National Bank and Loan Company, Watertown, NY (Charter 1508)
National Bank and Loan Company, Watertown, NY (Chartered 1865 - Liquidated 1910)
Town History
Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York. It is approximately 25 miles south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about 5 miles east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the town of Watertown to the south, east, and west, and is served by the Watertown International Airport and the Watertown Daily Times newspaper. In the middle of Watertown lies the Public Square Historic District, which was built in 1805 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1984. Watertown is located 13 miles southwest of the U.S. Army base at Fort Drum; it is the service and shopping destination for personnel there and their families. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city has 24,685 residents, making it the largest city in the North Country.
The area was first surveyed in 1795, and was settled in March 1800 due to the abundant hydropower the Black River provided. The city was designated as the county seat of Jefferson County when it was split off from Oneida County in 1805. Watertown was incorporated as a village in 1816, and became a city in 1869. By then, it was booming as an industrial center for Upstate New York. By the early 20th century the city was said to have more millionaires per capita than any other city in the nation. During the mid 1960s, Chicago attracted many of the younger residents from the area along with their businesses, leading to the demolition of many historic buildings and a steady decline in population. By 2000, the city had lost over 7,000 residents.
The city serves as the commercial and financial center for the North Country. Located 30 miles from the Canadian border, shopping by Canadian visitors is important to Watertown's economy. The city also receives numerous tourists and summer residents. Watertown, South Dakota, was named in the city's honor.
Watertown had seven National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all seven of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized June 29, 1865
- Chartered August 8, 1865
- Succeeded Watertown Bank and Loan Company
- Liquidated December 15, 1910
- Succeeded by Northern New York Trust Company, Watertown, NY
The National Bank and Loan Company was organized as a state bank by George C. Sherman, January 20, 1839, under the name of the Watertown Bank and Loan Company, with a capital of $100,000. Mr. Sherman also organized the Merchants' Exchange Bank in January 1849, but soon after merged it into the first named institution. In 1853 the bank erected an elegant banking house on the corner of Washington and Stone Streets. The state bank was reorganized August 8, 1865 under the national banking law with George H. Sherman, president; Charles A. Sherman, vice president; and N.P. Wardwell, cashier. The national bank began with a capital of $75,000.[1]
In October 1852, about 3 o'clock in the morning a fire broke out in a small wooden building in the rear of Wood & Andurs's Shoe Store and spread to the main block, ravaging all from the Arcade south to Stone Street. The block contained two boot and shoe stores, one grocery, the Express Office, the office of the Watertown Bank & Loan Company and several law offices. For some time there were well-grounded fears for the safety of the Arcade and Paddock's Block, but through the united efforts of the firemen and citizens and owing to the fact that very little air was stirring at the time, those buildings remained uninjured. Everything was saved in the Express office and in the bank. The aggregate loss of property was estimated at $18,000 to $20,000.[2]
On April 24, 1863, Hon. George C. Sherman, president of the Watertown Bank and Loan Company, who for forty years had been identified with Watertown as a lawyer, judge and banker, died at his residence.[3]
On July 9, 1883, Robert L. Sherman, 48, a prominent farmer living near Watertown shot himself after recovering from a sickness. He was a brother-in-law of Senator Fred Lansing. He was a vice president of the Watertown Bank and Loan Company[4] and secretary-treasurer of the Jefferson County Savings Bank.[5]
The Northern New York Trust Co. was founded in 1910 by Floyd L. Carlisle. The trust company was capitalized at $300,000 with a surplus of $300,000 with vice president James S. Sherman among those interested. The National Bank and Loan Company and the National Union Bank, at the time two of the oldest national banks of Watertown, were merged into the trust company in 1910. Among its stockholders were men prominently identified with all the paper-making interests of the Black River Valley and with other large manufacturing interests. The National Bank and Loan Company had capital of $100,000 with surplus and profits of $95,000. Among its board of directors were Judge Henry Purcell, George C. Sherman, L.W. Day, Isaac L. Hunt, Stuart Lansing, William Hathaway, A.C. Cornwall, L.S. Strough, Edwin S. Clark, William J.H. Moore, and John Tilden.[6] Mr. Carlisle became president of the new institution, serving until 1922. He was succeeded as president by H. Edmund Machold, vice president of F.L. Carlisle & Co. R.J. Buck was chairman of the board in 1932 and B.A. Gray president when the trust company became a member of the Marine Midland Group of banks. At the close of 1931, the Northern New York Trust Co. had capital funds of $1,532,000, deposits of over $9,700,000 and total resources in excess of $11,400,000.[7]
Official Bank Title
1: The National Bank and Loan Company of Watertown, NY
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $825,590 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1910. This consisted of a total of 148,168 notes (148,168 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 - 4860 Original Series 4x5 1 - 5525 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 8255 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 13147 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 2481 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 2100 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 674
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1910):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
- Charles Augustus Sherman, 1865-1871
- Nathaniel P. Wardwell, 1872-1881
- Charles Augustus Sherman, 1882-1882
- George Charles Sherman, 1883-1886
- C. L. Parmelee, 1887-1896
- William H. Hathway, 1897-1909
- Jesse Chittenden Ayers, 1910-1910
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
- National Bank and Loan Company, Watertown, NY History (NB Lookup)
- New York Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Watertown, 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
- ↑ History of Jefferson County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, L.H. Everts & Co., Philadelphia, (1878), pp 153-4.
- ↑ The New York Times, New York, NY, Mon., Oct. 18, 1852.
- ↑ The Buffalo Daily Republic, Buffalo, NY, Fri., Apr. 24, 1863.
- ↑ History of Jefferson County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, L.H. Everts & Co., Philadelphia, (1878), p. 577.
- ↑ The Philadelphia Times, Philadelphia, PA, Tue., July 10, 1883.
- ↑ The Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY, Mon., July 18, 1910.
- ↑ Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, Mon., Feb. 22, 1932.