First National Bank, Ebensburg, PA (Charter 5084)
First National Bank, Ebensburg, PA (Chartered 1897 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Ebensburg is a borough and the county seat of Cambria County in the Comonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located 25 miles West of Altoona and surrounded by Cambria Township. It is situated in the Allegheny Mountains at about 2,140 feet above sea level. Ebensburg is located in a rich bituminous coal region. In the past, sawmills, tanneries, wool mills, and a foundry operated there. The number of residents in 1900 was 1,574, and in 1910, 1,978. The population was 3,351 at the 2010 census.
Ebensburg originated in November 1796, when Congregational minister Rees Lloyd led a small party of 20 Welsh people from Philadelphia to the lands Morgan John Rhees had chosen for his colony. They selected an attractive spot in the tops of the Allegheny Mountains and there settled what would become Ebensburg, naming it for Eben Lloyd, who died in childhood.
In the years following the Civil War, Ebensburg flourished, becoming a town of posh propriety in a sense with grand homes flanking the streets. Lavish carriages rolled down the roads and a debate club of local gentleman would meet in lounges across town. Still it was a mountain town, high in the Alleghenies, and many Pittsburgh socialites flocked here to escape the dirty, loud and sickly streets of the industrial city. The promise of healthy life in the high peaks of Ebensburg lured many who could afford "summer cottages" -though many are akin to mansions. The first wave of this tourism came as prominent hotels done in grandiose Victorian style began popping up across town. Such was the case of the Maple Park Springs Hotel which sat on a hill in the Northwest corner of town on a tract of land known as "Lloyds Grove." Ormsby Lodge owned by the Phillips Family was built in 1889 by Duncan Phillips. The lodge was an 18 room East Lake Victorian cottage built on the former Belmont Tract of land. It was also during this time of great prosperity that the city of Johnstown to the south was devastated by a flood in 1889, a stark contrast to the march of progress in the mountain town.
In February 1915 most of downtown Ebensburg was wiped out by fire which broke out in the pool room of the Mountain House. Every building in the block from the Mountain House to the county court house was destroyed. The loss was estimated between $250,000 and $300,000. The court house was not damaged although the buildings adjoining were destroyed. Fire companies from many northern Cambria County towns were summoned to assist the Ebensburg company. The Johnstown city fire department also went to the scene. The buildings destroyed include the fine building of the Cambria Title, Savings & Trust Company, several hotels, a livery barn, a bank building and a number of small office buildings. The telephone communications were cut off. The buildings destroyed were thirteen in number. A cigarette dropped in the poolroom the night previous is believed to have started the fire.
Ebensburg had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized Jul 8, 1897
- Chartered Aug 9, 1897
- Succeeded Johnston, Buck & Co.
- Bank was Open past 1935
On June 25, 1897, The comptroller of the currency authorized the establishment of the First National Bank of Ebensburg with a capital of $50,000. The incorporators were A.W. Buck, S.W. Davis, Edmund James, F.H. Barker, A.V. Barker, M.D. Kihell, Webster Griffith, and Alvin Enaus.
The People's Bank of Clymer, originally the People's Bank of Commodore, was incorporated November 30, 1920 in Commodore under the banking laws of Pennsylvania. The bank moved to Clymer on Jan. 20, 1935 and operated in a small, one-room building on Franklin Street. It changed its name to the People's Bank of Clymer and as it progressed, two more rooms were added. In July 1970, The People's Bank of Clymer merged with the First National Bank of Ebensburg and became the Clymer office of the First National.
The 77th annual meeting of the First National Bank of Ebensburg was held on April 2, 1974. The most important decision made was to accept the new name for the bank--The Laurel National Bank. It was believed the public would receive the name change well as laurel is the state flower of Pennsylvania and the plant abounds throughout the trading area. Miss Marjorie Griffith, vice president and cashier reported total assets in excess of $71 million. Directors elected were Randolph Myers, George W. Griffith, Howard W. Roberts, M. Albert Evans, Jess M. Fridman, J. Henry Clarke, William P. White, D.A. Westover, Dr. Claude W. Kirby, Rowland H. Tibbott Jr., and G.W. Musser. Three new directors elected were James Lyons, James Commons, and Jack Calandra.
On January 1, 1985, the name was changed to Laurel Bank. On November 15, 2000, it changed its name to Promistar Bank and on February 15, 2002 it merged and became part of the First National Bank of Pennsylvania (FDIC Cert. #7888) in Greenville, Pennsylvania.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Ebensburg, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,043,370 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1897 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 256,840 notes (181,084 large size and 75,756 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 4x5 1 - 3625 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 3450 1882 Date Back 4x5 1 - 4300 1882 DB/VB 4x5 4301 - 4500 Type uncertain 1882 Value Back 4x5 4501 - 5386 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 3180 1882 Value Back 3x10-20 3181 - 3628 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 18020 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 11162 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 6500 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 3210 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 808 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 6866 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 4378 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1404
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1897 - 1936):
Presidents:
- Alvin Evans, 1897-1905 Representative from Pennsylvania, March 4, 1901-March 3, 1905
- Michael McDonald Kittell, 1906-1935
Cashiers:
- Anicetus William Buck, 1897-1917
- James Richard Myers, 1918-1922
- John C. Mahaffey, 1923-1924
- Daniel Sherman Griffith, 1925-1935
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 Ebensburg (Wikipedia)
- General information on Cambria County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Ebensburg, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebensburg,_Pennsylvania
- 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
- Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Sat., June 26, 1897.
- The Indiana Gazette, Indiana, PA, Thu., Apr. 11, 1974.
- The Indiana Gazette, Indiana, PA, Sat., July 5, 1980.