Chemical National Bank, Saint Louis, MO (Charter 4575)

The Oriel Building, built in 1891. Home of the Chemical National Bank of St. Louis, Missouri.

Chemical National Bank, Saint Louis, MO (Chartered 1891 - Liquidated 1897)

Town History

An 1891 advertisement for the Chemical National Bank.

St. Louis is the second-largest city in Missouri. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which extends into Illinois, had an estimated population of over 2.8 million, making it the largest metropolitan area in Missouri and the second-largest in Illinois.

The founding of St. Louis was preceded by a trading business between Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent and Pierre Laclède Liguest in the fall of 1763. St. Maxent invested in a Mississippi River expedition led by Laclède, who searched for a location to base the company's fur trading operations. Though Ste. Genevieve was already established as a trading center, he sought a place less prone to flooding. He found an elevated area overlooking the flood plain of the Mississippi River, not far south from its confluence with the Missouri and Illinois rivers. In addition to having an advantageous natural drainage system, there were nearby forested areas to supply timber and grasslands which could easily be converted for agricultural purposes. This place, declared Laclède, “might become, hereafter, one of the finest cities in America.” He dispatched his 14-year-old stepson, Auguste Chouteau, to the site, with the support of 30 settlers in February 1764. Laclède arrived at the future town site two months later and produced a plan for St. Louis based on the New Orleans street plan. The default block size was 240 by 300 feet, with just three long avenues running parallel to the west bank of the Mississippi. He established a public corridor of 300 feet fronting the river, but later this area was released for private development.

St. Louis was transferred to the French First Republic in 1800 (although all of the colonial lands continued to be administered by Spanish officials), then sold by the French to the U.S. in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. St. Louis became the capital of, and gateway to, the new territory. Shortly after the official transfer of authority was made, the Lewis and Clark Expedition was commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson. The expedition departed from St. Louis in May 1804 along the Missouri River to explore the vast territory.

St. Louis became a major port on the Mississippi River and from 1870 until the 1920 census, it was the fourth-largest city in the country. It separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics.

Saint Louis had 42 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and 37 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Organized April 7, 1891
Chartered June 1, 1891
Liquidated April 1, 1897
Absorbed by 170 (Third National Bank/First NB, St. Louis, MO)

In January 1891, the Oriel Building under construction would be occupied by the Chemical National Bank of St. Louis, which started with a capital of $500,000. The president, Mr. J. Clifford Richardson, who, although a young man, had been identified with some of the largest mercantile ventures in St. Louis. The well-known company started by his father, the Richardson Drug Co., was the largest drug concern in the world. The cashier Mr. Charles S. Warner was for many years with the Mechanics Bank of St. Louis and later cashier of the Bank of Hannibal. The directors were Francis Kuhn, formerly of Anthony Kuhn Brewing Co.**; John D. Winn of Lambert Pharmacal Co.; Joseph D. Bascom of Broderick & Bascom Rope Co.; David H. Moss, president of the National Bank of Paris, Missouri; Joseph B. Greensfelder, investment banker; Hamilton Daughaday, formerly of Brown, Daughaday & Co; Jerome B. Legg, architect; F.M. Gillett of Griswold & Gillett, bankers, New York City.

The bank opened for business on Monday, June 8, 1891, at the southeast corner of Sixth and Locust Streets in the center of the shopping district. Opening was delayed due to contractors' inability to finish work in the time specified. The directorate consisted of Joseph D. Bascom of Broderick & Bascom Rope Co., 704 N. Main St.; F.A. Bensberg, F.A. Bensberg & Co., wholesale liquors, 208 Walnut St.; Martin Collins, Insurance, 105 N. third St.; Hamilton Daughaday, formerly of Brown, Daughaday & Co.; Joseph B. Greensfelder, investment broker, 415 Locust St.; F.M. Gillett of Leslie & Gillett, bankers, No. 5 Wall St., New York; Francis Kuhn, formerly of Anthony Kuhn Brewing Co.; Claude Kilpatrick, Kutledge & Kilpatrick, real estate, 720 Pine St.; Estill McHenry, executor, Jas. B. Eads Estate, Commercial Building; Maj. W.S. Pope, capitalist, Laclede Building; A.O. Rule, Kilgren & rule, real estate, 112 N. Eighth St.; J. Clifford Richardson, president, Richardson Drug Co.; John D. Winn of Lambert Pharmacal Co., 314 N. Main St.

