First National Bank, Richmond, ME (Charter 662)
First National Bank, Richmond, ME (Chartered 1864 - Liquidated 1916)
Town History
Richmond is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area, situated at the head of Merrymeeting Bay. The population was 3,522 at the 2020 census. In 1860 the population was 2,739 declining to 1,858 by 1910.
Richmond is located adjacent to the 2,019 acre state-owned and managed Steve Powell Wildlife Management Area on Swan Island, a wildlife sanctuary and tourist area listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Swan Island is a major wildlife tourist attraction for the town, especially during the summer.
The tract of land which comprises Richmond and Gardiner was purchased in 1649 from the Abenaki Indians by Christopher Lawson. The site of Richmond, as well as neighboring Swan Island, is believed by historians to have served as a summer settlement for the Abenaki.
In 1719, Fort Richmond was built by the Province of Massachusetts Bay on the western bank of the Kennebec River where Richmond is located today. Named for Ludovic Stewart, 1st Duke of Richmond, the fort included a blockhouse, trading post, chapel, officers' and soldiers' quarters, all surrounded by a palisade. In 1722 during the Dummer's War, following the battle at Arrowsic, Maine, Fort Richmond was attacked in a three-hour siege by warriors from Norridgewock. Houses were burned and cattle slain, but the fort held. Brunswick and other settlements near the mouth of the Kennebec River were destroyed. The fort's defenses were enlarged in 1723. On August 19, 1724, a militia of 208 soldiers departed Fort Richmond under command of captains Jeremiah Moulton and Johnson Harmon, traveling up the Kennebec in 17 whaleboats to sack Norridgewock. Fort Richmond would be rebuilt in 1740, attacked by another tribe in 1750, then dismantled in 1755 when forts Shirley (also called Frankfort), Western and Halifax were built upriver.
Settled in 1725, the community was part of Bowdoinham when it was incorporated in 1762 by the Massachusetts General Court. In 1790, Revolutionary War veteran John Plummer was awarded a land grant on Plummer Road, where his son built the surviving house about 1810. The Embargo of 1807 crippled the port's economy, bankrupted merchants and created a recession which lingered through the War of 1812.
The town was set off and incorporated on February 10, 1823, taking its name from the old fort. With the arrival of steamboats in the 1830s, Richmond boomed as a shipbuilding and trade center on the navigable Kennebec River estuary. Among the more important shipbuilders were T.J. Southard, also considered one of the town's "founding fathers".
Richmond had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, the First National Bank (Charter 662) and the Richmond National Bank (Charter 909), and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized December 1, 1864
- Chartered December 30, 1864
- Liquidated April 5, 1916
In January 1870, stockholders elected the following directors for the ensuing year: Levi Mustard, T.J. Southard, C.H.T.J. Southard, William T. Hall, and Hatherly Randall. Levi Mustard was elected president and James Carney was cashier.[3]
In January 1877, stockholders of the First National Bank elected Levi Mustard, T.J. Southard, C.H.T.J. Southard, Wm. T. Hall, and James Carney, directors. Levi Mustard was elected president and James Carney, cashier. Stockholders of the Richmond Savings Bank elected T.J. Southard, Levi Mustard, Wm. T. Hall, Chas. H. Southard, Daniel Tiffany, James Carney and Hatherly Randall, trustees. T.J. Southard was elected president; S.W. Jack, treasurer; and Wm. T. Hall, secretary.[4]
On Tuesday, January 11, 1910, officers elected were C.H.T.J. Southard, president; J.M. Odiorne, cashier; Noble Maxwell, C.H.T.J.Southard, J.M. Odiorne, T.J. Southard, and J.D. Wetherby, directors.[5] Early in the morning of November 26, 1910, an attempt was made to blow open the vault of the First National Bank of Richmond, but it failed. Apparently three attempts were made with nitroglycerine. The inner door of the vault was not damaged.[6] The bank occupied a three-story brick building at the corner of Front and White Streets near the water front. Besides the usual amount of money in the vault, it contained three payrolls, those of the Richmond Mills Co., the Bradstreet Lumber Co., and the Brunswick Box Co., amounting to about $2,000.[7] While Cashier Odiorne had a first class arsenal in close proximity to the money cage, the bank had not employed a night watchman. After the failed attempt the officers secured the "weighty Mr. Taylor" who was provided with three excellent six shooters in addition to the equipment of the cashier's shelf.[8] Early Thursday morning, December 1st, unknown burglars again attempted to rob the First National Bank, but were frightened away by the watchman, Richard Taylor, who fired at them once inside and five times outside the building. They escaped leaving no trace.[9]
