Polk Steele, Bennett Steele, William B. Davis, George Bennett, and William B. Wilson. The Directors elected Richard S. Wallis, Cashier, and Julius W. Clayton, Teller.

On October 31, 1919, news of the sudden death in Elkton of William S. Evans, nestor of the Elkton Bar, came as a shock to his many friends in the vicinity. The deceased was born December 16, 1846, on the farm near Rising Sun at present occupied by Mrs. Agnes Evans, and family, widow of Amos Evans, his brother. His parents were John Patterson Evans and Rebecca Steele Evans. Educated at West Nottingham Academy, Newark Academy and Lafayette College, he read law under Hon. Henry W. Archer, at Bel Air, and was admitted to practice his profession in February 1870. A few months afterward he located in the town of Elkton, where he remained and practiced Law. He was engaged in and connected with a number of public institutions, viz. President of the Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Cecil county, one of the State Managers of the Springfield State Hospital for the Insane, a Trustee of the Jacob Tome Institute, Vice President and Director of the National Bank of Chesapeake City, a Director of the Elkton Banking and Trust Co., Attorney for the National Bank of Rising Sun, and other Banks, President of The Home Light & Power Co., and a Trustee of the Elkton Cemetery Co. A member of the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association, he was also a member of the American Bar Association, and the Maryland State Bar Association.

In January 1920, The following directors were elected: James S. Hopper, Bennett Steele, I.G. Griffith, William B. Davis and J. Polk Steele.

In January 1922, the stockholders elected the following directors: James S. Hopper, Bennett Steele, William B. Davis, Irvin G. Griffith and W.W. Schaefer. The officers elected were James S. Hopper, president; Bennett Steele, vice president versus William B. Davis who declined re-election; Raymond J. Boulay, cashier.

On April 8, 1922, as a sequel to the call for help from the National Bank of Chesapeake City this morning, when money to stop a run was rushed by automobile from Elkton, directors of the Elkton Banking and Trust Company voted to accept the terms proposed by the Chesapeake City institution and take it over. Directors of the Chesapeake City bank will meet to ratify the sale. The deal will become effective as soon as two-thirds of the stockholders of the Chesapeake City bank indorse it. The Chesapeake City bank was capitalized at $25,000. The Elkton institution was capitalized at $100,000. James F. Hopper, president of the Chesapeake City bank, and former Sheriff Harvey H. Mackey was president of the Elkton bank. The Elkton Banking and Trust Company guaranteed all deposits. The Chesapeake bank did not close today. The resulting merger made the Elkton institution the largest financial institution in the county.

In May 1922, the stockholders of the Elkton Banking and Trust Co. voted to increase the capital stock from $100,000 to $125,000 to establish the branch at Chesapeake City, the new issue to be sold at $75 per share, $25 of which will be added to the surplus account. The Directors organized by reelecting Harvey H. Mackey, President; Dr. S. Claude Sykes, Vice President; Irvin T. Kepler, Treasurer; Joseph T. Tyson, Chairman, Rising Sun; J. Otis Kennard, Vice Chairman; Lambert W. Davis, Chairman, Cecilton; Enoch S. Short, Cashier. They elected Walter G. Pratt, former Assistant Treasurer, Cashier at Chesapeake City, and Lynn B. Gillespie, former Cashier at Rising Sun, Assistant Treasurer to succeed Mr. Pratt at Elkton. Mr. Gillespie’s successor was not chosen. Raymond J. Boulay, who had been cashier of the National Bank of Chesapeake City, would return to Baltimore. Miss Ruby Reynolds would assist Mr. Pratt at Chesapeake City. The other members of the Elkton force were William Foster, George McCool, Miss Gertrude A. Smith and Miss Elizabeth M. Biddle.

The Comptroller of Currency approved under date of June 20 the application of the National Bank of Chesapeake City, Maryland, for voluntary liquidation. The order was made effective from May 12 and reference was made to absorption by the Elkton Banking and Trust Company of Maryland.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The National Bank of Chesapeake City, MD

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with printed signatures of Raymond J. Boulay, Cashier and James S. Hopper, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $89,950 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1903 and 1922. This consisted of a total of 11,024 notes (11,024 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
1902 Red Seal	4x5	1 - 400
1902 Red Seal	3x10-20	1 - 320
1902 Date Back	4x5	1 - 750
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 600
1902 Plain Back	4x5	751 - 1195
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	601 - 841

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1903 - 1922):

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

Chesapeake City, MD, 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 Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., June 20, 1902.
The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Fri., May 4, 1906.
The Cecil Whig, Elkton, MD, Sat., Jan. 21, 1911.
The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., Jan. 25, 1918.
The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., Nov. 7, 1919.
The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., Jan 30, 1920.
The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., Jan. 27, 1922.
The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Sat., Apr. 8, 1922.
The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., Apr. 14, 1922.
The Midland Journal, Rising Sun, MD, Fri., May 19, 1922.
The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Thu., June 22, 1922.