St. John National Bank, Saint John, KS (Charter 7844)

The SJN Bank, corner of Third Avenue and Broadway Street, St. John, Kansas. Courtesy of Google Maps ca2012

St. John National Bank, Saint John, KS (Chartered 1905 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Advertisement from December 1892 for the Macksville office of The St. John State Bank.

St. John is a city in and the county seat of Stafford County, Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,228. In 1900 the population was 869, peaking in 191 at 1,785.

The first settlement in what is today St. John was made in 1875 when William Bickerton of the Church of Jesus Christ founded a religious colony named Zion Valley. By 1879, Zion Valley had grown into a small town, and the residents renamed it St. John, after then governor John P. St. John, in order to gain favor in winning the county seat of Stafford County.

Saint John had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, the First National Bank (Charter 3467) and the St. John National Bank (Charter 7844), and both banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

A 1919 advertisement for the St. John National Bank.

• Organized July 7, 1905
• Chartered July 25, 1905
• Conversion of The St. John State Bank
• Opened for business July 25, 1905
• Bank was Open past 1935
• For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
• Changed to State Charter as SJN Bank of Kansas, June 28, 2014
• Still in business as SJN Bank of Kansas (October 2025)

In April 1889, D.G. Littlefield, president of the State Bank of St. John, was elected lieutenant governor of Rhode Island. He had previously held many important offices having been representative for several terms and honorary commissioner to the Paris Exposition in 1878. He was also president of the Providence County Savings Bank of Providence, Rhode Island, and prominently identified with manufacturing interests throughout New England.

In December 1891, the name of the new banking institution would be "The St. John State Bank." The entire capital of the old institution would be used in their farm loan department transacting an exclusive farm loan business while the new organization with a capital of $50,000 would take charge of the chattel loan and banking business of the old bank. Howard Gray would be the cashier of the new bank while Geo. H. Burr would manage both corporations. G.W. Grandy would hold the position of head bookkeeper for both the old and the new banks. The new bank planned to begin operations around January 1st.

On January 3, 1892, a charter was filed with the secretary of state for The St. John State Bank of St. John, Stafford County. The capital stock was $50,000. Howard Gray, the genial hardware merchant whose personal acquaintance was enjoyed by nearly every man in the county, was elected cashier of the new institution. Geo. H. Burr, vice president and manager of the State Bank of St. John, had also been retained as vice president of the new bank. Although actively engaged in the management of the farm loan business of the old bank, Mr. Burr would render invaluable aid in the control of the new bank. G.W. Grandy, head bookkeeper was also given the position of assistant cashier. George, or "Prof." Grandy as he was known, was not only an artist in the accountant's profession, but a thorough businessman with a large circle of warm friends. In addition to the above officers, the board of directors was composed of Andrew Aitken, J. McD. Martin, and W.R. Wilcox. The president was Mr. A.W. McMurray, a wealthy capitalist of Lansingburg, New York. Among the wealthy stockholders were J.B. Bunce, president of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Co. of Hartford, Connecticut; Hon. A.H. Littlefield, ex-governor of Rhode Island (and a brother to the president of the old bank who died last May); G. Henry Whitcomb, millionaire envelope manufacturer of Worcester, Massachusetts; S. R. Heywood, boot and shoe manufacturer of Worcester and president of the Peoples Savings Bank, one of the largest of New England's savings institutions.

In 1888, The State Bank of St. John, the old bank, opened a farm loan department under the management of vice president Burr. When the credit of the state was so shaken that foreign capital was withdrawn and farmers who were unfortunate as to have maturing loans, finding it impossible to have them extended, The State Bank of St. John rendered the farmers every assistance consistent with safe business. The capital of the two banks was over $100,000, which would be used in the development of Stafford County and St. John.

On July 25, 1905, the St. John National Bank was authorized to begin business with $25,000 capital, R.B. Temple, president; George Sill, vice president; and J.D. Stewart, cashier. The report of condition, as of the close of business on August 25, 1905, showed total resources of $37,973.46, with capital stock paid-in $25,000, and deposits $12,973.46. The directors attesting to the correctness of the report were R.B. Temple, Geo. Sill, and F.B. Gillmore. In October the St. John National Bank and the bank which was to have been opened up by A. Aitken and H.R. Ross made arrangements by which the third bank would not open. The St. John National would move into the banking room in the Glasscock building just erected on the corner lot on the south side of the square. Two strong banking institutions was thought better for St. John than three banks. On Tuesday, October 31st, the St. John National Bank moved to its new location in the Glasscock building. The new banking room was very nice, being one of the finest banking rooms in this part of Kansas.

