Parkesburg National Bank, Parkesburg, PA (Charter 2464)
Parkesburg National Bank, Parkesburg, PA (Chartered 1880 - Receivership 1924)
Town History
Parkesburg is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania. It is located about 22 miles east of Lancaster and 50 miles west of Philadelphia. The population was counted as 3,984 at the 2020 census. In 1870 the population was 1,151, growing to 2,543 by 1920.
Parkesburg was first known as the Fountain Inn, a tavern built ca. 1734. The inn ceased operation as a tavern around 1836 and became Parkesburg's first post office. In 1872, the Pennsylvania legislature authorized the formation of Parkesburg Borough from Sadsbury Township. The town was named after noted politician John G. Parke. Today, the Fountain Inn is a private residence.
The Parkesburg National Bank and Parkesburg School are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Parkesburg had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized February 27, 1880
- Chartered March 15, 1880
- Succeeded Parke, Smith & Co.
- Receivership December 26, 1924
Samuel R. Parke was reared on his father's farm in Highland Township. He attended Blair Hall at Fagg's Manor, Chester County, graduating in 1852. After completing his education he remained on the farm until he was 28 when he came to Parkesburg and engaged in the grain, coal and lumber business. In 1869 he organized his private banking firm of Parke, Smith & Co. and began a general banking business at Parkesburg. In 1880 this bank became the Parkesburg National Bank and Mr. Parke was made president.[2]
On January 9, 1883, at the Parkesburg National Bank election, the old board of directors was chosen as follows: Samuel R. Parke, Parkesburg; Robert Baldwin, Cains, Lancaster County; Dr. John A. Morrison, Cochranville; Geo. Jack, Chatham; John Y. Latta, Sadsbury; and Ezekiel R. Young, Parkesburg. The board of directors reorganized by electing Samuel R. Parke, president, and Dr. John A. Morrison, secretary. The following appointments were made: R. Agnew Futhey, cashier; M.F. Hamill, clerk; and Alfred P. Reid of West Chester, counsel.[3][4] On Monday, April 30th, the resignation of R. Agnew Futhey as cashier went into effect and M.F. Hamill who was elected to be his successor entered upon his duties. Mr. Hamill was a young and energetic man, well worthy of the position of honor and confidence bestowed upon him.[5] In July 1883, the directors asked for sealed proposals for building a banking house in Parkesburg.[6] In August the cellar for the new banking house was being excavated and soon the mason work was expected to begin.[7] It was expected to require 225,000 bricks to construct the 47 X 78 feet, three-story building. Col. H.R. Guss & Son had the contract to furnish the brick.[8]
In July 1884, the finishing touches were being applied to the new bank building and it was completely occupied except for the banking room. The opening was expected in a week or ten days at which point the Parkesburg National Bank would attend to business in one of the finest buildings in the state.[9]
On Tuesday, January 18, 1887, John A. Parke of Highland Township was added to the board of directors. The old board members were Samuel R. Parke, president; Dr. John A. Morrison, secretary; John Y. Latta, E.R. Young, Robert Baldwin, and J.B. Kennedy.[10]
On Monday evening, January 30, 1888, Hon. Robert Baldwin died suddenly of heart disease at his home at Cains, Lancaster County. He was born in Chester County on July 12, 1805 and moved to Lancaster County in 1827 where he engaged in the mercantile business. He was elected to the Legislature of Pennsylvania in 1850 and re-elected in 1851, and represented Lancaster County in the Senate from 1857 to 1860. His son, A.C. Baldwin, was a representative of Lancaster County. Mr. Baldwin had been a director of the Parkesburg National Bank since the time of its organization.[11]
On Saturday, October 4, 1924, the Parkesburg National Bank did not open for business and for those who attempted to enter a sign was found on the door which read "Closed by order of the Board of Directors." Thomas C. Young, president of the bank, said the bank had been closed on account of misappropriation and irregularities. United States bank examiners Stephan L. Newham, chief, and Henry B. Davenport, from Philadelphia, were in charge as the made a thorough investigation of the bank's affairs. Their had been rumors on the streets concerning the bank for more than two months. Last summer they reached a proportion that a run was started, but the bank officials asserted that the bank was safe and the run soon dwindled. Another incident aroused concern when Charles P. Lukens withdrew from the bank in the spring.[12] Closing of the Parkesburg National Bank where Federal examiners found a $140,000 shortage tied up funds of 1,800 depositors as well as some of the finances of the borough, the school boards, the Visiting Nurse Association, and other organizations.[13]
