St. Michael National Bank, Saint Michael, PA (Charter 12588)
St. Michael National Bank, Saint Michael, PA (Chartered 1924 - Open past 1935)
Town History
St. Michael is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Its ZIP code is 15951. As of the 2010 census the population of St. Michael was 408.
St. Michael is located in southeastern Cambria County in the valley of the South Fork of the Little Conemaugh River, less than a mile southeast of U.S. Route 219, a four-lane highway which leads 12 miles north to Ebensburg, the county seat, and 11 miles southwest (via Pennsylvania Route 56) to Johnstown. The community of Sidman is one mile southeast of St. Michael, also in the valley of the South Fork.
Saint Michael had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized October 10, 1924
- Chartered October 23, 1924
- Bank was Open past 1935
On October 23, 1924, the St. Michael National Bank was granted a charter and opened temporary headquarters in the St. Michael Hotel. A permanent home for the new bank would soon be built. Officers were J.E. Fawcett of St. Michael, president; and R.W. Maneval of Windber, vice president. Other incorporators were Dr. E.P. Dickinson, P.M. McCon of St. Michael, and B.L. Simpson of Windber. J. Ward Hile was elected cashier and was previously with the Merchants and Miners Bank at Windber.[1]
In September 1965, J. Ward Hile, 90, former pro ball player who conceived the idea that a catcher's position was directly behind home plate, died at his Cresson home.[2] Mr. Hile was a graduate of the Central State Normal School in Lock Haven, class of 1894, and one of its great athletes. He also held a niche in the library of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, New York.[3] Hiles, a Clearfield County native, conceived of positioning the catcher directly behind home plate. Prior to this change in rules, the catcher stood about halfway between home plate and the backstop and usually caught the ball on the bounce or off the backstop.[4]
On March 17, 1966, two men, one armed with a revolver, held up a branch office of the U.S. National bank of Johnstown at St. Michael and fled with an undetermined amount of money. The bandits ordered four persons to lie on the floor and then helped themselves to cash boxes in the tellers' cages. The also entered a part of the vault, but there was no money in the open area. A time lock secured the part of the vault containing money. The robbers entered the bank at about 10:10 AM and found two bank employees, John Puto, manager, Paul Landers, teller, and two auditors from the bank's main office in Johnstown.[5] This was the third bank robbery in western Pennsylvania for the week. Two gunmen held up a Mellon National Bank office in Ambridge on Wednesday and fled with $3,737 and on Monday a man and a woman robbed a Pittsburgh National Bank branch in Hampton Township of $11,000.[6] About 6 hours later, two men, Ronald L. Webb, 26, and Theodore A. Swanson, 22, were arrested at a Johnstown housing project. Police found $2,825 under a seat in Swanson's car and a Federal Reserve Bank bag on the car floor. They searched Swanson and found a .32 caliber revolver in his belt. Officers searched Swanson's apartment later and found more money. The amount taken was $5,752.[7][8] The two pleaded innocent, but were convicted and sentenced to prison in the Lewisburg Penitentiary. Later they were charged with the murder of Robert D. Herdman of Upper Yoder Township. Swanson was convicted of first-degree murder and received a life sentence on top of his 10 to 20 year term for the St. Patrick's Day armed robbery of the St. Michael branch of the U.S. National Bank.[9]
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The St. Michael National Bank, St. Michael, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $118,120 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1924 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 14,492 notes (No large size and 14,492 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1184 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 580 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 228 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 1520 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 756 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 264
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1924 - 1935):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
- St. Michael National Bank, Saint Michael, PA History (NB Lookup)
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Saint Michael, PA, 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
- ↑ Altoona Tribune, Altoona, PA, Wed., Nov. 5, 1924.
- ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., Sep. 22, 1965.
- ↑ The Express, Lock Haven State College, PA, Mon., May 22, 1961.
- ↑ The Progress, Clearfield, PA, Wed., May 24, 1961.
- ↑ The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Fri., Mar. 18, 1966.
- ↑ The Record American, Mahanoy city, PA, Thu., Mar. 17, 1966.
- ↑ The Morning Herald, Uniontown, PA, Fri., May 13, 1966.
- ↑ The Daily American, Somerset, PA, Fri., Mar. 18, 1966.
- ↑ Tyrone Daily Herald, Tyrone, PA, Tue., May 21, 1968.