On Friday, February 18, 1916, the state banking department ordered a hearing at the banking rooms of the First National Bank of Richmond upon the application of the Augusta Trust Company to establish a branch at the town of Richmond.[10] Irving E. Vernon was the banking commissioner.[11]
The Augusta Trust Co. was the largest commercial banking institution of the capital city. The company's fine banking house was one of the notable structures of the city. The Augusta Trust Company was organized in 1894 and had deposits in the savings department exceeding $4.5 million with over 11,000 depositors. Total resources exceeded $6 million with capital of $100,000, a surplus of the same amount, and undivided profits of about $125,000. George E. Macomber was president; Frank E. Smith, vice president, secretary and treasurer; Guy P. Gannett, vice president; and Hiram L. Pishon, assistant treasurer. The company opened fully-equipped branches at Winthrop and at Madison under the management of W.M. Wiswell and K.C. Gray, respectively.[12] In 1902, the Augusta National Bank, Charter 3271, was absorbed by the Augusta Trust Company.[13]
On Saturday, October 11, 1919, Hon. Noble Maxwell died in Richmond at the age of 56. He was born in Bowdoinham on August 21, 1863, the son of Thomas and Ruth A. Maxwell and spent his early years there. In 1890 he moved to Richmond where he became a factor in the business and political life of the town. Before leaving Bowdoinham, he served several terms as town treasurer and also in Richmond from 1898-1904 and from 1909 to 1914 he was chairman of the board of selectmen. In 1897-99 he was a member of the Maine House and in 1912 in the Maine Senate. Mr. Maxwell was president, treasurer and business manager of the firm of Rowe Bros. Co., one of the largest wrecking and dredging concerns on the Atlantic Coast. This company built the Standard Oil docks in Portland, the Plymouth Beach breakwater, the draw in the Portsmouth-Kittery bridge and practically controlled the sand business of New England.[14]
On November 26, 1919, Joseph M. Odiorne, who for 40 years was cashier of the First National Bank, died of pneumonia. He was born in Richmond in 1850, the son of Samuel and Amanda Briery Odiorne, and first entered the shipping office of T.J. Southard. He left this position to become cashier of the First National Bank and retired around 1916 when the bank became the Richmond branch of the Augusta Trust Company. For several years he was treasurer of the town.[15]
Official Bank Title
1: The First National Bank of Richmond, ME
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $700,340 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1864 and 1916. This consisted of a total of 59,572 notes (59,572 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 Original Series 4x5 1 - 1077 Original Series 3x10-20 1 - 1840 Series 1875 4x5 1 - 400 Series 1875 3x10-20 1 - 887 1882 Brown Back 3x10-20 1 - 5056 1902 Red Seal 3x10-20 1 - 2000 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 3540 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 3541 - 3633
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1864 - 1916):
Presidents:
- Franklin Houdlette, 1865-1865
- Levi Mustard, 1865-1885
- Charles Henry Thomas Jefferson Southard, 1886-1912
- Hon. Noble Maxwell, 1913-1915
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
- First National Bank, Richmond, ME History (NB Lookup)
- Sagadahoc County, ME Bank Note History
- Maine Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Richmond, ME, 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
- ↑ Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME, Mon., Jan. 17, 1916.
- ↑ Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME, Tue., Oct. 13, 1925.
- ↑ Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME, Wed., Jan. 19, 1870.
- ↑ Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME, Wed., Jan. 24, 1877.
- ↑ Sun-Journal, Lewiston, ME, Wed., Jan. 12, 1910.
- ↑ The Advertiser-Democrat, Norway, ME, Tue., Dec. 6, 1910.
- ↑ Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME, Mon., Nov. 28, 1910.
- ↑ Sun-Journal, Lewiston, ME, Sat., Dec. 3, 1910.
- ↑ The Brunswick Record, Brunswick, ME, Fr., Dec. 2, 1910.
- ↑ Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME, Sat., Feb. 5, 1916.
- ↑ Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME, Sat., Feb. 19, 1916.
- ↑ Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME, Mon., Jan. 17, 1916.
- ↑ Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME, Wed., Jan. 1, 1902.
- ↑ Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME, Mon., Oct. 13, 1919.
- ↑ The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Thu., Nov. 27, 1919.