Philadelphia National Bank, Philadelphia, PA (Charter 539)

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Depicts the façade of the Gothic Revival-style building designed by Benjamin Latrobe for the Philadelphia Bank. Built in 1808 at Fourth & Chestnut Streets, Southwest corner, the brick and stone building was enclosed by a low wall and an iron railing. It was demolished in 1836, to make room for the marble building of the Philadelphia and Western Banks. The front of this structure consists of an elegant portico of the Corinthian order.  The basement was occupied by the Girard Life Insurance Company.
Depicts the façade of the Gothic Revival-style building designed by Benjamin Latrobe for the Philadelphia Bank. Built in 1808 at Fourth & Chestnut Streets, Southwest corner, the brick and stone building was enclosed by a low wall and an iron railing. It was demolished in 1836, to make room for the marble building of the Philadelphia and Western Banks. The front of this structure consists of an elegant portico of the Corinthian order.  The basement was occupied by the Girard Life Insurance Company.
The Philadelphia National Bank building ca1902
The Philadelphia National Bank building ca1902

Philadelphia National Bank/Philadelphia-Girard NB/Philadelphia NB, Philadelphia, PA (Chartered 1864 - Closed (Merger) 1990)

Town History

The Philadelphia National Bank building ca1902
The Philadelphia National Bank building ca2021. Courtesy of Google Maps

Philadelphia is located in Philadelphia County, in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania. It is currently the sixth-most-populous city in the United States and the most populous city in the state of Pennsylvania. It is also the second-most populous city in the Northeastern United States, behind New York City.

Philadelphia is one of the oldest municipalities in the United States. William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city in 1682 to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. It grew on the steep banks of the Delaware River into a hub of international trade and monetary influence. The royal post-office was established in this city by Franklin. Mail would pass uninterrupted from Crown to Republic, the one royal department which did so. The Colonies used the old expresses and mail routes leading up to and through the revolution. Philadelphia played an instrumental role in the American Revolution as a meeting place for the Founding Fathers of the United States, who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 in Carpenters' Hall, and the Constitution at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in Independence Hall.

Philadelphia was the second Capitol after New York City during George Washington's presidency. On April 2, 1792, the United States Mint opened its doors here with David Rittenhouse, former treasurer of Pennsylvania, the first director. The American Philosophical Society was the first scientific society in the land and still meets in the hall Franklin secured for it. Former townships and boroughs of Bristol, Richmond, Kensington, Germantown, Manayunk, Northern Liberties, Southwark, to name a few, were consolidated into Philadelphia in 1854 which then occupied all of Philadelphia County.

During the National Bank Note Era (1863-1935), the population of Philadelphia was 674,022 in 1870, growing to 1,950,961 in 1930. Its highest population was 2,071,605 in 1950, and the current population is estimated at 1,584,064 (2019).

Philadelphia had 70 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and 62 of those banks issued National Bank Notes. Philadelphia also had 27 Obsolete Banks that issued Obsolete Bank Notes during the Obsolete Bank Note Era (1782-1866).

Bank History

The Philadelphia Bank obsolete $100, Haxby PA-485, signed by B.B. Comegys, Cashier and Thomas Robins, President, dated Jan. 1, 1858. Printed in blue by Toppan, Carpenter & Co., Philadelphia, features portraits of John Marshall and John Quincy Adams flanking a large vignette of Justice and perhaps Prosperity seated with a shield by the bay.
The Philadelphia Bank obsolete $100, Haxby PA-485, signed by B.B. Comegys, Cashier and Thomas Robins, President, dated Jan. 1, 1858. Printed in blue by Toppan, Carpenter & Co., Philadelphia, features portraits of John Marshall and John Quincy Adams flanking a large vignette of Justice and perhaps Prosperity seated with a shield by the bay. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

