Veazie National Bank, Bangor, ME (Charter 2089)
Veazie National Bank, Bangor, ME (Chartered 1873 - Liquidated 1908)
Town History
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine. As of the 2020 Census, the city proper had a population of 31,753, making it the state's third-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121).
Modern Bangor was established in the mid-19th century with the lumber and shipbuilding industries. Lying on the Penobscot River, logs could be floated downstream from the Maine North Woods and processed at the city's water-powered sawmills, then shipped from Bangor's port to the Atlantic Ocean 30 miles downstream, and from there to any port in the world. Evidence of this is still visible in the lumber barons' elaborate Greek Revival and Victorian mansions and the 31-foot-high statue of Paul Bunyan. Today, Bangor's economy is based on services and retail, healthcare, and education.
Bangor had seven National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all seven of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized February 18, 1873
- Chartered March 5, 1873
- Succeeded Veazie Bank
- Liquidated April 21, 1908
- Absorbed by Merrill Trust Company of Bangor, Maine
In January 1834, the Legislature read a Bill to incorporate the Bangor Bank on petition of Samuel Veazie, et. al.
In October 1836, directors of the Bank of Bangor were Samuel Veazie, James Crosby, Samuel J. Foster, Nathaniel Lord, and Stephen J. Bowles. Samuel Veazie was president and W.P. Richardson, cashier.
In October 1862, the directors of the Veazie Bank were Samuel Veazie, John W. Veazie, F.H. Dillingham, James Littlefield, Charles V. Lord. The officers were Samuel Veazie, president; and William J. Lord, cashier.
Veazie Bank v. Fenno. Congress passed an act on July 13, 1866, which imposed a 10 per cent tax on notes of private persons, state banks, and state banking associations. The Veazie Bank paid the tax under protest, alleging that Congress had no power to pass such an act. The Circuit Court of Maine, in which action was brought to recover the amount of the tax paid, being divided in its opinion, the case was brought to the Supreme Court upon the question of the constitutionality of the act. In a 5–2 opinion, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase held that this use of Congress's taxing power was authorized.
On March 12, 1868, Gen. Samuel Veazie, aged 81 years, one of the oldest and by far the most wealthy citizen of Eastern Maine, died in Bangor. He was president of the Veazie Bank, owned the Bangor and Oldtown Railroad, and was largely interested in mill property. Until within a few weeks of his death he attended to business as usual. On June 3, 1868, the Veazie Bank moved to its new, elegant banking room in the Exchange Block, on the corner of State and Exchange Streets. The banking room was finely fitted up with a marble floor, an elegant black walnut and ash counter with marble top, and handsome iron railing with desks and other coordinating furniture. The officers of the bank were Alfred Veazie, president, and Wm. C. Holt, cashier.
The Veazie National Bank was originally organized as the Bangor Bank, a State bank in 1834, and the Veazie Bank was incorporated by act of Legislature on July 7, 1848. It was reorganized as a national bank in 1873 and was therefore one of the oldest banks in the state. As both a state bank and a national bank, it had only four presidents, General Samuel Veazie (1834-1868), Alfred Veazie (1868-1879), Charles Veazie Lord (1879-1905), and Edwin G. Merrill (1905-1908).
At a meeting of the directors of the Veazie National Bank held on Thursday November 2, 1905, Edwin G. Merrill, president of the Merrill Trust Company, was elected president and a director of the Veazie National Bank, to succeed the late Charles V. Lord. While Mr. Merrill's election means that the Merrill Trust Company had acquired a substantial interest in the stock of the Veazie National Bank, and that working relations between these two financial institutions would be closer than heretofore, there would be no change in the conduct of the business of either institution, and each would be conducted separately under their present boards of directors. No consolidation of the two banks was contemplated in the immediate future. Its capital, surplus and undivided profits amount to about $245,000 and its deposits to about $600,000. The Board of Directors of the Veazie National Bank consists of Hon. Franklin A. Wilson, president of the Penobscot Savings Bank; Gen. George Varney of the Charles Hayward Co.; Hiram P. Oliver, of Morse & Co. and Nathaniel Lord, son of the late president, in addition to Edwin G. Merrill, the new president, and with a board so representative of extensive business interests in Bangor the well established reputation of the Old Veazie for strength and conservatism was sure to be maintained.
