National Copper Bank/Security NB, Salt Lake City, UT (Charter 9652)
National Copper Bank/Security NB, Salt Lake City, UT (Chartered 1910 - Closed 1932)
Town History
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, it is the 117th most populous city in the United States. The city is the core of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which had a population of 1,257,936 at the 2020 census. Salt Lake City is further situated within a larger metropolis known as the Salt Lake City–Ogden–Provo Combined Statistical Area, a corridor of contiguous urban and suburban development stretched along a 120-mile segment of the Wasatch Front, comprising a population of 2,746,164 (as of 2021 estimates), making it the 22nd largest in the nation. It is also the central core and the larger of only two major urban areas located within the Great Basin (the other being Reno, Nevada).
Salt Lake City was founded on July 24, 1847, by early pioneer settlers led by Brigham Young who were seeking to escape persecution they had experienced while living farther east. The Mormon pioneers, as they would come to be known, entered a semi-arid valley and immediately began planning and building an extensive irrigation network which could feed the population and foster future growth. Salt Lake City's street grid system is based on a standard compass grid plan, with the southeast corner of Temple Square (the area containing the Salt Lake Temple in downtown Salt Lake City) serving as the origin of the Salt Lake meridian. Owing to its proximity to the Great Salt Lake, the city was originally named Great Salt Lake City. In 1868, the word "Great" was dropped from the city's name.
The pioneers organized a state called State of Deseret, and petitioned for its recognition in 1849. The United States Congress rebuffed the settlers in 1850 and established the Utah Territory, vastly reducing its size, and designated Fillmore as its capital city. Great Salt Lake City replaced Fillmore as the territorial capital in 1856, and the name later was shortened to Salt Lake City. The city's population continued to swell with an influx of converts to the LDS Church and Gold Rush prospectors, making it one of the most populous cities in the American Old West.
The first group of settlers brought African slaves with them, making Utah the only place in the western United States to have slavery. The settlers also began to purchase Indian slaves in the well-established Indian slave trade, as well as enslaving Indian prisoners of war. In 1850, 26 slaves were counted in Salt Lake County. In 1852, the territorial legislature passed the Act in Relation to Service and the Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners formally legalizing slavery in the territory. On June 19, 1862, during the American Civil War, Congress prohibited slavery in all US territories.
Explorer, ethnologist, and author Richard Francis Burton traveled by coach in the summer of 1860 to document life in Great Salt Lake City. He was granted unprecedented access during his three-week visit, including audiences with Brigham Young and other contemporaries of Joseph Smith. The records of his visit include sketches of early city buildings, a description of local geography and agriculture, commentary on its politics and social order, essays, speeches, and sermons from Young, Isaac Morley, George Washington Bradley and other leaders, and snippets of everyday life such as newspaper clippings and the menu from a high-society ball.
Disputes with the federal government ensued over the church's practice of polygamy. A climax occurred in 1857 when President James Buchanan declared the area in rebellion after Brigham Young refused to step down as governor, beginning the Utah War. A division of the United States Army, commanded by Albert Sidney Johnston, later a general in the army of the Confederate States of America, marched through the city and found it had been evacuated. They continued their march through the deserted city to vacant land at the southwest corner of the valley. There they set up Camp Floyd (40 miles south of the city). Another military installation, Fort Douglas, was established in 1862 to maintain Union allegiance during the American Civil War. Many area leaders were incarcerated at the territorial prison in Sugar House in the 1880s for violation of anti-polygamy laws. The church began its eventual abandonment of polygamy in 1890, releasing "The Manifesto", which officially suggested members obey the law of the land (which was equivalent to forbidding new polygamous marriages inside the US and its territories, but not in church member settlements in Canada and Mexico). This paved the way for statehood in 1896, when Salt Lake City became the state capital.
The First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 at Promontory Summit on the north side of the Great Salt Lake. Salt Lake City has developed a strong tourist industry based primarily on skiing, outdoor recreation, and religious tourism. It hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. At that time, Salt Lake City was the most populated area to hold a Winter Olympic Games.