On August 30, 1803, the articles of association for the Philadelphia Bank were published by James Todd, cashier. The first 16 directors were George Clymer, John Welsh, John Gardiner, Jan Samuel Meeker, Elisha Kane, Jacob Sperry, Matthew Lawler, Lewis D. Carpentier, William Guier, Joseph D. Dunker, John Boblen, William Huslett, Jacob Shoemaker, Abraham M. Garrigues, Alexander Cranston, and Joseph Clark. Annual elections would be held on the first Tuesday of November, except in November next ensuing. George Clymer, Esq. was elected president of the Philadelphia Bank. The public was notified in the form of a handbill stating "New Bank, the Philadelphia Bank, No. 164 Chestnut Street. Will go into operation on Monday next, the 19th of September. Banking hours 9 a.m. to 3 p.m...."[1][2]

In January 1810, the Legislature was informed by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of the purchase of 358 shares of stock in the Philadelphia Bank, the number of shares the commonwealth was entitled to purchase at par and amounting to $35,800.[3]

The Philadelphia National Bank has occupied since 1859 the massive granite building at 421 Chestnut Street.[4]

On November 16, 1863, at the annual election, stockholders elected the following directors: Thomas Robins, Lewis R. Ashhurst, Richard D. Wood, John Welsh, Marshall Hill, J.L. Erringer, James L. Claghorn, J. Gillingham Fell, Edward S. Clarke, Samuel W. DeCoursey, Henry Preaut, George Whitney, and Benjamin G. Godfrey. On the 23rd, the directors unanimously re-elected Thos. Robins, Esq., president. B.B. Comegys was cashier.[5]

On January 9, 1866, the following gentlemen were elected directors: Thomas Robbins, Samuel Welsh, Marshall Hill, J.L. Erringer, Augustus Heaton, J. Gillingham Fell, Edward S. Clarke, Henry Preaut, George Whitney, Benjamin G. Godfrey, Richard Wood, John D. Taylor, and James Steel. The next day the directors unanimously re-elected Thomas robins, Esq., president and B.B. Comegys, cashier.[6]

In January 1910, the officers were Levi L. Rue, president; Lincoln Godfrey, vice president; Harry J. Keser, cashier; and Horace Fortescue, assistant cashier. The directors were N. Parker Shortridge, chairman of the board; Richard Ashhurst, Levi L. Rue, James F. Hope, Lincoln Godfrey, George H. Frazier, Effingham B. Morris, John H. Converse, Percival Roberts, Jr., Randal Morgan, George Wood, George H. McFadden, R. Dale Benson, Alfred C. Harrison, Edward T. Stotesbury, and Samuel Rea.[7]

In January 1920, the directors were George Wood, Pierre S. duPont, Eldridge R. Johnson, Alfred C. Harrison, Asa S. Wing, J. Howard Pew, Levi L. Rue, Samuel M. Vauclain, J. Kearsley Mitchell, George H. McFadden, William H. Donner, Henry G. Brengle, Randal Morgan, Wallace D. Simmons, S.P. Hutchinson, Samuel Rea, Samuel D. Warriner, G. Colesbery Purves. The officers were Levi L. Rue, president; Charles P. Blinn, Jr., Wm. S. Maddox, Howard W. Lewis, and Horace Fortescue, vice presidents; O. Howard Wolfe, cashier. The bank had total resources of $183,079,682.32, Capital $3,000,000, surplus and net profits $8,304,005.44, and deposits of over $130 million..[8] In June 1920, Carroll Downes, head of the commercial service department of the Philadelphia National Bank, accompanied the Philadelphia delegation from the Poor Richard Club to Indianapolis to attend the session of the Financial Advertisers' Assn. held at the same time as the Associated Advertising Clubs of the world. Before returning to Philadelphia, Mr. Downes would visit Chicago, Minneapolis and Milwaukee to consult with exporters and importers with a view to making known the advantages of the port of Philadelphia.[9]

