Miles National Bank, Delta, PA (Charter 4367)

Needed: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Miles National Bank, Delta, PA (Chartered 1890 - Liquidated 1899)

Town History

Delta is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, and one of the southernmost communities in Pennsylvania. The population was 706 at the 2020 census. In 1890 the population was 565, peaking at 881 in 1910.

Delta is at the heart of the Peach Bottom Slate Region. Slate quarries opened in Delta in the 1840s, as quarrymen arrived from Wales. At the Crystal Palace Exposition of 1850, Peach Bottom slate was judged the finest in the world. Most of Delta's houses still have slate roofs, and remnants of the original blue-black slate sidewalks still exist throughout the borough.

The Peach Bottom Railway entered Delta in 1876, and shipped slate along its line to Red Lion and York, Pennsylvania. From the south, the Maryland Central Railroad reached Delta in 1883 and began operating trains from Delta to Bel Air, Maryland and Baltimore in 1884. Both lines were later succeeded by the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad, which operated until 1978. The slate quarry was a major freight customer until 1971, when Delta’s Funkhouser Quarry closed.

Delta had four National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all four of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Organized July 8, 1890
Chartered July 14, 1890
Liquidated October 2, 1899

In July 1890, the Comptroller of the Currency was in receipt of an application for authority to organize The Miles National Bank of Delta by J.H. Miles of Delta, Pennsylvania and his associates.

On Tuesday, July 8, the Miles National Bank was organized with the election of the following officers: Directors, S.B. Miles, R.S. Parke, H.R. Lloyd, John Macomber, Foulk Jones. S.B. Miles was elected president and R.S. Parke, vice president. The capital stock was $50,000 and the bank was expected to be ready to open around September 1st. The brick building, two-stories with basement, was progressing quite satisfactorily. The vaults would be on both stories, the lower 14 feet in height, being used for the bank, and the upper, 12 feet in freight, being used for business offices.

On July 30, 1890, Mr. S.B. Miles accompanied by Foulk Jones, Esq., visited the York Safe Works and purchased one of that company's burglar-proof safes. The safe was very large and elegant, weighing over three tons.

The Directors of the Miles National Bank, Delta, Pa., have contracted with the York Safe & Lock Co., for a large Burglar Proof safe to be put inside of their vault. The door will swing on a crane hinge and will also have patent eccentric pressure bar to force the door tightly against the feet packing so as to prevent the introduction of explosive fluids. The door will be provided with Automatic-Bolt Work bolts operating in all directions. The bolts will be checked with a Yale Donbee Chronometer 72 Hour movement time lock. No hole will be in the door whatsoever. The bolts are operated by a Burton-Hams Bolt Actuating Device. This gives the safe a solid door. The Bolt Actuating Device has heretofore only been used on heavy vault doors for the large Trust Company's. The Miles National Bank are progressive and want the very best protection that they can get. The York Safe & Lock Co. of York, Pa had quite a number of other contracts including two large vaults and burglar proof dens for the Greensburg Banking Co., Greensburg, Pa. and a burglar proof safe for the First National Bank of Gettysburg, Pa.

Mr. J.H. Miles arrived on Monday, September 29, and Mr. S.B. Miles arrived on October 1st, 1890, intending to open the bank for business, but this was prevented by the building not being finished. Monday October 6, was the new date set for commencing business.

In October 1894, the officers were J.H. Miles, president; H.R. Lloyd, vice president; and Robert S. Parke, cashier. Marshall Whiteford was advanced to the position of assistant cashier. His previous service for the bank qualified him for the position. The clerkship made vacant was filled by Hugh J. Evans. The bank had capital stock of $50,000 and surplus of $10,000.

On Tuesday, January 8, 1895, the stockholders elected the following directors: R.S. Parke, E.J. Blain, George W. Jones, John Macomber, W.Z. Macomber, Zeph. Heaps, H.S. Merryman, S.J. Whiteford, Foulk Jones, R.H. Lloyd, H.R. Lloyd, and J.H. Miles. The board organized with the election of J.H. Miles, president; H.R. Lloyd, vice president; R.S. Parke, cashier; S. Marshall Whiteford, teller; and H. John Evans, clerk.

On Tuesday, January 11, 1898, the following were elected as directors: Foulk Jones, W.Z. Macomber, W.G. Coulson, Geo. W. Jones. R.S. Park, J.N. Miles, Zeph. Heaps, H.S. Merryman. E.J. Blain, S.J. Whiteford, Mrs. Jane Lloyd, and H.R. Lloyd.

