New Hampshire National Bank, Portsmouth, NH (Charter 1052)
New Hampshire National Bank, Portsmouth, NH (Chartered 1865 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmouth was formerly the home of the Strategic Air Command's Pease Air Force Base, since converted to Portsmouth International Airport at Pease.
At the town's incorporation in 1653, it was named "Portsmouth" in honor of the colony's founder, John Mason. He had been captain of the English port of Portsmouth, Hampshire, after which New Hampshire is named.
When Queen Anne's War ended in 1712, Governor Joseph Dudley selected the town to host negotiations for the 1713 Treaty of Portsmouth, which temporarily ended hostilities between the Abenaki Indians and the colonies of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire.
In 1774, in the lead-up to the Revolution, Paul Revere rode to Portsmouth warning that the British Royal Navy was coming to capture the port. Although Fort William and Mary protected the harbor, the Patriot government moved the capital inland to Exeter, which ensured that it would be under no threat from the Royal Navy, which bombarded Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) instead on October 18, 1775.
Portsmouth shipbuilding history has had a long symbiotic relationship with Kittery, Maine, across the Piscataqua River. In 1781–1782, the naval hero John Paul Jones lived in Portsmouth while he supervised construction of his ship Ranger, which was built on nearby Badger's Island in Kittery. During that time, he boarded at the Captain Gregory Purcell house, which now bears Jones' name, as it is the only surviving property in the United States associated with him. Built by the master housewright Hopestill Cheswell, an African American, it has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. It now serves as the Portsmouth Historical Society Museum.
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, established in 1800 as the first federal navy yard, is on Seavey's Island in Kittery, Maine. The base is famous for being the site of the 1905 signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth which ended the Russo-Japanese War. Though US President Theodore Roosevelt orchestrated the peace conference that brought Russian and Japanese diplomats to Portsmouth and the Shipyard, he never came to Portsmouth, relying on the Navy and people of New Hampshire as the hosts. Roosevelt won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomacy in bringing about an end to the war.
Portsmouth had five National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all five of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized March 22, 1865
- Chartered April 25, 1865
- Succeeded Bank of New Hampshire
- Bank was Open past 1935
In 1912, the recently completed vaults in the new building of the New Hampshire National Bank at Portsmouth incorporated an unusual degree of up-to-date designs to resist new as well as old processes of attack. The exterior walls were of rock-concrete, reinforced with a steel grillage and lined with heavy, alternating high and low steel plates, providing resistance to shock, tools and the oxy-acetylene cutter-burner. The massive door guarding the entrance to the vault was a foot and a quarter in thickness, weighing approximately 16 tons. It was one of the strongest doors in New England. The absence of the usual small steps or rebates at the edge provided a so-called "battleship" effect, eliminating a usual source of weakness. The intricate locking mechanism and massive bolting train provided enormous strength equal to the security of the door itself. The interior of the vault was fitted with steel chests holding the securities and moneys of the bank and safe deposit boxes for public rental. The work was done under the engineering supervision of Frederick S. Holmes, vault engineer of New York.[1]
For over 60 years, the bank had been located in old-fashioned banking rooms where it had built up a large business and had become one of the most prosperous banks in the state. In the latter part of 1910, owing to increased business and to accommodate the rapidly growing number of depositors, it was necessary to expand the bank. Fortunately, about this time the City of Portsmouth began construction of a new city hall, and the site on which the old city hall stood being too small was sold to the New Hampshire National Bank for $20,000.[2] The old city hall was torn down and the New Hampshire National began construction of a fine bank and office building containing suitable rooms for the bank and the Portsmouth Trust and Guarantee Company, an allied institution which had also outgrown its quarters. The two banks would occupy the whole of the lower story of the building, while the two stories above contained 28 offices arranged for suites or otherwise. Two of these were for offices of the president of the bank and the others were rented. The building was 50 by 80 feet of steel and reinforced concrete, the outside was of the best quality of Harvard brick with marble trimmings. The public was invited on the 26th and 27th of April, 1912, to inspect the building, banking rooms and vaults. The architect of the building was William Wells Bosworth of New York City and the structure was built by Messrs. Hoggson Bros., contracting designers of New York City.
