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May 2002
Bank of Germantown manuscripts
Former bank executive Richard Burke recently gave us three important manuscript items relating to the Bank of Germantown, which he saved from a Dumpster in the 1970s. Mr. Burke's gift consists of the original Bank of Germantown subscription book from 1814, the first teller ledger (1814-1817), and a share receipt dated May 17, 1815.
In 1813, the Pennsylvania assembly passed "An Act Regulating Banks," which approved the charters of 38 new banks in the state and set down their rules of operation. Among those institutions approved by the government was the Bank of Germantown, opened in July 1814, and one of four new banks established in Philadelphia county. Noted Philadelphia antiquarian John Fanning Watson (1779-1860), who wrote Annals of Philadelphia, was the Bank's first cashier, serving in that position from 1814 until 1848. The Bank's offices were initially located at 5275 Germantown Avenue, which was also Watson's home.
The cashier's book shows the daily income and outgo of funds. And the subscription book lists many female shareholders who purchased stocks for themselves or as proxies for others. These important manuscripts, saved from destruction by a forward-thinking person, are important artifacts which not only record transactions of the Bank in its formative years but also provide a glimpse of early American economic history at work.