On October 30, 1898, Stephen B. Miles, a native of Peach Bottom Township and after whom the Miles National Bank at Delta was named died at St. Joseph, Mississippi where he made his home for some years. He was also the president of two Nebraska banks, namely the First National Bank of Falls City and the First National Bank of Rulo. No man in his day was more actively identified with the industrial growth and development of this section of Nebraska than Stephen Boyd Miles, born January 9, 1822 in York County, Pennsylvania, the son of Thomas and Sarah Boyd Miles. Thomas Miles was the son of Joseph Miles who came to the American Colonies from Liverpool, England in 1732 and became a well established land owner in York County, Pennsylvania. Joseph Miles was a soldier and fought during the American Revolution. When the development of the west began, Stephen B. Miles became interested in the possibilities presented by the opening of "The Great American Desert" and he secured from the United States Government the contract for carrying the mail from Independence, Missouri to Salt Lake City, Utah. He undertook the mail route in the early 1850's and remained with it many years. The distance was 1,250 miles by stage road and drivers drove six horses or mules to the stage. The Indians were troublesome when the Sioux and Cheyenne were on the war path. His route included Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas. In 1856 Mr. Miles secured a tract of several thousand acres of land in the neighborhood of Dawson in Richardson County to be used for recuperation of the large numbers of horses and mules required in the mail service. Here he established the most complete agricultural plant to be found in the west and the first great ranch to be established west of the Missouri River.

In February 1899, the question of paramount importance to the average Deltaite was the possible and probably absorption of the majority of the Miles National Bank stock by interests identified with the First National Bank, both of Delta. The majority of stock was held by Messrs. Joseph H. and Samuel Miles of Falls City, Nebraska and it was heard they had arranged to dispose of their stock contrary to the wish of the local directors of the Miles National Bank. It was positively asserted that the interests friendly to the First National could not get the necessary two-thirds of the stock and even if they could, then local York and Bel Air interest would immediately organize a state bank with greater capital and privileges than at present held by the Miles bank.

The stockholders of the Miles National Bank of Delta, held their adjourned annual meeting last Saturday afternoon. The following officers and directors were elected: President, William McSparran, Esq., Vice President, I.K. Stubb; Cashier, Robert L. Jones, who, with the following, were elected directors: V.G. Stubbs, Wm. G. McCoy, Fred. R. Williams, W.W. Maffet, John H. Anderson, D.M. Taylor, E.W. Keyser, N.R. Lloyd, H.S. Merryman and S.J. Whiteford. It was announced that the three former directors would not accept re-election, but in connection with the remainder of the old board, would organize and capitalize a new bank, the name of which had not as yet been decided upon, toward which applications for stock were in hand of $20,000 and upwards.

In July, the Peoples National Bank opened for business with Robert S. Parke, cashier; Marshall Whiteford, teller; and Hugh J. Evans as general bookkeeper. These gentlemen were formerly with the Miles National Bank.

In October 1899, the board of directors of the Miles National Bank of Delta, decided to wind up the affairs of the bank in sixty days time and discontinue business.

In February 1900, the burglar proof safe belonging to the Miles National Bank was purchased by the Peoples National Bank.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Miles National Bank of Delta, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back proof, approved July 26, 1890, showing the bottom half of the sheet with a $10 and a $20. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives

A total of $37,350 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1890 and 1899. This consisted of a total of 2,988 notes (2,988 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
1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 747

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1890 - 1899):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Robert Smith Parke, 1891-1898
J. H. Price, 1899-1899

Other Bank Note Signers

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

Wiki Links

Sources

Delta, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta,_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 Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Tue., July 1, 1890.
The Gazette, York, PA, Fri., July 11, 1890.
The Gazette, York, PA, Thu., July 31, 1890.
The Gazette, York, PA, Thu., Aug. 7, 1890.
The York Dispatch, York, PA, Thu., Oct. 2, 1890.
Delta Herald-Times, Delta, PA, Fri., Oct. 19, 1894.
The Gazette, York, PA, Sun., Jan. 13, 1895.
The York Dispatch, York, PA, Fri., Jan. 14, 1898.
The York Dispatch, York, PA, Wed., Feb. 22, 1899.
The Gazette, York, PA, Tue., Mar. 28, 1899.
The York Dispatch, York, PA Wed., July 5, 1899.
York Semi-Weekly Democratic Press, York, PA, Fri., Oct. 6, 1899.
The York Dispatch, York, PA, Fri., Feb. 16, 1900.