Peoples National Bank, Stewartstown, PA (Charter 6444)

Needed: a contemporary postcard or photo of the bank.

Peoples National Bank, Stewartstown, PA (Chartered 1902 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Stewartstown is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, located 3 miles east of Shrewbury and Interstate 83 and 2 miles north of the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. This part of southern York County was claimed by both Maryland and Pennsylvania, and the boundary dispute was settled by the surveying of the Mason–Dixon Line in 1767. The population was 2,125 at the 2020 census.

By 1777, a road had been well established between York and Baltimore, and Stewartstown's main street of today lies along a portion of the road. Around 1812, a group of farmers set out to establish a town in south central Hopewell Township. The earliest buildings were several houses, a workshop for making furniture and wheels, a store, and a tavern. Anthony Stewart, owner of the workshop, served as the village clerk, and his shop became the main meeting place.

The village was first known as Meadstown, after Benedict Meads, owner of the tavern and the store. Later it became known as Mechanicsburg because of a large number of tradesmen who lived in the community. By 1828, the town had its own post office, and Stewart was appointed the first postmaster. There was already another Pennsylvania town named Mechanicsburg, so postal officials assigned the name "Guilford" to the community. Through the efforts of Anthony Stewart, with the help of Judge Adam Ebaugh, the Post Office Department changed the town's postmark to "Stewartstown" on March 24, 1832.

The Stewartstown Engine House, Stewartstown Railroad and Stewartstown Railroad Station are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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

Bank History

Organized Jul 25, 1902
Chartered Oct 2, 1902
Bank was Open past 1935
Merged with the National Bank of York County August 1959

In May 1904, The Peoples National Bank planned to erect a new building. The struct was to be two stories with a brick front with white brownstone trimmings. The architect, Dempwolf, drew the plans for the proposed bank building.

In January 1912, the stockholders elected the following directors: L.H. Sykes, R.N. Wiley, J.E. Hess, J.H. Fulton, D.A. Breneman, J. Wiley Norris, J.A. Gibson, Geo. W. McGinnis, John E. Stansbury, J.A. Johnson, and E.W. Norris. The officers elected were R.N. Wiley, president; L.H. Sykes, vice president; Carl N. Wiley, cashier; and Milton Lowe, bookkeeper.

In January 1923, the stockholders elected the following directors: R.N. Wiley, J.H. Fulton, E.J. Sweitzer, C.N. Wiley, J.A. Gibson, John R. Jenkins, E. Wiley Norris, R. Porter Anderson, and Clinton M. Johnson. The board organized by electing R.N. Wiley, president; J.H. Fulton, vice president; E.J. Sweitzer, secretary; C.W. Johnson, assistant secretary; Carl N. Wiley, cashier; and Melvin F. Hannigan, assistant cashier.

In January 1948, the directors re-elected Carl N. Wiley, president; James H. Fulton, vice president; Howard C. Kearns, Sr., secretary; W.P. Norris, assistant secretary; M.F. Hannigan, Cashier; and Norman C. Hess and Ross K. Trout assistant cashiers. Mrs. Irene S. Hunt was bookkeeper. The directors were Wiley, Hannigan, Norris, Fulton, Kearns, John B. Jenkins, F.W. Knerr, J.C. Johnson, and C. Harry Yost.

On January 11, 1949, the vacancy on the board created by the death of James H. Fulton was not filled by the stockholders. All directors were retained. The directors reorganized and named M.F. Hannigan, who was cashier, to succeed the late Mr. Fulton as vice president and promoted Norman C. Hess to replace Hannigan as cashier. All other officers were retained.

The National Bank of York County was formed during 1959 as the result of consolidation of York County National Bank, Western National Bank and Farmers and Merchants National Bank, Red Lion.  The bank thus formed and Peoples National Bank of Stewartstown merged later that year.

On August 21, 1959, stockholders of the National Bank of York County and the Peoples National Bank of Stewartstown approved the consolidation of the two banks. The Stewartstown institution became the Peoples-Stewartstown branch of the National Bank of York County. The combined assets totaled about $75 million. J.L. Rosenmiller was president of the National Bank of York County. Carl N. Wiley, chairman of the board at Stewartstown, became a vice president and member of the board of the National Bank of York County. Others elected to offices in the Peoples branch were Melvin F. Hannigan, chairman of Peoples office advisory board; Norman C. Hess, office manager and assistant cashier and Ross K. Troup and Mrs. Irene S. Hunt, assistant cashiers. This was the year the bank moved from its building on the Stewartstown square where it was located for about 60 years to new drive-in quarters at the Mid-Town Shopping center.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Peoples National Bank of Stewartstown, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

1902 Red Seal $10 bank note with pen signatures of C.F. Ramsay, Cashier and R.N. Wiley, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of Carl N. Wiley, Cashier and R.N. Wiley, President. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com

1929 Type 2 $20 bank note with printed signatures of Carl N. Wiley, Cashier and R.N. Wiley, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $1,000,170 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1902 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 80,602 notes (66,812 large size and 13,790 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	3x10-20	1 - 3700
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 4300
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	4301 - 13003
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 1444
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 348
1929 Type 2	10	1 - 2414
1929 Type 2	20	1 - 624

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1902 - 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

Sources

Stewartstown, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewartstown,_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 Gazette, York, PA, Sun., May 1, 1904.
The Stewartstown News, Stewartstown, PA, Fri., Jan. 12, 1912.
York Daily Record, York, PA, Wed., Jan. 10, 1923.
York Daily Record, York, PA, Wed., Jan. 14, 1948.
York Daily Record, York, PA, Wed., Jan. 12, 1949.
The Evening Sun, Hanover, PA, Sat., Aug. 22, 1959.
The Gazette and Daily, York, PA, sat., Sep. 5, 1959.
The Gazette and Daily, York, PA, Tue., Nov. 3, 1959.