First National Bank, New Kensington, PA (Charter 4913)
First National Bank, New Kensington, PA (Chartered 1893 - Open past 1935)
Town History
New Kensington (known locally as New Ken) is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It is situated along the Allegheny River 18 miles northeast of Pittsburgh and is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 12,170 at the 2020 census. In 1900 the population was 4,665, growing to 16,762 by 1930.
Originally part of Burrell (and later Lower Burrell) Township, the city of New Kensington was founded in 1891. In 1890, the Burrell Improvement Company considered the advantages of the level land south of its home in Lower Burrell, and deemed it a prime location for a city and named the area "Kensington"; this was later changed to "New Kensington" for postal reasons, to avoid confusion with the Philadelphia neighborhood of the same name.
In an attempt to make New Kensington comparable to Pittsburgh, the streets were named with numbers. Avenues ran parallel to the river, while streets were perpendicular. The main commercial streets were 4th and 5th avenues.
Once the land was surveyed, a public sale was held on June 10, 1891. Thousands of people flooded the area and investors began bringing industry with them. The first large company was the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, which later became Alcoa. It acquired a 3.5-acre property that allowed the company to use the riverfront. The Alcoa facility remained operational until 1971.
The two boroughs of Parnassus and New Kensington consolidated in 1931 with Parnassus adding three wards to New Kensington. Mount Vernon, an exclusive residential district of New Kensington, was part of the old borough. Parnassus incorporated as a borough in 1872 and was one of the oldest in Western Pennsylvania. As far back as 1777, known as Fort Crawford, it was a colonial outpost of Fort Duquesne. A post office was established in Parnassus in 1858.
New Kensington had three National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, The First National Bank (Charter 4913), The Logan National Bank and Trust Company (Charter 13571), and the Union National Bank (Charter 13084), and all three issued National Bank Notes. Parnassus had one National Bank chartered during the Bank Note Era, The Parnassus National Bank (Charter 7363), and it issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized May 6, 1893
- Chartered June 28, 1893
- Bank was Open past 1935
An announcement was made the last week of December 1921, that name of the local Haynes distributing organization was changing from Coulter Motors, Inc., to Evans-Morrow Motor Company. George M. Evans, former president of Coulter Motors would continue to act as president of the Evans-Morrow Motor Company. Mr. Evans, a well-known resident of New Kensington, was a practical automobile man and it was largely due to his untiring efforts that Haynes automobiles enjoyed their well-deserved popularity in the Pittsburgh district. H.S. Morrow whose affiliation with the local Haynes interests was announced in November was vice president and general manager of the new company, and F.E. Pratt, well-known as cashier of the First National Bank of New Kensington, was treasurer.[3]
On October 19, 1951, Guido D. Vernucci, the first of five New Kensington bankers charged with embezzlement was under federal grand jury indictment. Vernucci was arrested by the FBI last January 11th and charged with taking $3,799 from the First National Bank of New Kensington. Later W. Paul Smeltzer, assistant cashier, Otto Raymond Grotefend, and George Shiarella were arrested on similar charges. The FBI said the cases were not related. The fifth New Kensington bank official arrested for embezzlement was Ludwig R. Schlekat, president of the Parnassus National Bank.[4][5]
In December 1953, cases were wrapped up for a series of bank scandals in Western Pennsylvania. More than $3,725,000 was embezzled over a three-year period and 14 bankers and credit union officials were given prison sentences and numerous others were fined or placed on probation. The stiffest sentences were given to Ludwig R. Schlekat who embezzled $600,000 from the Parnassus National Bank of New Kensington and W. Paul Smeltzer, assistant cashier who took $620,000 from the First National Bank of New Kensington. Schlekat was given ten years and a $35,000 fine and Smletzer ten years and a $5,000 fine.[6]
By December 1956, the Government had recovered more than $100,000 worth of the loot by taking over the bank and had the promise of getting another $100,000 from the estate of the man who sold the bank to Schlekat. Charles R. Alter who sold the Parnassus National Bank in 1947 to Schlekat for $254,000 through two fictitious Ohio "bankers" settled the Government's $600,000 suit against him and his wife with a $100,000 trust fund. Alter died the past year, but his wife would receive the income from the trust fund until her death at which time the principal would be turned over to the FDIC which insured the looted bank.[7] W. Paul Smeltzer, cashier of the First National Bank confessed in 1951 to taking $620,000. Smeltzer served four years and was paroled June 11, 1956.[8]
In March 1961, notice was published of the acquisition of assets and assumption of liabilities of the First National Bank of New Kensington by Pittsburgh National Bank. All offices of the First National would continue to be operated according to the announcement.[9] On September 13th, Pittsburgh National Bank said it received tentative approval from the Comptroller of the Currency for its proposed acquisition of Frist National Bank of New Kensington. Pittsburgh National had total resources on June 30th of $950,000,000 and the New Kensington Bank $20,000,000. Under the merger plan, M.A. Schapiro & Co., New York securities firm, would deliver to First National stockholders 63,750 Pittsburgh National shares purchased by the firm at a cost of $2,500,000 in the open market. First National Stockholders would receive 17 2/10th shares of Pittsburgh National for each New Kensington share held. According to Frank E. Agnew, Jr., Pittsburgh National president, this arrangement would allow Pittsburgh National to acquire First National of New Kensington without issuing any new stock. First National Shareholders would meet on September 26th to vote on the proposal.[10]
On September 27, 1961, Dom C. Shiarella, vice president of the First National Bank of New Kensington died in Citizens General Hospital, New Kensington. He went to work for the New Kensington bank in 1910. In 1916 he was made head of the foreign department and in 1948 he was made vice president and cashier. He was the brother of George R. Shiarella.[11]
Official Bank Title
1: The First National Bank of New Kensington, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,089,590 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1893 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 168,373 notes (133,584 large size and 34,789 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 3x10-20 1 - 5140 1882 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 2791 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 1700 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1701 - 25465 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 3854 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 1026 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 4475 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 1034
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1893 - 1935):
Presidents:
- Lucien Clawson, 1893-1894
- S. P. Brown, 1895-1896
- David Smith Gailey, 1897-1904
- John S. McKean, 1905-1908
- Dr. Elmer E. Patton, 1909-1916
- George Monroe Evans, 1917-1926
- Frank E. Pratt, 1927-1928
- Homer Burns Smith, 1929-1935
Cashiers:
- David Bernard Doty, Sr., 1893-1907
- James L. Spiegel, 1907-1908
- Frank E. Pratt, 1908-1919
- Homer Burns Smith, 1920-1926
- Wilbert C. Black, 1927-1928
- Domenic Carmen "Dom" Shiarella, 1929-1935
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
- First National Bank, New Kensington, PA History (NB Lookup)
- Pennsylvania Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- New Kensington, 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://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project
- ↑ The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Jan. 3, 1926.
- ↑ The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Jan. 3, 1926.
- ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Jan. 1, 1922.
- ↑ The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Thu., Aug. 16, 1951.
- ↑ The Plain Speaker, Hazleton, PA, Fri., Oct. 19, 1951.
- ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Sat., Dec. 12, 1953.
- ↑ The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Dec. 30, 1956.
- ↑ Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Dec. 30, 1956.
- ↑ The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., Mar. 22, 1961.
- ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA,Thu., Sep. 14, 1961.
- ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, Thu., Sep. 28, 1961.