In 1953, the Philadelphia National Bank celebrated its 150th anniversary with Frederic A. Potts as president. Potts came to Philadelphia in 1946 at the age of 42 from a partnership in the Wall Street investment house of J.W. Davis & Company. He was born in New York in 1904 and was a graduate of Yale and from the School of Banking at Rutgers University. He had three children, two girls and a boy, and a herd of Guernsey cattle on his farm home near Fort Washington. At his desk, a portrait of the bank's first president, George Clymer, looked over his shoulder. George Clymer signed the Declaration of Independence and along with Matthew Lawler, then Mayor of Philadelphia and another founder of the bank, commanded privateers out of Philadelphia during the Revolution. In 1812, when the bank was just nine years old, it was able to lend the city, state and federal governments more than a million dollars for war purposes. Five years later, its first recorded statement showed assets of $3,330,460. In 1953, as the Delaware Valley's oldest and largest banking institution, the Philadelphia National had upwards of $800,000,000 in resources, loans exceeded $300,000,000 and its 1,300 Philadelphia employees handled nearly 500,000 checks daily.[10]

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Philadelphia National Bank, Philadelphia, PA

2: 2nd title not used on notes: The Philadelphia-Girard National Bank, Philadelphia, PA (3/31/1926)

3: The Philadelphia National Bank, Philadelphia, PA (4/7/1928)

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $20 bank note with pen signatures of L.L. Rue, Cashier and N.P. Shortridge, President.
1882 Brown Back $20 bank note with pen signatures of L.L. Rue, Cashier and N.P. Shortridge, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with SN 1 and pen signatures of H.J. Keser, Cashier and N.P. Shortridge, President.
1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with SN 1 and pen signatures of H.J. Keser, Cashier and N.P. Shortridge, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1902 Red Seal $5 bank note with pen signatures of Harry J. Keser, Cashier and L.L. Rue, President.
1902 Red Seal $5 bank note with pen signatures of Harry J. Keser, Cashier and L.L. Rue, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $5 bank note with printed signatures of R. Elliott Owens, Cashier and F.J. Peck, President.
1929 Type 1 $5 bank note with printed signatures of O. Howard Wolfe, Cashier and Joseph Wayne, Jr., President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $31,439,000 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 3,717,168 notes (2,092,626 large size and 1,624,542 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 4x5 1 - 11500
1: Original Series 4x10 1 - 2500
1: Original Series 3x20-50 1 - 1800
1: Original Series 100-100 1 - 6430
1: Original Series 500 1 - 400
1: Series 1875 4x5 1 - 24000
1: Series 1875 4x10 1 - 14875
1: Series 1875 100-100 1 - 2639
1: 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 102000
1: 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 33200
1: 1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 1634
1: 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 57500
1: 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 37000
1: 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 122000
1: 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 88800
3: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 13005
3: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 9525
3: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 150337
3: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 94996
3: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 25424

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1935):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

Wiki Links

Sources

A letter from The Philadelphia National Bank to the Creston National Bank, Creston, Iowa, signed by Assistant Cashier H. Fortescue on bank stationery dated August 1909.
A letter from The Philadelphia National Bank to the Creston National Bank, Creston, Iowa, signed by Assistant Cashier H. Fortescue on bank stationery dated August 1909. Courtesy of Mark Drengson
  • Philadelphia, 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://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
  • Free Library of Philadelphia, Digital Collections, Philadelphia Bank built in 1808.
  • Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator. Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank, 427 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, (accessed Mar. 30, 2024). Four photos, the third shows the Philadelphia National Bank next to the Farmers and Mechanics National Bank.
  1. ↑ Lancaster Intelligencer, Lancaster, PA, Sat., Aug. 27, 1803.
  2. ↑ Aurora General Advertiser, Philadelphia, PA, Wed., Aug. 31, 1803.
  3. ↑ Lancaster Intelligencer, Lancaster, PA, Mon., Jan. 15, 1810.
  4. ↑ Philadelphia and Notable Philadelphians, Moses King, Blanchard Press, Isaac H. Blanchard Co., New York, 1902, p. 18.
  5. ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Thu., Nov. 26, 1863.
  6. ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Fri., Jan. 12, 1866.
  7. ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Thu., Feb. 3, 1910.
  8. ↑ Evening Public Ledge, Philadelphia, PA, Wed., Jan. 7, 1920.
  9. ↑ Evening Public Ledge, Philadelphia, PA, Mon., June 7, 1920.
  10. ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sun., July 19, 1953.
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