The St. John National Bank opened for business in June 1905 with R.B. Temple of Livermore, California, president; George Sill of Eureka, Kansas, vice president; and J.D. Stewart, formerly of Eureka, cashier. Cashier Stewart who was connected with the Eureka bank for 10 or 12 years prior to coming to St. John to organize the St. John National Bank was a shrewd young financier. St. John was an enterprising town with a population around 1,200. O.B. Shepherd who for six of the past 20 years located here had been engaged in the lumber trade, having been formerly associated with the First National Bank. He also was in the lumber and hardware line at Macksville and at Ellsworth had a large lumber, hardware, plumbing and furniture business. There were 14 rural telephone lines radiating from St. John. It was a big grain shipping point with four elevators.

On Tuesday morning, February 11, 1919, George Sill died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. R.B. Temple of 821 North Topeka.

On Tuesday, January 8, 1924, the stockholders of the St John National Bank held their annual meeting. All of the old directors were re-elected. They were F.B. Gillmore, Wm. Dixon, Chas. A. Brown, R.H. Rixon, and J.D. Stewart. The officers re-elected were F.B. Gillmore, president; Wm. Dixon, vice president; and J.D. Stewart, cashier.

In May 1930, the bank had capital, surplus and profits of $60,000. The officers and directors were F.B. Gillmore, president; C.A. Brown, vice president; J.D. Stewart, cashier; C.B. Haworth, assistant cashier; and Robert Garvin and C.E. Durham, directors.

On September 17, 1938, Frank B. Gillmore, 85, chairman of the board of directors of the St. John National Bank died in a hospital at Great Bend. C.A. Brown, president of the bank died a few weeks earlier on August 26th.

On December 18, 1939, George Howard Burr, 74, investment banker and chairman of the board of Burr and Company, New York City, died in his hotel apartment in that city. He was born in Florence, February 5, 1866, the son of George Ames and Sarah Ely Burr, educated at the Friends School in Providence and graduated from the Worcester Polytechnic Institution in 1886. From 1887 to 1897 he was president of the St. John, Kansas, State Bank and in later years formed George H. Burr & Company of which Burr & Company was the successor company. One of Northampton's outstanding benefactors over a long period of years, Mr. Burr was a brother of the late Fannie (Burr) Look, who donated property and funds for the Frank Newhall Look Memorial Park in Florence. Mr. Burr was trustee and treasurer of the board in charge of the park and had contributed liberally to its support. His father was the founder of the Florence Manufacturing Company, now known as the Prophylactic Brush Company. The company was founded in 1866, the year of Mr. Burr's birth. During the World War, Mr. Burr served as a commissioner of the Red Cross in France and was made an officer of the Legion of Honor by the French government.

In January 1970, directors of the St. John National Bank authorized a new and larger bank. The new facility would be located east of the present building in the same block, where the Dillon Market used to be. The official ground breaking was on Monday, August 25th, with J.D. Hager, Jr., president of the bank, turning the first shovel.

• 09/22/2010 Main Office moved to 116 E 3rd Avenue, Saint John, KS 67576.
• 12/15/2012 Branch Purchased
• 06/28/2014 Changed Chartering Agency to STATE and changed Institution Name to SJN Bank of Kansas.
• 01/01/2017 Acquired Greensburg State Bank (FDIC #14315) in Greensburg, KS.
• 04/16/2019 Acquired The Nekoma State Bank (FDIC #13603) in La Crosse, KS.

Official Bank Title

1: The St. John National Bank, St. John, KS

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with stamped signatures of J.D. Stewart, Cashier and F.B. Gillmore, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1929 Type 1 $20 bank note with printed signatures of J.D. Stewart, Cashier and F.B. Gillmore, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com

1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of J.D. Stewart, Cashier and F.B. Gillmore, President. Part of an uncut sheet formerly in the Huntoon Collection of U.S. National Bank Notes. Note is used to illustrate a repaired number in Chapter G5, Series of 1929 National Bank Note Replacement Notes, Figure 17. The original number was erased and a paging machine was used to re-enter it.

A total of $426,610 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1905 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 53,786 notes (43,360 large size and 10,426 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 - 650
1902 Red Seal	3x10-20	1 - 520
1902 Date Back	4x5	1 - 1825
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 1260
1902 Plain Back	4x5	1826 - 5944
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	1261 - 3726
1929 Type 1	6x5	1 - 906
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 442
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 140
1929 Type 2	5	1 - 800
1929 Type 2	10	1 - 603
1929 Type 2	20	1 - 95

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1905 - 1935):

Presidents:

• Robert Bruce Temple, 1905-1908
• Howard Gray, Sr., 1909-1912
• Frank Benjamin Gillmore, 1913-1935

Cashiers:

• John David Stewart, 1905-1935

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• St. John National Bank, Saint John, KS History (NB Lookup)
• Kansas Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Saint John, KS, 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
• Huntoon, Peter, and Simek, James A., Chapter G5, Series of 1929 National Bank Note Replacement Notes, Encyclopedia of U.S. National Bank Notes, accessed Oct. 22, 2025.