Dupont National Bank, Washington, DC (Charter 10825)

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The Dupont National Bank of Washington, DC [between 1916 and 1922].
The Dupont National Bank of Washington, DC [between 1916 and 1922]. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Dupont National Bank, Washington, DC (Chartered 1916 - Liquidated 1922)

Town History

The old Dupont National Bank, ca2023, now a branch of Truist Bank.
The old Dupont National Bank, ca2023, now a branch of Truist Bank. Courtesy of Google Maps

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.

Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a historic roundabout park and neighborhood of Washington, located in Northwest DC. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW to the west, M Street NW to the south, and Florida Avenue NW to the north. Much of the neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, New Hampshire Avenue NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW. The circle is named for Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont. The traffic circle contains the Dupont Circle Fountain in its center. The neighborhood is known for its high concentration of embassies (many along Embassy Row) and think tanks (many along Think Tank Row).

In 1871, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the traffic circle, then called Pacific Circle, as specified in L'Enfant's plan. On February 25, 1882, Congress renamed it "Dupont Circle", and authorized a memorial statue of Samuel Francis Du Pont, in recognition of his service as a rear admiral during the Civil War. Unveiled on December 20, 1884, the statue was sculpted by Launt Thompson, and the circle was landscaped with exotic flowers and ornamental trees. Several prominent duPont family members deemed it too insignificant to honor their ancestor, so they secured permission to move the statue to Rockford Park in Wilmington in 1917, and commissioned Henry Bacon and Daniel Chester French to design the fountain that sits in Dupont Circle today. In 1920, the current double-tiered white marble fountain replaced the statue. Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon, the co-creators of the Lincoln Memorial, designed the fountain, which features carvings of three classical figures symbolizing the sea, the stars and the wind on the fountain's shaft.

Washington, DC had 29 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and 25 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

A 1922 advertisement for the Merchants Bank and Trust Company located at 15t and H Streets, NW
A 1922 advertisement for the Merchants Bank and Trust Company located at 15t and H Streets, NW
  • Organized February 9, 1916
  • Chartered February 10, 1916
  • Liquidated April 1, 1922
  • Absorbed by Merchants Bank and Trust Company of Washington, DC

In January 1916, application was filed with the comptroller of the currency for a charter for the Dupont National Bank with a capital of $200,000. The incorporators included Ezra Gould who would become the president of the bank when organized; E.S. Wolfe, H.H. Wescott, G.A. Garrett, and E.C. Copenhaver. The bank planned to acquire the bank building on the corner of Connecticut and Massachusetts Avenues, southeast side of Dupont Circle, formerly owned by the United States Trust Company. The incorporators and the following would make the first board of directors: Aksel Wickfeld, Mellville Gillett, F.H. Ridgway, J.H. De Sibour, and Dr. Allerton R. Cushman. George A. Garrett would become one of the vice presidents of the bank.[1] [Mr. Garrett in 1950 would become ambassador to Ireland, having served as chief of mission starting April 1947.]

On Thursday, February 10, 1916, the comptroller of the currency granted a charter for the Dupont National Bank and the institution would open for business Monday morning. Mr. Gould and his associated would keep open house Monday from 9 AM to 9 PM in honor of the opening of the bank. The officers were Ezra Gould, president; Arthur Bradley Campbell, vice president; George A. Garrett, second vice president; H.W. Robertson, cashier; and R.H. Berry, assistant cashier. The directors were A.B. Campbell, Eugene C. Copenhaver, Dr. Allerton S. Cushman, J. Henri de Sibour, G.A. Garrett, Mellville Gillett, E.Z. Gould, F.H. Ridgway, Hugh B. Rowland, T.K. Sands, Thomas Bell Sweeney, Horace H. Westcott, W.D. Wilcox, and Edmund S. Wolfe.[2]

On Tuesday, January 8, 1918, the elected directors were John Barrett, Edson Bradley, Arthur B. Campbell, Eugene C. Copenhaver, Allerton S. Cushman, J.H. de Sibour, Thomas Featherstonbaugh, George A. Garrett, Mellvile Gillett, Chandler Hale, James Lowe Harriman, George Howard, F.H. Ridgway, Laurence A. Slaughter, Jr., William W. Spaid, Thomas Bell Sweeney, T.A. Thropp, and Horace H. Westcott. The officers elected were George Howard, president; William W. Spaid, vice president; Laurence A. Slaughter, Jr., cashier; R.H. Berry and H.A. Jeffers, assistant cashiers.[3]

In March 1918, H.M. Fridley, Jr., was made assistant cashier, a promotion from a teller's position.[4]

In January 1920, the officers re-elected were W.W. Spaid, president; L.A. Slaughter, Jr., vice president; L.E. Schreiner, cashier; and W.G. Baden, assistant cashier.[5] On January 21st, it was announced that Arthur Bradley Campbell would be one of the directors and first vice president of the Dupont National Bank. Mr. Campbell was the son of Mrs. Charlotte Isabel McDonald, widow of James McDonald, former European representative of the Standard Oil Company.[6] On March 24, 1920, directors of the Dupont National bank elected Louis Hertle vice president. Mr. Hertle was one of the best known men in the city having resided in Washington for over ten years. His election marked his return to business after a long vacation and he returned showing all the enthusiasm as when with Marshall Field & Co. in Chicago during the long years preceding his voluntary retirement. Mr. Hertle was on the board of trustees of the George Washington University. He was the owner of the famous estate of George Mason, Gunston Hall, at Lorton, Virginia, near Mount Vernon. He was also greatly interested in the rehabilitation of the old Pohick Church once attended by George Washington.[7]

