Saint Marys National Bank, Saint Marys, PA (Charter 6589)

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Postcard view of the Saint Marys National Bank on the Diamond, ca1920s.
Postcard view of the Saint Marys National Bank on the Diamond, ca1920s. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

Saint Marys National Bank, Saint Marys, PA (Chartered 1903 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Postcard view of the Saint Marys Trust Company and National Bank, at Michael and LaFayette Streets, ca1920s.
Postcard view of the Saint Marys Trust Company and National Bank, at Michael and LaFayette Streets, ca1920s. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

St. Marys is a city in Elk County, Pennsylvania. Originally a small town inhabited by mostly Bavarian Roman Catholics, it was founded December 8, 1842. It is home to Straub Brewery and the first Benedictine convent in the United States. St. Joseph Monastery, home of the Benedictine Sisters of Elk County, was the oldest Benedictine women's religious order in the United States, founded in 1852. In 1992, the borough of St. Marys absorbed the surrounding township of Benzinger and incorporated as a city. St. Marys lies in the center of Pennsylvania's Elk Country. The area is known for its access to outdoor activities, including trout streams, state hunting lands and Elk State Forest to the east and Allegheny National Forest to the west. The population was 12,738 as of the 2020 census. In 1900 the population was 4,295 growing to 7,423 by 1930.

Andrew Kaul and J.K.P. Hall had established a dominance in lumbering, mining, railroads, banking, and commerce. Late in the century, they decided to sell their mining and railroad interests. In 1898, John Byrne, a western New Yorker, bought these interests for approximately $3,000,000 which he then combined with his railroads in New York forming the P.S. & N. Railroad. Six years later, the P.S. & N. was bankrupt; however, it operated under receivership for the next 43 years, a record for an American bankrupt railroad. With the receipts from this sale of the mines and railroad, Hall and Kaul were ripe for alternative investments. Speculation has it that they probably thought their future lay in the brewing industry. Shortly thereafter, they invested in the Saint Marys Brewery, later the site of Pure Carbon Company. However, in 1899, Andrew Kaul was convinced by a hunting friend from Sandusky, Ohio that a budding carbon graphite business held a bright future. As a result, Kaul backed John Speer in the formation of the Speer Carbon Company. The new Company manufactured carbon cores and carbon flour for the dry cell battery industry. Speer soon developed a similar hunting and fishing friendship with Harry Stackpole, the son-in-law of J.K.P. Hall. Speer convinced Stackpole that a dry cell battery business would be a good investment considering the readily available source of carbon materials.

In 1906 the Stackpole Corporation began as The Stackpole Battery Company in St. Marys, founded by Harry C. Stackpole and Pennsylvania Senator J.K.P. Hall with the assistance of a carbon and battery expert, W. J. Mills. Formed to make dry cell batteries, the company used the carbon electrodes and carbon flour supplied by the nearby Speer Carbon Company. In 1915 the company began its first association with the automotive industry when its brushes were approved by the Electric Autolite Company for starters and generators in the Overland automobile. With the entry of the United States into the World War in 1917, Stackpole turned its energies full-time into supplying the steel industries with carbon electrodes for its electric furnaces.

In the years that followed, the carbon business developed in a spectacular way. Under the leadership of Ben Reuscher, who had worked for Speer Carbon Company, Keystone Carbon Company was organized in 1927. Keystone would go forward as a pioneer in the powder metal industry, an industry that by the late 1960’s would inherit the economic leadership of the community. After World War II, Pure Carbon, Saint Marys Carbon, and National Molded Products were the next companies to be created. St. Marys was on the cutting edge of carbon/graphite manufacturing and was aptly called the “Carbon Capital of the World”. By 1992, more than 24 carbon graphite and powder metal companies in Elk County alone could trace their roots back to 1899 and the formation of Speer Carbon Company.

Saint Marys had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era and it issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

  • Organized January 15, 1903
  • Chartered January 22, 1903
  • Succeeded St. Marys Bank
  • Opened for business February 24, 1903
  • Bank was Open past 1935
  • Merged into Elk County Bank and Trust Company of St. Marys, April 1, 1969

In January 1903, former representative J.K.P. Hall of St. Marys, Andrew Kaul, George C. Simmons, William Kaul and Harry C. Stackpole were granted authority by the comptroller of the currency to organize the St. Marys National Bank.

On January 22, 1903, the St. Marys Bank in which Senator Hall was heavily interested was changed to the St. Marys National Bank with a capital stock of $125,000. Senator Hall was president; Andrew Kaul, vice president; G.C. Simons, second vice president; J.B. Robertson, cashier; and Harry C. Stackpole, assistant cashier. Mr. Stackpole, formerly of Harrisburg, was one of the directors.

