Northampton NB/Northampton NB & TC, Northampton, MA (Charter 1018)

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The old Northampton National Bank at 135 Main Street, Northampton, Massachusetts.
The old Northampton National Bank at 135 Main Street, Northampton, Massachusetts. Courtesy of Google Maps, ca2022

Northampton National Bank/Northampton NB & TC, Northampton, MA (Chartered 1865 - Closed (Merger) 1991)

Town History

Northampton Bank obsolete $1 dated Jan. 2nd, 1865, Haxby MA-956, signed by J.L. Warriner, Cashier and J.H. Butler, President. Engraved by the American Bank Note Co., standing allegorical female History inscribes the bank's 1833 incorporation date on a scroll that is over a tablet with child at feet, flanked by two green dies.
Northampton Bank obsolete $1 dated Jan. 2nd, 1865, Haxby MA-956, signed by J.L. Warriner, Cashier and J.H. Butler, President. Engraved by the American Bank Note Co., standing allegorical female History inscribes the bank's 1833 incorporation date on a scroll that is over a tablet with child at feet, flanked by two green dies. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. In 1860 the population was 6,788, growing to 12,172 by 1880.

Northampton was known as "Norwottuck", or "Nonotuck", meaning "the midst of the river", named by its original Pocumtuc inhabitants. According to various accounts, Northampton was given its present name by John A. King (1629–1703), one of the first white settlers in Northampton, or possibly in King's honor, since it is supposed that he came to Massachusetts from Northampton, England, his birthplace.

From 1842 until 1846 Northampton was home to a transcendentalist utopian community of abolitionists. Called the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, the community believed that the rights of all people should be "equal without distinction of sex, color or condition, sect or religion". It supported itself by producing mulberry trees and silk. Sojourner Truth, a former slave who became a national advocate for equality and justice, lived in this community until its dissolution (and later in a house on Park Street until 1857).

Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech (formerly the Clarke School for the Deaf) was founded in Northampton in 1867. It was the United States' first permanent oral school for the deaf. Alexander Graham Bell and Grace Coolidge have served as heads of school. Smith College for women was founded in Northampton in 1871. Today Smith is the largest of the Seven Sisters colleges.

Northampton is known as an academic, artistic, musical, and countercultural hub. It features a large politically liberal community along with numerous alternative health and intellectual organizations.

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

Bank History

Northampton Bank obsolete $2 dated Nov. 18th, 1856, Haxby MA-956, signed by Charles White, Cashier and E. Williams, President.  Central vignette by Bawdon, Wright & Hatch, New York, of a man and a woman sitting down, leaning on an oval with a lazy "2" in it.
Northampton Bank obsolete $2 dated Nov. 18th, 1856, Haxby MA-956, signed by Charles White, Cashier and E. Williams, President.  Central vignette by Bawdon, Wright & Hatch, New York, of a man and a woman sitting down, leaning on an oval with a lazy "2" in it. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
  • Organized March 20, 1865
  • Chartered April 17, 1865
  • Succeeded Northampton Bank
  • Bank was Open past 1935
  • For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
  • Merged into First Agricultural Bank in Pittsfield, MA, July 1, 1991

The Northampton Bank opened in 1833

In April 1833, the Legislature granted a charter for a new bank at Northampton, Massachusetts to be call the Northampton Bank. The following persons were chosen as its officers: Eliphalet Williams, Thomas Napier, Lewis Strong, John Hopkins, Charles A. Dewey, J.D. Whitney, David Mack, Jr., Thomas White, Nathaniel Coolidge, directors. Eliphalet Williams was elected president and J.D. Whitney, cashier.

Josiah D. Whitney held the office of cashier for 17 years, or until 1850, when he was chosen president of the bank, but in another year (1851) he resigned that place and retired to the private life. Eliphalet Williams was again elected president

In April 1857, Eliphalet Williams resigned the presidency and J.H. Butler was chosen in his stead.

In August 1861, James L. Warriner, son of James Warriner, Esq. of Pittsfield, and formerly cashier of the Western Bank of Springfield and lately connected with the Continental Bank of New York, was selected as cashier of the Northampton Bank in place of Charles White, resigned.

The Northampton National Bank, Charter 1018

In March 1866, the Northampton National Bank announced it would erect a large, three-story block on the site of their present building. In March 1867, J.H. Butler, for the past ten years president and director of the Northampton National Bank, resigned his position due to inadequate salary and Eliphalet Williams was elected to succeed him. William Skinner was chosen as a director in place of H. Butler.

On March 25, 1874, Oscar Edwards was elected president as successor of the late Eliphalet Williams who, at his death, was the oldest bank president in New England. J.L. Warriner, for many years cashier, was elected vice president, while John Whittelsey, the former teller, was given the cashiership. George A. Burr, treasurer of the Florence Manufacturing Company and James L. Warriner were chosen directors.

