Fort McIntosh National Bank, Beaver, PA (Charter 8185)
Fort McIntosh National Bank, Beaver, PA (Chartered 1906 - Open past 1935)
Town History
Beaver is a borough in and the county seat of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. It is located at the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio Rivers, approximately 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. As of the 2020 census, the borough's population was 4,838.
Beaver became the site of Fort McIntosh, a Revolutionary War era Patriot frontier fort. General Lachlan McIntosh, sent north from Virginia by General Washington, built a fort there in 1788. The fort was constructed of hewn logs and had four bastions. The inclosure was about 30 yards square. McIntosh was a Scot from Inverness. In 1777 he had fought a duel over the failed invasion of British-controlled East Florida with Button Guinett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Both contestants were wounded and Guinnett died. McIntosh recovered and he was tried for murder and acquitted. As a result of the incident he was sent north to build the fort. After the war, the fort was the home of the First American Regiment, the oldest active unit in the US Army. It was abandoned in the winter of 1790-91. By then, the frontier had moved westward and there was no further need for a permanent garrison to protect the area.
The community was laid out in 1792. In 1800, it became the county seat of the newly formed Beaver County. The first county court was established in Beaver in 1804 with Judge Daniel Agnew who later became chief justice of the Pennsylvania supreme court. Growth was steady until 1879 when the arrival of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad caused a major growth spurt. In February 1884 a massive flood caused extensive damage.
Beaver had three National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all three of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized March 8, 1906
- Chartered April 21, 1906
- Bank was Open past 1935
On February 10, 1906, the comptroller of the currency approved the application of Robert W. Darragh, William B. Brown, J. Sharp Wilson, Edwin S. Weyand, and F.S.H. McCauley to organize the Fort McIntosh National Bank of Beaver, capital $50,000. A charter was issued on April 21, 1906 with J. Sharp Wilson, president; Robert W. Darragh, vice president; and Frank S. Mitchell, cashier.
In 1925, Beaver had two strong banks with resources of about $4,200,000. The Beaver Trust Co. had capital stock of $300,000, surplus of $100,000, undivided profits of $82,272 and total trust funds of $1,320,977 with total resources of all departments of $3,503,050. Deposits totaled about $1,530,000. C.M. Hughes was president; Agnew Hice vice president; James Galey, vice president; George I. McIntyre, secretary-treasurer, and James W. Gordon, assistant secretary-treasurer. The Fort McIntosh National Bank of Beaver had total resources of $762,000, capital stock of $50,000, surplus of $20,000 and deposits of about $600,000. J.Sharp Wilson was president; James T. Anderson vice president; Robert F. Patterson, cashier; M.C. Marshall, assistant cashier; and Hugh H. Wilson, teller. James T. Anderson was head of the Dollar Building and Loan Association.
On December 23, 1964, shareholders of Western Pennsylvania National Bank and Fort McIntosh National Bank approved a plan to merge the two banks. The proposed merger was based upon an exchange of one share of Fort McIntosh National Bank for four and three-tenths shares of WPNB Stock. On January 16, 1965, the Fort McIntosh National Bank of Beaver merged with Western Pennsylvania National Bank (WPNB). The newly-merged bank would be known as the WPNB Beaver Community Office. M.A. Cancelliere was the WPNB president and F.A. Hawthorne was selected to manage the Beaver Community Office, located at 599 Third Street. Mr. Hawthorne was first elected cashier of the Fort McIntosh bank in 1945. WPNB had three other offices in Beaver County at Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, and New Brighton.
Official Bank Title(s)
1: The Fort McIntosh National Bank of Beaver, PA
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $1,021,950 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1906 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 119,001 notes (95,698 large size and 23,303 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1902 Red Seal 50-100 1 - 165 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 4700 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 2740 1902 Date Back 50-100 1 - 440 1902 Plain Back 4x5 4701 - 14610 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 2741 - 9012 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 1846 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 1028 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 298 1929 Type 2 5 1 - 2338 1929 Type 2 10 1 - 1477 1929 Type 2 20 1 - 456
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1906 - 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 Beaver (Wikipedia)
- General information on Beaver County (Wikipedia)
- General information on Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)
Sources
- Beaver, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver,_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
- The Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Feb. 11, 1906.
- The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY, Wed., Apr. 25, 1906.
- The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Sun., Nov. 8, 1925.
- Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, Pittsburgh, PA, Fri., Apr. 20, 1956.
- The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, Wed., Dec. 23, 1964
- The Daily Notes, Canonsburg, PA, Sat., Jan. 16, 1965.