Union National Bank, Streator, IL (Charter 2176)
Union National Bank, Streator, IL (Chartered 1874 - Closed (Merger) 2017)
Town History
Streator /ˈstriːtər/ is a city in LaSalle and Livingston counties in the state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately 81 miles southwest of Chicago in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. According to the 2010 census, the population of Streator was 13,710.
In 1824, surveyors for the Illinois and Michigan Canal which would extend from Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood to the Illinois River, a tributary of the Mississippi River, arrived in this area of the Vermilion River, followed by homesteaders by the 1830s. In 1861, miner John O'Neill established a trading post called "Hardscrabble", supposedly because he watched loaded animals struggle up the river's banks. Another name for the new settlement was "Unionville".
Streator received its current name to honor Worthy S. Streator, an Ohio industrialist who financed the region's first coal mining operation. Streator received a town charter in 1868 and incorporated as a city in 1882. In 1882 Col. Ralph Plumb was elected as its first mayor. Streator's early growth was due to the coal mine, as well as a major glass manufacturer and its status as a midwestern railroad hub. Today Streator's economy is led by heavy-equipment manufacturer Vactor, food distributor U.S. Foodservice, and glass bottle manufacturer Owens-Illinois.
The city is the hometown of Clyde Tombaugh, who in 1930 discovered the dwarf planet Pluto, the first object to be discovered in what would later be identified as the Kuiper belt; and George "Honey Boy" Evans, who wrote "In the Good Old Summer Time."
Streator had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all four of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized August 24, 1874
- Chartered August 28, 1874
- Succeeded Bank of Streator
- Conservatorship March 24, 1933
- Licensed again July 25, 1933
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Changed to State Charter December 1, 1988 and changed name to UnionBank May 1, 1991
- Merged into Midland States Bank in Effingham, IL, September 2, 2017
- Kabelac, Karl Sanford, "Levancia H. Plumb, National Bank President," Paper Money No. 277, pp 4-5.
On the night of May 16, 1932, five bandits kidnaped the Assistant Cashier, terrorized his wife and their children all night, waited for the time lock to open in the morning and escaped with approximately $50,000 from the Union National Bank of Streator. The robbers gave this time-tested method of bank robbery an extra twist by reporting a "bad accident" six minutes before the time lock opened a 8:30 o'clock. Most of Streator's police thus were absent investigating the false report while the bandits looted the bank. The quintet appeared at the home of T. E. McNamara, Assistant Cashier, the previous night. Four of them took him to the bank. One remained at his home to stand guard over Mrs. McNamara and the three children. McNamara and his four abductors waited in the bank for the time locks to open. William Boys, President, and several other employees who arrived meanwhile for work were forced to lie on the floor while the robbers emptied the vault.
In June 1932, Jacob Pearson, Ike Katzowitz, and Chuck Tilden were in the La Salle County Jail under arrest for the $52,000 robbery at the Union National Bank of Streator when a band of four gunmen forced their way in to the jail and freed them.
On January 10, 1933, Morris Friedman, alias Morris Brown, 26, was arrested in Chicago as a suspect in the gun raid at the La Salle County Jail after a 7 month search. Friedman was the fourth man arrested by Sheriff E.J. Welter for the jail break. The other three were the prisoners released, Pearson, Katzowitz, and Tilden, who were already serving terms of from one year to life in Joliet.
Sheriff Welter also had Mike Martorano, alias Mike Sperno, of Streator, former employee of a detective organization investigating bank robberies, who admitted he himself turned bandit. He was under an unrelated indictment for the robbery of the First National Bank at Ransom. One bill charged him with robbing the bank of $2600 and the other with robbing Wilfred Sequin, bank cashier, with a gun.
Official Bank Title
1: The Union National Bank of Streator, IL
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,186,800 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1874 and 2017. This consisted of a total of 38,142 notes (36,228 large size and 1,914 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments Original Series 4x10 1 - 1225 Series 1875 4x10 1 - 2600 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 2000 1882 Brown Back 50-100 1 - 2080 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 20 1882 Date Back 50-100 1 - 700 1882 Date Back 3x50-100 1 - 249 1902 Date Back 3x50-100 1 - 1280 1902 Plain Back 3x50-100 1281 - 1573 1929 Type 1 6x50 1 - 235 1929 Type 1 6x100 1 - 84
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1874 - 2017):
Presidents:
- Samuel Plumb, 1874-1882
- Ammon B. Moon, 1883-1890
- Milton A. Hicks, 1891-1893
- Lorrin Swift, 1894-1898
- Levancia (Holcomb) Plumb, 1899-1922
- Samuel Walter Plumb, 1923-1923
- Ezra Hunt Bailey, 1924-1928
- William H. Boys, 1929-1932
- August John Prafcke, 1933-1935
Cashiers:
- George L. Richards, 1874-1891
- Ezra Hunt Bailey, 1892-1923
- Lawrence Sowden, 1924-1932
- T. Earl McNamara, 1933-1935
Other Bank Note Signers
- S.W. Plumb signed notes as Vice President
- There are currently no known Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Illinois Bank Note History
- General information on Streator (Wikipedia)
- General information on LaSalle County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Illinois (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Streator, IL, 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 Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH, Tue., May 17, 1932.
- The Times, Streator, IL, Thu., Jan. 12, 1933.