On February 21, 1897, negotiations for the consolidation of the Third National and Chemical National Banks were completed. Under the agreement the Third National would take all assets and assume all liabilities, practically buying out the Chemical. The stockholders of the Chemical National Bank would realize $95 per share net cash for their stock. No change was planned at the time for the officers of the Third National. The consolidation would be effective on March 1st with the new concert retaining the name and present quarters of the Third National.

Inked stamp dated Feb. 27, 1905, applied to a check going through the St. Louis Clearing House for Boatmen's Bank with its clearing house number, 3.

Members of the St. Louis Clearing House in February 1897

Clearing House #	Bank or Institution
1	United States Sub-Treasury
3	Boatmen's Bank
5	Chemical National Bank
6	Commercial Bank
9	Fourth National Bank
13	German-American Bank
11	Franklin Bank
14	German Savings Institution
16	International Bank
18	Mechanics' Bank
19	Merchants'-Laclede National Bank
21	Continental National Bank
23	National Bank of the Republic
25	St. Louis National Bank
26	National Bank of Commerce
27	South Side Bank
28	State Bank of St. Louis
29	Third National Bank
32	American Exchange Bank
35	Citizens' Bank
38	Post Office

Each bank had a number assigned to it by the clearing house. Every check handled by the bank that had to go through the clearing house was stamped with this number.  The St. Louis Clearing House Association recently admitted to membership the United States Sub-Treasury located in St. Louis.  By courtesy the sub-treasury was assigned the first number on the list. The Chemical National Bank would be removed from the list on March 1st, 1897.

On Friday morning, March 31, 1899, J. Clifford Richardson died at Pasadena, California, having never rallied from the last surgery to remove a carbuncle. Mr. Richardson was visiting California with his wife when a carbuncle developed on the back of his neck. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 15, 1849. His father was James Richardson who was president of the Richardson Drug Co., ranking as the largest drug house in the world. He was the president of the Chemical National Bank and a director of the Suburban Railway and was linked to numerous other business interests. Richardson was head of the drug company until the business was transferred to the Meyer Bros. Drug Co. of St. Louis in 1889.

The Richardson Memorial Library is the result of the first legacy gift ever given to the St. Louis Art Museum – a bequest of stocks and bonds valued at the time at about $60,000 from Mary D. Richardson, who wished to honor the memory of her husband, St. Louis businessman J. Clifford Richardson. A bronze bust of Mr. Richardson may be found in the library.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Chemical National Bank of St. Louis, MO

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $50-$100 proof, approved June 13, 1891. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

A total of $74,850 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1891 and 1897. This consisted of a total of 998 notes (998 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
1882 Brown Back	50-100	1 - 499

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1891 - 1897):

Presidents:

Joseph Clifford Richardson, 1891-1896

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

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

Wiki Links

Sources

Saint Louis, MO, 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
American Druggist and Pharmaceutical Record, Journal of Practical Pharmacy, Caswell A. Mayo, editor, Vol. 34, Jan. 1899-June 1899, p. 206.
St. Louis Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, MO, Sun., Jan. 18, 1891.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, MO, Mon., June 1, 1891.
St. Joseph Gazette, St. Joseph, MO, Sun., Feb. 21, 1897.
St. Charles Weekly Cosmos-Monitor, St. Charles, MO, Wed., Feb. 24, 1897.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, MO, Sun., Feb. 28, 1897.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, MO, Fri., Mar. 31, 1899.