The new president in 1905, Edwin G. Merrill, organized the Merrill Trust Company in 1903, to take over the private banking business of Merrill & Co. which was entirely owned by the heirs of its founder, Isaac H. Merrill. Under Mr. Merrill's management the Merrill Trust Co. has been phenomenally successful. Its deposits have grown in two years and a half from a total of $132,848 on June 1st, 1903, the first day of business, to over $600,000, the exact amount which appears in the statement rendered to the bank examiner on October 28th showing deposits of 625,101.66. The Bangor Daily News, Friday, November 3, 1905.
On Tuesday afternoon, January 14, 1908, the following officers and directors were elected: Edward G. Merrill, president; A.B. Taylor, cashier; E.G. Merrill, John Wilson, George Varney, Nathaniel Lord, and John R. Graham, directors.
Officers of the Merrill Trust Company announced the Diebold Safe & Lock Company of Canton, Ohio, shipped a large part of the new safe deposit vault on January 21, 1908, after 8 months of delays. The shipment amounted to over 90,000 pounds, giving an indication of the massive construction underway with Messrs. Morse & Co. of Bangor holding the contract for the interior of the banking room. The fixtures and grilles had been for some weeks stored waiting on the arrival of the vault. When completed, the vault would be one of the heaviest in all New England, outside of Boston and possibly one or two other larger cities. The directors' room and ladies' room were finished and the directors held their January meeting in the new room.
On April 21, 1908, the handsome new building of the Merrill Trust Company opened. It was the first one in Bangor to be built from the ground up for a banking institution. In order to secure the advantageous site on Kenduskeag Stream, the Merrill Trust Company was obliged to take over a much larger site than was needed for the bank proper. Messrs. Newman & Harris of New York and Philadelphia were selected as architects. The were tasked to design two distinct buildings, one for use of the bank and the other a store and office building. They adapted from the Georgian a Colonial design, built of Harvard brick, trimmed with limestone and terra cotta, the whole structure resting on a massive foundation of concrete and Maine Granite. The banking room was a large rectangular room with high ceilings marked off by plaster beams, indicating the heavy steel beams used in the construction of the floor above. Similar to the banquet hall of the Harvard Club of New York, the architects used a high wainscoting of dark English oak. The grille was of hard brass with dull Flemish finish. Above the wainscoting the walls and ceiling were left white. The gas and electric fixtures were designed specifically for the Merrill Trust Company, worked out in bronze to match the grille. The president's office was to the left of the entrance, finished in the same dark oak paneling with desk, book case, table and chairs, all made to match the finish. The heavy burglar proof chests used in the old vault were transferred to the new vault and refinished to match the new interior. These chests weighed nearly 8 tons each and were guarded by time and combination locks. In addition, modern safe deposit boxes were installed in the new vault, practically doubling the capacity with room to expand to between 400 and 500 boxes. Messrs. John N. Merrill and Otto Nelson were the general contractors for the building; the Leighton Plumbing & Heating did the plumbing and E.F. Kelley & Son the heating system. The electric lighting fixtures were manufactured by the McKenney & Waterbury Co. for Chas. E. Dole of Bangor who held the electrical contracts.
April 21 also marked the consolidation of the Merrill Trust Co. and the Veazie National Bank. The entire clerical force of the Veazie Bank was retained in the new quarters. A.B. Taylor, for many years cashier of the national bank, became secretary of the Merrill Trust Co. The Veazie National Bank was originally the Bank of Bangor and was established in 1834 in the Crosby building on Exchange Street. The old keys of the institution were now in the new directors' room and were oddly similar to the ones for the new entrance.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Veazie National Bank of Bangor, ME
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $700,560 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1873 and 1908. This consisted of a total of 101,642 notes (101,642 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 - 2000 Original Series 4x5 1 - 3750 Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 1100 Original Series 50-100 1 - 300 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 5150 Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 1760 Series 1875 50-100 1 - 67 1882 Brown Back 4x5 1 - 8628 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 2839
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1873 - 1908):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Bangor, ME, 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
- Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME, Wed., Oct. 5, 1836.
- Eastern Argus, Portland, ME, Mon., Feb. 3, 1834.
- Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME, Tue., Sep 12, 1848.
- Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME, Wed., Oct. 15, 1862.
- Ellsworth American, Ellsworth, ME, Fri., Mar. 20, 1868.
- Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME, Thu., June 4, 1868.
- The Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME, Fri., Nov. 3, 1905.
- The Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME, Wed., Jan. 15, 1908.
- The Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME, Mon., Jan. 27, 1908.
- The Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME, Mon., Apr. 20, 1908.
- The Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME, Wed., Apr. 22, 1908.