National Bank/Glens Falls NB & TC, Glens Falls, NY (Charter 7699)

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Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company located at 250 Glen Street, Glens Falls, New York, ca2023.
Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company located at 250 Glen Street, Glens Falls, New York, ca2023. Courtesy of Google Maps

National Bank/Glens Falls NB & TC, Glens Falls, NY (Chartered 1905 - Open past 1935)

Town History

"The Old Brownstone" bank located at 134 Glen Street, constructed in 1864 after the fire destroyed the previous Glens Falls Bank.  Used by the Glen's Falls National Bank from 1865 until 1905 and then by the National Bank of Glens Falls from 1905 until 1950.
"The Old Brownstone" bank located at 134 Glen Street, constructed in 1864 after the fire destroyed the previous Glens Falls Bank.  Used by the Glen's Falls National Bank from 1865 until 1905 and then by the National Bank of Glens Falls from 1905 until 1950. Courtesy of Google Maps, ca2022

Glens Falls is a city in the southeastern corner of Warren County, surrounded by the town of Queensbury to the north, east, and west, and by the Hudson River and Saratoga County to the south.

As a halfway point between Fort Edward and Fort William Henry, the falls was the site of several battles during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. The then-hamlet was mostly destroyed by fire twice during the latter conflict, forcing the Quakers to abandon the settlement until the war ended in 1783. Fire also ravaged the village in 1864, 1884, and 1902.

A post office was established in 1808. Glens Falls became an incorporated village in 1839, and was re-incorporated in 1874 and 1887, expanding the village to what would become the city limits when the state legislature granted the city charter in 1908, at which time the city became independent from the town of Queensbury.

Finch Paper LLC, headquartered at the base of Glen Street hill, is a major regional employer and a manufacturer of specialty paper and forest products. It is by far the largest taxpayer in the City of Glens Falls, owning property assessed at $60-million in 2006, according to city records. In mid-June 2007, Finch, Pruyn & Company announced it had sold all of its assets, including 161,000 acres of forestland in the Adirondacks, to Atlas Holdings of Greenwich, Conn. The Company name was then changed to Finch Paper LLC. Atlas then sold all of the forestland to The Nature Conservancy.

Glens Falls had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all four of those banks issued National Bank Notes. The Glen's Falls National Bank was the only one of the four to use the possessive form "Glen's". South Glens Falls in Saratoga County also had one national bank.

Bank History

  • Organized April 15, 1905
  • Chartered April 19, 1905
  • Opened for business May 1, 1905
  • 1: Succeeded 1293 (Glen's Falls National Bank, Glen's Falls, NY)
  • 1: Absorbed 4846 May 27, 1922 (Merchants National Bank, Glens Falls, NY)
  • Bank was Open past 1935
  • For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
  • Still in business as Glens Falls NB & Trust Co. (April 2023)

On August 1, 1851, the first steps were taken to organize a bank in Glens Falls, and the Glens Falls Bank formally opened its doors for business on the site occupied by Denne's women's furnishing store (later occupied by Floyd's Jewelry) on Ridge Street. In 1859, the bank purchased the Pike and Vermillin properties on Glen Street and about November 1860, occupied its new building on that site. This building was burned along with most of the town on May 31st, 1864. A brownstone banking house was erected on the site after the fire. Colonel Benjamin P. Burhans of Warrensburgh was the first president and E.J. Blake was the first cashier. He resigned in 1863 and was succeeded by John Alden. The Glen's Falls National Bank received its national charter, No. 1293, on June 16, 1865.

In January 1904, stockholders of the Glen's Falls National Bank, Charter 1293, elected the following directors: Jeremiah W. Finch, Hon. Stephen Brown, Thomas S. Coolidge, George R. Finch, Daniel J. Finch, Louis M. Brown, Henry Griffing, Howard H. Pryun, Jeremiah T. Finch and William A. Wait. The directors re-elected all of their officers as follows: Jeremiah W. Finch, president; Hon. Stephen Brown, vice president. William A. Wait was the cashier.

On Tuesday, January 9, 1906, stockholders elected the following directors of the National Bank of Glens Falls: Hon. Stephen Brown, Thomas S. Coolidge, Daniel J. Finch, Louis M. Brown, Henry Griffing, Howard H. Pruyn, Jeremiah T. Finch, George R. Finch, and William A. Wait.

In April 1922, the directors were Louis M. Brown, president; Daniel H. Cowles, vice president; L.F. Hyde, G.F. Ferguson, J. Edward Singleton, James Knight, George F. Bayle, Jr., and R.H. Rheinlander. John E. Parry was cashier and George F. Wetmore, assistant cashier. The bank had resources of $3,036,000.

On April 12, 1922, announcement was made of the merger of the National Bank of Glens Falls and the Merchants National Bank of Glens Falls. Terms of sale were not made known. The resulting institution would have assets of approximately $4,750,000. Deposits of the National Bank were about $2,500,000. Deposits in the Merchants Bank were more than $1,400,000. The Merchants National Bank was incorporated in 1893. The officers were Daniel L. Robertson, president; George H. Leggett and George S. Raley, vice presidents; William T. Cowles, cashier; Harry Bennett, teller; Leo Nolan, Edward M. Conklin, and Leslie Irwin, bookkeepers. On April 19, in connection with the merger, John E. Parry was promoted to second vice president and William T. Cowles, cashier of the Merchants National, became cashier of the National Bank of Glens Falls.