Salt Lake City had 11 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and all 11 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized October 5, 1909
- Chartered February 1, 1910
- 2: Closed April 5, 1932
- 2: Consolidated with 2059 Apr 5, 1932 (Deseret National Bank/First NB, Salt Lake City, UT)
- 2: Circulation assumed by 2059 (Deseret National Bank/First NB, Salt Lake City, UT)
In October 1909, the organization of the National Copper Bank with a paid up capital of $500,000 and a surplus of $50,000, was one of the most important in the financial annals of Salt Lake City. The personnel mainly interested were men who had wrested fortunes from western hills. In the aggressive organization led by W.W. Armstrong, who was identified with the more important financial institutions of Park City and Ely, Nevada, and who was the president of the new bank, there was not a man with the single exception of P.J. Moran who had not gained the bulk of his fortune through mining; and possessed of that characteristic so often recorded in the history of successful western financiers, they were investing their money where they made it, certain of the future of the city. The officers of the company to date were W.W. Armstrong, president, and John Dern and W.V. Rice, vice presidents. The executive committee consisted of W.W. Armstrong, John Dern, W.V. Rice, Lafayette Hanchett and J.B. Risque, and the directors were W.W. Armstrong, Jonn S. Bransford, John Dern, A.C. Ellis, Jr., Sherman Fargo, James Farrell, George E. Gunn, E.A. Wall, Duncan MacVichie, David Keith, Lafayette Hanchett, J.B. Risque, P.J. Moran, W.V. Rice, and W.B. Thompson. The organization had not been consummated hurriedly. It was the result of plans which were formed many months ago and which would have been completed much sooner had it not been for the spasm of distress which swept the country in 1907-08, bringing with it a saturnine market in every class of securities and a swift curtailment of financial accommodations with the subsequent temporary depression which always follows a panic. That Utah's banking institutions were on a sounder basis than those of any other city in the west was thoroughly demonstrated during 1908, for while great financial institutions were tottering in the larger cities and although failures were reported in many neighboring states, the confidence of those doing business with Salt Lake and Utah concerns in general was never shaken. At the time, there were no banks below Third South Street, the very heart of the new business district, with the Boston building, the Newhouse building, the ground floor of which the new bank would occupy, the Judge building, the Felt building then being erected by the Salisbury company, the Stock Exchange and Commercial club, four theatres with the plans for a new one on State and Cactus Street then maturing, and the great Auerbach department store, which would be erected on the site of the Halls hotel. Just south of the Newhouse building, the new Daly block was in course of construction, and in the block below, the J.R. Walker Estate and others were completing plans for buildings which would take care of many business houses and provide hundreds of new offices. The location of the new National Copper Bank would be in the very center of these industries. In its location in the Newhouse building, the bank would occupy quarters which were designed for a bank and no other purpose. With a Main Street frontage of 71 feet and with 52 feet on Cactus Street, there was adequate space suited to the purpose of a banking company, and the room was fire and burglar proof in every particular, even to the great windows, which were grilled with protecting bronze. Massive bronze doors, both at the entrance of the bank and in the rear of the banking room, opened on the entrance to the Newhouse building. A mezzanine gallery extended for a distance of over 70 feet, 14 feet above the main floor. The interior furnishings and effect conformed in color and design with the outside as well as the Grecian architecture, so striking in its simple elegance in the interior. The flooring would be mosaic with solid Colorado Yule marble extending from it to the counter tops, the space between the floor and the counters being in Pompeiian green. Bronze and glass of heavy plate would give a handsome finish to this artistic scheme and an added richness would come with the beautiful Scagliola marble used in the great supporting columns. In order that there may be nothing inharmonious in the decorations, the balustrade on the balcony would be of marble, with the basis of the color scheme in gray and ivory tints, set off with gold, with the walls and ceilings in oil and water colors, which with the furnishings in rich mahogany, would give the banking room the most attractive appearance of any financial institution between St. Louis and the coast. Much attention had also been paid to the vault, the door alone weighing thirty tons, which would be of armored steel with new time-lock and every practical accessory known in vault construction.[1]
In February 1910, Eugene Giles, cashier of the new National Copper Bank, arrived in Salt Lake from Ely, Nevada. Mr. Giles was cashier of the First National Bank of Ely.[2] In April, the immense safe door weighing 72,200 pounds from York, Pa., was jacked up on blocks at Third West and Second South Streets waiting for the vehicle specially designed by the Salt Lake Engineering Works to haul it to its destination on the ground floor of the Newhouse building. The door was 9 1/2 ft. square by 31 3/4 inches think of manganese steel and cost $18,000. It required 3 weeks to install.[3]
