Merchants' National Bank of New York

Last updated
The Merchants' National Bank of New York
Company typePublic
IndustryBanking
FoundedApril 7, 1803 (1803-04-07)
Defunct1920
FateMerged with Bank of the Manhattan Company
Successor JPMorgan Chase
Headquarters 42 Wall Street, New York City, New York, United States
Area served
New York
Key people
 Oliver Wolcott Jr., Joshua Sands, Richard Varick
Products Financial services

The Merchants' National Bank of the City of New York was an American bank based in New York City.

Contents

History

On April 7, 1803, fourteen men met at 25 Wall Street to sign the Articles of Association of the Merchants' Bank in the City of New York. The document was drawn up by Alexander Hamilton, a former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. [1]

In 1803, a total of 24,925 shares, at $50 per share, were owned by investors, totaling $1,246,250 (equivalent to $26,168,000in 2024). [1] Elbert Adrian Brinckerhoff, son-in-law of W. R. Vermilye (former president of the New York Stock Exchange and brother of Merchants' Bank president Jacob D. Vermilye) was long associated with Merchants' Bank. [2] At its establishment, the bank occupied 42 Wall Street, next door to the Manhattan Company and its bank. [3]

In 1839, bank leaders constructed a new building on the site. They replaced that building with yet another, the Merchants' National Bank building, built from 1883 to 1886. [4]

From 1894 to 1901, the bank employed as a cashier Joseph Wright Harriman, who would later found Harriman National Bank and Trust Company and serve nearly five years in prison for bank fraud. [5] [6] [7]

In 1920, the bank was called The Merchants' National Bank of the City of New York and had capital stock of $3,000,000, consisting of 30,000 shares at par value of $100, all listed upon the New York Stock Exchange. [8]

Merger

In 1920, the Merchants bank merged with the Bank of the Manhattan Company. Established in 1799 by Aaron Burr, the Manhattan Company bank is the oldest of the predecessor institutions of today's JPMorgan Chase & Co. [3] On March 1, 1920, three things happened: Merchants was converted from a national bank into a state bank under the name of The Merchants' Bank of the City of New York; [8] the merger agreement was signed; and the deal was approved by the Superintendent of Banks. [9] The merger became effective on March 27, [8] and Merchants president Raymond E. Jones became vice president and second-in-command of the combined institutions. [10]

In 1929, the Merchants Bank building was demolished to make way for the merged banks' combined headquarters at 40 Wall Street. [11]

List of presidents

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hubert Jr., Philip Gengembre (1903). The Merchants' National Bank of the City of New York: A History of its First Century. New York: Printed for the bank by Trow Directory, Printing & Bookbinding Company. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "E,.A. BRINCKERHOFF, BANK PRESIDENT, DIES; Head of Merchants' Bank Rode the First Pony Express in This Country TWICE MAYOR OF ENGLEWOOD Member of the Vigilance Committee In California Under Coleman In Pioneer Days" (PDF). The New York Times . 24 March 1913. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  3. 1 2 Schulz, Bill (29 July 2016). "Hamilton, Burr and the Great Waterworks Ruse". The New York Times . Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  4. ↑ The Printing Art: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Graphic Arts. Vol. XXXV. Cambridge, U.S.A.: Cambridge University Press. 1920. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "J. W. Harriman, 82, Former Bank head. Founder of Local Institution That Failed in 1933. Dies in Sea Cliff Sanitarium". The New York Times . January 24, 1949. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
  6. ↑ "Harriman Embarrassment". Time magazine . May 4, 1936. Archived from the original on December 15, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
  7. ↑ The Merchants' National Bank of the City of New York: A History of Its First Century. Merchants National Bank. 1903.
  8. 1 2 3 The Commercial and Financial Chronicle. National News Service. 1920. p. 265. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  9. ↑ "The Chase Manhattan Corporation | American corporation". britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica . Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  10. 1 2 "RAYMOND E. JONES, BANKER 4 DECADES; Vice President of Manhattan Co. 23 Years Dies on Coast Began as Office Boy" (PDF). The New York Times . 26 April 1944. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  11. ↑ "The Skyscraper Museum: THE RISE OF WALL STREET WALKTHROUGH". www.skyscraper.org. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  12. ↑ "Head of $52,000,000.00 Bank at 34. Raymond E. Jones, one time messenger boy, made president of the Merchants National of New York which was established in 1803". Bankers Monthly. 36. Hanover Publishers: 19. February 1919. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
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