Sheridan National Bank/Farmers and Merchants NB, Sheridan, IN (Charter 13050)

The old Farmers National Bank of Sheridan, Indiana, ca2023. Courtesy of Google Maps

Sheridan NB (No Issue)/Farmers and Merchants NB, Sheridan, IN (Chartered 1927 - Receivership 1931)

Town History

The origins of Sheridan, which started out as Millwood, are vague, owing partly to the loss of all the town's records in 1913 when a disastrous fire destroyed the town hall and many other buildings. No documentation supports the popular contention that Egbert Higbee started the town in 1860. Higbee, born in Ohio and brought to Adams Township as a child, did, indeed, lay out a town he called Millwood on land adjacent to the district school (built 1851) on the state road. He had acquired his land in parcels and filed his town plat in April 1866. Only two-and-a-half blocks divided into twenty lots, it was oriented in an east–west direction along the south side of the Lafayette-Noblesville state road, which Higbee designated as Main Street (present day Second Street; his “West Street” became Main). Higbee immediately began to sell off lots to enterprising merchants and a few mill owners, and the little village got its start. Higbee himself built a mill and laid out additions to his original plat. Caswell Boxley, however, subdivided the south edge of his land, which adjoined Higbee's plat across the state road and he laid out his own plat of Millwood immediately north and extending west of Higbee's. The initial town orientation was succeeded by one that placed Main Street in a north–south direction. In a few years the hamlet of Millwood applied for a post office and was granted one on January 30, 1871. Since there was already an existing post office in a village of the same name in Kosciusko County, this Millwood was rechristened “Sheridan,” in honor of Civil War general Philip Sheridan. The town had something of an identity crisis for a few years as some people continued to call it Millwood while others used the new name of Sheridan—even in official records. Several significant buildings from that early period survive, including the H.J. Thistlethwaite Building, constructed in 1886 to boast an opera house, a lodge room and retail spaces.

Sheridan, around the turn of the twentieth century had become the second largest town in the county with a thriving commercial district along Main Street. Included were a large variety of stores, several hotels, banks, and lodges still sharing the street with a few dwellings. Many of these buildings survive, including the two large commercial buildings on Main—the Golden Rule general merchandise store and the dry goods store of Stanley Brothers. Both were constructed in the 1890s.

The great conflagration of 1913 started in a lumber company and destroyed much of the south end of downtown—mostly wood-frame structures. The Town Hall, which had stood on the east side of Main south of 5th Street, burned. After the fire, a new brick building was constructed at the southwest corner of Main and Cora (presently Jaycee) streets—previously the site of a livery stable that also burned. The aftermath of the fire resulted in considerable change downtown. Over the next 15 years, scattered houses on Main Street disappeared and were replaced by commercial buildings. Only the far north end of Main Street retained its original residential character. Several new businesses appeared, including several movie houses, although even before the fire, Sheridan had been proud that it possessed more than one nickelodeon. Another type of business that seemed to thrive downtown in the interwar years was the automobile dealership, but little evidence of any of these remain. The last bank of several institutions that had been established in town—the newly formed American State Bank of Sheridan—built its headquarters in 1914 at Main and Fourth. It remained to house a bank until 2006. Another beautiful former bank building built after the fire was the Farmers National Bank of Sheridan, now part of the adjacent hardware store.

Sheridan had three National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and two of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

A 1927 advertisement for the Farmers and Merchants National Bank.

A 1927 advertisement for the Christmas Savings Club of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank.