On Tuesday, January 11, 1927, the following board was named for the ensuing year: W.W. Armstrong, Sherman Armstrong, C.P. Castle, J.W. Clyde, George H. Dern, J.F. Dunn, A.C. Ellis, Jr., James Farrell, Eugene Giles, Lafayette Hanchett, John K. Hardy, Duncan MacVichie, Jesse N. Smith and G.N. Whitmore.[4]
George Henry Dern, the governor of Utah was born in Dodge County, Nebraska, September 8, 1872 and was the son of John and Elizabeth Dern. He graduated from the Fremont Normal College in 1888 and was a student of the University of Nebraska during 1893 and 1894. He married Lottie Brown of Fremont June 7, 1899. In 1894, Governor Dern began mining in Utah and was treasurer of the Mercur Gold Mining and Milling Co. from 1894 to 1900; general manager of the Holt-Christensen Process Co.; president of the Eureka Banking Co.; vice president of the Dixie Power Co., Pleasant Grove Canning Co., and the Mountain View Mining Co.; director of the National Copper Bank, Mutual Creamery Co., Bankers Trust Co., etc. He was a member of the Utah Senate, 1915-1923; a member of the State Council of Defense during the World War; and governor of Utah for the term of 1925-1928. Governor Dern was a member of the American Institution of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and of Delta Tau Delta.[5]
In March 1928, L.S. Cates, vice president and general manager of the Utah Copper Co. was elected first vice president of the National Copper Bank to fill the vacancy caused through the resignation of Lafayette Hanchett. D.D. Moffat, the assistant general manager of the Utah Copper Co. was elected to fill the vacancy on the board of directors. W.W. Armstrong was president; Mr. Cates, vice president; Eugene Giles, second vice president, Sherman Armstrong, third vice president; Raymond C. Wilson, cashier and Harold A. Culverwell, assistant cashier.[6]
On Tuesday, January 8, 1929, Imer Pett was named as a director succeeding James Farrell who recently died. Mr. Pett was manager of the Bingham Mines Company and was well-known in the Tintic District.[7]
On April 5, 1929, W.W. Armstrong, chairman of the board of the National Copper Bank, announced that control of the National Copper Bank, the Magna Banking Company and the Bingham State Bank had been acquired by the First Security Corporation of Ogden in one of the largest financial deals locally in recent years. The First Security Corporation controlled some 25 banks throughout the intermountain region and had resources in excess of $45 million. The Minidoka County Bank of Rupert, Idaho acquired a week earlier made the 2th the the chain of First Security Corp. banks. All stockholders in the National Copper Bank would be given an opportunity to participate in the merger. Under the new management, the board continued without change except Roy Bullen, vice president and general manager, Sego Milk Products Co., was elected as director to succeed Sherman Armstrong, resigned. W.W. Armstrong would continue as chairman of the board while Louis S. Cates succeeded him as president. John K. Hardy was elected first vice president to succeed Mr. Cates. Directors of First Security were John Browning, M.A. Browning, George S. Eccles, M.S. Eccles, E.G. Bennett, Roy Bullen, S.S. Eccles, W.H. Harris, Joseph Scowcroft, Edgar S. Hills, John Hood, R.B. Porter, John Thomas, W.H. Watts, and G.G. Wright.[8]
In January 1931, First Security Corporation, the largest intermountain banking organization, had 28 affiliated banks with combined resources of $50 million. The banks were National Copper Bank, Salt Lake; Bankers Trust Co., Salt Lake; Thatcher Bros. Banking Co., Logan; First National Bank of Ogden; First Savings Bank, Ogden; Anderson Bros. Bank, Idaho Falls, Idaho; and the First Security banks in Boise, Pocatello, Blackfoot, Ashton, Montpelier, Shoshone, Gooding, Jerome, Rupert, Hailey, Nampa, Mountain Home, Emmett, Fayette, Preston, Idaho, Rock Springs, Wyoming, South Superior, Wyoming, Richmond, Hyrum, Garfield, Magna, Bingham, Utah.[9]
On Friday, February 6, 1931, formation of what was said to be the largest security and trust organization in the intermountain region was effected with the acquisition of the Central Trust Company of Salt Lake by the First Security Corporation which planned to merge it with the Bankers Trust Co., the consolidated companies to be known as First Security Trust Company. W.W. Armstrong, president of the Bankers Trust Co would become chairman of the board and Fred E. Smith, president of the Central Trust Co. would be president of the First Security Trust Co. Joseph H. Rayburn would continue as first vice president of the consolidated companies which position he held with the Bankers Trust Co.[10]
The Bankers Trust Co. was the pioneer trust company of the intermountain region and it developed a large amount of trust business. The Central Trust Co. was the outgrowth of a mortgage and insurance business established in Salt Lake City By Fred E. Smith and Charles L. Smith in 1903, the business being incorporated in 1922 as Central Trust Co. and enlarged to engage in general trust activities. It had a very extensive real estate mortgage and insurance business and had specialized in property management.
