Shelburne Falls NB, Shelburne, MA (Charter 1144)
Shelburne Falls NB, Shelburne, MA (Chartered 1865 - Closed (Merger) 1983)
Town History
Shelburne is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village of Shelburne Falls is located partly in Shelburne and neighboring Buckland. The population of Shelburne was 1,884 at the 2020 census. In 1860, the population was 1,448 growing to 1,621 by 1880.
Shelburne was first settled in 1756 as part of Deerfield, Massachusetts, known then as "Deerfield Northwest". It was initially organized as the district of Shelburne in 1768, named in honor of William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, an Irish-born British politician, who later served as Prime Minister during the American Revolutionary War. Shelburne was officially incorporated as a town in 1775. Its character has always been two-sided; the main body of town has farmland among the low hills, while the area around Shelburne Falls has mostly been a milling community.
Shelburne had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized April 15, 1865
- Chartered May 15, 1865
- Succeeded Shelburne Falls Bank
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Merged into Old Colony Bank of Hampden County, N.A., Holyoke, MA, May 13, 1983
The Shelburne Falls Bank, Haxby MA-1140
A meeting of the corporators of the Shelburne Falls Bank was called for Monday, the 1st day of September, 1856, at the hotel of S.D. Bardwell, Shelburne Falls, for the purpose of accepting the Act of Incorporation, electing officers and organization the bank. Persons named in the Act of Incorporation were J.B. Bardwell, E.G. Lamson, and Carver Hotchkiss.[2] In December 1856, the directors of the Shelburne Falls Bank were C. Hotchkiss, E.G. Lamson, and J.B. Bardwell of Shelburne Falls; C.K. Hawks of Northampton; Solomon Smead of Shelburne; E.W. Packer of Leyden; Thomas barber of Coleraine; William H. Maynard of Buckland; and Jonas Ballard of Charlemont.[3] Mr. Bardwell was president of the Shelburne Falls Five Cents Savings Bank.[4]
In January 1857, the circulation of the Shelburne Falls Bank with capital $50,000, was $34,092.[5] In January 1859, the directors of the Shelburne Falls Bank were C. Hotchkiss, E.G. Lamson, Alfred Bowen, and J.B. Bardwell of Shelburne Falls; Solomon Smead of Shelburne; E.W. Packer of Leyden; Thomas Barber of Coleraine; William H. Maynard of Buckland; and Josiah Ballard of Charlemont. The officers were Carver Hotchkiss, president; and E.S. Francis, cashier. The capital was $100,000.[6] Spurious $2s altered from a broken bank to the Shelburne Falls Bank were circulating.[7]
In January 1865, the officers of the Shelburne Falls Bank were Jarvis B. Bardwell, president; and C.C. Puffer, cashier. The directors were J.B. Bardwell, E.G. Lamson, Solomon Smead, Thomas Barber, J.W. Gardner, Bartlet Ballard, W.H. Maynard, H.H. Mayhew, and E. Wing Packer.[8]
The Shelburne Falls National Bank, Charter 1144
In December 1865, the Shelburne Falls National Bank declared a dividend of 6%. C.C. Puffer resigned as cashier and was succeeded by George H. Warren.[9] On April 25, 1867, George H. Warren married Kate L. Gardner at Shelburne Falls.[10]
In March 1868, The Recorder noticed C.C. Puffer in town. Mr. Puffer was extensively engaged in the banking business in Rochester, New York.[11]
In January 1881, the directors were J.B. Bardwell, E. Maynard, C.W. Shattuck, H.H. Mayhew, S.D. Bardwell, S.T. Field, J.W. Gardner. The officers were J.B. Bardwell, president; O.R. Maynard, cashier; and C.W. Hawks, clerk. The bank had total resources of $504,585.05. The liabilities included capital stock $200,000, surplus $50,000, circulation, $180,000, and deposits of $55,322.07.[12]
In January 1892, the directors were Lorenzo Griswold, Joseph W. Whiting, Ebenezer R. Goodnow, Edwin Baker, Herbert Newell, Freeman L. Davenport, and Frederick H. Smith. The officers were Lorenzo Griswold, president; H. Newell, vice president; C.W. Hawks, cashier; and C.B. Covell, teller.[13]
On September 12, 1909, George H. Warren died at his home in Greenwich Village following a surgical operation. Mr. Warren was born in 1844 at Whitingham, Vermont, and came to Shelburne Falls in 1866 as bookkeeper in the Shelburne Falls National Bank. On January 1st, 1866, he was elected cashier of the bank, holding that position for three years. After leaving Shelburne Falls, he went to Tama City, Iowa, where he also engaged in the banking business. Returning East, he became a successful commercial traveler and had for several years sold goods for the Lamson & Goodnow Co. of Shelburne Falls, Wells Brothers, and other manufacturers of Greenfield. He had been pleased to keep his residence in this village where his family remained until a few years ago, when they moved to Greenwich, their present home. He is survived by a widow whose maiden name was Kate Gardner, only daughter of Joseph W. Gardner, two. sons, Linas and James, and a daughter, Mrs. Laura Hegeman, a brother, Frank N. Warren of Chicago, and a sister, Mrs. Elsie Paulina Chase of Wollaston, and several nephews and nieces.[14]
