Central National Bank, Mount Union, PA (Charter 10206)
Central National Bank, Mount Union, PA (Chartered 1912 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Mount Union is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, approximately 44 miles southeast of Altoona and 12 miles southeast of Huntingdon, on the Juniata River. In the vicinity are found bituminous coal, ganister rock, fire clay, and some timber. A major Easter grass factory is located in the northern quadrant of the borough limits; until May 2007, the facility was owned by Bleyer Industries. The population was 2,447 at the 2010 census. The population tally in 1900 was 1,086 which rose to 3,338 in 1910.
Mount Union was at one time the world's largest producer of refractory material (silica brick), with three plants – General Refractories, United States Refractories, and Harbison Walker. The refractory business in Mount Union lasted from 1899 to about 1972, with limited production into the early 1990s. Other industries included two tanneries, a tanning extract plant, coal yards, an explosives and munitions plant (Aetna), and foundry and machine shops.
Mount Union was the northern terminus for the narrow gauge East Broad Top Railroad, connecting to the Main Line of the Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad (now Norfolk Southern). The EBT maintained a large dual-gauge yard and coal cleaning plant in Mount Union and supplied coal to the Refractory plants. The EBT ceased operations in 1956 but the track is still in place and owned by the railroad. From 1998 to 2010, the Mount Union Connecting Railroad attempted to reactivate the EBT main track through Mount Union and rehabilitated it, but only a couple cars were serviced and none moved over the EBT trackage.
Mount Union had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized May 24, 1912
- Chartered June 6, 1912
- Succeeded The Central Banking Company of Mount Union
- Receivership January 21, 1932
- Restored to solvency June 1, 1932
- Bank was Open past 1935
The Central Banking Company was organized on March 13, 1873, with Thomas H. Adams as president and Edmund S. Doty, cashier. Mr. Doty was succeeded by his brother, L. Banks Doty, who served for five years until 1879. W.T. Bell took charge as cashier on October 11, 1879. The Central Banking Company began in the brick building situated on the corner of Water and Division Streets. In 1902 they erected the building on Jefferson Street and moved into that banking house in 1903. The first stockholders were C.P. Dull and Daniel M. Dull of McVeytown; A.J. Dull and J.J. Dull of Harrisburg; Edmund S. Doty of Mifflintown; William Fields of Mifflin County; and Thomas H. Adams of Mount Union.
The Central National Bank of Mount Union opened its doors for business as a national bank on Monday, July 1, 1912. The bank succeeded the former banking concern known as the Central Banking Company and continued business in the old stand in a building located on Jefferson Street near the Pennsylvania Railroad station. At the time it converted to a national bank, the stockholders were T.H. Adams, president; W.T. Bell, cashier; and A. Reed Hayes of Lewistown. The total assets on opening day were $274,546.96.
On Tuesday, January 13, 1914, the stockholders re-elected the old board of directors. They were as follows: T.H. Adams, A. Reed Hayes, W.T. Bell, R.M. Longacre, A.S. Welch, L.J. Myers, R.P.M. Davis, H.C. Kinsloe, Dr. J.G. Spangler, and H.E. Huston. The officers re-elected were T.H. Adams, president; A. Reed Hayes, vice president; W.T. bell, cashier; H.N. Bell, assistant cashier and R.S. Bell, teller.
On Saturday, March 10, 1917, the formal opening was held for the new Central National Bank building, located on the corner of Jefferson and Shirley Streets. It was estimated that upwards of 5,000 people visited the new banking quarters. Souvenirs were distributed by the bank to the ladies and gentlemen as well as the children. The ladies received roses and carnations, the men each received a cigar, and the kids could have a lead pencil, key ring or shoe buttoner. Upwards of $100,000 worth of business was done on the opening day with deposits something over $50,000. The new building was built of New England granite, Indiana limestone, red texture brick from Watsontown, and reinforced concrete at a cost of approximately $35,000 and was absolutely fireproof. The banking room floor was made of red quarry tile. The interior finish was flat tone green and buff. The furniture and the finishing was in fumed oak. The electric wiring and fixtures were installed by the Raystown Water Power Company. The furniture was from the Robert Mitchell Furniture Company of Cincinnati and the safe and vault were from the Diebold Safe & Lock Company of Pittsburgh. A balcony was attached fronting on Shirley Street. There were five banking windows and the counter was made of Botticino marble with verde antique base. The contractors for the building were the W.D. Steinbach's Sons of Lewistown. The heating and plumbing were done by D.C. Goodman of Mount Union. The architect was Mr. Julian Millard of Altoona.