On August 23, 1932, stockholders of the National Bank of Glens Falls voted to change the name of the institution to the Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company in accordance with a recommendation of the board of directors. The new name incorporated the names of both "The Old Brownstone" and the Glens Falls Trust Company which was merged with the national bank in January. Business of the Glens Falls Trust Company had been transacted at the home of the national bank since their merger. The officers were Daniel H. Cowles, president; Louis F. Hyde, vice president; William T. Cowles, cashier and trust officer; George F. Wetmore and Kenneth H. Sheldon, assistant cashiers. The directors were Daniel H. Cowles, Louis F. Hyde, Louis P. Brown, William T. Cowles, J. Edward Singleton, James Knight, and Robert H. Rheinlander. 

In 1946, the bank decided to erect a new building at 250 Glen Street, sold both the old Trust Company building and the old brownstone bank at 134 Glen Street to the Messrs. Ginsburg, continuing to occupy the properties under lease until the new building was completed.  In April 1950, John P. Higgins, a clerk at Dolan's Pharmacy, was the last customer at the old brownstone building of the Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company at 134 Glen Street before the bank moved. J.A. Knaus of 49 Harrison Avenue was the first customer in the new home of the Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company at 250 Glen Street.  He waited in front of the bank from 6:40 AM to be first in line and at 8:20 AM was rewarded for his long wait by being ushered in to have a seat in the lobby until opening time.  The one-story building at 238 Glen Street was built for and occupied by the Glens Falls Trust Company until it merged with the Glens Falls National Bank in 1932.  From that time it housed executive offices of the Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company.  The Ridge Book Shop, after being located at 9 Ridge Street since it was established in 1930, opened in August 1950 in the former Trust Company building at 238 Glen Street.

On Sunday, September 4, 1966, Louis P. Brown, chairman of the board of the Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Co. and secretary of the Glens Falls Post Co., died at his home on North Rd. after a long illness. A lifelong resident of Glens Falls, son of the late Louis M. and Edith Pratt Brown, Mr. Brown was the third generation of his family to hold positions in leading companies in the community. His affiliation with the Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Co. began in 1930 with his election as a director. In 1942, he succeeded the late Daniel H. Cowles as president to become the third of his family to occupy this position. His father, served as president from 1918 to 1931, and his grandfather, Stephen Brown, from 1905 to 1908. He became chairman of the board in 1965 when Robert P. Larson was elected president. The main offices of the bank which he served are a testimony to his particular interest in Colonial Williamsburg reproductions. He spent much of his time in the months preceding his death on final plans for the decorating and furnishing of the new addition to the building. In 1931, he became a director and member of the Executive Committee and General Counsel for the Glens Falls Insurance Co. He was a director of the Imperial Paper and Color Corp., now the Imperial Department of Hercules, Inc., and was a director of Finch, Pruyn and Co. He was president of the Crandall Trust and for several years was treasurer of the Glens Falls Community Chest and of Glens Falls Hospital. A student of conservation practices, particularly as related to fish and waterfowl, he was a member of the St. Bernard Fish and Game Club in Quebec for 40 years and served first as fish culturist and later as president.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The National Bank of Glens Falls, NY

2: Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company, Glens Falls, NY (10/3/1932)

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with pen signatures of William A. Wait, Cashier and George R. Finch, Vice President. The date, January 2, 1906, appears next to Mr. Finch's signature, just days before he died of appendicitis.
1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with pen signatures of William A. Wait, Cashier and George R. Finch, Vice President. The date, January 2, 1906, appears next to Mr. Finch's signature, just days before he died of appendicitis. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com
1902 Red Seal $20 bank note with pen signatures of William A. Wait, Cashier and J.T. Finch, Vice President.
1902 Red Seal $20 bank note with pen signatures of William A. Wait, Cashier and J.T. Finch, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of George F. Wetmore, Assistant Cashier and Louis M. Brown, President.
1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of George F. Wetmore, Assistant Cashier and Louis M. Brown, President. Courtesy of NBNCensus.com
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of W.T. Cowles, Cashier and Louis M. Brown, President.
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of W.T. Cowles, Cashier and Louis M. Brown, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com
1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of W.T. Cowles, Cashier and D.H. Cowles, President.
1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of W.T. Cowles, Cashier and D.H. Cowles, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $1,883,350 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1905 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 151,334 notes (124,256 large size and 27,078 small size notes).

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

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments
1: 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 5000
1: 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 8800
1: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 8801 - 26064
1: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2376
1: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 672
2: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 358
2: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 82
2: 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 4737
2: 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1413

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1905 - 1935):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

Wiki Links

Sources

  • Glens Falls, NY, 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 Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, Wed., Jan. 13, 1904.
  • The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, Mon., Jan. 18, 1904.
  • The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, Fri., Jan. 12, 1906.
  • The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, Mon., Apr. 3, 1922.
  • The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, Thu., Apr. 13, 1922.
  • The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, Thu., Apr. 20, 1922.
  • The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, Wed., Aug. 24, 1932.
  • The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, Sat., Oct. 1, 1932.
  • The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, Wed., Apr. 5, 1950.
  • The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, Mon., Aug. 14, 1950.
  • The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, Tue., Sep. 6, 1966.
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