Robbed by Red Leary and his gang

On January 26, 1876, five disguised men broke into the house of John Whittelsey, cashier of the Northampton National Bank, secured Mr. Whittelsey and family, obtained the keys to the bank and leaving one of the number as guard, proceeded to the bank and attempted to break into the vault. The cashier had only one of the four parts of the key fitting the chronometer lock, so the vault could not be opened. The men were thought to have left on the 6 a.m. train for Springfield having taken only Cashier Whittelsey's gold watch and what money he had at home. The lock was so damaged it could not be opened by the bank officers. There was evidence that the gang had been planning the job for some time, making their headquarters in the attic of one of the town school houses. The men were undoubtedly experienced.

The next day, experts employed to force open the safe completed their task and revealed the thieves had succeeded in opening it and had carried away the following securities belonging for the most part to special depositors: $15,000 Missouri State bonds; $5,000 Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad shares; $3,000 Lake Shore and Michigan Southern; $1,000 Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 8s; $2,000 Cleveland Columbus and Cincinnati; $44,000 Union Pacific; $165,000 Ohio and Mississippi second mortgages; $55,000 United States bonds; $15,000 Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe; $12,000 Fort Wayne, Jackson and Saginaw; $60,000 Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain; $30,000 Missouri Pacific; $350,000 to $400,000 registered stocks and bonds of the United States and various corporations; $10,000 in greenbacks and national bank bills; $7,000 Detroit Lansing and Lake Michigan; total $670,000. The bank officers offered a reward of $25,000 for the return of the property and the conviction of the burglars.

The lock was peculiar and supposed to be especially safe. It was a Dexter's double dial combination with Herring's patent for disconnecting the tumblers from the spindle, patented by Oscar Yale last April and put on only last October. When Mr. Whittelsey told them that they could not enter with only one of the four keys required, they responded, "We know about bank locks better than you do." 

In 1874, Northampton National Bank officers decided to tighten security by installing a new cylinder pin-tumbler lock invented by Linus Yale. The lock required both a combination and key. The bank hired Herring Safe Co. to install the new lock. Unfortunately, the Herring Safe employee who came from New York to install the lock had links to notorious bank robbers known as the Rufus Ring. William Edson, the employee, had made copies of keys used in previous bank robberies. Edson copied the key to the vault of the Northampton National Bank. He then advised bank officials that only one man,  Mr. Whittelsey, the cashier, should know the combination to the safe. They agreed.

The Thieves were extremely amiable and loquacious. They entered the house about 1 o'clock. The occupants of the house included T.B. Cutler, a printer, and wife, Miss Mattie C. White of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Maria Benton, an invalid boarder and the servant girl, all filed into the Whittelsey's bedroom. One of the men remarked that he had frequently admired Mr. Whittelsey's watch at Watch Hill two years earlier and took possession of it. Mrs. Whittelsey threw hers under the bureau and saved it and rescued her cloak from their hands by asking for it indifferently. At 4 o'clock Mr. Whittelsey was taken to a downstairs bedroom, the whole family gagged and four of the thieves withdrew to operate on the bank. Three hours later, Mrs. Whittelsey succeeded in freeing herself and giving the alarm from a window. All were speedily liberated and the cashier, still wearing the handcuffs went to the bank. A clever workman soon after fitted a key and all the handcuffed were released.

National Bank Examiner Daniel Needham found that there was abstracted in money and available assets property amounting in cash value of $76,250 and property held by the bank as collateral in cash value, $35,700, making a total possible loss to the bank of $111,950. The bank had a surplus of $239,379 and after charging off the entire loss, the surplus to the credit of the bank was $127,420. The bank authorities did not know how much the private securities amounted to, but it was thought that $200,000 to $300,00 in negotiable property was stolen besides registered bonds and certificates of stock.

On August 13, 1877, John Leary, better known as "Red Leary," the noted burglar implicated with Billy Scott and Jim Dunlap in the Northampton Bank burglary, was arrested by six detectives at his hotel near Fort Hamilton. The officers went there with a requisition from the Governor of Massachusetts and found Leary with his wife. He promised to go quietly with them and the officers believing him let him go into an adjoining room. He sprang through the window, jumped into a buggy and drove rapidly up the road to Brooklyn. The officers fired at him, but he waved his hand at them and derisively shouted "Good Bye," as he disappeared from sight.

Billy Scott, Charley Ward and Bob Taylor, three noted cracksmen, were arrested in Cincinnati late in 1877 as they were evidently preparing a raid on the German National Bank. They belonged to "Red Leary's" gang and were thought to be members of the gang who robbed the Northampton bank.

