Third National Bank, Philadelphia, PA (Charter 234)
Third National Bank, Philadelphia, PA (Chartered 1864 - Closed 1926)
Town History
Philadelphia is located in Philadelphia County, in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania. It is currently the sixth-most-populous city in the United States and the most populous city in the state of Pennsylvania. It is also the second-most populous city in the Northeastern United States, behind New York City.
Philadelphia is one of the oldest municipalities in the United States. William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city in 1682 to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. It grew on the steep banks of the Delaware River into a hub of international trade and monetary influence. The royal post-office was established in this city by Franklin. Mail would pass uninterrupted from Crown to Republic, the one royal department which did so. The Colonies used the old expresses and mail routes leading up to and through the revolution. Philadelphia played an instrumental role in the American Revolution as a meeting place for the Founding Fathers of the United States, who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 in Carpenters' Hall, and the Constitution at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in Independence Hall.
Philadelphia was the second Capitol after New York City during George Washington's presidency. On April 2, 1792, the United States Mint opened its doors here with David Rittenhouse, former treasurer of Pennsylvania, the first director. The American Philosophical Society was the first scientific society in the land and still meets in the hall Franklin secured for it. Former townships and boroughs of Bristol, Richmond, Kensington, Germantown, Manayunk, Northern Liberties, Southwark, to name a few, were consolidated into Philadelphia in 1854 which then occupied all of Philadelphia County.
During the National Bank Note Era (1863-1935), the population of Philadelphia was 674,022 in 1870, growing to 1,950,961 in 1930. Its highest population was 2,071,605 in 1950, and the current population is estimated at 1,584,064 (2019).
Philadelphia had 70 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and 62 of those banks issued National Bank Notes. Philadelphia also had 27 Obsolete Banks that issued Obsolete Bank Notes during the Obsolete Bank Note Era (1782-1866).
Bank History
- Chartered February 4, 1864
- Closed July 29, 1926
- Consolidated with 542 July 29, 1926 (Corn Exchange National Bank, Philadelphia, PA)
- Circulation assumed by 542 (Corn Exchange National Bank, Philadelphia, PA)
On December 19, 1863, at a meeting of the stockholders of the Third National Bank, the following gentlemen were elected directors: David B. Paul, Adam Warthman, George Cookman, James B. Ferree, William C. Allison, Thomas R. Peterson, and C.P. Morton. The directors met the same day and unanimously elected Daved B. Paul, Esq., president; and R. Glendinning, cashier.
In January 1866, the directors were David B. Paul, Wm. C. Allison, Zophar C. Howell, John B. McCreary, Thomas K. Peterson, Joseph Harrison, Jr., and J.W. Supley.
In August 1867, a man named George Gorman (or Garman), formerly a professional trader, insurance agent, and at one time Harrisburg constable and lately a resident of Jersey Shore, Pa., was arrested on a charge of passing counterfeit national currency. When captured he had $750 in counterfeit $10 notes on the Third National Bank of Philadelphia tied up in bundles along with $300 in genuine greenbacks, gold and silver. These counterfeits had been in circulation in this region for some months and were splendidly executed. The main points of detection were in the signatures in which the usual order had by some accident become reversed. Garman sometimes represented himself as keeping a restaurant in Philadelphia and at other times as keeping a hotel at Bellefonte. Garman was convicted in November 1867. He was sentenced to the Eastern penitentiary at labor by separate confinement for 3 years and 1 month and fined $100. The cashiers of the First National and the Mechanics Bank of Harrisburg testified that the counterfeits were admirably executed. [Kelly, National Bank Notes, 6th ed., p. 505 lists Original Series Third NB of Philadelphia (234) as counterfeited.] Garman would later testify against Nathaniel McKinsey, accusing him of making the plate about April 1867 having rented a room in the house on Third Street.
On Tuesday, January 14, 1868, the stockholders elected the following directors: David B. Paul, Thomas K. Peterson, William C. Allison, John B. McCreary, Joseph Harrison, Jr., Z.C. Howell, and J.W. Supplee. The Directors on the 17th unanimously re-elected D.B. Paul, Esq., president. R. Glendinning was cashier.
In August 1875, Mr. Robert Glendinning tendered his resignation and it was accepted by the board of directors. Mr. A. Thorn, assistant cashier, was acting as cashier in his stead.
On Tuesday, January 13, 1891, at the annual stockholders meeting, the following directors were elected: Percy M. Lewis, George Myers, H.N. Fitzgerald, Samuel Ligget, John Kisterbock, James O. McHenry, John F. Lewis, B.F. McFillin, Murrell Dobbins, Wm. B. Irvine, and Henry C. Forrest. The bank was located on the southwest corner of Broad and Market Streets. The Third National was one of two banks with active accounts of the City of Philadelphia, the other being the Keystone National Bank.
On July 3, 1891, defaulting City Treasurer John Bardsley was sentenced to 15 years in the penitentiary and fined $237,530. Elected in 1888, he tendered his resignation to take effect on May 30, 1891. It was soon discovered that very large sums of money which he had from time to time collected for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had not been paid over by him and no adequate security had ever been give to the state. One investigation was conducted by a committee of the councils of Philadelphia and another was in charge of experts, duly appointed and acting under the authority of the mayor Philadelphia. Treasury Department representatives were engaged for many weeks in examining the books of at least two of the national banks in which John Bardsley deposited city and state funds. Criminal prosecutions were begun by the District Attorney of Philadelphia and terminated with his plea of guilty.