The Securities business of the Central Trust Co. and the National Copper Co. would be merged with that of the First Security Co., the securities company of the First Security Corporation system. The First Security Company would thus have offices in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Denver, Pocatello, and Boise. The senior officers of the First Security Co. would be: M.S. Eccles, president; Charles L. Smith, vice president; L.P. Voorhis, vice president; and M.V. Johnson, vice president. The Salt Lake office of the First Security Co. would be located adjacent to the quarters of the National Copper Bank. Charles L. Smith, new president of the National Copper Bank was president of Associated Banks and Trust Companies of Salt Lake City. In the near future the name of the National Copper Bank would be changed to First Security National Bank. With this change and when remodeling was completed, the First Security National Bank, the First Security Trust Co. and First Security Co. would occupy the ground and second floors of the Newhouse building, the present location of the National Copper Bank and Bankers Trust Co.[11]
In January 1932, the Security National Bank had the following Board of Directors: W.W. Armstrong, chairman of the board; E.G. Bennett, vice president, First Security Corp.; J.W. Clyde, president, Bank of Heber City; M.S. Eccles, president, First Security Corp. and president, Utah Construction Co.; George S. Eccles, vice president, First National Bank, Ogden; George H. Dern, Governor of Utah; A.C. Ellis, Jr., general counsel, Columbia Steel Corp., Silver King Coalition Mines Co., and Utah Copper Co.; S.P. Harter, vice president, Sego Milk Products Co.; A.E. Kimball, president, Utah Fire Clay Co.; Duncan MacVichie, consulting mining engineer; D.D. Moffat, vice president, general manager, Utah Copper Co.; Imer Pett, Ross Beason Co.; W.R. Phibbs, general manager, Columbia Steel Corp.; Joseph H. Rayburn, Teton Investment Co. and vice president, First Security Trust Co.; Fred E. Smith, president, First Security Trust Co.; Charles L. Smith, president, Security National Bank; Jesse N. Smith, president, United Grocery Co.; and Howard J. Stoddard, vice president, Security National Bank. The officers were Charles L. Smith, president; Howard J. Stoddard, vice president; Ray C. Wilson and Stewart Cosgriff, assistant vice presidents; H.A. Culverwell, cashier; and Leroi B. Gardner, assistant cashier.[12]
Late on February 14, 1932, an announcement was made of the closing of the Deseret Savings Bank simultaneously with the taking over of the Deseret National Bank by the Security National Bank. W.H. Hadlock, state bank commissioner, said depreciation of assets and heavy withdrawals caused the savings bank directors to close. The bank had deposits of $6,150,000 and resources of $6,900,000.[13] Effective February 15, the Deseret National Bank became a member bank of the First Security Corporation System, largest intermountain banking organization, its affairs having been taken over by the Security National Bank. Marriner S. Eccles was president of First Security Corporation. The capital structure of Security National after the consolidation was: capital $750,000, surplus $250,000, undivided profits and reserves $250,000. Savings deposits of the Deseret Savings Bank were not taken over by Security National. Deposits of the Deseret National Bank consisted only of checking accounts.[14] All assets of the Deseret National were moved Sunday night to the Security National Bank at Main Street and Exchange Place and business was conducted throughout Monday without interruption. Securities National planned to remodel the quarters of the Deseret National bank at First South and Main Street and move the merged institution into that building. The Security National Bank was organized in 1910 under the title of National Copper Bank. First Security Corp. operated banks throughout Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.[15]