In January 1922, Henry H. Flather, an investment broker and former cashier of the Riggs National Bank, assumed the active management of the Dupont National Bank to take the place of L.A. Slaughter. Laurence A. Slaughter who for five years had been a director of the Dupont National, was added to the board of directors of the Commercial National Bank and was made a vice president.[8] 

In January 1922, The Merchants Bank and Trust Company published notification of intent to charter to carry on a safe deposit, trust, loan and mortgage business. The proposed corporators were Peter A. Drury, Peter M. Dorsch, Michael J. Keane, Frank P. Harman, Jr., Roland Robbins, Joseph H. Keane, William Henry White, John Zanier, Vincent L. Toomey, John Walsh, J. Ernest Mitchell, Harry R. Carroll, Gustav Buchholz, Ernest E. Herrell, Joseph A. Berberich, John R. Waller, Wade H. Ellis, Abner H. Ferguson, J. Castle Ridgway, Leo K. Drury, joseph A. Rafferty, E.W. Popkins, S.A. Kimberly, Barry Bulkley, and Joseph A. Burkart.[9] When the bank organizes, 25 directors would hold a quarter of the capital stock of $1,000,000, according to Peter A. Drury, president of the company.  This was an innovation in the history of Washington's fiscal institutions where it was necessary to hold not less than 100 shares of stock to be eligible for a seat on the board.  Mr. Drury said that every share of stock would be sold when the new charter, expected on January 26th.[10] In February, final plans for the conversion of the Merchants Bank into the Merchants Bank and Trust Company continued when six new members were added to that body, according to Peter A. Drury.  These were Wade H. Ellis, attorney; Don Foster, Washington representative of the Thompson-Kelly Co. of Boston; William A. Hill of Moore & Hill, Eugene A. Smith of the District Title Insurance Co., A. Cooper Waller, former treasurer of the Federal Trust Co. of Dubuque, Iowa and then with the International Bank, and Harry E. Allen of Allen, Mitchel & Co., engineers. With the exception of four or five members, the other directors would be from the roster of the Merchants bank.  Every director was required to own at least 100 shares of stock.[11]

On March 7, 1922, the much-rumored take over of the Dupont National Bank by the Merchants Bank and Trust Company was consummated. The negotiations by which the Connecticut Avenue bank joined the new trust company which would occupy the Southern Building about April 1st, were completed at the Merchants Bank. Peter A. Drury, president of the Merchants Bank, announced that Ezra Gould, president of the Washington Mechanics Savings Bank would be the new president of the Dupont to succeed W.W. Spaid who would resign. H.H. Flather, recently elected managing vice president of the Dupont National, also resigned and would join W.B. Hibbs & Co. with which Mr. Spaid was connected. Negotiations were carried out for Mr. Drury by W. Gordon Crawford. the Dupont National Bank had deposits in excess of $2,300,000 with a capital of $200,000. It was understood that the Merchants would convert the Dupont National into a state bank and operate it as a branch of the Merchants Bank and Trust Company. One of the conditions of the sale was that all employees of the uptown bank would be retained.[12]

In April 1922, The officers of the Merchants Bank and Trust Company were Peter A. Drury, president; Ezra Gould, Ernest E. Herrell, Joseph A. Berberich, L.E. Schreiner, Dupont Branch, vice presidents; William Henry White, secretary; Frank P. Harman, Jr., treasurer; Edwin W. Hopkins, assistant secretary-treasurer; Frank E. Ghiselli, assistant treasurer; H.F. Wattles and W.G. Baden, assistant treasurers, Dupont branch; J.D. Beveridge, manager, foreign department; and Wade H. Ellis, counsel. The directors were Harry E. Allen, Jos. A. Berberich, Gustav Buchholz, Harry R. Carroll, Allerton S. Cushman, Peter M. Dorsch, Peter A. Drury, Don H. Foster, Ezra Gould, Ernest E. Herrell, William A. Hill, Joseph H. Keane, Michael J. Keane, J. Ernest Mitchell, Frank O'Hara, Roland S. Robbins, W.W. Spaid, Eugene A. Smith, Luther E. Schreiner, Austin C. Waller, William Henry White, and John Zanier. The Dupont Branch Advisor Board consisted of W.E. Clark, E.C. Copenhaver, L.C. Dulaney, Paul Dulaney, Mellville Gillett, J.H. Gore, R.D. Quinter, F.H. Ridgway, and H.H. Wescott. The main office was located at 15th and H Streets, Northwest.[13]

Official Bank Title

1: The Dupont National Bank of Washington, DC

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with printed signatures of L.E. Schreiner, Cashier and L.A. Slaughter, Vice President
1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with printed signatures of L.E. Schreiner, Cashier and L.A. Slaughter, Vice President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com

A total of $986,400 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1916 and 1922. This consisted of a total of 78,912 notes (78,912 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
1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 19728

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1916 - 1922):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Known Bank Note Signers

  • No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

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
  • Dupont National Bank, Washington, D.C. [Between 1910 and 1925] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2016824993/>.
  1. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Fri., Jan. 14, 1916.
  2. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Sat., Feb. 12, 1916.
  3. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Tue., Jan. 8, 1918.
  4. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Fri., Mar. 22, 1918.
  5. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Thu., Jan. 15, 1920.
  6. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Fri., Jan. 21, 1916.
  7. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Wed., Mar. 24, 1920.
  8. ↑ The Washington Times, Washington, DC, Tue., Jan. 10, 1922.
  9. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Thu., Jan. 5, 1922.
  10. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Fri., Jan. 20, 1922.
  11. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Sat., Feb. 25, 1922.
  12. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Wed., Mar. 8, 1922.
  13. ↑ Evening Star, Washington, DC, Sun., Apr. 2, 1922.
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