HISTORY: Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, PA, Roland D. Swoope, 1911, Chapter 19 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja and Sally Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/ NOTE: Use this web address to access other chapters: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/1picts/swoope/swoope.htm ________________________________________________ TWENTIETH CENTURY HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS BY ROLAND D. SWOOPE, JR. PUBLISHED BY RICHMOND-ARNOLD PUBLISHING CO. F. J. Richmond, President C. R. Arnold, Secretary and Treasurer CHICAGO, ILL. CHAPTER XIX FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 233 Banking in the Early History of the County - Private and State Banks - Special Act of the Legislature Necessary to Incorporation Before 1860 - The Act of 1860 - Unreliability of the State Banks - Passage of the National Banking Law - Banks of Clearfield County - Officers and Directors. In the early history of the county, the banking was done by the merchants who received the money of their customers for safe keeping and either sent it or took it to the eastern cities, where they kept accounts and where they usually went once or twice each year to purchase goods. About the year 1858 Leonard, Finney & Company conducted a private bank at Clearfield, the partners in this enterprise being James T. Leonard, William A. Wallace, D. A. Finney and A. C. Finney. Prior to 1861, the banking business is Pennsylvania was transacted either by private partnerships or by banks chartered by the State by authority of special Acts of the Legislature, a separate Act of the Legislature being required to authorize the incorporation of each bank. The "Raftsman's Journal," published at Clearfield, Pa., in its issue of August 31, 1859, contains an advertisement of an application for a bank charter for a bank to be called the "Clearfield County Bank," to be located in the Borough of Clearfield, Pa., with a capital of one hundred thousand ($100 000.00) dollars with the privilege of increasing it to two hundred thousand ($200,000.00) dollars. This advertisement states that the signers of the application were J. F. Weaver, Thomas J. McCullough, Isaac Johnson, C. D. Watson, D. F. Etzweiler, James Alexander, Jona Boynton, M. A. Frank, Richard Mossop, A. K. Wright, W. F. Irwin and S. B. Row. The Pamphlet Laws of Pennsylvania do not contain any special Act of the Legislature, incorporating the "Clearfield County Bank." The reason for this probably being because the Legislature, by an Act approved March 31, 1860, to be found in the Pamphlet Laws of that year, at page 459, entitled "An Act to establish a System of Free Banking in Pennsylvania and to secure the public against loss from Insolvent Banks," provided that banks could be incorporated thereunder, without the necessity of having special Acts of Legislature passed as had before been necessary. Under this Act of 1860 and the supplements and amendments thereto, many state banks were organized, but they were practically without supervision by the State and HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY 234 their notes, except in the localities where the banks were located, could usually only be used at a heavy discount. With the passage of the National Banking Law by the United States Congress and its approval by President Lincoln, in 1863, the banking business of the country was for the first time placed upon a substantial basis and National Banks were soon established at various points in the county. The first one being at Clearfield and known as the "First National Bank of Clearfield," and the next at Curwensville, known as the "First National Bank of Curwensville." With the growth of population and business of the county, various financial institutions have been established and at the present time (1911) the following are in existence, to-wit: County National Bank, Clearfield, Pa. Clearfield National Bank, Clearfield, Pa. Clearfield Trust Company, Clearfield, Pa. Farmers' & Traders' National Bank, Clearfield, Pa. Curwensville National Bank, Curwensville, Pa. Deposit National Bank, DuBois, Pa. Union Banking and Trust Company, DuBois, Pa. DuBois National Bank, DuBois, Pa. Bituminous National Bank, Winburne, Pa. Mahaffey National Bank, Mahaffey, Pa. Madera National Bank, Madera, Pa. First National Bank, Houtzdale, Pa. First National Bank, Osceola Mills, Pa. First National Bank, Coalport, Pa. These institutions have aggregate deposits of nearly eight millions of dollars ($8,000,000.00) and are conservatively and carefully conducted. The following is a list of the officers and directors of the financial institutions