In July 1903, the St. Marys Trust Company was organized and opened its doors for business with a paid up capital of $125,000 as required by law. The Trust Company's rooms were some of the finest in Western Pennsylvania having been fitted up when built a few years ago by Judge Andrew Kaul using the choicest specimens of wood manufactured by that gentleman during his long career as a lumberman. The new office front was of polished cherry, beautifully carved and fitted with plate glass; it was an imposing business office.  The officers of the trust company were Hon. J.K.P. Hall, president; Hon. Andrew Kaul, vice president; G.C. Simons, second vice president and secretary; and Leo. J.F. Rooney, treasurer. Mr. Rooney was the active man, attending to the banking needs of the community.

In May 1914, since the death of General Sickles in New York City, the fact had come to light that Dr. W.B. Harman, who for many years was one of St. Marys' most prominent physicians and whose son was assistant cashier at the St. Marys National Bank, was the surgeon on the battlefield of Gettysburg who amputated the general's leg. Dr. Harman was a member of the 116th Pennsylvania Volunteers and was in charge of the hospital during the battle.

Christmas greetings from the St. Marys' office of the Elk County National Bank and Trust Company in 1964
Christmas greetings from the St. Marys' office of the Elk County National Bank and Trust Company in 1964.
In April 1928, the handsome new building of the St. Marys Trust Company was formally opened. Hundreds of people from St. Marys and surrounds inspected the new home of this 25-year-old institution. Prof. B.H. Rhinesmith was secretary and Edmund G. Beck was treasurer and a former associate judge of Elk County. 

In July 1964, the merger of the St. Marys Trust Company and the Elk County National Bank of Ridgway became effective. State and national banking authorities gave final approval and the new combined bank started operation on Monday morning, July 20th. The new bank, known as the Elk County National Bank and Trust Company, had offices in both St. Marys and Ridgway, using the facilities of the previous banks. Dan S. Dickinson was president of the Elk County National. All employees of the St. Marys Trust Co. would continue as employees of the combined bank. The new bank would have assets of over $14,000,000. A trust department with representatives at both St. Marys and Ridgway would be available for all trust functions. Assets of the trust department were more than $5,000,000.

In September 1968, The St. Marys National Bank and Elk County Bank and Trust Company announced merger plans. Officials said the merger would be effective in the first quarter of 1969 if approved by shareholders and federal authorities.

On Tuesday, March 4, 1969, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced its approval of the merger of the St. Marys National Bank into the Elk County Bank and Trust Company of St. Marys effective April 1st. The total resources were over $37 million.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Saint Marys National Bank, Saint Marys, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with SN 1A and pen signatures of J.B. Robertson, Cashier and J.K.P. Hall, President.
1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with SN 1A and pen signatures of J.B. Robertson, Cashier and J.K.P. Hall, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with printed signatures of C.E. Hartman, Cashier and G.C. Simons, President.
1902 Plain Back $5 bank note with printed signatures of C.E. Hartman, Cashier and G.C. Simons, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com
1929 Type 1 $5 bank note with printed signatures of C.E. Hartman, and W.E. Hall, President.
1929 Type 1 $5 bank note with printed signatures of C.E. Hartman, and W.E. Hall, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $3,495,740 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1903 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 440,421 notes (343,200 large size and 97,221 small size notes).

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

Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments
1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 5880
1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 4648
1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 10650
1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 8100
1902 Plain Back 4x5 10651 - 45510
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 8101 - 29762
1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 7828
1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 4040
1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 946
1929 Type 2 5 1 - 12582
1929 Type 2 10 1 - 6133
1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1622

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1903 - 1935):

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

  • Saint Marys, PA, on Wikipedia
  • City of St. Marys
  • St. Marys area Chamber of Commerce
  • 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
  • Harrisburg Telegraph, Harrisburg, PA, Thu., Feb. 26, 1903.
  • The Brockway Record, Brockway, PA, Fri., July 17, 1903.
  • The Kane Republican, Kane, PA, Fri., May 8, 1914.
  • The Brockway Record, Brockway, PA, Fri., Dec. 9, 1927.
  • The Potter Enterprise, Coudersport, PA, Thu., Mar. 1, 1928.
  • The Kane Republican, Kane, PA, Fri., July 24, 1964.
  • The Indiana Gazette, Indiana, PA, Thu., Sep. 26, 1968.
  • The Progress, Clearfield, PA, Wed., Mar. 5, 1969.
  • The Progress, Clearfield, PA, Thu., Apr. 3, 1969.