In January 1878, when Scott and Jim Dunlap were about to be conveyed to Charleston, Mass. after being sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, they were begged to disclose the whereabouts of their accomplices. "Do you think we are fools? Find them yourselves," was Scott's answer to the bank officials. Securities and money amounting to $1,500,000 stolen from the bank remained to be recovered. It was thought that John Leary was the only one of the alleged accomplices to know where the booty was hidden. 

Red Leary, a soubriquet which his lurid head, fiery face and glowing beard won for him and by which he was known to the authorities from Maine to the Pacific slope.  Leary was a model of physical strength, fully six feet in height, weighing 200 pounds with massive shoulders and the muscular arms of an athlete. He was utterly reckless and indifferent to danger when his violent passions were aroused and yet in social conversation seemed to be simply a big burly, good natured fellow.  His associates, "Billy" Connors, who escaped from Ludlow Street Jail just in time to avoid a forced trip to Northampton, Scott and Dunlap were each men of pleasing manner and fond of fashionable attire.  Leary, however, always dressed plainly, but neatly.  He owned a handsome residence in Brooklyn and was fond of fierce dogs and derived much satisfaction from the performance of two bears that he introduced to his household and taught to drink beer.  Leary walked the streets of Brooklyn boldly, sometimes with William Connors.  He drove his costly horses on the boulevards and wherever he went politicians and policemen bowed to him or stopped to converse without dreaming that he was associated with attempts to rob banks.

On December 14, 1878, Red Leary and "Butch" McCarthy, suspected of complicity in the Manhattan Savings Bank robbery were arraigned in Court and after pleading not guilty were remanded to the Ludlow Street Jail until the next day when sufficient evidence to hold them was expected. A detective was in court with a requisition for Leary from the Governor of Massachusetts to be taken to Northampton for trial. On the 19th, under a strong guard of deputy sheriffs armed with revolvers, Red Leary was brought into the Supreme Court on a writ of habeas corpus. The prisoner's counsel claimed it to be a case of mistaken identity, asserting that Leary was not in Massachusetts at the time of the Northampton bank robbery. A detective testified as to the identity of the prisoner, but on cross-examination admitted that he had no personal knowledge of his being in Massachusetts at the time of the robbery. Judge Davis adjourned the case until Saturday for the production of evidence as to the defective character of the papers. The case went before two judges of the State Supreme Court before a general term of the same court, before the United States District Judge, before the United States Circuit Judge and finally his lawyer got a stay of proceeding late in April to enable him to carry the case to the Supreme Court of the United States.

On May 6, 1879, Red Leary made his escape from prison. A hole in the wall of the jail was discovered on the second floor. It was found that a woman by the name of Bier hired apartments on the second floor of No. 76 Ludlow Street that adjoined the jail. A hole was cut through a four-foot wall into the prison. 

The escape was orchestrated by his wife, Kate Leary, and some of Red’s criminal cohorts. No alarm was raised, nor was the tunnel leading to the room with its neatly piled ton of excavated brick discovered until 10:30. By that time the fugitive was on his way to Coney Island.  As a previous attempt to force an escape had failed, the clean extraction of the high profile criminal elicited mocking scorn at the jailers and officers involved. Saving face, Ludlow officials declared Leary’s prison break as one of the most daring and skillfully-planned affairs of the kind to ever occur in the city.

Red Leary was eventually recaptured February 3, 1881 and returned to Massachusetts to answer for his crimes there. The Grand Jury failed to indict him, "Shang" Draper and Billy Connors and they were discharged. Leary met a grim end in 1888 at the Knickerbocker Cottage (Sixth Avenue and 10th Street), smashed in the head with a brick by a thief named William Train with whom he had a quarrel. He died on April 23, 1888.

Northampton National Bank and Trust Company

In February 1930, Ellery L. Vogel was named president succeeding Warren M. King, resigned because of illness. Raymond King was named a director to succeed his father. Edwin K. Abott, a vice president of the bank, was named cashier succeeding Mr. Vogel. Mr. King had been connected with the bank since 1899 and had been its president since 1919.

On August 1, 1930, the Northampton National Bank, the oldest and largest commercial bank in Northampton, changed its name to the Northampton National Bank and Trust Company. The addition of "and Trust Company" to the corporate name indicated that the bank was fully empowered to act in trust capacities.

Chauncey H. Pierce, 85, vice president and chairman of the board of the Northampton National Bank and Trust Company died on January 31, 1933. Born in Amherst, he entered business in Northampton becoming a partner and later head of an insurance business bearing his name. With Alexander McCallum, he organized the Northampton Electric Light Co. of which he was manager and president for many years. Pierce served as a member of the Northampton's last board of selectmen in 1883 and as first president of the common council for three years. 

