District National Bank, Washington, DC (Charter 9545)
District National Bank, Washington, DC (Chartered 1909 - Receivership 1933)
Town History
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia, also known as just Washington or simply D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. It is located on the east bank of the Potomac River, which forms its southwestern and southern border with Virginia, and it shares a land border with Maryland on its other sides. The city was named for George Washington, a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, and the federal district is named after Columbia, a female personification of the nation. As the seat of the U.S. federal government and several international organizations, the city is an important world political capital. It is the eighth-most visited city in the U.S., with over two million visitors as of 2019.
Washington, DC had 29 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and 25 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized September 8, 1909
- Chartered September 18, 1909
- Succeeded Harper & Co., Bankers
- 2: Absorbed 12139 October 29, 1924 (Standard NB (No Issue), Washington, DC)
- 2: Conservatorship March 14, 1933
- 2: Receivership November 6, 1933
In August 1909, Robert N. Harper resigned as a directors of the National Metropolitan Bank and was succeeded by Clarence Moore. Mr. Harper resigned in order to give all of his attention to the new District National Bank of which he was elected president.
On September 8, 1909, the first formal step toward the organization of the new District National Bank, formed from the private bank of Harper & Co., was taken when the subscribers to the stock held a meeting and elected from among their number the following directors: Alexander T. Hensey, H.B.F. Macfarland, J.M. Kenyon, Ernest M. Merrick, W.P. Lipscomb, R.N. Harper, Robert Lee O'Brien, E.H. Daniel, W.S. Hoge, J.S. Tyree, Sidney West, Martin Wiegand, Dr. J.J. Richardson, H .Clinton Smith, C.G. Sloan, James M. Hoge, Thomas Grant, Louis Holmes, C.F. Carusi, Thomas B. Huyck, W.T. Richardson, N.L. Sansbury, A.C. Shannon, John T. Devine, and J.W. Harper. J. Castle Ridgeway was chosen cashier and would assume his new duties upon the opening around September 20th. Mr. Ridgeway formerly was secretary to Senator Teller, and for the last five years he was a national bank examiner with headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee.
With temporary offices at 1415 G Street northwest at the same location as Harper & Co., the newly organized District National Bank with a capital stock of $400,000 and a surplus of $40,000 opened for business on September 20th. Robert N. Harper was president. The other officers were J. Miller Kenyon, first vice president; H.B.F. Macfarland, second vice president; W.S. Hoge, third vice president; J. Castle Ridgeway, cashier; and William T. Poole and Theodore S. Mason, assistant cashiers. The bank recently purchased property of the south side of G Street which was subject to several leases. As soon as the leases terminated, President Harper's intention was to construct a new, eight-story building for the bank and offices.
Milburn, Heister & Co., of Washington designed the building and planned the arrangement of the banking room. The construction was was done by W.P. Lipscomb & Co. and the bank was opened in December 1910. Upon entering the banking room, one found the predominant color scheme for walls was old ivory with the highlights and ornamental work of Dutch metal, while counter screens were made of natural bronze, sienna marble and East India mahogany, with ceramic tile of special design and color for the floor. On the right of the entrance was the president's room. It was decorated and furnished in mahogany, hardwood flooring and Turkish rugs. In the front of the building on the mezzanine was the directors' room. The room was conspicuous in its lack of the conventional table; however, an ample number of mahogany armchairs were provided for directors. On the left of the bank's entrance was the ladies' room. It was decorated in mahogany, marble, panel mirrors and Turkish rugs, writing desks, etc. A ladies' teller devoted his time and attention to the banking requirements of lady customers and friends. The main vaults were located in the basement. The door to the main vault was four feet wide by eight feet high by ten inches thick of hardened steel, weighing more than ten tons. The walls of the vault were of reinforced concrete, 27 inches thick with steel lining. The vault was 10 by 34 feet, built by the York Safe and Lock Co. of York, Pennsylvania.
Robert N. Harper was born near Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia. He was educated at a private school and at the Academy in Leesburg. At the age of 17, he left school and entered as an apprentice in a drug store in his native town. He graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1884. In 1886 he came to Washington and continued in the drug business until 1903 when he organized the American National Bank of Washington, DC, and was elected its president. In 1908 he sold his interest to the late Senator Elkins of West Virginia and started the banking firm of Harper and Company. Mr. Harper also organized and was president of the Farmers and Merchants Banking and Trust Company of Leesburg, Virginia. He was a director of the Commercial Fire Insurance Co., Columbia Cotton Oil Co., president of the Robert N. Harper Chemical Co., treasurer of the Washington Wholesale Drug Exchange, member of the Columbia Country Club, the Washington Board of Trade, Washington Chamber of Commerce, and was for two years its president, member of the National Press Club and was for a number of years editor and proprietor of a weekly newspaper in Virginia and for four years was surgeon general on the staff of Governor A.J. Montague of Virginia with the rank of colonel.
W.S. Hoge, first vice president, was president of the Hoge and McDowell Milling Co., and the Hoge and McDowell Commission Co. He was also president of the Commercial Fire Insurance Co., an organization he perfected. He was one of the organizers of the Lincoln National Bank of Washington, DC. J.S. Tyree, second vice president, entered the drug business with John Wyeth and Brothers in Philadelphia. He graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1882. In 1885 he located in Washington and successfully conducted a retail drug business and was president of J.S. Tyree & Co., manufacturing chemists in Washington.
