Sioux Falls National Bank, Sioux Falls, SD (Charter 2823)
Sioux Falls National Bank, Sioux Falls, SD (Chartered 1882 - Receivership 1924)
Town History
Sioux Falls is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 121st-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up to the Iowa state line. As of 2022, Sioux Falls had an estimated population of 202,078. The Sioux Falls metro area accounts for more than 30% of the state's population. Chartered in 1856 on the banks of the Big Sioux River, the city is situated in the rolling hills at the junction of interstates 29 and 90.
Two separate groups, the Dakota Land Company of St. Paul and the Western Town Company of Dubuque, Iowa organized in 1856 to claim the land around the falls, considered a promising townsite for its beauty and water power. Each laid out 320-acre claims, but worked together for mutual protection. They built a temporary barricade of turf which they dubbed "Fort Sod", in response to native tribes attempting to defend their land from the settlers. Seventeen men then spent "the first winter" in Sioux Falls. The following year the population grew to near 40.
Although conflicts in Minnehaha County between Native Americans and white settlers were few, the Dakota War of 1862 engulfed nearby southwestern Minnesota. The town was evacuated in August of that year when two local settlers were killed as a result of the conflict. The settlers and soldiers stationed here traveled to Yankton in late August 1862. The abandoned townsite was pillaged and burned.
Fort Dakota, a military reservation established in present-day downtown, was established in May 1865. Many former settlers gradually returned and a new wave of settlers arrived in the following years. The population grew to 593 by 1873, and a building boom was underway in that year. The Village of Sioux Falls, consisting of 1,200 acres, was incorporated in 1876 and was granted a city charter by the Dakota Territorial legislature on March 3, 1883.
Sioux Falls had 10 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and eight of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized November 14, 1882
- Chartered November 23, 1882
- Receivership January 24, 1924
The Sioux Falls National Bank declared a semi-annual dividend of 6% on July 1st, 1883. This was considered "not a bad first return" though it had the advantage of succeeding to the prosperous private banking business of Messrs. McKinney and Scougal of Sioux Falls. McKinney and Scougal operated a banking house in Yankton on the corner of Third Street and Douglas Avenue.
In May 1886, the officers were C.E. McKinney, president; J.W. Tuthill, vice president; and A.L Currey, assistant cashier. The bank had the largest capital, $100,000, of any bank in South Dakota.
On Tuesday, January 9, 1894, the directors elected were C.E. McKinney, C.L. Norton, W.W. Brookings, S.A. Brown, D.L. McKinney, John McClellan, and S.E. Blanvelt. The officers were C.E. McKinney, president; D.L. McKinney, vice president; C.L. Norton, cashier; and H.C. Fenn, assistant cashier.
On Tuesday, January 10, 1899, the directors elected were C.E. McKinney, S.A. Brown, D.L. McKinney, John McClellan, and Henry C. Fenn. The officers were the same as they had been for several years: C.E. McKinney, president; D.L. McKinney, vice president; C.L. Norton, cashier; and H.C. Fenn, assistant cashier. In March, H.C. Fenn started on his trip to Honolulu to try to regain his health. Martin Thompson who had been bookkeeper for some time was advanced to the position of assistant cashier and John C. Barton was advanced to the position of bookkeeper and Max Beveridge took the place made vacant by Mr. Barton's promotion.
On Tuesday, January 14, 1913, the 32d annual meeting of stockholders was held with C.E. McKinney, dean of Sioux Falls bankers in the chair. Stockholders named the same board of directors as follows: D.L. McKinney, J.W. Fenn, S.A. Brown, C.E. McKinney, West Babcock, and C.L. Norton. The directors re-elected the following officers: C.E. McKinney, president; D.L. McKinney and C.L. Norton, vice presidents; S.T. Kiddoo, cashier; and M.O. Thompson, assistant cashier.
In January 1918, the officers were Charles E. McKinney, president; Martin C. Smith and Charles L. Norton, vice presidents; James D. Fleckenstein, cashier; and Louis A. Gray, assistant cashier. The directors were J.J. Allen, S.A. Brown, W.H.T. Foster, J.W. Fenn, Sam Fantle, C.E. Imes, C.E. McKinney, C.L. Norton, S.J. Snyder, M.C. Smith, C.W. Thompson, and E.E. Wagner. Messrs. Foster, Imes and Wagner were new faces on the board. The bank planned to move into its handsome new quarters at Ninth and Phillips around April 1st.
On January 28, 1918, Martin Thompson met death in the Illinois Central wreck near Chicago. He was among the first six or seven white children born in Sioux Falls. His first connection with the Sioux Falls National Bank was as messenger. He was soon promoted to a clerkship, then became bookkeeper and finally assistant cashier, performing the duties of cashier. Temporarily, he left for Inwood, Iowa, where he conducted a bank for John Mulhall, but returned to the Sioux Falls National.
On April 15, 1918, Eugene Reiley severed his connection with the Sioux Falls Savings Bank to enter upon his new duties as one of the vice presidents and a director of the Sioux Falls National Bank. Since entering the banking business about three years ago, he had made rapid strides in the financial field.