In November 1924, auditors were called in to determine the status of the Parkesburg Building and Loan Association following rumors of shortage according the Alfred Clarke, president. Mr. Clarke denied there was a shortage. An audit of the books was asked when a successor was named to A.C. Hamlin who had been arrested in connection with the closing of the Parkesburg National Bank.[14] Books of the association were kept at the Parkesburg National Bank. The shortage there resulted in the arrest of A.C. Hamill, C.P. Lukens, and A.H. McAdams. Hamill was treasurer of the building and loan association.[15]
Miss Isabel Darlington, receiver for the Parkesburg National Bank, was in charge of the affairs of the institution which closed its doors three months ago. She regarded her job as one that would require considerable time before a settlement would be possible. "I am not in a position to issue a statement throwing light on the bank's affairs," she declared when interviewed. "I am at present going over the books am with Examiner Davenport, but as yet I could not state definitely the extent of the shortage that exists." Complicated, lengthy instructions had been received from Comptroller of the Currency Joseph W. McIntosh. These, she asserted, she had not been able thus far to digest to the point that she was fully familiar with her task. A bank receivership, she pointed out, is vastly different from the receivership of the average business failure, and for this reason set rules prescribed by the Federal courts must be followed to letter. Miss Darlington was the only woman member of the Chester County bar and was the first woman ever selected to act as receiver for a bank in the history of the national department. Her appointment was credited to Senator Pepper and Congressman Thomas S. Butler, the latter being a brother-in-law.[16]
A.C. Hamill together with Charles P. Lukens and A.H. McAdams were arrested and held responsible for a shortage of $100,000. Six months after the crash of the Parkesburg National Bank, Hamill entered a plea of guilty before Judge Dickinson in U.S. district court at Philadelphia and was sentenced to a two year jail term. He was taken to Atlanta by a U.S. Marshal and committed to the penitentiary on May 1, 1925. The cases of Lukens and McAdams remained to be disposed of in court. A continuance of McAdams' trial was granted after he made a promise to return the amount of loot he was alleged to have secured. Failing to do so a trial date was set for late in December 1925. The sentencing of Lukens had been deferred as he was wanted to appear as a witness to testify against McAdams. Lukens was a former assistant cashier of the bank and was fired in June 1924 when certain shortages were discovered. After Lukens left the bank, A.C. Hamill was made assistant cashier. His father, M.F. Hamill, was cashier. McAdams, a New York City promoter was interested in the Parkesburg Gas Co. of which Lukens was a director. Parkesburg borough council lost heavily in the bank failure. Hamill was chairman of council's finance committee and Lukens was borough treasurer. It was through the manipulation of borough funds in the bank that a portion of the embezzling was carried out and kept covered up for a long time. Numerous depositors were still of the belief charges should be made and the trial staged in Chester County court.[17]
On Monday, March 29, 1926, with every indication that the government had considerably strengthened its case, the re-trial of A.H. McAdams began. Charles P. Lukens, brought from Atlanta prison, revealed that he was under the power of McAdams and feared exposure of his continued transactions in honoring the paper of the Gas Company which he knew to be worthless, but continued to "cover up" by accepting other checks and notes equally worthless. He also told of going to New York with Mrs. Lukens and their son and pleading with McAdams in Hotel McAlpin for him to make good. Lukens asserted that a note for $50,481.71 was drawn up by McAdams to cover up the shortage existing early in 1924 and was signed involuntarily by C. Russell Cattell, McAdam's Secretary, under duress.[18] After several days it took the jury just 20 minutes to return a guilty verdict. Although McAdams had been operating in finance since he was 20 years of age and was known to practically every banker along the Atlantic Coast, and by his own statements had operated in California and the Middle West, and was said to have figured in numerous collapses, it was stated by government officials that this was the first time he had ever been under a Federal indictment. He was under an indictment in the county courts of Philadelphia in 1917, but received a delay and went to Canada. With the manipulations of McAdams with the credit of the Gas Company limited to small amounts in the early states of 1921, the sums began to grow in size through the latter part of 1922 and until the bank examiners came in 1924, McAdams had eventually drawn upon the bank and Gas Company to the extent of $243,000.[19]
