Sunbury National Bank, Sunbury, PA (Charter 6877)

Postcard of the Sunbury National Bank of Pennsylvania ca1910s. The window of the corner office advertises the Law office of Harry S. Knight, one of the bank's organizers. Courtesy of Adam Stroup

Sunbury National Bank, Sunbury, PA (Chartered 1903 - Liquidated 1923)

Town History

Postcard view of Market Street, Sunbury, Pennsylvania ca1930s. The Edison Hotel is on the right and the old First National Bank is on the left. Courtesy of Adam Stroup

Sunbury is a city in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in Central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River Valley on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, just downstream of the confluence of its main and west branches. It dates to the early 18th century and is the county seat of Northumberland County.

Thomas Edison installed the first successful three-wire electric lighting system in July 1883 at what was then known as the City Hotel. At the city's 150th anniversary celebration in 1922, it was renamed the Edison Hotel. Other historic sites include the Beck House, Northumberland County Courthouse, and Sunbury Historic District, all listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Sunbury's population was 9,905 at the 2010 census.

The first human settlement of Sunbury was probably Shawnee migrants. A large population of Delaware Indians was also forcibly resettled there in the early 18th century after they lost rights to their land in the Walking Purchase. Canasatego of the Six Nations, enforcing the Walking Purchase of behalf of George Thomas, Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania, ordered the Delaware Indians to go to two places on the Susquehanna River, one of which was present-day Sunbury.

From 1727 to 1756, Sunbury was one of the largest and most influential Indian settlements in Pennsylvania. At that time, it was known as Shamokin, not to be confused with the present-day city of Shamokin, Pennsylvania, which is located to the east.

In 1745, Presbyterian missionary David Brainerd described the city as being located on both the east and west sides of the river, and on an island. Brainerd reported that the city housed 300 Indians, half of which were Delawares and the other Seneca and Tutelo.

In 1754, much of the land west of the Susquehanna was transferred from the Six Nations to Pennsylvania at the Albany Congress. However, Shamokin was not sold and was reserved by the Six Nations. The French and Indian War brought fighting to much of the region. The Delaware Indian residents of Shamokin remained neutral for much of the early part of the war, in part because a drought and unseasonable frost in Shamokin in 1755 left them without provisions. However, the Delaware Indians at Shamokin joined the war against Pennsylvania and the English after the Gnadenhutten massacre in 1755. Pennsylvania Fort Augusta was built in 1756 at Shamokin.

On March 21, 1772, Northumberland County was incorporated and subdivided. The settlement of Shamokin was renamed Sunbury that same year, and the present-day city of Sunbury identifies 1772 as the date of its establishment. It was named after Sunbury-on-Thames, a town in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne, England, just outside Greater London.

The Weis' took over their father's general store in Selinsgrove, but decided to try their hand at corner grocery stores. Sigmund and Harry Weis built their first in Sunbury in 1912, expanding to 133 stores in Central Pennsylvania by 1933. The progressing-thinking brothers moved to self-service supermarkets, consolidating their 115 corner stores into 35 Weis Supermarkets by 1955. The two lived beside one another on North Front Street in Sunbury.

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

Bank History

Organized April 30, 1903
Chartered July 9, 1903
Liquidated October 26, 1923
Absorbed by Charter 1237 (First National Bank, Sunbury, PA)
Circulation assumed by Charter 1237 (First National Bank, Sunbury, PA)

Sunbury had two banks in 1903, the First National Bank and the Sunbury Trust and Safe Deposit Company. However, it had long been recognized that a third institution was needed. At the initiative of Harry S. Knight, C.B. Witmer, Dr. F.E. Drumheller, A.W. Pontius and other leaders in the professional and business world, The Sunbury National Bank was organized. On April 27, 1903, the first board of directors was elected with Dr. F.E. Drumheller, P.M. Eckman, D.P. Rockefeller, A.W. Pontius, E.E. White, W.B. Faust, Dr. J.J. Keller, Johnson B. Miller, C.C. Seebold, Thomas M. Righter, C.B. Witmer, Harry S. Knight, Dr. M.L. Emerick. On the 30th the board elected Dr. F.E. Drumheller president and P.M. Eckman vice president. The lot on the northeast corner of Market and Fourth streets was purchased. Ground was broken on August 15, 1903 and the charter being duly authorized, the Sunbury National Bank made its debut on July 23, 1903 in temporary quarters located on the eastern side of its new lot. The bank started with $100,000 in capital.

On July 7, 1923, it was announced that the First National Bank of Sunbury had taken over the entire assets, business, building and equipment of the Sunbury National Bank, subject to the approval of the stockholders. The Sunbury National Bank would retire from business and the two institutions would be consolidated with combined assets of $4,000,000; deposits of $3,000,000; and capital of $900,000. The First National Bank planned to move its operation into the old Sunbury National Bank building. The First National Bank was one of the oldest institutions in this part of the Susquehanna Valley having incorporated as a state bank in 1831. It was incorporated as the Bank of Northumberland and its first president was James Hepburn, Esq. and its cashier was Joseph Raynor Priestley, Esq, grandson of the famous Rev. Dr. Joseph Priestly, discoverer of oxygen. In 1864 the Bank of Northumberland was moved from Northumberland to Sunbury and in 1865 it became the First National Bank of Sunbury.

On Friday, October 26, 1923, the board of directors called upon stockholders to vote on a resolution to place The Sunbury National Bank in voluntary liquidation. E.B. Hunter, Cashier, notified the public after the vote that The Sunbury National Bank at the City of Sunbury was closing its affairs. The First National Bank of Sunbury purchased all of the assets and assumed all of the liabilities of the bank.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Sunbury National Bank, Sunbury, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

Needed: Large Size Bank Note from The Sunbury National Bank.

A total of $318,250 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1903 and 1923. This consisted of a total of 25,460 notes (25,460 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
1902 Red Seal	3x10-20	1 - 1700
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 3270
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	3271 - 4665

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1903 - 1923):

Presidents:

Dr. Francis Edward Drumheller, 1903-1923

Cashiers:

Edmund Burke Hunter, 1903-1923

Other Bank Note Signers

There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

Sunbury, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbury,_Pennsylvania
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://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA, Mon., July 3, 1922.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun, July 8, 1923
The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA, Thu., Dec. 13, 1923.
The Danville News, Danville, PA, Fri., Aug. 16, 2002.