In January 1921, the stockholders elected the following directors: Lorenzo Griswold, Edwin Baker, M.Z. Woodward, F.L. Davenport, O.C. Avery, J.R. Parsons, Herbert Newell, Lorenzo Griswold, Jr., E.R. Field, F.S. Field, and H.W. Ware. The officers were Lorenzo Griswold, president; Edwin Baker, vice president; and C.W. Hawks, cashier.[15]
In January 1929, the directors were O.C. Avery, Claude Church, E.H. Field, F.S. Field, Harold C. Hoyt, William A. Johnson, Henry W. ware, M.E. Woodward, and F.S. Wood. The officers were Henry W. Ware, president; O.C. Avery, F.S. Wood, and Frank S. Field, vice presidents.[16]
On Tuesday, January 8, 1935, all officers of the Shelburne Falls National Bank were re-elected. The officers were Henry W. Ware, president; Oscar C. Avery and Frank S. Field, vice presidents; Frank S. Field, cashier. The directors re-elected were Oscar C. Avery, J.L.R. Brown, F.S. Field, Harold G. Hoyt, F. Sidney Wood, and Henry A. Johnson.[17] In February, Frank S. Field, cashier of the Shelburne Falls National and Mrs. Field in company with J.L.R. Brown, cashier of the Shelburne Falls Savings Bank, and Mrs. Brown left for Florida.[18] In December 1935, Frank S. Field who for 10 years had served as cashier of the Shelburne Falls National bank, announced that his resignation took effect at noon, Saturday, November 30th. Field became cashier of the bank on November 1, 1925, succeeding C.W. Hawks who served the bank for 50 years. Fields became cashier after many years as a manufacturing executive. For several years he owned and operated a cotton mill in Shattuckville which shortly after the war was closed. The Fields left to spend the winter motoring in Florida.[19]
A resident of Franklin, County for more than three decades, William J. Morgan, 63, of Haverhill died in a Boston hospital on Friday, October 1, 1948, soon after collapsing while attending a bankers’ conference in a hotel there. An ordained minister of the Baptist Church, Morgan served as clerk of the Shelburne Falls National Bank for about 8 years and was with the Crocker National Bank of Turners Falls and First National Bank and Trust Company of Greenfield for 10 years. While in Shelburne Falls he was pastor of the Baptist Church and also supplied the pulpit in Charlemont. Morgan was born in South Wales, son of a miner, and worked in the coal mines before entering the University of South Wales. He prepared for the ministry at the Bala-Bangor School of Theology and Philosophy at Bangor, North Wales. Coming to the US in 1914, he first served as pastor of the First Baptist Church in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, for three years and later was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Shelburne Falls for nine years. He remained in Shelburne Falls from May 1, 1917, to September 30, 1925. For some years he was cashier of the Shelburne Falls National Bank and went from there to Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, where he was with a bank until coming to Turners Falls as a clerk at the old Crocker bank in March 1930. When the Crocker National Bank joined with the First National Bank and Trust Company in 1935, he was elected a vice-president. From then until his departure, July 1, 1940, to Hadley, he had charge of the branch office in Turners Falls. After a short time in Hadley, he was appointed treasurer of the City Five Cents Saving Bank in Haverhill, the position he held when he died. He had many friends in Franklin County and visited this past spring in Shelburne Falls and Charlemont. Morgan was for many years a member of Mountain Lodge of Masons, Shelburne Falls.[20]
The Greenfield branch of the Shelburne Falls National Bank was opened in the Fall of 1971 and had unexpected success in deposits, checking accounts and business loans, the "new boy on the block" situation.[22] In May 1972, John L. Samson was elected assistant cashier and appointed manager of the Greenfield office. Samson was replacing Andrew B. Parsons who assumed additional duties at the main office in Shelburne Falls.[23] In September, Phillips B. Hunt retired from active management of the Shelburne Falls National although he retained the position of president. Hunt joined the bank in February 1957 as executive vice president and cashier and became president in January 1963. Richard L. Burrows took charge of the bank as the new executive vice president and cashier.[24]
In April 1973, an agreement in principle to merge the Conway National Bank and the Shelburne Falls National was announced by the boards of directors of both banks. The directors felt this move would better enable the banks to serve the needs of central and western Franklin County. The banks would maintain offices in Conway, Shelburne Falls and Greenfield.[25] Effective October 29, 1973, the Shelburne Falls National Bank of Shelburne Falls and Greenfield, and the Conway National Bank of Conway, merged into a new bank named The Country Bank. Richard Burrows was president of the Country Bank.[26] The Conway Bank, one of the earliest banks in Franklin County, was chartered in 1854, reorganized in 1865 to become the Conway National Bank, and had been in its present two story brick building in the center of Main Street since 1878. It was built in 1878 when its old, next door location burned. The Conway National shared its location with the Conway Savings Bank which occupied the second floor. Earlier in 1973, the Savings Bank moved into a new building on route 116 at the south entrance to Conway.[27]