On July 26, 1926, Miss Isabelle Darlington, receiver, declared an additional dividend of 15% after nearly three years since the Parkesburg National Bank closed. However, it was thought the dividend wouldn't be paid until after the work of the receiver had been completed. Paying 50% of the losses soon after taking over the deficient accounts of the bank, Miss Darlington had been working relentlessly in cleaning up the institution's books. Several months ago a 20% dividend was paid bringing the total to 70% or $240,560.92.[20]
Charles P. Lukens was sentenced by Judge Whittaker Thompson in United States district court after entering a plea of guilty. He was pardoned on October 18, 1926, by the National Parole Board sitting in Washington after serving less than half his 18 month sentence. In November 1926, he escaped future prosecution when the Parkesburg Borough Council accept an offer of $500 cash and a written promise to pay the remainder "when able". The warrant charging Lukens with embezzling nearly $7,000 of the borough's sinking find was then withheld. Lukens was endeavoring to obtain a job.[21]
On Thursday, April 28, 1927, Millard F. Hamill, 76, former cashier of the defunct Parkesburg National Bank pleaded nolle contendre before Judge Hause in the Chester County court and received a suspended sentence on a charge of false pretense in connection with sale of stock of the bank when he knew the institution was on the eve of failure. Hamill, who was now living at Wayne, Pennsylvania, was the father of Carroll Hamill, assistant cashier of the bank, one of three men who served sentences in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in connection with the failure of the bank.[22]
Official Bank Title
1: The Parkesburg National Bank, Parkesburg, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $835,440 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1880 and 1924. This consisted of a total of 66,338 notes (66,338 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 Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 4286 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 1250 1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 967 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 4000 1882 Date Back 50-100 1 - 400 1882 Date Back 3x50-100 1 - 353 1882 Value Back 4x5 4001 - 6592 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 3420
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1880 - 1924):
Presidents:
- Samuel Reynolds Parke, 1880-1898 NOTE: a featured biography is available
- John Yates Latta, 1899-1915
- Thomas C. Young, 1916-1924
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
- Parkesburg National Bank, Parkesburg, PA History (NB Lookup)
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Parkesburg, PA, 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
- ↑ Daily Local News, West Chester, PA, Tue., Mar. 25, 1924.
- ↑ Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County Pennsylvania by Samuel T. Wiley, Gresham Publishing Co., Richmond, IN (1893), p. 504-506.
- ↑ The Jeffersonian, West Chester, PA, Sat., Jan. 20, 1883.
- ↑ The Oxford Press, Oxford, PA, Wed., Jan. 17, 1883.
- ↑ The Record, West Chester, PA, Sat., May 5, 1883.
- ↑ Daily Local News, West Chester, PA, Sat., July 7, 1883.
- ↑ Daily Local News, West Chester, PA, Tue., Aug. 14, 1883.
- ↑ The Oxford Press, Oxford, PA, Wed., Sep. 19, 1883.
- ↑ The Jeffersonian, West Chester, PA, Sat., July 26, 1884.
- ↑ Daily Local News, West Chester, PA, Wed., Jan. 19, 1887.
- ↑ Daily Local News, West Chester, PA, Wed., Feb. 1, 1888.
- ↑ Coatesville Record, Coatesville, PA, Sat., Oct. 4, 1924.
- ↑ The Morning Press, Bloomsburg, PA, Wed., Oct 29, 1924.
- ↑ The News-Journal, Lancaster, PA, Tue., Nov. 18, 1924.
- ↑ Coatesville Record, Coatesville, PA, Sat., Nov. 15, 1924.
- ↑ Coatesville Record, Coatesville, PA, Wed., Dec. 31, 1924.
- ↑ Coatesville Record, Coatesville, PA, Wed., Dec. 2, 1925.
- ↑ Daily Local News, West Chester, PA, Wed., Mar. 31, 1926.
- ↑ Daily Local News, West Chester, PA, Fri., Apr. 2, 1926.
- ↑ Lancaster Daily Intelligencer, Lancaster, PA., Mon., July 26, 1926.
- ↑ Coatesville Record, Coatesville, PA, Tue., Nov. 9, 1926.
- ↑ Lebanon Semi-Weekly News, Lebanon, PA, Thu., Apr. 28, 1927.