Officers in 1912 were: Calvin Page, president; William C. Walton, cashier; William L. Conlon, assistant cashier; Willis N. Rugg, teller; Alvin F. Redden and Ralph W. Eaton, bookkeepers; Ina F. Amazeen, stenographer. The directors were Calvin Page, William C. Walton, Alfred F. Howard, H. Fisher Eldredge, Fred H. Ward, and John W. Emery. The Portsmouth Trust and Guarantee Company had Calvin Page as president; William C. Walton, treasurer; Willis E. Underhill, assistant treasurer; and Percival C. Sides, clerk. The directors of the trust company were Calvin Page, William C. Walton, Benjamin F. Webster, Alfred F. Howard, and John H. Bartlett. The bank had capital of $100,000 and surplus and profits in excess of that amount.[3]
The Portsmouth Trust Company was incorporated in 1871 with deposits of $154,000 at the end of its first year of business. When it moved in 1912 to the New Hampshire National Bank building, its deposits amounted to about $1.5 million. In 1956, it purchased the Portsmouth Savings Bank building at 22 Market Square as the later institution moved into its new building on State Street.[4]
In January 1935, the directors were Orel A. Dexter, Fernando W. Hartford, Thomas W. Luce, Fred W. Lydston, William C. Walton, William C. Walton, Jr., and Fred H. Ward. The officers were Wm. C. Walton, president; Thomas W. Luce, vice president; Wm. L. Conlon, cashier, and Willis N. Rugg, assistant cashier.[5]
In January 1951, the officers re-elected were Irving T. Trefethen, president; Ben Hartshorn, executive vice president; Orel A. Dexter, vice president; William L. Conlon, cashier; Willis N. Rugg and Helen A. Paul, assistant cashiers and Charles M. Dale, Mr. Dexter, Mr. Greenaway, J. Paul Griffin, Mr. Hartshorn, Richman P. Margeson, and Ralph T. Wood, directors.[6]
In January 1955, Charles M. Dale was elected president of the New Hampshire National Bank, succeeding John H. Greenaway who told the board that he wanted to be relieved of his office because of his duties as state director of Selective Service. Greenway continued as a member of the board, having served as president for six years. Re-elected at the meeting were George Cuthbert, executive vice president; Arthur F. Brown Jr., cashier; Miss Helen A. Paul and Roger B. Hitchcock, assistant cashiers; and Dale Cuthbert, Francis J. Costello, J. Paul Griffin, Richman P. Margeson, Ralph T. Wood and George B. Ward, directors.[7]
Charles Dale was elected governor in 1945 and re-elected in 1947, serving his second term until 1949. He was born March 8, 1893 near Browns Valley, Minnesota. He received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1915 and a law degree two years later. He was a lieutenant in the Army Coast Artillery Corps during World War I. Dale was admitted to the New Hampshire bar in 1919 and opened a law practice in Portsmouth that year and became city solicitor two years later. He served three terms as mayor of Portsmouth and was elected president of the state Senate in 1935, during the second of three terms in that chamber. He was elected to the Executive Council in 1937. An ardent outdoorsman, Dale raised thoroughbred cattle and operated a dairy farm. He was noted for his restoration of colonial homes. He died September 25, 1978, in Portsmouth Hospital after a long illness.[8]
In January 1961, the officers re-elected were John H. Greenaway, president; Arthur N. Berry, executive vice president; Arthur F. Brown, Jr., cashier; and Thomas G. Ferguson and Elwood C. Wilbur, assistant cashiers. Mr. Wilbur was newly elected to his position. The directors re-elected were: Ferris G. Havicchi, Francis J. Costello, Charles M. Dale, John H. Greenaway, J. Paul Griffin, Jr., George B. Ward, and Ralph T. Wood.[9]
In December 1970, Marshall A. Tebbets was elected president of the New Hampshire National Bank of Portsmouth. Tebbetts was previously with the Commercial Bank and Trust Co. in Wilmington, Mass. where he was chief executive officer. He had been with the Fall River National Bank as executive vice president and the Security National Bank in Lynn, Mass where he was vice president and senior loan officer. He was a graduate of the Bentley School of Accounting and Finance in Boston and had completed courses at the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.[10]
