Second National Bank, Peoria, IL (Charter 207)

Needed: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Second National Bank, Peoria, IL (Chartered 1864 - Liquidated 1883)

Town History

Peoria (/piˈɔːriə/ pee-OR-ee-ə) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Central Illinois, consisting of the counties of Fulton, Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford, which had a population of 402,391 in 2020.

Established in 1691 by the French explorer Henri de Tonti, Peoria is the oldest permanent European settlement in Illinois according to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. Originally known as Fort Clark, it received its current name when the County of Peoria organized in 1825. The city was named after the Peoria tribe, a member of the Illinois Confederation. On October 16, 1854, Abraham Lincoln made his Peoria speech against the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Prior to prohibition, Peoria was the center of the whiskey industry in the United States. More than 12 distilleries operated in Peoria by the end of the 19th century, more than any other city in the U.S.

A major port on the Illinois River, Peoria is a trading and shipping center for a large agricultural area that produces corn, soybeans, and livestock. Although the economy is well diversified, the city's traditional manufacturing industries remain important and produce earthmoving equipment, metal products, lawn-care equipment, labels, steel towers, farm equipment, building materials, steel, wire, and chemicals. Until 2018, Peoria was the global and national headquarters for heavy equipment and engine manufacturer Caterpillar Inc., one of the 30 companies composing the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and listed on the Fortune 100; in the latter year, the company relocated its headquarters to Deerfield, Illinois.

The city is associated with the phrase "Will it play in Peoria?", which originated from the vaudeville era and was popularized by Groucho Marx.

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

Bank History

Chartered Jan 19, 1864
Liquidated Feb 24, 1883
Succeeded by 2878 (Peoria National Bank, Peoria, IL), organized December 8, 1882 and Chartered February 12, 1883

In April 1872, The Second national Bank of Peoria took down its building at the corner of Main and Washington Streets and commenced erecting a new one.

Lewis Howell died Friday evening, May 14, 1880. He was born at Nescopeck, near Berwick, Pa. His mother died when he was a mere boy and his father left him and went to New Orleans where he again married, and Mr. Howell did not know that he had several half brothers until he was 50 years old. After being employed a short time in a Philadelphia wholesale grocery house, and then helping in a survey of the old Portage road in Pennsylvania, Mr. Howell, in 1836, came to Peoria, and engaged in the dry goods trade with a Mr. Alter. Afterwards, he was with Almiron S. Cole, and then in the milling business with C.H. Ruggles. In 1852, he became a clerk in the banking house of J.P. Hotchkiss and obtained an interest in the concern. On the death of Mr. Hotchkiss, in 1856, Mr. Howell took charge of the business. In 1869, he engaged in the banking business with John Boyd Smith and J.B. Headley, under the firm name of Lewis Howell & Co., and in 1864 the bank became the Second National Bank with Mr. Howell as president, which position he held until his death. He was married in 1835 to Miss Mary Ann Beck. They had no children, but leave two foster daughters, Mrs. J.B. Smith and Mrs. Robert A. King.

Sketch of Charles P. King president Second National Bank of Peoria, Illinois.

On February 17, 1893, Charles P. King, president of the Peoria National Bank since 1880, died at Los Angeles, California, where he was spending the winter. He was born in Adams, Jefferson county New York in 1817, and came to Peoria in 1833. For three years he was engineer on a steamer plying between Peoria and St. Louis. He engaged in carpentering and was a member of the legislature in 1853. He was afterwards engaged in distilling, and in 1866, engaged in the banking business, in which he remained to his death. He was president of the Second National Bank from 1880-1892, succeeding Lewis Howell.

George Hogg McIlvaine was born August 10, 1834 in Pittsburgh, PA and died January 1, 1897 in Peoria. For many years he was cashier of the Second National Bank and later became President of Peoria National Bank. He was the son of Rev. Wm. Brown and Elizabeth Breading McIlvaine. Rev. McIlvaine was for forty years minister of the East Liberty Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. George H. McIlvaine moved to Peoria in 1854 and married Priscilla McClure in 1857. He had been invited by his uncle, Isaac Walker who owned Walker & McIlvaine wholesale hardware. Later George joined the bank. He also served as Director of the Peoria Chamber of Commerce, President of the Clearing House, and President of the School Inspectors Board.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Second National Bank of Peoria, IL

Bank Note Types Issued

Original Series $10 bank note with pen signatures of Wilkinson, Assistant Cashier and L. Howell, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

Series of 1875 $20 bank note with pen signatures of B.F. Blossom, Cashier and L. Howell, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $410,140 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1883. This consisted of a total of 42,648 notes (42,648 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
Original Series	4x5	1 - 5500
Original Series	4x10	1 - 3325
Original Series	3x20-50	1 - 700
Series 1875	4x10	1 - 499
Series 1875	3x20-50	1 - 638

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1883):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

An assistant cashier named Wilkinson signed notes.
There are currently no known Vice President bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

Peoria, IL, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoria,_Illinois
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
Chicago Evening Post, Chicago, IL, Wed., Apr. 10, 1872.
Peoria Evening Review, Peoria, IL, Mon., May 17, 1880.
The Quincy Daily Journal, Quincy, IL, Sat., Feb. 18, 1893.