Union Commerce NB, Cleveland, OH (Charter 11141)
Union Commerce NB, Cleveland, OH (Chartered 1918 - Liquidated 1920)
Town History
Cleveland is a city in Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in Northeast Ohio along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the U.S. maritime border with Canada and lies approximately 60 miles west of Pennsylvania.
The largest city on Lake Erie and one of the major cities of the Great Lakes region, Cleveland ranks as the second-most populous city in Ohio and 54th-most populous city in the U.S. with a 2020 population of 372,624. The city anchors the Cleveland metropolitan area, the 33rd-largest in the U.S. at 2.18 million residents, as well as the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton combined statistical area, the most populous in Ohio and the 17th-largest in the country with a population of 3.63 million in 2020.
Cleveland was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River by General Moses Cleaveland, after whom the city was named. Its location on both the river and the lake shore allowed it to grow into a major commercial and industrial center, attracting large numbers of immigrants and migrants. Cleveland is a port city, connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Its economy relies on diverse sectors that include higher education, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and biomedicals. The GDP for the Greater Cleveland MSA was $135 billion in 2019.
The Civil War vaulted Cleveland into the first rank of American manufacturing cities and fueled unprecedented growth. Its prime geographic location as a transportation hub on the Great Lakes played an important role in its development as an industrial and commercial center. In 1870, John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in Cleveland, and in 1885, he moved its headquarters to New York City, which had become a center of finance and business. In 1860 the population was 43,417, growing to 381,768 by 1900.
Cleveland had 29 National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and 28 of those banks issued National Bank Notes.
Bank History
- Organized January 12, 1918
- Chartered February 2, 1918
- Succeeded 3202 (Union National Bank of Cleveland, OH)
- Succeeded 5194 (Bank of Commerce National Association of Cleveland, OH)
- Assumed circulation of 3202 and 5194
- Liquidated December 30, 1920
- Absorbed by Citizens Savings and Trust Company of Cleveland
In 1919, the officers were Warren S. Hayden, chairman; George A. Coulton, president; George S. Russell, William E. Ward, Charles L. Bradley, and Elmer E. Creswell, vice presidents; Wilter C. Saunders, cashier; Harry E. Hills, Carl R. Lee, Frank A. White, Fred W. Cook, George Q Hall, and Ezra W. Bourne, assistant cashiers; and James Dunn, Jr., Manager, Income Tax Department. The bank had capital, surplus and undivided profits of $7,500,000.[1]
On October 19, 1920, one of the biggest banking mergers in the U.S. was announced. Under the provisions of the agreement, four Cleveland banks with total resources of $246,000,000 would be combined in a new institution operating under a state charter. The banks concerned in the merger were the Union Commerce National Bank (Charter 11141), resources $58,000,000; Citizens Savings and Trust Company, resources $73,000,000; First Trust Bank, resources $35,000,000; and the First National Bank (Charter 7), resources $80,000,000. The capital of the new bank would be $20,000,000 and the surplus $10,000,000. A larger bank able to address the needs of business concerns was stated as the reason for the merger.[2]
On January 1, 1921, merger of the four banks into the Union Trust Company, said to be the largest banking unit between New York and Chicago was launched. Two other banks, the Broadway Savings and Trust Company and the Woodland Avenue Savings and Trust Company,[3] would be taken in later in the month. According to figures provided by George Coulton, president of the Cleveland Clearing House Association, the six banks handled 60% of the $14,845,000,000 of total bank transactions of Cleveland in 1919, and 70% of the $18,225,000,000 in total transactions estimated for 1920.[4] John Sherwin, president of the First National Bank, would become chairman of the board for the Union Trust Company.
Joseph R. Nutt became president of the Union Trust Company. He was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, the son of Adam C. and Charlotte Frances Wells Nutt. He was educated in public schools and the Madison Academy. Coming to Akron, Ohio, in 1893, he operated a jewelry store and four years later organized his first bank. Nutt came to Cleveland in 1901 as secretary of the Savings & Trust Co. of Cleveland which was superseded by the Citizens Savings & Trust Co., of which he became president in 1918. The Union Trust prospered under his leadership as president and later chairman, accumulating resources of $375 million. A close friend of O. P. Van Sweringen, Nutt was credited with introducing the Vans to Thomas J. Lamont of J. P. Morgan & Co., which lent the brothers millions for their railroad empire. Nutt resigned as president of Union Trust in 1930 and as chairman in 1932; he was absolved of any wrong-doing in the subsequent demise of the bank. He also was a personal friend and supporter of Republican President Herbert Hoover and served as treasurer of the Republican National Committee from 1928-33.
In October 1922, The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Co-operative National Bank, downtown office recently authorized, opened for business in the former Union-Commerce National Bank building amid a deluge of flora pieces from practically every bank in the city. Warren S. Stone, president of the bank, stated that the receipts and deposits of the new office were satisfactory and that new accounts exceeded those at the parent bank on St. Clair and Ontario Streets which amassed resources of nearly $18 million in less than two years. The Euclid Avenue office of the bank was under the supervision of George T. Webb, vice president and chief operating officer of the bank.[5]
Official Bank Title(s)
1: Union Commerce National Bank of Cleveland, OH
Bank Note Types Issued
A total of $2,183,100 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1918 and 1920. This consisted of a total of 281,808 notes (281,808 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 1902 Plain Back 4x5 1 - 44650 1902 Plain Back 3x10-20 1 - 25802
Bank Presidents and Cashiers
Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1918 - 1920):
Presidents:
Cashiers:
Other Known Bank Note Signers
- No other known bank note signers for this bank
Bank Note History Links
Sources
- Cleveland, OH, 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