Nicodemus National Bank, Hagerstown, MD (Charter 12590)

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Postcard of The Nicodemus National Bank of Hagerstown, Maryland, ca1930s.
Postcard of The Nicodemus National Bank of Hagerstown, Maryland, ca1930s. Courtesy of Adam Stroup

Nicodemus National Bank, Hagerstown, MD (Chartered 1924 - Open past 1935)

Town History

The old Nicodemus National Bank building on the corner of Summit Avenue and Washington Street, ca2020.
The old Nicodemus National Bank building on the corner of Summit Avenue and Washington Street, ca2020. Courtesy of Google Maps

Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland and the county seat of Washington County. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2020 census was 43,527, and the population of the Hagerstown metropolitan area (extending into West Virginia) was 269,140. Hagerstown ranks as Maryland's sixth-largest incorporated city and is the largest city in the Panhandle.

Hagerstown has a distinct topography, formed by stone ridges running from northeast to southwest through the center of town. Geography accordingly bounds its neighborhoods. These ridges consist of upper Stonehenge limestone. Many of the older buildings were built from this stone, which is easily quarried and dressed onsite. It whitens in weathering and the edgewise conglomerate and wavy laminae become distinctly visible, giving a handsome and uniquely "Cumberland Valley" appearance. Several of Hagerstown's churches are constructed of Stonehenge limestone. Its value and beauty as building rock may be seen particularly in St. John's Episcopal Church on West Antietam Street and the Presbyterian Church at the corner of Washington and Prospect Streets. Brick and concrete eventually displaced this native stone in the construction process.

Despite its semi-rural Western Maryland setting, Hagerstown is a center of transit and commerce. Interstates 81 and 70, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and the Winchester and Western railroads, and Hagerstown Regional Airport form an extensive transportation network for the city. Hagerstown is also the chief commercial and industrial hub for a greater Tri-State Area that includes much of Western Maryland as well as significant portions of South Central Pennsylvania and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Hagerstown has often been referred to as the Hub City. A person born in Hagerstown is officially called a Hagerstonian.

Hagerstown had five National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all five of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

On August 14, 1924, the board of directors of the Peoples National Bank of Hagerstown voted to recommend to the stockholders of the institution the acceptance of the $100,000 bequest made to the bank by the late Mrs. Virginia S. Nicodemus. A stockholders meeting was planned for September 16 to vote on this recommendation. The bequest was made with the stipulation that the bank expend the $100,000 for a new building and change the name of the institution to the Nicodemus National Bank. If the bank did not accept the gift, the money would go to the Washington County King's Daughters Hospital for the building of a maternity wing. The stockholders voted to accept the $100,000.

On September 18, the Comptroller of the Currency approved the change and the bank was re-organized as the Nicodemus National Bank with $100,000 in capital and Charles E. Hilliard, president.

On Thursday, February 25, 1926, announcement was made by officials of Nicodemus National Bank that plans had been prepared and a contract signed for a rebuilding program to be started within thirty days. The plans call for an extension of the present handsome building 15 feet on Washington Street to include the law office of J. Cleveland Grice and a short distance on Jonathan Street. The same general character of architecture of the bank building was planned by a firm of Allentown, Pa., architects, specialists in bank building. The open house was held at the bank on June 4th, 1927, in celebration of the completion of the new building. The officers were Chas. E. Hilliard, president, M. Finley Seibert, vice president, Thos. H. Newman, cashier; Wade H. Shervin, assistant cashier; and E. Guy Neikirk, teller. The directors were Chas. W. Cromer, G.W. Gardenhour, C.E. Hilliard, W. Merrick Huyett, Milton Kohler, David Lesher, Augustine S. Mason, John J. Porter, Thos. L. Rickard, and M. Finley Seibert.

On December 30, 1927, Charles Edward Hilliard, president, announced the appointment of John D. Hollyday as vice president of the Nicodemus National Bank. Mr. Hollyday several earlier resigned as Register of Wills and would begin his new duties on January 1. It was understood that the stockholders of the bank at the coming annual meeting would vote on the position of increasing the bank's capital by $50,000 and that subsequently the bank contemplated the establishment of a trust department of which Mr. Hollyday would take charge. His years of experience in the office of Register of Wills, coupled with his broad knowledge of testamentary law qualified him for the post.

On December 31, 1962, the statement of condition reported $32,607,523.40 in assets. The capital stock was $600,000, Surplus $1,000,000, undivided surplus $623,184.37 with over $40 million in deposits. The Trust Department had $6,839,765.78 in individual and court trusts. The directors were Thomas W. Pangborn, chairman, A. Leroy Nichols, president, Harry T. Fridinger, Charles W. Hoffman, Harold, M. Porter, Charles Greer, Jr., Robert. H. McCauley, J. Clarke Seibert, L. Vinton Hershey, Edward Oswald, Jr., and Ralph B. Wyand.

Comptroller of the Currency, James J. Saxton, authorized the mergers of two Hagerstown banks with Baltimore banks. The two mergers were the First National Bank of Maryland, Baltimore and the Nicodemus National Bank of Hagerstown, and the merger of the Maryland National Bank, Baltimore and the Second National Bank of Hagerstown. The mergers were expected to be completed by Friday, August 2, 1963. First National elected L. Vinton Hershey to its board of directors. A native of Hagerstown, Mr. Hershey was president of the Hagerstown Shoe Company and had served for many years on the board of directors of the former Nicodemus National Bank. He was a director of the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, vice president and a director of the Development Credit Corp. of Maryland and a past director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Nicodemus National Bank of Hagerstown, MD

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with printed signatures of Thomas H. Newman, Cashier and Charles Edward Hilliard, President.
1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with printed signatures of Thomas H. Newman, Cashier and Charles Edward Hilliard, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of Thomas H. Newman, Cashier and Charles Edward Hilliard, President. The Government Printing Office (GPO) made the overprinting plate used to produce this note.
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of Thomas H. Newman, Cashier and Charles Edward Hilliard, President. The Government Printing Office (GPO) made the overprinting plate used to produce this note. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of Thomas H. Newman, Cashier and Charles Edward Hilliard, President. Barnhart Brothers & Spindler made the overprinting plate used to produce this notes.
1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of Thomas H. Newman, Cashier and Charles Edward Hilliard, President. Barnhart Brothers & Spindler made the overprinting plate used to produce this notes. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $675,380 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1924 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 54,544 notes (28,112 large size and 26,432 small size notes).

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

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 7028
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2826
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 808
1929 Type 2 10 1 - 3510
1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1118

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1924 - 1936):

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

  • Hagerstown, MD, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagerstown,_Maryland
  • 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
  • Public Opinion, Chambersburg, PA, Thu., Aug. 14, 1924.
  • The Evening News, Harrisburg, PA, Thu., Sep. 18, 1924.
  • People's Register, Chambersburg, PA, Thu., Sep. 25, 1924.
  • The Morning Herald, Hagerstown, MD, Fri., Feb. 26, 1926.
  • The Daily Mail, Hagerstown, MD, Mon., June 6, 1927.
  • The Daily Mail, Hagerstown, MD, Fri., Dec. 30, 1927.
  • The Morning Herald, Hagerstown, MD, Mon., Jan. 7, 1963.
  • The Evening Sun, Hanover, PA, Tue., July 30, 1963.
  • The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, Fri., Aug. 9, 1963.