History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 110

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 110

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The period from 1850 to 1860 was one of violent politieal agitation and partisanship, resulting from the fruits of the Mexican war and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Great political leaders became responsive to sectional interests, and the brewing storm seemed suppressive of all measures that did not contribute to intensify the love of or hatred for human slavery. Public improvements long projected were delayed, neither section being willing to contribute to the material advancement of the other, fearing some advantage against which they would have to con- tend when the confliet would come; and, therefore, the office of statesmanship was diverted from the best interests of the country and given wholly to the embittered quarrel between the North and South.

Events in 1860 precipitated the crisis, and the inadequaey of the State banks to meet the great and sudden emergencies of the national government, in providing for the army and navy and the supplies of all kinds necessary for the prolonged struggle, rendered enlarged banking facilities necessary, while the stability and eredit of the banks of the country became a matter of national importanee. The early history of the Rebellion bears ample testimony that the best etforts of statesmanship, aided by the wisdom of long-experienced bankers in the financial centres of the North and West, were honestly united in devising a system of banking that would be suffi- ciently strong and expansive to meet the wants of what was then well understood to be one of the most expensive wars maintained by any eivil government in the history of modern times. The present Na- tional Banking Law, as subsequently modified by the several amendatory aets of Congress, was the result.

The first national bank organized under the National Banking Act was the First National Bank of Philadelphia.

capital of thirty-five millions, and, purchasing the assets and assuming the liabilities of the former United States Bank, continued the business under the same roof. This bank failed and went into liquidation early in IS41,

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BANKS AND BANKING.

MONTGOMERY NATIONAL BANK, NORRISTOWN, PA .- This bank was chartered as the Bank of Mont- gomery County March 21, 1814, its authorized capital being $400,000, with the privilege of increasing it to $600,000. The first election for directors was held October 14, 1815. The following persons were elected : Francis Swaine, Matthew Roberts, Isaiah Wells, Levi Pawling, Zadoc Thomas, Philip Hahn, Thomas Humphrey, Isaac Markley, Charles Rogers, Robert Erp, Enoch Walker, John Jones and Joseph Thomas. Judges of election : Henry Scheetz, John Wentz, Samuel Breck. The board organized Monday, Oc- tober 16, 1815, at the Washington Inn, Norristown, (now Koplin's hardware-store, adjoining the public square). Francis Swaine was elected president and Matthias Holstein cashier, each receiving twelve votes. Following are the names of the principal officers in regular succession :

Presidents .- Francis Swaine, October 16, 1815, re- signed April 15, 1817; Joseph Thomas, April 26, 1817, died June or July, 1844; John Boyer, August 3, 1844, resigned November 26, 1864; A. B. Longaker, December 10, 1864, resigned November 7, 1868; W. Il. Slingluff, from November 7, 1868, to November 20, 1875; John Slingluff, from November 20, 1875, to date.

Vice-Presidents .- John Slingluff, from June 5, 1875, to November 20, 1875; W. 11. Slingluff, from No- vember 20, 1875, to April 14, 1880.

Cashiers .- Matthias Holstein, from October 16, 1815, to March 30, 1822; David Wolmer, March 30, 1822, died November 14, 1829; W. Il. Slingluff, from March 28, 1829, to November 7, 1868; John Slinglutf, from November 7, 1868, to November 20, 1875; William F. Slingluff, from November 20, 1875, to date. William F. Slingluff was assistant cashier from June 5, 1875, to November 20, 1875.

The bank was rechartered as a State bank every ten years to May, 1865, when it was changed to a national bank. As a State bank its notes were al- ways kept at par in Philadelphia.

The exact location of the first building occupied for business is unknown, but an exchange was effected November 25, 1815, for a building owned by Philip S. Markley, Esq., located on the south side of Egypt Street, above Cherry. Part of the site of the old building is now occupied by the house of Miss Mary McDermott and the balance by the house of James Hooven; the lot extended from about twenty feet west of Cherry Street to the line of Geo. W. Wain- right's store-house, and iueluded the present site of the bank. The present bank building was occupied in the month of November, 1854.

The first deposit appears to have been made No- vember 18, 1815, by Isaac Markley; amount, $50. The first statement was made January 20, 1816, and shows the capital stock paid in to have been 842,473; deposits, $13,392.22; bills and notes discounted, $78,895.90.

The following exhibits the condition of the bank during each decade since its establishment :

Capital paid in.

Deposits.

Loans, bills and notes discounted.

