Vincennes National Bank, Vincennes, IN (Charter 1454)

A view of Second Street looking northeast from Main ca1908. The Second National Bank of Vincennes pictured at left, was built in 1876 for the Vincennes National Bank (Charter 1454). The Second National Bank acquired the building after the Vincennes National went into receivership in 1892.

Vincennes National Bank, Vincennes, IN (Chartered 1865 - Receivership 1892)

Town History

The George Rogers Clark Memorial, Vincennes, Indiana, ca2020. Courtesy of Google Maps

Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana. It is located on the lower Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state, nearly halfway between Evansville and Terre Haute. Founded in 1732 by French fur traders, notably François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes, for whom the Fort was named, Vincennes is the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in Indiana and one of the oldest settlements west of the Appalachians. Vincennes served as capital of the Indiana Territory from 1800 until 1813.

In 1800 Vincennes was made capital of the new Indiana Territory. In 1801, William Henry Harrison was only 27 years old when he was appointed Governor of the Indiana Territory. He was given the powers of an emperor over what now comprises the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and later over the Louisiana purchase as well. He was authorized to adopt on his own initiative civil and criminal laws, arbitrarily to create counties and townships, to appoint civil officials and militia officers below the grade of general and to issue without supervision or countersigning land grants giving absolute title. Harrison erected his house, Grouseland, in 1804 and it remained his home until the War of 1812 took him away from Vincennes. It occupied a site of 300 acres on the banks of the Wabash on the outskirts of the city. From it he directed the affairs of the Indiana Territory and Louisiana purchase, so the building had the deserving name of "White House of the West." Originally, it was surrounded by a grove of stately walnut trees where Harrison held his famous parleys with the Indians, including the one with the intrepid Tecumseh in 1810.

Vincennes University was established in 1801 as Jefferson Academy. It is the oldest college of higher learning in Indiana. Purdue Polytechnic Institute maintains a satellite campus in Vincennes in a partnership with Vincennes University.

George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, located in Vincennes, Indiana, on the banks of the Wabash River at what is believed to be the site of Fort Sackville, is a United States National Historical Park. President Calvin Coolidge authorized a classical memorial and President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the completed structure in 1936.

According to the 2010 census, its population was 18,423, a decrease of 1.5% from 18,701 in 2000. In 1890 the population was 8,853, increasing to 17,564 by 1930.

Vincennes had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all four of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Bank of the State of Indiana obsolete $100 proof, Haxby IN-2. Deep reddish-orange tinted card proof by Bald, Cousland & Co. dated July 1st, 1857. A large white "C" as a protector centered over a harvest scene of two men with a scythe and two women carrying a sheaf of grain.

Organized April 26, 1865
Chartered July 17, 1865
Succeeded Vincennes Branch of the Bank of the State of Indiana
Receivership July 22, 1892

In November 1855, the Vincennes branch of the Indiana State Bank had as officers J.N. Eastham, president and J.F. Bayard, cashier. The directors were J.N. Eastham, John Ross, A.L. Roache, J.H. Hagar, John Caldwell, Samuel Wise, and G.D. Hay.

On January 1, 1857, the new Bank of the State of Indiana went into operation.  The act for its establishment was granted in 1855 and organization was now complete.  It had a capital of $6,000,000 and power to operate twenty branches.  The State owned no part of the capital stock.  Under the constitution of the State, no other bank could be created except under the Free Bank State Stock system.  Most of the branches of the new bank were in the hands of parties owning the branches of the old bank, so that the old branches were absorbed quietly into the new.  Hugh McCulloch, Esq. was president of the new bank and James M. Ray, Esq., cashier.  These gentlemen had been connected with the old State Bank from its organization, the former as cashier of the branch at Fort Wayne, the latter as cashier of the State Bank at Indianapolis.

The Vincennes National Bank was the successor to the State Bank of Indiana, established in 1831, and the Bank of the State of Indiana established in 1855. On July 17, 1865, The Vincennes National Bank of Indiana with capital of $200,000 was chartered. The officers were President John Ross and Cashier W.J. Williams.