For the opening, Cashier W.T. Bell had all his sons there; they were H.A. Bell of Freeland, Jesse G. Bell of Nanticoke, H.N. Bell of Reading, W. Bates Bell of Orbisonia and Robert, a student at Bucknell. Russell S. Bell, also one of the sons, was assistant cashier of the Central National Bank under his father. J. Bruce Davis, cashier of the Reedsville National Bank, also attended, having secured his training in the Central under W.T. Bell. The Mount Union Orchestra played throughout the day and free lunch was given to 200 visitors, the tickets honored at the Shapiro Café.
The bank's directors in 1917 were A. Reed Hayes, R.P.M. Davis, R.M Longacre, W.T. Bell, A.S. Welch, L.J. Meyers, H.C. Kinsloe, H.E. Huston, J. Frank Adams, and H.O. Andrews. The officers were A. Reed Hayes, chairman of the board, R.P.M. Davis, president; R.M. Longacre, vice president; W.T. Bell, cashier; Russell S. Bell, assistant cashier; E.S. Gaster, teller; Miss Gaynelle Gifford, stenographer; J.H. Urban, interpreter speaking 7 languages: Polish, Slavish, Croatian, Russian, Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian, and Bohemian.
In March 1921, officers were R.P.M. Davis, president; R.M. Longacre, vice president; W.T. Bell, cashier and H.F. Stoner, assistant cashier. The bank had capital $60,000, surplus and undivided profits $55,000.
On March 4, 1923, due to the death of William T. Bell, it became necessary at the meeting of the directors to make the following changes and additions to the personnel of the bank: Mr. C.V. Hackman was elected to succeed Mr. Bell as director; Mr. Henry F. Stoner, the assistant cashier was elected cashier to succeed Mr. Bell; Mr. D. Dale Brandt was elected assistant cashier; Mr. R.M. Longacre, vice president was made active vice president with his office at the bank. Thus, the bank on this the day of the celebration of their 50th anniversary, May 12, 1923, had officers as follows: Officers: R.P.M. Davis, president; R.M. Longacre, vice president; Henry F. Stoner, cashier; D. Dale Brandt, assistant cashier; Miss Gaynelle Gifford, teller; Miss Rebecca Lutz, teller. Directors were R.M.P. Davis, R.M. Longacre, A.S. Welch, A. Reed Hayes, H.C. Kinsloe, H.E. Huston, J. Frank Adams, H.O. Andrews, Paul Maxwell, and C.V. Hackman. In August, following the resignation of H.F. Stoner as cashier, the directors elected Mr. Dale D. Brandt, the assistant cashier, as cashier. Mr. Brandt was of son of Joseph A. Brandt of Mount Union and resided on East Shirley Street. He was formerly in the mercantile business at Bellwood.
In January 1930, at the annual meeting of the shareholders, the following board of directors was elected: R.P.M. Davis, R.M. Longacre, A.S. Welch, A. Reed Hayes, H.C. Kinsloe, J. Frank Adams, L.K. Chilcote, Paul Maxwell, C.V. Hackman, and D.C. Goodman. The officers elected were: R.P.M Davis, president; R.M. Longacre, vice president; D. Dale Brandt, cashier; Gerald D. Lukens, assistant cashier; Gaynelle Gifford and Rebecca J. Lutz, tellers.
