Cheshire Bank - 1804 dated Stock Certificate

Early Stock of a Bank in Keene, New Hampshire.

Cheshire National Bank.-The Cheshire Bank was chartered with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, by the state of New Hampshire in 1804 for a period of twenty years, or till 1824,-then till 1844,-and again till 1864, inclusive. The original corporators were judge Daniel Newcomb, Noah Cooke, Esq., and Elijah Dunbar, Esq. John G. Bond, Judge Newcombs sonin-law, procured most of the stock subscriptions, among which are the names of Samuel and Nathan Appleton, Eben Francis, Stephen Salsbury, John Bellows, Josiah Knapp and several others of Boston, Daniel Newcomb, John G. Bond, William Lamson, Moses Johnson, Alexander Ralston, Stephen Harrington, Eben Stearns, Joseph Hayward, and Foster and Luther Alexander of Cheshire county, with fifty-five others on the list. The first building for the bank was of brick, two stories high, and was taken down in 1847, to make way for the Cheshire railroads passenger station. Daniel Newcomb was president from 1804 to 1811. when he resigned, and in the “war period,” soon after, the bank struggled against insolvency till November, 1813, when Samuel Grant was chosen president, and Nathaniel Dana, cashier, in place of Arba Cady (who was elected February, 1806, and whose predecessor was E. Dunbar,) and a revival of credit and business secured. Mr. Grant was president till July, 1829, and Salma Hale, his successor, till March, 1842, at which time Levi Chamberlain was made president, and steps were taken to reorganize the bank under its amended charter available from 1844 to 1864 inclusive. In this reorganization John Elliot was chosen president,-was succeeded in 1856 by Levi Chamberlain and in 1861 by John Henry Elliot, under whom, at the expiration of its charter, the bank was made National with a capital of two hundred thousand dollars. James Henry Williams was cashier from 1841 to 1847, then Zebina Newell till 1855, then Royal H. Porter, when the banks state charter expired. He continues to be cashier at this writing, with John Henry Elliott as president. In the first two or three decades of the bank and before the outset of the “Suffolk Bank System,” its affairs in Boston were confided to personal curacy, and among those employed in this trust were Joseph Bellows, Jr., John Bellows, Nathan Appleton and William Appleton, successively. For thirty years Aaron Appleton was moderator at meetings of stockholders, with two exceptions, when the chair was occupied by Ithamer Chase (the father of Chief Justice Chase). The Banks present granite building, at the corner of Main street and Diphthong alley, was erected in 1847 and has all the modern defences against invasion. In 1864 the bank began business as a National institution, with a capital of $200,000.00 and the privilege of increasing the same to $250,000.00. Read more at https://accessgenealogy.com/new-hampshire/history-of-the-banks-of-keene-new-hampshire.html

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