National New Haven Bank/New Haven Bank NB Association, New Haven, CT (Charter 1243)

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The New Haven Bank, New Haven, Connecticut.
The New Haven Bank, New Haven, Connecticut.

National New Haven Bank/New Haven Bank NB Association, New Haven, CT (Chartered 1865 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Bank occupied in 1915 by the New Haven Bank, National Banking Association, located on the corner of Orange and Chapel Streets, New Haven, Connecticut.
Bank occupied in 1915 by the New Haven Bank, National Banking Association, located on the corner of Orange and Chapel Streets, New Haven, Connecticut.  Courtesy of John Barron
The New Haven Bank obsolete $1 dated Nov. 1, 1853, Haxby CT-290, signed by Amos Townsend, Jr., Cashier and H. Sanford, President. Top, left of center, is seated Commerce. Lower left, in the small circle, is a custom vignette used only on this bank, titled First Sabbath Quinnipiack 1638. Lower right, sailor at the wheel. Engraved by Toppan, Carpenter & Co. with a full red ONE protector.
The New Haven Bank obsolete $1 dated Nov. 1, 1853, Haxby CT-290, signed by Amos Townsend, Jr., Cashier and H. Sanford, President. Top, left of center, is seated Commerce. Lower left, in the small circle, is a custom vignette used only on this bank, titled First Sabbath Quinnipiack 1638. Lower right, sailor at the wheel. Engraved by Toppan, Carpenter & Co. with a full red ONE protector. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

New Haven is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Connecticut after Bridgeport and Stamford, the largest city in the South Central Connecticut Planning Region, and the principal municipality of Greater New Haven, which had a total 2020 population of 864,835. Prior to 1960, it was the county seat of New Haven County until the county governments were abolished that year.

New Haven was one of the first planned cities in the U.S. A year after its founding by English Puritans in 1638, eight streets were laid out in a four-by-four grid, creating the "Nine Square Plan". The central common block is the New Haven Green, a 16-acre square at the center of Downtown New Haven. The Green is now a National Historic Landmark, and the "Nine Square Plan" is recognized by the American Planning Association as a National Planning Landmark.

New Haven is the home of Yale University, New Haven's biggest taxpayer and employer, and an integral part of the city's economy. Health care, professional and financial services and retail trade also contribute to the city's economic activity.

The city served as co-capital of Connecticut from 1701 until 1873, when sole governance was transferred to the more centrally located city of Hartford. New Haven has since billed itself as the "Cultural Capital of Connecticut" for its supply of established theaters, museums, and music venues. New Haven had the first public tree planting program in America, producing a canopy of mature trees (including some large elms) that gave the city the nickname "The Elm City".

New Haven had nine National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all nine of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

The New Haven Bank obsolete $2 dated January 1846, Haxby CT-290, signed by Amos Townsend, Jr., Cashier and Henry Denison, President. In a perpendicular scene at the left end, two Native Americans observe the opposite shoreline filled with buildings. At top center, flanking a shield from which the arm of Justice with scales rises, are Moneta holding a scroll and Liberty with pole and cap. The base vignette shows a beehive.
The New Haven Bank obsolete $2 dated January 1846, Haxby CT-290, signed by Amos Townsend, Jr., Cashier and Henry Denison, President. In a perpendicular scene at the left end, two Native Americans observe the opposite shoreline filled with buildings. At top center, flanking a shield from which the arm of Justice with scales rises, are Moneta holding a scroll and Liberty with pole and cap. The base vignette shows a beehive. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
  • Organized May 26, 1865
  • Chartered June 8, 1865
  • Succeeded New Haven Bank
  • 2: Assumed 1245 by consolidation August 28, 1915 (New Haven County NB, New Haven, CT)
  • Bank was Open past 1935

The New Haven Bank was founded in 1792, making it one of the earliest in the nation. The first President was David Austin. He was Collector of the Port of New Haven. The general assembly at its October session, 1792, passed an act incorporating the New Haven Bank. Its capital stock was to consist of $100,000, divided into 500 shares of $200 each. Possibly on account of the difficulty of raising the amount of capital, no organization was effected until the charter had been amended by the act of October 1795, authorizing the bank to start with a subscribed capital of $50,000 and providing for an enlargement of the capital not exceeding $400,000. Books of subscription were opened on December 9, 1795, at the tavern of Ebenezer Parmalee and 400 shares were subscribed by 83 persons. The first meeting of the stockholders was held December 22, 1795. Isaac Beers was chosen chairman and Simeon Baldwin, teller, to count the votes cast for directors, David Austin, Isaac Beers, Elias Shipman, Elizur Goodrich, Joseph Drake, Timothy Phelps, John Nicoll, Thaddeus Beecher, and Stephen Alling were elected directors. David Austin was chosen president and William Lyon, cashier. The office of the bank was established in the house of Mr. Lyon, which stood on Chapel Street between Orange and State Streets where the Lyon Building was later erected. The bank paid Mr. Lyon a salary of $5000 and L12 a year for the use of that part of his house given up to the bank.