J. Castle Ridgway, cashier, was born at Shawneetown, Illinois and was educated their and at Carbondale, Pa. In Washington he took law degrees of LL.B. and LL.M. at Columbian University and was admitted to practice in 1897 in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. Subsequently he became private secretary to Senator Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois. Later he engaged in his profession at Hilo, Hawaiian Islands where he resided for a number of years. Being an expert accountant and bookkeeper when the Hawaiian Islands were annexed to the United States, the Comptroller of the Currency selected Mr. Ridgway as the first national bank examiner for the new territory and he was appointed Collector of Customs at the port of Hilo. He was editor of the Hilo Tribune, a Republican newspaper which had much to do in Americanizing the new possessions. On severing his connections in Hawaii, Mr. Ridgway returned to Washington, DC, and became a national bank examiner at large. He was a past Exalted Ruler of the B.P.O.E.
William T. Poole, assistant cashier was born in Washington, DC, September 27, 1880. In 1898 he was employed by the United States Express Company. He engaged in the real estate business for several years and spent part of 1903-04 in Los Angeles, California. He entered the banking business December 15, 1905, accepting a position with the American National Bank of Washington. After more than 3 years of service, he became manager of Harper & Co., Bankers. On September 20th, 1909, Mr. Poole was appointed assistant cashier of the District National Bank. Theodore S. Mason, also assistant cashier, was born in 1875 in King George County, Virginia. In 1896 he moved to Washington and was employed by R.G. Dun & Co. In 1905 he became connected with the American National Bank of Washington and in March 1909 he associated himself with the private banking firm of Harper & Co.
In January 1924, the directors re-elected were T.T. Ansberry, Ralph P. Barnard, Sidney I. Besselievre, A.P. Crenshaw, John W. Childress, Charles W. Darr, Atwood, M. Fisher, C.J. Cockeler, Elisha Hanson, Robert N. Harper, W. Charles, Heitmuller, James M. Hoge, W.S. Hoge, Jr., A.F. Jorss, J. Miller Kenyon, Thomas F. Kane, Marshall L. King, Wharton E. Lester, William P. Lipscomb, W.H. Martin, John F. Maury, E.J. Murphy, Hilleary L. Offutt, Jr., Charles C. Rogers, N.L. Sansbury, Albert Schulteis, H.L. Thorton, J.S. Tyree, Leon S. Ulman, and Sidney West. The officers were Robert N. Harper, president, W.P. Lipscomb, C.J. Gockeler, N.L. Sansbury, Thomas F. Kane, vice presidents; Hilleary L. Offutt, Jr., vice president and cashier; William C. Looker and Theodore S. Mason, assistant cashiers; Barnard & Johnson, attorneys; Wharton E. Lester, counsel and trust officer; B.L. Colton, assistant trust officer. On January 15, 1924, in order to meet the growing demands of customers and in light of the traffic conditions in the downtown section, the directors found it necessary to open an uptown office at the northeast corner of Connecticut Avenue and K Streets, northwest. Wm. C. Looker was the manager of the branch.
In April 1924, the Standard National Bank moved its main office to 1409 H Street northwest where its branch was located, and thereafter maintained its present home at 9th Street and New York Avenue as the subsidiary institution. The action was sanctioned by the Treasury Department. The Standard was first organized under the name of Standard Savings Bank on March 29, 1920, and March 18, 1922, it gave up its charter as a savings institution, obtaining a charter as a national bank.
At the close of business, August 23, 1924, the District National Bank purchased all the assets of the Standard National Bank and the two bank locations. In June 30, 1924, the Standard National had a deposit balance of $872,275.08 with capital of $200,000 and surplus of $10,000. The District at the same time showed a deposit balance of $6,134,364.30 with capital of $550,000, surplus of $400,000 and undivided profits of $67,386. H.C. McCeney, cashier of the Standard and George D. See, assistant cashier would be retained with McCeney located at the main banking house and See would manage the Ninth Street branch.
In November 1933, Norman R. Hamilton was appointed receiver for six Washington, DC, banks, the largest of which was the District National Bank. He was from Portsmouth, Virginia and the publisher of the Portsmouth Star.
The Hamilton National Bank (Charter 13782) when it opened its doors to the public in September 1933, was made up from the viable assets of the District National Bank, Federal-American National Bank & Trust Co., Potomac Savings Bank, Woodridge-Langdon Savings & Commercial, Northeast Savings, Seventh Street Savings and Washington Savings Banks. At the end of 1933, only 21 banks were operating on an unrestricted basis in Washington, DC.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The District National Bank of Washington, DC
2: District National Bank of [1929], Washington, DC
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $10,700,220 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1909 and 1933. This consisted of a total of 1,345,756 notes (1,144,768 large size and 200,988 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1: 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 40940 1: 1902 Date Back 4x10 1 - 37175 1: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 40941 - 155555 1: 1902 Plain Back 4x10 37176 - 130637 2: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 3404 2: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 22496 2: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 7598
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1909 - 1933):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
- District National Bank, Washington, DC History (NB Lookup)
- District of Columbia Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Washington, DC, 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
- Harris & Ewing, photographer. DISTRICT NATIONAL BANK EXTERIOR. [Between 1905 and 1945] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
- The Bankers' Magazine, Vol. 82, Jan. 1911-June 1911, pp 654-663.
- The Washington Post, Washington, DC, Thu., Aug. 26, 1909.
- Evening Star, Washington, DC, Wed., Sep. 8, 1909.
- Evening Star, Washington, DC, Sat., Sep. 11, 1909.
- The Washington Post, Washington, DC, Sun., Sep. 19, 1909.
- Evening Star, Washington, DC, Mon., Sep. 20, 1909.
- Evening Star, Washington, DC, Tue., Jan. 8, 1924.
- Evening Star, Washington, DC, Fri., Apr. 4, 1924.
- Evening Star, Washington, DC, Sun., Aug. 24, 1924.
- Evening Star, Washington, DC, Sun., Nov. 5, 1933.
- Evening Star, Washington, DC, Sun., Dec. 31, 1933