In January 1981, First National Boston Corp. (FNBC) won a round in the defense of its record of investment within its local community as the state Board of Bank Incorporation approved a merger between the holding company and the Country Bank of Shelburne Falls. The past summer several community groups asked that the merger be denied, arguing that First National Bank of Boston, principal subsidiary of FNBC failed to comply with the federal Community reinvestment Act which stipulated that banks invest within the communities where they did business.[28] First National Boston Corp., through its Old Colony banking subsidiary, acquired the Country Bank of Shelburne Falls which had approximately $17 million in assets. The new name of the bank was Old Colony Bank of Franklin County.[29] In 1972, when the 120-year old Shelburne Falls National Bank and the equally old Conway National Bank were merged into the Country Bank, the combined assets were just over $9.5 million. At the end of 1981, one year later, the assets topped 23 million and by the end of 1982 the were at $33 million.[30] The Old Colony Bank of Hampden County, N.A. was formerly the Holyoke National Bank (Charter 1939).
Official Bank Title
1: The Shelburne Falls National Bank, Shelburne, MA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $3,195,570 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 477,144 notes (378,728 large size and 98,416 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments Original Series 3x1-2 1 - 3800 Original Series 4x5 1 - 6500 Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 1720 Original Series 50-100 1 - 150 Series 1875 3x1-2 1 - 1000 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 10765 Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 2578 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 10030 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 4106 1902 Red Seal 4x5 1 - 2665 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 2134 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 9850 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 6960 1902 Plain Back 4x5 9851 - 31152 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 6961 - 18157 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 12120 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 25696
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1935):
Presidents:
- Jarvis Bodman Bardwell, 1865-1885
- Horace Hawks Mayhew, 1886-1888
- Lorenzo Griswold, 1889-1924
- Henry Wilcox Ware, 1925-1935
Cashiers:
- Charles Chenery Puffer, 1865-1866
- George Henry Warren, 1867-1868
- Otis R. Maynard, 1869-1886
- Charles William Hawks, 1887-1924
- William Johns Morgan, 1925-1925
- Franklin Smith Field, 1926-1934
- Guy Westman Downer, 1935-1935
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Shelburne, MA, 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 Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Wed., Jan. 5, 1972.
- ↑ Greenfield Democrat, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Aug. 25, 1856.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Dec. 29, 1856.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon. Feb. 25, 1856.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Jan. 12, 1857.
- ↑ Greenfield Democrat, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Jan. 3, 1859.
- ↑ The Pittsfield Sun, Pittsfield, MA, Thu., Nov 29, 1860.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Jan. 2, 1865.
- ↑ Springfield Weekly Republican, Springfield, MA, Sat., Dec. 16, 1865.
- ↑ Springfield Daily Republican, Springfield, MA, Sat., Apr. 27, 1867.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Mar. 23, 1868.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Jan. 17, 1881.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Sat., Jan. 16, 1892.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Sat., Sep. 18, 1909.
- ↑ The North Adams Transcript, North Adams, MA, Wed., Jan. 12, 1921.
- ↑ The Springfield Daily Republican, Springfield, MA, Fri., Jan. 11, 1929.
- ↑ The North Adams Transcript, North Adams, MA, Wed., Jan. 9, 1935.
- ↑ The North Adams Transcript, North Adams, MA, Thu., Feb. 21, 1935.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Dec. 2, 1935.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Sat., Oct. 2, 1948.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Tue., Dec. 11, 1973.
- ↑ The Morning Union, Springfield, MA, Sun., Jan. 30, 1972.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., May 15, 1972.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Fri., Sep. 8, 1972.
- ↑ The Morning Union, Springfield, MA, Tue., Apr. 10, 1973.
- ↑ The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, Mon., Oct 29, 1973.
- ↑ Transcript-Telegram,Holyoke, MA, Wed., Nov. 7, 1973.
- ↑ The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Wed., Jan. 21, 1981.
- ↑ The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Tue., May 5, 1981.
- ↑ The Morning Union, Springfield, MA, Wed., Jan. 5, 1983.