On April 2, 1962, comptroller of the currency James J. Saxon approved the consolidation of the North Adams National Bank and the Agricultural National Bank of Pittsfield, Mass.  The consolidated institution would be known as the First Agricultural National Bank of Berkshire County.

On February 29, 1980, the Northampton National bank changed its name to Multibank National of Western Massachusetts.

On July 1, 1991, Multibank National merged and became part of First Agricultural Bank of Pittsfield, Mass.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Northampton National Bank of Northampton, MA

2: Northampton National Bank and Trust Company, Northampton, MA (8/1/1930)

Bank Note Types Issued

Original Series $5 bank note with pen signatures of J. Whittelsey, Cashier and O. Edwards, President.
Original Series $5 bank note with pen signatures of J. Whittelsey, Cashier and O. Edwards, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com
Series of 1875 $2 bank note with pen signatures of J. Whittelsey, Cashier and J.L. Warriner, Vice President.
Series of 1875 $2 bank note with pen signatures of J. Whittelsey, Cashier and J.L. Warriner, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of H.W. Stevens, Cashier and Oscar Edwards, President.
1882 Brown Back $5 bank note with pen signatures of H.W. Stevens, Cashier and Oscar Edwards, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1882 Brown Back $10 bank note with SN 1A and pen signatures of W.M. King, Cashier.
1882 Brown Back $10 bank note with SN 1A and pen signatures of W.M. King, Cashier. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with printed signatures of W.M. King, Cashier and C.N. Clark, Vice President.
1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with printed signatures of W.M. King, Cashier and C.N. Clark, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of E.K. Abbott, Cashier and W.M. King, President.
1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of E.K. Abbott, Cashier and W.M. King, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of E.K. Abbott, Cashier and Ellery L. Vogel, President.
1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of E.K. Abbott, Cashier and Ellery L. Vogel, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $4,312,320 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 628,646 notes (584,118 large size and 44,528 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 - 10000
1: Original Series 4x5 1 - 13650
1: Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 4450
1: Original Series 50-100 1 - 385
1: Series 1875 3x1-2 1 - 5000
1: Series 1875 4x5 1 - 8880
1: Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 3633
1: 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 27654
1: 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 4959
1: 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 6850
1: 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 4960
1: 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 17250
1: 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 11600
1: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 17251 - 33265
1: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 11601 - 22536
1: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1538
1: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 778
1: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 260
2: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 2130
2: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 978
2: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 244
2: 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 5150
2: 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 3114
2: 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 696

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

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

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

  • James Lyman Warriner signed notes as Vice President
  • Charles Nathaniel Clark signed notes as Vice President
  • There are currently no known Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

  • Northampton, MA, 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 legend of bank robber ‘Red’ Leary, his wife Kate, and the greatest jail break in Lower East Side history, accessed April 20, 2023.
  • The Northampton National Bank Heist, the biggest in U.S. History, accessed Apr. 21, 2023.
  • The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Tue., Apr. 23, 1833.
  • Greenfield Democrat, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Aug. 11, 1851.
  • The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Apr. 13, 1857.
  • The Berkshire County Eagle, Pittsfield, MA, Thu., Aug. 8, 1861.
  • The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Mar. 12, 1866.
  • Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT, Wed., Mar. 13, 1867.
  • The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Apr. 22, 1867.
  • The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Sat., Mar. 28, 1874.
  • The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Mar. 30, 1874.
  • Fall River Daily Evening News, Fall River, MA, Wed., Jan. 26, 1876.
  • Boston Post, Boston, MA, Sat., Jan. 29, 1876.
  • The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Fri., Jan. 28, 1876.
  • The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Tue., Aug. 14, 1877.
  • New England Farmer, Boston, MA, Sat., Dec. 1, 1877.
  • The Fall River Daily Herald, Fall River, MA, Thu., Jan. 31, 1878.
  • Boston Post, Boston, MA, Mon., Dec. 16, 1878.
  • Boston Post, Boston, MA, Fri., Dec. 20, 1878.
  • The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Apr. 28, 1879.
  • The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Thu., May 8, 1879.
  • The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Mar. 21, 1881.
  • The Morning Journal-Courier, New Haven, CT, Tue., Apr. 24, 1888.
  • The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Tue., Apr. 24, 1888.
  • The Holyoke Daily Transcript and the Holyoke Telegram, Holyoke, MA, Tue. Feb. 25, 1930.
  • Transcript-Telegram, Holyoke, MA, Sat., Aug. 2, 1930.
  • Fitchburg Sentinel, Fitchburg, MA, Tue., Jan. 31, 1933.
  • Athol Daily News, Athol, MA, Mon., Apr. 2, 1962.
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