Peoples National Bank/Peoples NB & TC, Monessen, PA (Charter 5956)
Peoples National Bank/Peoples NB & TC, Monessen, PA (Chartered 1901 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Monessen is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The population was 7,720 at the 2010 census. In 1940, 20,257 people lived there. In 1990 the population was 13,026. Monessen is the southwestern-most municipality of Westmoreland County and is located about 28 miles south of Pittsburgh, across the river to the east from Charleroi. The Charleroi-Monessen Bridge was built in 1906 and demolished in 2011; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Steel-making was a prominent industry in Monessen, which was a Rust Belt borough in the "Mon Valley" of southwestern Pennsylvania that became a third-class city in 1921.
Monessen, named for the Monongahela River and the industrial German city of Essen, was created by land speculators fairly late in the history of the Mon Valley, after neighboring towns had already been settled. The East Side Land Company bought land from various farmers, laid out the streets, and then sold the lots to prospective residents and employers. James M. Schoonmaker, who had made his fortune in coke, owned a controlling interest in the land company. Sales of lots began on July 27, 1897, for the general public and other employers. Monessen became a borough on September 3, 1898.
Monessen had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and three of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized July 30, 1901
- Chartered August 31, 1901
- Opened for business October 14, 1901
- Bank was Open past 1935
About July 9, 1901, the application to organize the Peoples National Bank of Monessen, capital $50,000, was approved by the comptroller of the currency.
On August 6, 1901, the bank was organized with the following directors: B.F. Taylor, T.G. Brown, E.L. Williamson, John Irons, A.G. Leonard, M.H. Barnes, and H.N Odbert. John Irons was elected president and B.F. Taylor, cashier. Temporary quarters would be secured to carry on business while a banking house was erected.
In April 1904, a new company recently organized in Monessen had acquired controlling stock of the People's National Bank and elected George Nash, superintendent of the Pittsburgh Steel Company, president. Jesse Hancock, formerly the treasurer of the Monessen Savings and Trust Company, was cashier with F.G. Dewar, assistant cashier.
In 1906, the officers were George Nash, president; John Irons, vice president; Jesse Hancock, cashier; and John S. Duvall, assistant cashier. The bank was located at 560 Donner Avenue.
Rocking the entire Monessen business district, a terrific explosion startled residents in remote parts of the city, partially wrecking the Matt Kiefer Garage on Schoonmaker Avenue on Tuesday morning, September 14, 1931. Fifteen automobiles were destroyed in the fire following the blast which caused an estimated $50,000 in property damage. No one was injured in the blast believed to have been caused when gasoline leaking from a large storage tank in the basement of the garage was ignited by a hot water heater. The Peoples National Bank building adjoining the Kiefer garage suffered heavy damage. The force of the explosion, after shattering plate glass windows in the front of the garage, blowing out doors and tearing out a part of the rear of the structure, spent itself against the Peoples National Bank building, a three story structure, facing on Donner Avenue, with its rear on the alley directly opposite the rear of the garage. Windows were broken throughout most of the building, plaster was knocked down and considerable havoc wrought in the banking rooms. The Bell Telephone exchange was located on the second floor of the bank building. Mrs. Lottie Lang of Monongahela, chief operator, and seven other operators were on duty when the explosion occurred, but all remained at their post with the exception of only a few minutes despite the fact that the switchboard was on fire at one time and that the room was filled with smoke and dust from broken plaster. The operators were ordered out of the building on one occasion when a second blast was feared imminent but declined to go. They did leave their boards for six minutes, during which all trunk line and local service was interrupted, but returned and remained at their posts as firemen continued to fight the flames. Apartments on the third floor of the bank building were partially wrecked. Plate glass was also broken in stores flanking the garage for half a block around. Business houses which suffered damage in this manner were the Home Furniture Store, Krause's Department Store and the Reinhart Garage on Schoonmaker Avenue, Johnson's Restaurant, Check Furniture Store, Brown's Jewelry Store, and the Star Theatre on Sixth Street, and the Philadelphia Candy Kitchen on Donner Avenue. Fire officials estimated property damage at $50,000. The explosion was the second of a serious nature in Monessen this year, but in neither case, fortunately, no loss of life or serious injury was suffered. On New Year's night, the Vernaccini building on Donner avenue was destroyed by explosion and fire with heavy property damage.
In January 1933, stockholders made no changes to the board of directors. The board, however, reorganized with George Nash re-elected president, Frank H. Steen, Harry R. Pore, vice presidents and Michael Kiseda, cashier.
In January 1954, Mellon National Bank and Trust Company of Pittsburgh absorbed the Peoples National Bank and Trust Company of Monessen. A joint announcement by Richard K. Mellon, president of the Pittsburgh bank and Dr. Thomas B. Herron, president of Peoples and Michael Kiseda, vice president, said the changed would take place on about March 1st when the local bank would become the Monessen office of Mellon.
On July 30, 1954, Michael Kiseda, 57, an assistant vice president of the Mellon National Bank & Trust Company and manager of its Monessen office died at his home at 214 Second Street, Monessen. The Monessen banker was with the Peoples National Bank for 38 years and was the executive vice president before it was acquired by Mellon. Mike, son of a Slovak immigrant, George Kiseda, was born in Homestead on October 29, 1896. The family moved to Monessen when Make was five. As a high school student, he worked at night as a timekeeper in the blooming mill of the Pittsburgh Steel Company. On Saturday nights and during his two-week vacations from the mill, he ran a window at the Peoples National Bank. He was active in Boy Scout work and was awarded the Silver Beaver, the highest honor Scouts conferred on men who aided the organization. He attended the graduate school of banking at Rutgers University and helped instruct the instructors. From 1930 until 1954, the bank's resources increased from $2 million to $9 million. Once he made a loan to a Monessen pants factory that turned bad. Mike quipped, "We damn near lost our pants."
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Peoples National Bank of Monessen, PA
2: The Peoples National Bank and Trust Company of Monessen, PA (1/20/1928)
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,091,310 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1901 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 87,709 notes (73,784 large size and 13,925 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1: 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 3100 1: 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 5240 1: 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 5241 - 8038 1: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 6185 2: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 1123 2: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1468 2: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 396 2: 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 2141 2: 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 600
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1901 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
- Benjamin Frank Taylor, 1902-1903
- Jesse Hancock, 1904-1919
- Walter A. Cook, 1920-1922
- Michael Kiseda, 1923-1923
- Clyde Monroe Ellison, 1924-1929
- Michael Kiseda, 1931-1935
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History
- General information on Monessen (Wikipedia)
- General information on Westmoreland County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Monessen, 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
- The Daily Notes, Canonsburg, PA, Tue., July 9, 1901.
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., Aug. 7, 1901.
- Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Fri., Apr. 8, 1904.
- The Valley Independent, Monessen, PA, Wed., Aug. 15, 1906.
- The Daily Republic, Monongahela, PA, Tue., Sep. 15, 1931.
- The Daily Republic, Monongahela, PA, Wed., Jan. 11, 1933.
- The Daily Republic, Monongahela, PA, Thu., Jan. 28, 1954.
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Fri., Feb. 19, 1954.
- Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, Pittsburgh, PA, Sat., July 31, 1954.