Grange NB of Lycoming County, Hughesville, PA (Charter 8924)

The Grange National Bank of Lycoming County at Hughesville ca1910s. Courtesy of Adam Stroup

Grange NB of Lycoming County, Hughesville, PA (Chartered 1907 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Needed: a recent photo of the bank or another postcard.

Hughesville is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, located in the upper Susquehanna Valley. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area and is 19 miles east.

Hughesville is named for Jeptha Hughes, who purchased land from John Heap in 1816 and laid out the town of "Hughesburg" before selling the entire plot to Daniel Harrold in 1820. The town grew slowly around a gristmill that was constructed by Jacob Clayton. A tavern was built in 1820, and a general store followed ten years later. The first doctor in Hughesville, John W. Peale, arrived in 1828. Hughesville was incorporated as a borough on April 23, 1852.

Early industries in Hughesville were built to serve the farmers and citizens of eastern Lycoming County. They included a chair factory opened in 1829, a wagon shop in 1830, several distilleries, a sawmill and planing mill, and a furniture factory. Electricity was introduced to Hughesville in 1891 along with running water.

The population was 2,128 at the 2010 census. In 1910 the population was 1,650 and by 1940 it was 1,947.

Hughesville had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

• Organized June 26, 1907
• Chartered October 21, 1907
• Opened for business February 1, 1908
• Bank was Open past 1935

The Grange National Bank of Lycoming County at Hughesville opened for business on Saturday, February 1, 1908, after a delay waiting for the building to be completed. At that time, the Daily News of Mount Carmel reported it was the tenth in the chain of Grange national banks and four others were organized and a number were contemplated.

In January 1938, stockholders elected the following officers, Isaac Shaffer, president; William S. Opp, vice president, W.C. Fulmer, cashier; and Richard Shaffer, assistant cashier. In addition the following were elected directors: Frank Tule, Harry P. Keyle, William Seibert, C.T. McConnell, and L.H. Priest.

In October 1940, Richard Santee Shaffer, former assistant cashier of the Grange National Bank of Hughesville was a fugitive charged with twelve counts of embezzlement of $6,347.33 of the banks funds. Shaffer would turn himself in to federal authorities. He plead guilty to the theft of bank funds in federal court and Judge Albert L. Watson gave a suspended jail term of one year and a day and placed Shaffer on probation for five years.

In August 1979, directors agreed to enter into a joint plan of merger with Northern Central Bank of Williamsport. Under the proposed plan the Grange National Bank office on North Main Street, Hughesville, would be merged with Northern Central under its corporate charter and title. As of June 30, 1979, Northern Central had total assets of about $318 million while the Grange National Bank had assets of nearly $22 million. C. Paul McConnell, president of the Grange National would became a vice president and branch manager. Howard O. Shaffer would serve as chairman of the Hughesville regional board of Northern Central and as a member of Northern Central's corporate board. Northern Central Bank, based in Williamsport, originally was formed in 1963 from the merger of the West Branch Bank and Trust Co., chartered in 1835 as the first banking house in Williamsport and the Bank of Newberry. It added its 16th office at the Lycoming Mall in June 1978, merged with the First National Bank of Millville in the spring of 1979 and was also in the process of merging with the Lewisburg National Bank in Union County.

In April 1980, the merger agreement was terminated when both boards of directors failed to agree on certain conditions and terms.

For more information on the Grange National Banks in Pennsylvania, this article provides a brief history of those twelve banks, why they were formed, and the men and women behind them:

• A Brief History of the Grange National Banks in Pennsylvania

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Grange National Bank of Lycoming County at Hughesville, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with stamped signatures of H.G. Van Devender, Cashier and Geo. B. Runyan, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1902 Plain Back $20 bank note with stamped signatures of H.G. Van Devender, Cashier and Isaac Shaffer, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of W.C. Fulmer, Cashier and Isaac Shaffer, President. Courtesy of PH

A total of $714,730 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1907 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 88,751 notes (74,932 large size and 13,819 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	4x5	1 - 500
1902 Red Seal	3x10-20	1 - 400
1902 Date Back	4x5	1 - 2725
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 2080
1902 Plain Back	4x5	2726 - 10575
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	2081 - 7258
1929 Type 1	6x5	1 - 986
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 568
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 170
1929 Type 2	5	1 - 2136
1929 Type 2	10	1 - 1119
1929 Type 2	20	1 - 220

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1907 - 1936):

Presidents:

• James Knox Boak, 1908-1918
• Daniel Edward Kiess, 1919-1921
• George B. Runyan, 1922-1925
• Isaac Shaffer, 1927-1935

Cashiers:

• Harry G. Van Devender, 1908-1932
• W. C. Fulmer, 1933-1935

Other Bank Note Signers

• There are currently no known Vice President or Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

• Grange National Bank of Lycoming at Hughesville, PA History (NB Lookup)
• Pennsylvania Bank Note History

Sources

• Hughesville, 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
• The Daily News, Mount Carmel, PA, Wed., Feb. 5, 1908.
• Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Williamsport, PA, Thu., Jan. 13, 1938.
• The Danville News, Danville, PA, Tue., Aug. 28, 1979.
• The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA, Tue., Aug. 28, 1979.
• The Evening Times, Sayre, PA, Wed., Apr. 30, 1980.