On Monday, April 3, 1972, in an effort to pave the way for future growth and broadened banking services, New Hampshire National Bank of Portsmouth officially changed its name to Indian Head National Bank of Portsmouth. The new identity for the bank, an affiliate of New Hampshire Bankshares, Inc., was previously partially used only by the The Indian Head National Banks of Nashua and Manchester. Other affiliates who changed there names this day were Peoples National Bank of Claremont, First National Bank of and Rockingham National Bank of Exeter. Each bank would be identified by a newly designed Indian Head symbol. "Since 1959, New Hampshire National Bank has been part of New Hampshire Bankshares, the largest commercial group in the state," said Marshall A. Tebbetts, president. "The new name makes it both convenient and easier for people to identify our bank as part of the affiliated group and reflects the new era of growth that the banking industry in New Hampshire is entering." The Indian Head was derived from early pioneer days when there was an Indian trading post located at the confluence of the Nashua and Merrimac Rivers. That point of land became known as Indian Head and was adopted by the Indian Head National Bank, Nashua, chartered in 1851. New Hampshire Bankshares was incorporated as a holding company in August 1934 in Manchester.[11]
The Indian Head Bank of Portsmouth had its main office at the historic Market Square, a drive-in teller at the corner of Daniel & Penhallow Streets, the Shopping Center Branch at 800 Islington St., and Pease Air Force Base Office at the Base Exchange Building.[12]
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The New Hampshire National Bank of Portsmouth, NH
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,925,800 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 386,232 notes (344,164 large size and 42,068 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 - 6200 Original Series 4x5 1 - 4100 Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 2100 Original Series 50-100 1 - 100 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 6250 Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 2600 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 8340 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 6939 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 3750 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 2300 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 7805 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 5848 1902 Plain Back 4x5 7806 - 25760 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 5849 - 17652 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 3498 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1934 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 514 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 3454 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 2244 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 694
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1935):
Presidents:
- James Neal Tarlton (Sr.), 1865-1866
- James Pierrepont Bartlett, 1867-1881
- Edwin Augustus Peterson, 1882-1890
- Capt. Thomas Aston Harris, 1891-1892
- Calvin Page, 1893-1919
- William Carter Walton Sr., 1920-1935
Cashiers:
- James Pierrepont Bartlett, 1865-1866
- Lafayette S. Butler, 1867-1890
- William Carter Walton Sr., 1891-1919
- William Lawrence Conlon, 1920-1935
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
- New Hampshire National Bank, Portsmouth, NH History (NB Lookup)
- New Hampshire Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Portsmouth, NH, 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 Bankers' Magazine, Vol. 85, July 1912-Dec. 1912, pp 558-561.
- ↑ The Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, NH, Fri., Dec. 16, 1910.
- ↑ Bankers' Magazine, Vol. 85, July 1912-Dec. 1912, pp 578-585.
- ↑ The Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, NH, Tue., Mar. 6. 1956.
- ↑ The Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, NH, Tue., Jan. 8, 1935.
- ↑ The Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, NH, Tue., Jan. 9, 1951.
- ↑ The Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, NH, Wed., Jan. 12, 1955.
- ↑ The Concord Monitor, Concord, NH, Tue., Sep. 26, 1978.
- ↑ The Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, NH, Tue., Jan. 12, 1961.
- ↑ The Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, NH, Fri., Dec. 18, 1970.
- ↑ The Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, NH,Mon., April. 3, 1972.
- ↑ The Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, NH, Fri., May 19, 1972.