On Friday evening, January 31, 1873, John Ross, Esq., a well known and distinguished citizen of Vincennes died. He moved to that city from New York at the age of nineteen in the year 1818, and had been for fifty-three years actively engaged in business in that city. Upon the organization of the Indiana State Bank in 1831, Mr. Ross was selected as cashier of the Vincennes Branch and when the Bank of the State of Indiana was organized in 1856, he was elected President of the Vincennes Branch with J.F. "Frank" Bayard, a brother of fellow citizen Samuel Bayard of the "Evansville National,” as cashier. Mr. Ross had been until recently President of the Vincennes National Bank organized in 1865. He was one of the oldest citizens of Vincennes and was a contemporary of fellow citizen Hon. John Law. Universally esteemed as an upright honest man and as a public spirited citizen, he was well-known and highly respected by many citizens.

In May 1891, the officials were W.M. Tyler, President; H.A. Foulks, Cashier; S.H. Isaacs, Assistant Cashier. These gentlemen were all old and well-known residents of Vincennes and highly respected and esteemed. Mr. Tyler was the cashier of the bank of the State of Indiana and was well-informed as to banking interests. The Capital was S100,000 and Surplus $50,000. The bank was located on the corner of Second and Main Streets.

On Tuesday, July 5, 1892, Wilson M. Tyler, president of the Vincennes National Bank, shot himself through the heart on his daughter's grave in the cemetery. For more than a year, Tyler was regularly engaged in grain speculations on the Chicago Board of Trade. He was in receipt of a letter from the comptroller of the currency notifying him that the Government was aware of his wrong-doing and the wrecked condition of his bank. Wilson M. Tyler was born in West Brookfield Mass., February 20, 1836. He was the son of Moses and Eliza (Makepeace) Tyler, natives of Massachusetts of English and Irish extraction, respectively. The father came to Ohio in 1843 and resided at Chagrin Falls until 1858 when he removed to Vincennes and engaged in the general merchandise business meeting with more than ordinary success. In 1864 he engaged In the general hardware building material and agricultural implement business in which he remained a senior partner until his death in March 1881. His mother died a few years afterwards. The deceased was brought up by his father in the mercantile business and secured a good academic education and at the age of 21 entered in the partnership with his father under the firm name of M. Tyler & Son and continued this until his father's death. In 1865 upon the organization of the Vincennes National Bank, Mr. Tyler became one of the stockholders and in 1878 he was made cashier, a position he filled creditably until 1881 when he accepted the position of president made vacant by the death of President W.J. Williams. On February 8, 1858 he married Miss Margaret Eastham, a native of Bairdstown, Kentucky.

On October 4, 1892, Receiver Thomas R. Paxton opened the doors of the bank and paid depositors a dividend of 30%. Other assessments would be made and it was expected that depositors would not lose anything.

In January 1894, Hiram A. Foulks, late cashier of the defunct Vincennes National Bank was arrested there by United States Marshal Hawkins for alleged violations of the national banking laws. In September 1894, Foulks was indicted by the United States Grand Jury for misappropriating funds. Smiley N. Chambers would defend the banker. On April 6, the jury in the case of H.A. Foulks failed to agree and was discharged.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Vincennes National Bank, Vincennes, IN

Bank Note Types Issued

Series of 1875 $20 Proof Vincennes National Bank. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

A total of $579,310 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1865 and 1892. This consisted of a total of 70,232 notes (70,232 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	4x5	1 - 6700
Original Series	3x10-20	1 - 4860
Series 1875	4x5	1 - 2005
Series 1875	3x10-20	1 - 1866
1882 Brown Back	4x5	1 - 1248
1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 879

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1865 - 1892):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

Vincennes, IN, 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
Richmond Weekly Palladium, Richmond, IN, Thu., Nov. 22, 1855.
St. Louis Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, MO, Thu., Jan. 8, 1857.
Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis, MO, Tue., July 25, 1865.
Evansville Courier and Press, Evansville, IN, Wed., Feb. 5, 1873.
Evansville Courier and Press, Evansville, IN, Sun., May 10, 1891.
The Evansville Journal, Evansville, IN, Thu., July 7, 1892.
Logansport Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN, Thu., Oct. 6, 1892.
Boonville Standard, Boonville, IN, Fri., Jan. 5, 1894.
The Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, IN, Sun., Apr. 7, 1895.