In March 1932, officers of the Deseret National added to Security National were Royal C. Barnes, assistant vice president; L.G. Young, assistant cashier. H.B. Whitney was the trust officer. The new directors were Messrs. W.F. Armstrong, president, Standard Furniture Co.; James O. Elton, Hills, manager, International Smelting Co.; Henry Dinwoodey, president, H. Dinwoodey Furniture Co.; Edward E. Jenkins, president, Ashton-Jenkins Co.; William H. McIntyre, president William H. McIntyre Co.; V.R. Madsen, vice president and manager, Western Loan and Building Co., and president P.W. Madsen Furniture Co.; Orson D. Romney, president and manager, Romney Lumber Co. and W.S. Romney, treasurer, Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution (Z.C.M.I.).[16] Effective March 7th, Security National Bank re-located to its new home at Main and First South Streets. All business formerly handled at Main and Exchange Place would be handled at the bank's new quarters.[17] On Monday, April 4th, the new name of The First National Bank of Salt Lake City, Charter 2059, became effective.[18]
Official Bank Titles
1: The National Copper Bank of Salt Lake City, UT
2: Security National Bank of Salt Lake City, UT (4/10/1931)
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $4,590,790 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1910 and 1932. This consisted of a total of 541,900 notes (370,360 large size and 171,540 small size notes).
This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:
Series/Type Sheet/Denoms Serial#s Sheet Comments 1: 1902 Date Back 4x5 1 - 29000 1: 1902 Date Back 3x10-20 1 - 20000 1: 1902 Date Back 50-100 1 - 600 1: 1902 Date Back 3x50-100 1 - 1000 1: 1902 Plain Back 4x5 29001 - 54100 1: 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 20001 - 37190 1: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 12568 1: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 5656 1: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 1672 2: 1929 Type 1 6x5 1 - 5633 2: 1929 Type 1 6x10 1 - 2401 2: 1929 Type 1 6x20 1 - 660
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1910 - 1932):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
- Eugene D. Giles, 1910-1919
- Sherman Tunstallic Armstrong, 1920-1922
- John Alyicious Malia, 1923-1926
- Raymond Clark Wilson, 1927-1928
- Harold Autton Culverwell, 1929-1931
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
- National Copper Bank/Security NB, Salt Lake City, UT History (NB Lookup)
- Utah Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)
Sources
- Salt Lake City, UT, 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
- ↑ Goodwin's Weekly: A Thinking Paper for Thinking People, Salt Lake City, UT, Sat., Dec. 11, 1909.
- ↑ The Times-News, Nephi, UT, Fri., Feb. 25, 1910.
- ↑ Deseret News, Salt Lake City, UT, Tue, Apr. 26, 1910.
- ↑ Deseret News, Salt Lake City, UT, Tue., Jan. 11, 1927.
- ↑ Deseret News, Salt Lake City, UT, Tue., Nov. 6, 1928.
- ↑ Salt Lake Telegram, Salt Lake City, Fri., Mar. 30, 1928.
- ↑ The Eureka Reporter, Eureka, UT, Thu., Jan. 10, 1929.
- ↑ Deseret News, Salt Lake City, UT, Fri., Apr. 5, 1929.
- ↑ The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT, Mon., Jan. 12, 1931.
- ↑ Salt Lake Telegram, Salt Lake City, UT, Sat., Feb. 7, 1931.
- ↑ Salt Lake Telegram, Salt Lake City, UT, Sat., Feb. 7, 1931.
- ↑ The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT, Sat., Jan. 9, 1932.
- ↑ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY, Mon., Feb. 15, 1932.
- ↑ The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT, Mon., Feb. 15, 1932.
- ↑ Deseret News, Salt Lake City, UT, Mon., Feb. 15, 1932.
- ↑ The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT, Fri., Mar. 4, 1932.
- ↑ The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT, Sat., Mar. 5, 1932.
- ↑ Salt Lake Telegram, Salt Lake City, UT, Mon., Apr. 4, 1932.