First National Bank, Jefferson, PA (Charter 11370)
First National Bank, Jefferson, PA (Chartered 1919 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Jefferson, Pennsylvania is located in northeastern Greene County. As of the census of 2000, there were 337 people residing in the borough. Jefferson Borough was settled in 1795 and was named for Thomas Jefferson. It just so happened that the early citizens of both Greene and York counties organized boroughs named after Thomas Jefferson. This occurred before Pennsylvania adopted a rule against duplicate borough names. The Jefferson in Greene County was founded first and had a thriving wool industry and coal mining operations in the vicinity. The Jefferson here in Greene County eventually was recognized by the state as the first to claim this name for a borough and for their post office. The First National Bank of Jefferson, Charter 11370, is located in Greene County. Two other national banks were chartered in Jefferson in York County, which has Codorus as the name of its post office.
Jefferson, Greene County, had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, and this bank issued both large and small size National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized March 18, 1919
- Chartered June 13, 1919
- Conservatorship March 30, 1933
- Licensed March 31, 1934
- Bank was Open past 1935
- Acquired by Gallatin National Bank of Uniontown, December 1, 1955
On June 13, 1919, a charter was issued to the First National Bank of Jefferson, capital $25,000, president S.C. Hawkins. Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Tue., June 17, 1919.
The night of November 10, 1930, an attempted bank robbery of the FNB of Jefferson, PA failed. The interior of the bank was damaged and a large plate glass window broken by the would-be robbers, but nothing was missing from the banking room. Officers were notified, but no clue was discovered.
In January 1942, the directors were E.S. Minor, Leslie Reynolds, John T. McMinn, G.B. Moredock, C.A. Power, Frank B. Dunbar, R.J. Strickler, D.J. Yoders, and W.A. Moredock. The officers were G.B. Moredock, president; E.S. Minor, vice president; Harry E. Enstrom, cashier; Myrtle S. Ross, assistant cashier.
On Tuesday, January 10, 1950, stockholders re-elected eight directors and approved a resolution to double the bank's capital by a 100% stock dividend, subject to approval by the comptroller of the currency. The capital stock was $25,000, the increase would come from a surplus of $75,000 and undivided profits of slightly over $19,000. The directors re-elected were G.B. Moredock, president; E.S. Minor, vice president; Leslie Reynolds, John T. McMinn, C.A. Bower, Frank B. Dunbar, W.A. Moredock, and J. Allan Brookes.
On Thursday, November 6, 1952, two bandits late in the morning held up at gun-point the First National Bank of Jefferson, eastern Greene County, and fled with between $2,000 and $3,000. On November 10 the, Dawn Crable, 29 year old ex-convict from Monessen received a seven and one-half to 20 year sentence to the Western State Penitentiary. He left that prison only a month earlier after serving a five year term for a burglary in Charleroi. His accomplice, Lena Mae Pugh who was charged with helping Crable rob the bank cashier and a customer of $1,498 at gun point, received an indeterminate sentence to the women's reformatory in Muncy. The couple was captured by state police a little more than an hour after they roared out of Jefferson in a borrowed car which was recovered in Brownsville. Crable was caught at the Fredericktown Ferry over the Monongahela River.
Effective December 1, 1955, the First National Bank of Jefferson became a branch of the Gallatin National Bank of Uniontown. G.B. Moredock, president of the Jefferson bank and Paul Malone, president of Gallatin, announced the change subject to stockholder approval at a special meeting scheduled for December 1st. Harry F. Enstrong, cashier of the Jefferson bank would become the manager of the Jefferson brand and an assistant cashier of Gallatin National.
In July 1956, a parole was denied Alfred E. Riley of near Brownsville, serving a term of four to 10 years as an accessory in the armed holdup of the First National Bank of Jefferson in 1952. Riley planned the holdup which was executed by Lena Mae Pugh of Brownsville and Dawn Crable of Monessen. The trio escaped with about $2,000, but were captured several hours later.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The First National Bank of Jefferson, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $353,730 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1919 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 44,916 notes (32,572 large size and 12,344 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 4x5 1 - 5020 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 3123 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1066 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 498 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 160 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 1108 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 726 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 166
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
First National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1919 - 1936):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
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 Jefferson (Wikipedia)
- General information on Greene County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Jefferson, PA, 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://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
- Huntoon, P., Feb 2020, Jefferson, Pennsylvania, double identity: BNR, v. 69, p. 62-65.
- Jefferson Borough
- Altoona Mirror, Altoona, PA, Tue., Nov. 11, 1930
- The Evening Standard, Uniontown, PA, Wed., Jan. 14, 1942.
- The Evening Standard, Uniontown, PA, Wed., Jan. 11, 1950.
- The Daily American, Somerset, PA, Tue., Nov. 11, 1952.
- The Daily Republican, Monongahela, PA, Mon., Oct. 31, 1955.
- The Evening Standard, Uniontown, PA, Sat., July 21, 1956.