Union National Bank, Mahanoy City, PA (Charter 3997)
Union National Bank, Mahanoy City, PA (Chartered 1889 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Mahanoy City (pronounced MAHA-noy) is a borough located 38 miles southwest of Wilkes-Barre and 13 miles southwest of Hazleton, in northern Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania in the southern Coal Region. The name "Mahanoy" is believed to be a variation of the Native American word 'Maghonioy', or "the salt deposits". As of the census of 2000, there were 4,647 people residing in the borough.
Mahanoy City was settled in 1859 and incorporated as a borough on December 16, 1863. It was served by branches of the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia & Reading railways. The borough's principal industries remain the mining and shipping of coal, although the demand for it has steadily declined since its peak in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1930 the St. Nicholas Coal Breaker was built and went into operation in 1932. A controlled explosion destroyed the breaker in March 2018.
Mahanoy City lies in a valley in the Pennsylvania Coal Region and was a major center of anthracite production; the area was embroiled in the Molly Maguires incidents. In 2010, the borough erected the Molly Maguire Historic Park, which features a Zenos Frudakis statue of a hooded miner on a gallows, about to be hanged. Sean Connery, the star of the 1970 historical drama film The Molly Maguires, served as chairman of the advisory board for the park project.
Mahanoy City had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized Feb 8, 1889
- Chartered Mar 26, 1889
- Bank was Open past 1935
- Merged with the Pennsylvania National Bank in 1964
In 1889 Andrew Comrey, Civil War veteran and successful Mahanoy City businessman and sheriff assisted in the organization of the Union National Bank of Mahanoy City and was elected its first president and served in that capacity until succeeded by Harrison Ball.
In July 1904, Ira W. Barnes tendered his resignation as cashier of the First National Bank of Weatherly to take effect on August 15th. The Union National Bank of Mahanoy City secured Mr. Barnes as teller and assistant cashier to replace John Meyer who resigned.
On May 27, 1938, Joseph E. Ferguson, former president of the Union National Bank of Mahanoy City was sentenced to two years in the Northeastern Federal Penitentiary at Lewisburg after pleading guilty to embezzlement of about $75,000 from the bank during a 13 year period. More than 300 Mahanoy City residents and the bank's present officers described Ferguson as one of the most honored citizens of the community. They signed a petition for leniency but Federal Judge Albert B. Maris agreed with U.S. Attorney Francis W. Sullivan's demand for punishment. Ferguson, 61 years old at the time and a father of four children, was indicted by the federal grand jury on nine embezzlement charges of making false entries in his records and one of making a false report to the comptroller of the currency which showed liabilities of the trust company $45,000 less than they actually were. The bank's loss was reported to be almost nothing as $50,000 was collected from a bonding company and Ferguson surrendered three parcels of real estate, 40 shares of the bank's stock owned by him and a $20,000 life insurance policy to cover the discrepancy.
Ferguson was a leading resident of Mahanoy City, active in the Boy Scout movement, Liberty Loan and charity drives. He was also a prominent member of church and fraternal societies and had started with the bank in 1901. The embezzlement was discovered by J.W. Going, a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in January 1937. He told the court that many of the peculiarities were barred by the statue of limitation and that the total loss was about $75,000. The Embezzlements started in 1923 when Ferguson was cashier and continued until the FBI man examined the books. Ferguson was dismissed from his $7,500 a year post as president. It was reported that Ferguson lost heavily in the stock market.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Union National Bank of Mahanoy City, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $3,139,300 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1889 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 239,697 notes (204,760 large size and 34,937 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 13269 1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 1244 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 13100 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 13101 - 37299 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 3870 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 1058 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 4224 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1145
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
The Union National Bank of Mahanoy City Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1889 - 1936):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
- Dr. Eli S. Reinhold, 1889-1905
- Ira Winslow Barnes, 1906-1910
- William H. Kohler, 1911-1918
- Joseph Edward Ferguson, 1919-1935
Other Bank Note Signers
- Mathew M. MacMillan, Vice President, 1904
- There are currently no known Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History
- General information on Mahanoy City (Wikipedia)
- General information on Schuylkill County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Mahanoy City, 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://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
- The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Fri., July 29, 1904.
- Republican and Herald, Pottsville, PA, Fri., July 29, 1904.
- Miners Journal, Pottsville, PA, Sat., Mar. 3, 1906.
- Shamokin News-Dispatch, Shamokin, PA, Fri., May 27, 1938.
- Pottsville Republican, Pottsville, PA, Fri., June 19, 1987.