Farmers National Bank, Deposit, NY (Charter 9434)
Farmers National Bank, Deposit, NY (Chartered 1909 - Closed (Merger) 1971)
Town History
Deposit is a village in Broome and Delaware counties in south-central New York. The population was 1,663 at the 2010 census. In 1910 the population was 1,864, growing to 2,028 by 1940.
The village was incorporated in 1811 in Delaware County. Deposit is one of only twelve villages in New York still incorporated under a charter, the other villages having incorporated or re-incorporated under the provisions of Village Law. While the dairy industry is now important, the name of the town is said to derive from its status as a lumber center, when it was the place at which logs were "deposited" for timber rafting south on the Delaware River.
Deposit had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized May 22, 1909
- Chartered June 5, 1909
- Opened for business July 1, 1909
- Bank was Open past 1935
- For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
- Merged into The National Bank and Trust Co. of Norwich, NY, February 16, 1971
On June 5, 1909, the comptroller of the currency authorized the Farmers National Bank of Deposit to begin business, capital of $50,000, and E. Frank Smith, president; Robert Brown, vice president; and Henry C. Miller, cashier.
On July 1, 1909, the bank opened its doors for the first time to allow prospective depositors to inspect the building, observe the extreme care taken to safely conduct financial transaction and to carry on such business as may be requested. One of the more interesting articles was the cannon-breach manganese steel safe inside the bank's vault. The bank reported a highly gratifying volume of business for the first day.
On Tuesday afternoon, January 11, 1916, stockholders elected the following directors: Robert Brown, E. Frank Smith, Milton B. Smith, Floyd B. Smith, Delos Axtell, B.S. Boyd, R.K. Palmerton, James Clark, Daniel G. Underwood, Clinton S. Minor, E.D. Cumming, and Smith C. Sliter. The officers were E. Frank Smith, president; Robert Brown, vice president; and Milton B. Smith, cashier. It was voted to reduce the number of directors from 15 to 12.
On Wednesday, August 21, 1935, two armed bandits held up and robbed the Farmers National Bank at Deposit of $3,000 after having posted a woman as a lookout. They fled in a Ford V-8 automobile toward Binghamton. The bandits were loitering in the bank when George White, assistant cashier, entered at 12:30 o'clock this afternoon. One of the bandits immediately covered Mr. White with a revolver. The other then went into the cage and started scooping up the cash. Lewis A. Austin and Miss Mabel Tucker, bank employees, who had been occupied in another section of the bank, then were ordered to line up again the wall with Mr. White. Two shots were fired over their heads to emphasize the orders. After the money had been placed in a burlap sack, the bandits then walked out of the bank at their leisure, and separated, according to reports to Deposit police. After leaving the bank, one of the men was said to have walked up the street, carrying the burlap bag. The other went in the opposite direction. The taller bandit was said to have been joined by the woman lookout. The two were then seen entering the Ford V8 of maroon color. It was not known whether the other man was later picked up by them. The woman was described as about 30 years old, wearing a figured light yellow dress and dark hat. Sheriff Arlington B. Thatcher, who arrived in Deposit soon after the robbery, said he believed the bandits had two automobiles, first starting toward Binghamton, then switching to a second machine, and doubling back to the village, headed for Scranton or Carbondale.
On August 29th, a woman put the finger on James Archer, 29, wanted as a bank robber as he was about to step into Madison Square Garden to watch the Baer-Doyle fight. Archer was arrested and booked before being taken upstate to face charges of robbing the Farmers National Bank of Deposit of $6,000. Archer was an automobile mechanic from North Arlington, New Jersey and had been living the past few days at 44 Lexington Avenue.
On November 20th, 1935, the trial of James J. Archer on a first degree robbery charge began before County Judge Thomas A. MacClary and a Broome County jury. The first witness was Fay G. White, assistant cashier of the bank who was called by District Attorney A.E. Gold. Mr. White testified to the details of the holdup, telling the jury of returning from lunch August 21st and preparing to step behind his cage when the taller of two bandits flourished a pistol, remarking, "This is it." The shorter of the two bandits flourished a cheap, nickel-plated revolver. Mr. White told of being herded into the bank vault with other employees and of seeing the taller robber gather bank money and throw it into a burlap sack. The bank lost $5,988.10 in the holdup he said. The witness identified Archer as the smaller man in the holdup, having picked him out of a group of 15 or 20 prisoners at Broome County jail. Archer was convicted by the jury after deliberating 30 minutes. On November 29th he was sentenced to 15-30 years in Attica state prison. During the trial Archer cross-examined one prosecution witness and delivered summation of the case on his own behalf.
In January 1937, Dr. Clayton M. Axtell, local physician, was elected president to replace Dr. R.K. Palmerton. Dr. Palmerton retired from the president's office due to ill help, but remained on the board of directors.
On February 16, 1971, the Deposit office of the National Bank & Trust Company of Norwich became the 12th office of the Norwich bank, completing the merger between the Farmers National Bank of Deposit and the National Bank & Trust Co. of Norwich. The merger united the two banks into an institution with combined deposits exceeding $77,000,000 and total resources of $89,500,000. Bank president Everett A. Gilmour of Norwich announced that Kenneth M. Axtell, Jr., of Deposit had been named vice-president and manager of the Deposit office. Mr. Gilmour also named Mrs. Kathryn Tracy assistant manager and assistant cashier and said all other staff members would continue in their present positions. The present Farmers National Bank directors, Kenneth M. Axtell, Kenneth M. Axtell, Jr., Clayton M. Axtell, Mrs. Sylvia Axtell and Paul M. Page, would serve as an advisory board for the Deposit Office.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Farmers National Bank of Deposit, NY
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $831,130 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1909 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 66,860 notes (53,548 large size and 13,312 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 3x10-20 1 - 4740 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 4741 - 13387 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1288 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 388 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 2718 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 538
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1909 - 1935):
Presidents:
- E. Frank Smith, 1909-1918
- Ebenezer Danforth Cumming, 1919-1929
- Berkley S. Boyd, 1930-1933
- Dr. Roswell Kelsey Palmerton, 1934-1935
Cashiers:
- Henry C. Miller, 1909-1910
- Milton B. Smith, 1911-1927
- Merle Malcolm Geddis, 1928-1930
- Frank Martin Skillman, 1931-1935
Other Bank Note Signers
- There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.
Wiki Links
- New York Bank Note History
- General information on Deposit (Wikipedia)
- General information on Broome County (Wikipedia)
- General information on New York (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Deposit, NY, onWikipedia
- 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
- The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY, Tue., June 8, 1909.
- Star-Gazette, Elmira, NY, Fri., July 2, 1909.
- Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, Sat., Jan. 15, 1916.
- Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, Wed., Aug. 21, 1935.
- Daily News, New York, NY, Fri., Aug. 30, 1935.
- Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, Wed., Nov. 20, 1935.
- Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, Fri., Nov. 29, 1935.
- Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, Sat., Jan. 23, 1937.
- Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, Sun., Feb. 21, 1971.