On Saturday, April 13, 1918, work commenced on the three-day job of unloading and installing the 18-ton vault door for the new Sioux Falls National Bank. The door, which was 8 feet square was brought from the freight depo by means of a house moving apparatus and left standing in front of the new building. Joe Schroer, a representative of the manufacturers, the Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Company of Hamilton, Ohio, had engaged the help of 8 local men. The mass of steel would be put on edge and moved to its place by means of small iron rollers resting on strong 10x10 sills. On Saturday, June 1st, the Sioux Falls National Bank opened for business in its new quarters. Work had commenced in April 1917 on the tallest bank and office building in either of the Dakotas. The fire-proof structure was 145 feet high, 106 feet long and 44 feet wide. The entire south and west were of pressed brick. The banking institution would occupy all the ground floor, part of the basement and part of the second floor. The main entrance was from Phillips Avenue. The corridors were wainscoted and floored in marble with a gray mosaic. A special gum walnut was used for the woodwork throughout. Twelve steel cages were provided for the service of customers and others. In the extreme southwest corner was the private office of the president, C.E. McKinney.
On Tuesday, January 8, 1924, all officers and directors were re-elected as follows: John W. Wadden, president; Eugene Reiley, W.H.T. Foster, C.W. Thompson, vice presidents; Thos. A. Wadden, vice president and cashier; L.A. Gray, assistant cashier. The directors were Samuel Fantle, vice president, Fantle Bros.-Danforth Co.; J.W. Fenn, Fenn Bros, Inc.; W.H.T. Foster, manager, John Morrell & Co.; Eugene Reiley, vice president; C.W. Thompson, president, Thompson-Knott Motor Co.; Thos. A. Wadden, vice president and cashier; and J.W. Wadden, president.
On January 11, 1924, the Sioux Falls National Bank, capitalized at $180,000, one of the oldest banks in South Dakota, failed to open its doors. The December 31st statement showed deposits of more than $2,500,000. T.E. Harris, chief national bank examiner, took charge of the bank and said that the national banking department would make every effort for the good of the depositors and the community and that a reorganization was earnestly being sought.
On Sunday, December 28, 1924, D.L. McKinney, pioneer Sioux Falls businessman passed away. He was born on a farm at Ulster, Bradford Co., Pennsylvania on October 14, 1855. He graduated from Lewisburg University in 1872 and then took a course in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, graduating in 1878. He practiced in Oneida County, New York until 1881 when he moved to Sioux Falls. In Sioux Falls, Mr. McKinney became connected with the Bank of Easton, McKinney & Scougal and manager of the McKinney Loan & Investment Co. He also became connected with the Sioux Falls National Bank acting as a director and vice president. He was interested in the plan for reorganizing the bank after it closed and later when a receiver was appointed he acted as assistant to Charles H. Wilcox, devoting the greater part of his time to this work until his illness three weeks earlier. Mr. McKinney was a member of the McKinney-Beveridge Company since 1914 when he left the McKinney & Allen Co., which was an outgrowth of the loan and trust company with which he was early identified. He was a brother of Charles E. McKinney of Minneapolis and a half-brother of J.J. Allen of Sioux Falls.
In October 1925, plans for the opening of the new national bank in Sioux Falls were progressing. Application for a charter was made to the comptroller of the currency and the bank, The Citizens National, planned to use the location formerly occupied by the Sioux Falls National Bank. The receiver of the Sioux Falls National, Charles H. Wilcox who occupied the banking rooms since he took charge, would remain in the banking rooms, but move his office and records of the closed bank to the rear. In the past two months, the bank had been thoroughly cleaned and redecorated in preparation for the opening of the new bank.
In January 1926, W.E. Stevens announced that the Citizens National had completed its organization. It had paid up capital of $100,000 and a cash surplus of $30,000. The board of directors would include W.C. Buchanan, president of the Buchanan Lumber Co.; J.B. Allen, secretary of McKinney & Allen, Inc.; Dr. S.A. Donahoe, physician and surgeon; Dan V. Kirby vice president and general manager of the Western Surety Co.; Ray G. Stevens, president of the Security Mortgage & Investment Co.; and W.E. Stevens, president and treasurer of the Stevens Overland Company and the Stevens Corp. W.E. Stevens was the president of the new organization and Ray G. Stevens, cashier. The Stevens-Overland Co. was in charge of the distribution of Overland and Willys-Knight automobiles for the entire state.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Sioux Falls National Bank, Sioux Falls, SD
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $591,000 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1882 and 1924. This consisted of a total of 32,508 notes (32,508 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 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 2750 Territory 1882 Brown Back 4x5 2751 - 6455 1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 136 1902 Red Seal 50-100 1 - 1020 1902 Date Back 50-100 1 - 600 1902 Date Back 3x50-100 1 - 794
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1882 - 1924):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
- Charles Lindsey Norton, 1883-1911
- Solomon Thomas Kiddoo, 1912-1915
- James Dwight Fleckenstein, 1916-1920
- Robert Harry Muckler, 1921-1921
- Thomas Anthony Wadden, 1922-1923
Other Known Bank Note Signers
Bank Note History Links
- Sioux Falls National Bank, Sioux Falls, SD History (NB Lookup)
- South Dakota Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Sioux Falls, SD, 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
- Yankton Press and Dakotan, Yankton, SD, Thu., July 12, 1883.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Mon., May 24, 1886.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Wed., Jan. 10, 1894.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Wed., Jan. 11, 1899.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Fri., Mar. 17, 1899.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Wed., Jan. 15, 1913.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Wed., Jan. 9, 1918.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Tue., Jan. 29, 1918.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Sat., Mar. 30, 1918.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Mon., Apr. 15, 1918.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Fri., May 31, 1918.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Tue., Jan. 8, 1924.
- The Crowley Post-Signal, Crowley, LA, Fri., Jan. 11, 1924.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Sat., Jan. 12, 1924.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Mon., Dec. 29, 1924.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Mon., Oct. 12, 1925.
- Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, Tue., Jan. 26, 1926.