In January 1932, Thomas P. Darby, the receiver in charge of the Central National Bank requested all depositors to leave their passbooks at the bank so the account could be verified. In April the reorganization committee was very optimistic over the prospects for the successful completion of the plan. Under the terms of the plan, a substantial amount of new money would be placed into the institution so that it would be in sound shape. Opening would mean a substantial amount of money would be released in the community. Congressman E.M. Beers, the office of the comptroller of the currency and stockholders, depositors and citizens were supportive of the movement. Having been closed since October 5, 1931, the Central National Bank re-opened on June 1, 1932. As many deposits were made as withdrawals, although the directors had advertised that $87,000 would be available on the first day of re-opening. The president, J. Frank Adams, unlocked the doors at 9 o'clock. This was only the second national bank to be reopened in Pennsylvania. The officers and directors were as follows: J. Frank Adams, president; F.B. Madden, vice president; A. Reed Hayes, Lewistown; John H. Kinsloe, Newton Hamilton; B.W. Reeder, W.H. McClelland, C.S. Price of Mount Union; H.O. Andrews, Mapleton; and Edward M. Greene of Huntingdon. Thomas P. Darby of Uniontown was the cashier and Gerald D. Lukens was the assistant cashier. Joseph Long and Miss Rebecca Lutz were clerks. There were 125 stockholders and the bank was capitalized at $60,000.
In January 1933, the following directors were elected: Hon. J. Frank Adams, H.O. Andrews, E.M. Greene, A. Reed Hayes, John H. Kinsloe, R.B. Madden, W.H. McClelland, C.S. Price, and B.W. Reeder. The officers were Hon. J. Frank Adams, president; R.B. Madden, vice president; T.P. Darby, cashier; Gerald D. Lukens, assistant cashier; and Frank H. Seibert, teller.
On Thursday, July 28, 1966, a proposal to consolidate the First-Grange National Bank of Huntingdon and the Central National Bank of Mount Union was approved unanimously by the two boards of directors. A joint announcement was issued by I. Cloyd Taylor, president of Central National and John H. Biddle, president of First-Grange. Details of the merger were being worked out by committees of the two banks headed by Frederick M. Simpson for First-Grange and John H. Kinsloe for Central National. The pooling of resources of the two banks would create an institution with approximately $30 million in resources, $26 million in deposits, and loans and discounts of about $18.7 million. The combined capital would be $490,500, surplus $1,429,500 and undivided profits of $475,155. The consolidation would result in offices as follows: one in Mount Union, two in Huntingdon and one in Alexandria. The comptroller of the currency gave final approval to the merger effective at the close of business on December 31, 1966.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Central National Bank of Mount Union, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,157,240 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1912 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 146,832 notes (115,308 large size and 31,524 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 3200 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 2480 1902 Plain Back 4x5 3201 - 17784 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 2481 - 11043 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 2520 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1350 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 378 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 3614 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 1906 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 516
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1912 - 1935):
Presidents:
- Thomas Hayden Adams, 1912-1914
- Roy Paul Miller Davis, 1915-1931
- Clinton V. Hackman, 1931-1931
- John Frank Adams, 1932-1935
Cashiers:
- William Thompson Bell, 1912-1922
- Henry F. Stoner, 1923
- Daniel Dale Brandt, 1923-1931
- Thomas Paul Darby, 1932-1932
- Gerald D. Lukens, 1934-1935
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History
- General information on Mount Union (Wikipedia)
- General information on Huntingdon County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Mount Union, 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://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project
- Mount Union Times, Mount Union, PA, Fri., Jan. 16, 1914.
- Mount Union Times, Mount Union, PA, Fri., Mar. 16, 1917.
- Mount Union Times, Mount Union, PA, Fri., Mar. 18, 1921.
- Mount Union Times, Mount Union, PA, Fri., May 11, 1923.
- Mount Union Times, Mount Union, PA, Fri., Aug. 10, 1923.
- Mount Union Times, Mount Union, PA, Fri., Jan. 17, 1930.
- Mount Union Times, Mount Union, PA, Fri., Apr. 8, 1932.
- Altoona Tribune, Altoona, PA, Fri., June 3, 1932.
- Mount Union Times, Mount Union, PA, Fri., Aug. 26, 1932.
- Mount Union Times, Mount Union, PA, Fri., Jan. 13, 1933.
- Mount Union Times, Mount Union, PA, Fri., July 29, 1966.
- Mount Union Times, Mount Union, PA, Fri., Sep. 16, 1966.
- Tyrone Daily Herald, Tyrone, PA, Fri., Nov. 25, 1966.