• Organized March 9, 1927
• Chartered March 15, 1927
• 1: Non-issuing
• 1: Succeeded 5296 (First National State Bank/First NB, Sheridan, IN)
• 1: Absorbed 6070 (Farmers National Bank, Sheridan, IN) May 9, 1927
• 2: Non-issuing
• 2: Receivership February 9, 1931

On Tuesday, March 8, 1927, the charter for the Sheridan National Bank arrived in the afternoon. The organization plan was worked out under the direction of Alfred Leyburn, National Bank Examiner, and was approved by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Mr. Leyburn was previously in charge of the First National Bank of Noblesville for some time after it went into the hands of a receiver. The capital stock of the new institution was $40,000 and the surplus was $8,000. Forty-five stockholders purchased 400 shares at $120 a share. It was understood the new bank would take over the building of the First National Bank of Sheridan at a price of $45,000, which was less than half its actual cost. The new bank did not accept the frozen assets which consisted largely of second mortgages on farms. They would be turned over to a board of trustees and the amount was estimated around $70,000. The 45 stockholders held a meeting on Tuesday, March 8th and elected the following directors: Phil Hare, H.S. Moredock, L.C. Higbee, Charles Chew, W.S. Pressler, I.H. McMurtry and Frank Ringer.

On Monday, April 4, 1927, it was officially announced that the Farmers National Bank of Sheridan and the Sheridan National bank had merged and the name of the new institution would be the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Sheridan. On Thursday, April 7, 1927, the Farmers and Merchants National Bank sold its bank building on the corner of Main and Fourth Streets occupied by them less than one week to the American State Bank and would move at once to the Farmers National Bank room. The American State would move to the building vacated by them and would open for business on Friday morning. The capital stock of the new bank was $80,000 with $8,000 surplus and the resources were reported to be in excess of $1,000,000. James E. Kercheval who was president of the Farmers National was the head of the new institution and Ralph S. Baker who was also connected with the Farmers National Bank was its cashier. The remainder of the working force of the new bank would be merged from the employees of the two banks. Trustee Thomas L. Harris of Adams Township who was cashier of the Sheridan National Bank when it was reorganized two weeks earlier would be identified with the new institution for a while. It had only been two weeks since the First National Bank of Sheridan was reorganized with new stockholders and new officers and named the Sheridan National Bank. Then a further merger was suggested with the Farmers National Bank and this was completed on Saturday night. Sheridan now had just two banks, the American State Bank and the Farmers and Merchants National Bank.

In July 1927, the officers were J.E. Kercheval, president; J.A. Branson, vice president; R.S. Baker, cashier; and Ella Scott, assistant cashier. The bank had total resources of $845,495.08.

The Farmers and Merchants National Bank was closed by order of the board of directors and national banking officers were called in. Liabilities of the institution were given as about $500,000 and deposits $350,000. James Kercheval was president and J.A. Branson, cashier. Frozen assets and indebtedness were blamed for the closing.

On Monday, February 16, 1931, depositors agreed to pledge 25% of their deposits to reopen the bank. Plans for reopening the bank fell through when a meeting of stockholders was called and only 189 shares out of 500, about 35 of the 76 stockholders, were represented. H.R. Botkins of Muncie was appointed receiver for the Farmers and Merchants.

In August 1938, George Rauch, Marion financier, was named receiver for the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Sheridan, succeeding Lester Everett who resigned. Rauch would be the fourth receiver to have charge of the bank since the receivership began in 1931. The Marion man served as receiver for the First National Bank of Marion and the First National Bank of Swayzee.

In March 1939, George Rauch of Marion, receiver for the Farmers and Merchants National Bank was making final settlements and closing up the affairs of the institution. There would be no more dividends, 35% had been paid to depositors. Some time ago the receiver sold the fine bank building for a sum many times less than its value and it was converted to the office and headquarters of McDonald's large chicken hatchery business.

Official Bank Titles

1: The Sheridan National Bank, Sheridan, IN

2: The Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Sheridan, IN (7/2/1927)

Bank Note Types Issued

No National Bank Notes were issued by this bank.

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1927 - 1931):

Presidents:

• James Ellis Kercheval, 1927-1931

Cashiers:

• Ralph Scott Baker, 1927-1929
• John Alfred Branson, 1930-1931

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• Sheridan NB/Farmers & Merchants (No Issue), Sheridan, IN History (NB Lookup)
• Indiana Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Sheridan, IN, 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