David Austin was succeeded as president by Isaac Beers in 1798, Eneas Munson, Jr., in 1812, Henry Denison in 1831, Henry Sanford in 1847, and Wilbur F. Day in 1869. William Lyon held the office of cashier until 1814. He kept strict watch over the circulation of the bank. It was said that on one occasion when four-$100 bills had been out for a longer time than he thought proper, he rode to Wallingford to redeem them, having hear that bills of that denomination had been seen in the possession of a citizen of that town. Lyons was followed by Henry R. Pynchon who died in 1831. Mr. Amos Townsend succeeded Mr. Pynchon, holding the position until 1879. He entered the bank as a clerk in 1825.

In January 1914, the directors were Henry L. Hotchkiss, Timothy Dwight, Theodore S. Woolsey, Hayes Quincy Trowbridge, H. Stuart Hotchkiss, Victor Morris Tyler, Rutherford Trowbridge, Henry S. Chase, Franklin Farrel, Jr., John W. Bristol, and Leonard M. Daggett. 

The directors of the New Haven County National Bank in January 1914, were Ezekiel G. Stoddard, John B. Carrington, Edward E. Bradley, A. Heaton Robertson, Bruce Fenn, joseph E. Hubinger, Louis E. Stoddard, Henry Stoddard, William F. Porter, Roger P. Tyler, Julius G. Day, and Howard E. Adt. Victor M. Tyler retired from the Union-New Haven Trust Company.

In January 1915, the stockholders of the City Bank approved the agreement of a merger with the National New Haven and the New Haven County National banks. The merged institutions would be known as the New Haven Bank, National Banking Association. It would have a larger capital than any other bank in New Haven, the capitalization being $1,200,000, and would hold a surplus of the same amount. The formal merger was planned for next August, and would have a new building at Orange and Chapel streets, where a large and modern banking house was being erected on the site of the old National New Haven Bank.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The National New Haven Bank, New Haven, CT

2: The New Haven Bank National Banking Association, New Haven, CT (8/14/1915)

Bank Note Types Issued

Original Series $1 bank note with pen signatures of W.F. Day, Cashier and H. Sanford, President.
Original Series $1 bank note with pen signatures of W.F. Day, Cashier and H. Sanford, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com
1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of R.I. Couch, Cashier and W.F. Day, President.
1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of R.I. Couch, Cashier and W.F. Day, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1902 Red Seal $5 bank note with pen signatures of Edward E. Mix, Cashier and Frank D. Trowbridge, President.
1902 Red Seal $5 bank note with pen signatures of Edward E. Mix, Cashier and Frank D. Trowbridge, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com
1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with stamped signatures of William G. Redfield, Cashier and E.G. Stoddard, President.
1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with stamped signatures of William G. Redfield, Cashier and E.G. Stoddard, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of George R. Willis, Cashier and William G. Redfield, President.
1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of George R. Willis, Cashier and William G. Redfield, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com

A total of $13,304,490 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 1,604,260 notes (1,524,572 large size and 79,688 small size notes).

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

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments
1: Original Series 3x1-2 1 - 2508
1: Original Series 4x5 1 - 19659
1: Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 8400
1: Original Series 50-100 1 - 600
1: Series 1875 4x5 1 - 5000
1: Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 9202
1: Series 1875 50-100 1 - 1800
1: 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 22000
1: 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 29800
1: 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 14000
1: 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 11300
1: 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 44587
1: 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 30500
1: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 30501 - 30707
2: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 113430
2: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 69350
2: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 6550
2: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 3504
2: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 872
2: 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 8600
2: 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 4454
2: 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1078

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1935):

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

  • New Haven, CT, 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
  • William F. Hasse, Jr., "A History of Banking in New Haven, Connecticut," New Haven, 1946.
  • Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT, Mon., Jan. 4, 1796.
  • Litchfield Enquirer, Litchfield, CT, Thu., Nov. 15, 1849.
  • Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT, Sat., Apr. 15, 1876.
  • Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT, Wed., Jan. 14, 1914.
  • Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT, Sun., Jan. 17, 1915.
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