of the county from the latest information furnished to us, and an examination of the same will convince any one who is acquainted with the citizens of Clearfield county that these institutions are under the control of the leading business men of the several communities in which they are located. The County National Bank of Clearfield, Pa. H. B. Powell, President; A. B. Shaw, Vice-President; J. L. Gilliland, Cashier. Directors - F. G. Betts, G. W. Jose, W. A. Porter, A. B. Shaw, H. F. Bigler, H. A. Kratzer, W. B. Potter, J. P. O'Laughlin, H. L. Forcey, H. J. Patton, H. B. Powell, A. K. Wright. The Clearfield National Bank, Clearfield, Pa. James Mitchell, President; H. S. Whiteman, Vice-President and Cashier. Directors - James Mitchell, H. A. Kennedy, John Dimeling, Thos. H. Murray, A. E. Lietzinger, W. H. Patterson, W. I. Betts, W. P. Hopkins. The Clearfield Trust Company, Clearfield, Pa. R. A. Shillingford, President; A. W. Lee, Vice-President; P. T. Davis, Treasurer. Directors - G. R. Bigler, H. W. Croft, F. G. Harris, F. B. Kerr, Chas. T. Kurtze, A. W. Lee, R. A. Shillingford, Clement W. Smith, S. I. Snyder, E. E. Lindemuth. Farmers' & Traders' National Bank, Clearfield, Pa. A. E. Woolridge, President; G. B. Pass- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS 237 more, Vice-President; Isaac Straw, Vice-President; E. O. Hartshorne, Cashier; A. K. Staver, Assistant Cashier. Directors - A. E. Woolridge, E. C. Davis, D. R. Woolridge, G. B. Passmore, Jesse Williams, Dorsey Bailey, W. T. DeHaas, Isaac Straw, F. A. Walker, C. G. McNaul, M. D. The Curwensville National Bank, Curwensville, Pa. C. S. Russell, President; Hugh M. Irvin, Vice-President; L. W. Spencer, Cashier; Anthony Hile, Assistant Cashier. Directors - C. S. Russell, Sam'l P. Arnold, J. S. Graff, C. A. Woods, Geo. L. Benner, H. M. Irvin, Fred J. Dyer, Roland D. Swope, I. B. Norris, C. M. Porter, M. A. Caldwell, Peter Gearhart, H. J. Patton, Geo. F. Kittelberger, C. E. Patton. Deposit National Bank, DuBois, Pa. R. H. Moore, President; M. I. McCreight, First Vice-President; D. L. Corbett, Second Vice-President; B. B. McCreight, Cashier; J. Q. Groves, Assistant Cashier; W. D. I. Arnold, Assistant Cashier. Directors - R. H. Moore, W. H. Cannon, Walter Hatten, D. L. Corbett, J. H. Pifer, C. P. Munch, Rembrandt Peale, Austin Blakeslee, R. W. Beadle, M. I. McCreight. The Union Banking and Trust Company of DuBois, Pa. A. R. Van Tassell, President; A. T. Sprankle, Vice-President; B. M. Marlin, Secretary and Treasurer; Jos. F. Sprankle, Assistant Treasurer. Directors - A. R. Van Tassell, J. E. Merris, B. M. Marlin, Thos. W. Kennedy, H. S. Knarr, A. T. Sprankle, J. B. Henderson, F. W. Prothero, C. L. Hay, William Osborn, F. G. St. Clair. The DuBois National Bank, DuBois, Pa. John E. DuBois, President; J. A. Gregory, Vice-President; Geo. A. Lukehart, Vice-President; S. C. Bond, Cashier; W. G. Brown, Assistant Cashier. Directors - John E. DuBois, J. A. Gregory, Geo. A. Lukehart, William Wingert, A. S. Moulthorp, F. A. Tozier, S. C. Bond. Bituminous National Bank, Winburne, Pa. James L. Sommerville, President; Berten Merritt, Vice-President; J. Malcolm Laurie, Cashier. Directors - Jas. L. Sommerville, A. O. Sommerville, Jacob Smutzinger, Berten Merritt, R. H. George, E. F. Harvey, R. H. Sommerville, Dr. H. G. Jones. Mahaffey National Bank, Mahaffey, Pa. A. B. Mosser, President; Thomas Bellis, Vice-President; H. N. Widdowson, Cashier; W. B. Clark, Assistant Cashier. Directors - Thomas Bellis, A. B. Mosser, Geo. L. Fletcher, B. W. McCracken, H. N. Widdowson, W. H. Thomson. Madera National Bank, Madera, Pa. J. E. Kirk, President; S. J. Miller, Vice-President; H. B. Swoope, Vice- President; E. B. Mahaffey, Cashier. Directors - S. J. Miller, W. C. Park, Joseph Alexander, J. H. Moore, H. B. Swoope, J. E. Kirk, Clark Hileman, J. C. Root, E. B. Mahaffey. First National Bank, Houtzdale, Pa. Lewis W. Beyer, President; Julius Viebahn, Vice-President; Geo. W. Ganoe, Cashier. Directors - John Beyer, Samuel Kirk, John Benson, Julius Viebahn, Jas. H. Minds, Harry Boulton, Michael Burns, A. D. Stewart, Lewis W. Beyer. HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY 238 First National Bank of Osceola, Osceola Mills, Pa. John McLarren, President; H. W. Todd, Vice-President; E. C. Blandy, Cashier. Directors - John McLarren, Chas. R. Houtz, E. C. Blandy, W. A. Gould, Frank Craig, James S. Moore, H. W. Todd. First National Bank of Coalport, Pa. Geo. D. Benn, President; A. L. Hegarty, Vice-President; A. P. Silverthorn, Cashier. Directors - Geo. D. Benn, J. E. McDowell, John McNulty, A. L. Hegarty, C. D. McMurray, W. H. Denlinger, W. W. Hegarty, F. P. McFarland, F. V. Perry.