On July 21, 1891, ex-Director of Public Works, General Louis Wagner, was unanimously elected president of the Third National Bank at a special meeting of the board of directors. Murrell Dobbins, after having taken the helm when Percy M. Lewis resigned in order to aid in tiding the institution over its troubled times, resigned and was succeeded by General Wagner. In April 1891, General Wagner turned down the presidency of the Keystone National Bank. In June he would testify that he turned down the receivership of the Keystone having determined the assets to be worth about 60% of the liabilities. He also stated "...I heard that [City Treasurer, John] Bardsley's account was not straight. I asked him about it, but could find out nothing about it, for he simply said that his account had not been balanced for three months and he didn't know what his balance really was." At the end of July, the Third National had canceled its indebtedness of $380,000 to the Clearing House. General Wagner informed Mayor Stuart, Controller Thompson and City Treasurer Wright of the state of affairs and that the bank would commence to pay back the money owed to the city. When General Louis was elected president, the bank's reserve fund was only $28,000. The debt was paid by making a 45% assessment against the stockholders.
On Tuesday, January 8, 1907, shareholders unanimously re-elected the following directors: Thomas J. Budd, Edwin F. Cook, Lewis R. Dick, Jacob S. Disston, Levi G. Fouse, Samuel F. Houston, Geo. W. Kindrick, Jr., Joseph J. Martin, Geo. B. Roberts, Edgar D. Stow, and Louis Wagner. The directors met on the 11th and unanimously re-elected Louis Wagner as president. Thomas J. Budd was cashier. The bank was located on the southwest corner of Broad and Market Streets, Philadelphia.
In June 1912, the officers were Louis Wagner, president; Thos. J. Budd, cashier; W. Clifford Wood, assistant cashier; and Wm. T. Tomlinson, second assistant cashier. The bank had resources of $7,412,125.07 at the close of business on June 14th.
On Tuesday, January 14, 1913, shareholders re-elected the following directors: Thomas J. Budd, Lewis R. Dick, Jacob S. Disston, Levi G. Fouse, Samuel Frederic Houston, George W. Kendrick, Jr., Joseph J. Martin, George Brinton Roberts, Edgard D. Stow, Louis M. Wagner, and Louis Wagner. The directors met and unanimously re-elected Louis Wagner as president. Thomas J. Budd was cashier.
In September 1921, the directors were Frank P. Croft, Lewis R. Dick, Jacob S. Disston, Samuel F. Houston, Joseph J. Martin, Humbert B. Powell, G. Brinton Roberts, W. LeMar Talbot, Louis M. Wagner, W. Clifford Wood, and Hamilton Disston. The officers were Lewis R. Dick, president; G. Brinton Roberts, vice president; W. Clifford Wood, cashier; Wm. T. Tomlinson, Raymond R. Bosworth, and Herbert S. White, assistant cashiers.
On June 17, 1926, announcement was made of the merger of the Corn Exchange National Bank and the Third National Bank, both of Philadelphia. Directors of both institutions approved the combination. The merged institutions had resources of $85 million and deposits of approximately $75 million, making the third largest banking unit in Philadelphia. Charles S. Calwell, president of the Corn Exchange, headed the new institution, and Lewis R. Dick, president of the Third National, became vice president. The merger was carried out on the basis of one share of Corn Exchange National stock exchanged for two shares of Third National. In order to adjust the differences in book value the Third National stockholders also received $45 in cash. All the business of the Third National was transferred to the Corn Exchange National Bank at 1510-12 Chestnut Street.
Official Bank Title
1: The Third National Bank of Philadelphia, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $4,532,690 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1926. This consisted of a total of 508,532 notes (508,532 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 Original Series 3x1-2 1 - 5000 Original Series 4x5 1 - 8250 Original Series 4x10 1 - 3750 Original Series 3x20-50 1 - 1900 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 1542 Series 1875 4x10 1 - 2270 Series 1875 3x20-50 1 - 1395 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 2250 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 8361 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 13400 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 45840 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 33175
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1926):
Presidents:
- David B. Paul, 1864-1886
- Percy Mortimer Lewis, 1887-1890
- Louis Wagner, 1891-1913
- Lewis R. Dick, 1914-1925
Cashiers:
- Robert Glendinning Sr., 1864-1874
- Anthony T. Thorn, Jr., 1875-1877
- Benjamin Granger Godfrey, 1878-1880
- Percy Mortimer Lewis, 1881-1886
- Frederick H. Souder, 1887-1888
- Thomas J. Budd, 1889-1914
- W. Clifford Wood, 1915-1925
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Philadelphia, 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
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Tue., Dec. 22, 1863.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Wed., Jan. 10, 1866.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Wed., Aug. 7, 1867.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Sat., Nov. 23, 1867.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Fri., Jan. 17, 1868.
- Harrisburg Telegraph, Harrisburg, PA, Sat., Jan. 18, 1868.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Wed., Jan. 22, 1868.
- Harrisburg Telegraph, Harrisburg, PA, Tue., Feb. 4, 1868.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Wed. Feb. 5, 1868.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Fri., Aug. 6, 1875.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Wed., Jan. 14, 1891.
- The Philadelphia Times, Philadelphia, PA, Mon., Apr. 13, 1891.
- The Philadelphia Times, Philadelphia, PA, Sun, Mar. 22, 1891.
- The Philadelphia Times, Philadelphia, PA, Sat., June 13, 1891.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Wed., July 22, 1891.
- The Philadelphia Times, Philadelphia, PA, Wed., July 29, 1891.
- Lewisburg Journal, Lewisburg, PA, Wed., Oct. 28, 1891.
- The Buffalo Times, Buffalo, NY, Thu., Dec. 31, 1891.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Mon., Jan. 14, 1907.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Thu., June 20, 1912.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Wed., Jan. 15, 1913.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Sat., Sep. 10, 1921.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Thu., Jan. 8, 1920.
- The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Fri., June 18, 1926.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Mon., Aug. 2, 1926.