Topeka National Bank, Topeka, KS (Charter 1945)
Topeka National Bank, Topeka, KS (Chartered 1872 - Liquidated 1878)
Town History
Topeka is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 126,587. In 1910 the population was 43,684, growing to 64,120 by 1930.
The city, laid out in 1854, was one of the Free-State towns founded by Eastern antislavery men immediately after the passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Bill. In 1857, Topeka was chartered as a city.
The name "Topeka" is a Kansa-Osage word that means "place where we dig potatoes", or "a good place to dig potatoes". As a placename, Topeka was first recorded in 1826 as the Kansa name for what is now called the Kansas River. Topeka's founders chose the name in 1855 because it "was novel, of Indian origin, and euphonious of sound". Mixed-heritage Kansa Native American Joseph James, called Jojim, is credited with suggesting Topeka's name.
In the 1840s, wagon trains made their way west from Independence, Missouri, on a journey of 2,000 miles, following what came to be known as the Oregon Trail. About 60 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri, three half-Kansas Indian sisters married to the French-Canadian Pappan brothers established a ferry service allowing travelers to cross the Kansas River at what is now Topeka. During the 1840s and into the 1850s, travelers could reliably find a way across the river, but little else was in the area.
In the early 1850s, traffic along the Oregon Trail was supplemented by trade on a new military road stretching from Fort Leavenworth through Topeka to the newly established Fort Riley. In 1854, after completion of the first cabin, nine men established the Topeka Town Association. The group included Cyrus K. Holliday, an "idea man", who became mayor of Topeka and founder of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. Soon, steamboats were regularly docking at the Topeka landing, depositing meat, lumber, and flour and returning eastward with potatoes, corn, and wheat. By the late 1860s, Topeka had become a commercial hub that offered many Victorian era comforts.
Topeka had 11 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all 11 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized January 24, 1872
- Chartered March 1, 1872
- Succeeded F.W. Giles & Co.
- Liquidated August 7, 1878
- Succeeded by Topeka State Bank
On Monday, March 11, 1872, F.W. Giles returned from Washington with the documents authorizing the establishment of the Topeka National Bank with a capital of $100,000. The organization of the bank was as follows: F.W. Giles, president; C.W. Jewell, vice president; and Sam. K. Lakin, cashier.[3] On March 7, 1872, Hiland R. Hulburd, Comptroller of the Currency, authorized the Topeka National Bank to commence the business of banking.[4] On Monday, April 1, 1872, the Topeka National Bank, formerly F.W. Giles & Co., began business with a capital of $100,000.[5] On April 2d, the largest and best gold sign in the city was put up by Copson & Stringham for this new establishment.[6]
In December 1875, the Topeka National Bank, corner of Kansas and Sixth Avenues, was the successor of the oldest banking house in Topeka. Its officers were F.W. Giles, president; C.W. Jewell, vice president; S.K. Lakin, cashier. Other Topeka banks included the banking house of Guilford Dudley at 163 Kansas Avenue; the banking house of John D. Knox which commenced busines in December 1873; the Topeka Bank and Savings Institution in business since January 1, 1869, with president Jacob Smith and cashier and secretary John R. Mulvane; The State Savings Bank with George W. Veale (late president State National Bank); Charles N. Rix, vice president (late vice president State National Bank); J.P. Ennis, cashier (late of J.P. Ennis & Co.); Citizens Bank, North Topeka, with T.B. Sweet, president; William S. Reid of Richmond, Indiana, vice president; J. Thomas, cashier.[7]
The morning of August 5, 1878, the citizens of Topeka were more than startled on reading the following notice on the door of the Topeka National Bank: "The Directors of this Bank have decided to close for the present. Depositors will be fully paid. F.W. Giles, President."[8] The week of August 19th, a new bank was organized to be known as the Topeka State Bank which would succeed to the business of the Topeka National Bank.[9] F.W. Giles was president and C.W. Jewell, cashier.[10]
Mr. Samuel Lakin came to Topeka from Rockford, Illinois, in 1868. For the greater portion of this time, he was the efficient cashier of the banking house of F.W. Giles & Co. and later of the Topeka National Bank. He was treasurer of the Topeka Building Association for several years. He was 30 years, 4 months and 6 days old at the time of his death on December 24, 1878.[11]
On the morning of June 9, 1898, Frye Williams [sic] Giles, died at his home, southeast corner of Eighth and Jackson Streets, Topeka. Mr. Giles was born in Littleton, New Hampshire on May 30, 1819. He traced his ancestry to John Giles who came from England and settled in Massachusetts in 1634. At the age of 15, he went to Webster, New Hampshire, and was indentured as a store clerk until his majority. In 1841 he engaged in general merchandise business at Littleton until 1854 when he started west. He went to Kansas City on the steamboat Genoa on its last trip up the Missouri River. From Kansas City he traveled on foot in company with Daniel H. Horne, T.G. Thornton, Timothy McIntyre, Jonas E. Greenwood, George F. Crow, William C. Linaker, L.G. Cleveland, and S.A. Clark, arriving at Lawrence on December 2, 1854. From there as one of a party, he went up the river to locate a townsite. They arrived at the future site of Topeka on December 4th. The next day a town company was formed. He helped lay out the streets of the city. He was appointed the first postmaster of Topeka in 1855. He kept a private record of land conveyances which was afterward legalized by act of the state legislature. In 1857 he was elected county recorder and clerk which position he held for 3 years. In 1864 he established a banking business and two years later associated himself in the banking business with C.W. Jewell. The firm continued in business until 1872 under the name of F.W. Giles & Company.[12]
Official Bank Title
1: The Topeka National Bank, Topeka, KS
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $183,800 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1872 and 1878. This consisted of a total of 35,104 notes (35,104 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 - 3800 Original Series 4x5 1 - 2800 Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 1600 Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 576
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1872 - 1878):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Topeka, 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
- ↑ Kansas State Record, Topeka, KS, Wed., Mar. 4, 1868.
- ↑ The Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, KS, Tue., Dec. 31, 1878.
- ↑ The Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, KS, Tue., Mar. 12, 1872.
- ↑ The Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, KS, Fri., Mar. 29, 1872.
- ↑ The Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, KS, Sun., Mar. 31, 1872.
- ↑ The Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, KS, Wed., Apr. 3, 1872.
- ↑ The Weekly Commonwealth, Topeka, KS, Thu., Dec. 30, 1875.
- ↑ The Weekly Commonwealth, Topeka, KS, Thu., Aug. 8, 1878.
- ↑ The Wichita Weekly Beacon, Wichita, KS, Wed., Aug. 21, 1878.
- ↑ The Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, KS, Tue., Dec. 31, 1878.
- ↑ The Topeka State Journal, Topeka, KS, Tue., Dec. 24, 1878.
- ↑ The Topeka State Journal 1892-1905, Topeka, KS, Thu., June 9, 1898.