1826

$117,480 00

$99,420 57

$235,232 87

1836

159,634 28

120,592 16

362,501 04

1:46

200,891 27

176,147 81

482,531 81

1×50

393,170 00

254,132 87

>75,480 60

1866

400,000 00

493,368 50

1,017,106 13

400,000 00

340,387 91

1,299,014 56

1854

200,000 00

735,674 46

1,048,180 21

No records of the notaries-public who have at- tended upon the bank has been kept; the following officers are known to have acted: Lloyd Jones, R. T. Stewart, Geo. N. Corson, H. K. Weand, Theo. W. Bean, Jos. Slingluff, A. R. Calhoun, Jas. W. Schrock, J. P. Hale Jenkins, Wallace J. Boyd, L. MI. Childs.

BANK OF MON CU ERY COUNTY

BANK OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

The board of directors has been regularly organized every year, making seventy organizations since the date of charter, 1814.

The cost of the building now occupied, situated on Egypt Street, between Cherry and Barbadoes Streets, is stated on the books at $21,000, but this cost is reached by crediting real estate with amount received at the time the adjoining lots were sold off. It is probable that the improvements cost nearly double the amount above stated.

The capital stock of the bank was reduced from $400,000 March 16, 1880, and there was paid back upon each share in cash $50, one half of which came from the reduction in capital and the other half from a divideud of the surplus fund, which was

474

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

also reduced from $400,000 to $200,000. This returned to the stockholders the full amount paid in by them on each share; the par value of the shares was in- creased from $50 to $100 per share, thus making the present capital $200,000 in two thousand shares. The surplus fund proper January 2, 1884, was $250,000, and the undivided profits on that day were $50,617.91. On January 2, 1885, the capital was $200,000; surplus fund, $300,000; undivided profits, $38,281.32; de- posits, $716,893.26.

The present officers of this bank are: President, John Slingluff; Cashier, W. F. Slingluff; Teller, Henry S. Sechler; Book-keepers, William D. Zimmer- man and James Z. Wambold; Note Clerk, Harry C. Crawford; Watchman, Robert Patten. Notaries: Joseph Slingluff, James W. Schrack, J. P. Hale Jen- kins, Lonis M. Childs, Alexander K. Calhoun. Re- serve agents: Philadelphia, Western National Bank; New York, Chemical National Bank.

WILLIAM HI. SLINGLUFF1 was born in Whitpain township, Montgomery Co., March 19, 1805, on a farm near Centre Square, and a short distance below St. John's Lutheran Church (at that time called Grog Hill Church). His father, John Slingluff, was a farmer and an honored citizen, as is shown by his having filled the office of guardian of the poor in Whitpain township in 1803. He was also one of the founders and a member of the first board of directors of the Whitpain Library Company, at Blue Bell, March 7, 1818.

William H. Slinglutf was the youngest of eight children. His father in his youth was a resident of Lower Dublin township, and one of five chil- dren. He was married in Germantown township, September 6, 1788, to Mary Hallman, of the same township, by Michael Schlatter, minister of the gospel.

His grandfather, also John SlingInff, is said to have been a man of imposing presence, having bright blue eyes and strongly-marked features.

His great-grandfather was Hendrick Sligloff (so spelled by an English scholar on page 390 of volume iii. of the Colonial Records), one of seventy-five Palatines who, with their families, came to Phila- delphia, August 19, 1729, in the ship " Mortonhouse," James Coultas, master, from Rotterdam, but last from Deal, as by clearance dated June 21st pre- viously.

By a reference to Rupp's collection of thirty thou- sand names of immigrants, we find that he was accom- panied by his wife, Anna Christianna, and by a son named Paulus (misspelled Apalis).

According to list "A" in the secretary's office at Harrisburg we find that those names marked with a star were written by the clerks. In this list we find the name of Hendrich Schlengeluff, an auto- graph.

After the lapse of years it was thought best by the family to spell the name as it was pronounced, Sling- Inff, thus preserving the Russian termination " ff."

Paulus is the Swedish for Paul, and the name of his great-grandmother, Anna Christianna, also indicates her Swedish origin.

His mother, Mary Hallman, was a daughter of An- thony Hallman, a Revolutionary soldier, who was wounded at the battle of the Brandywine.

She was a girl of nine years at the time of the bat- tle of Germantown, and died at the age of eighty-six in Norristown at the residence of her son. She is said to have possessed remarkable beauty in her girl- hood. She was a daughter of Mary Streeper, and one of five children, great-granddaughter of William Strieper, brother of Jan Strieper, " of Kaldkirchen, in the County of Juliers, in the borders of Germany," who took up " 5000 acres of land by virtue of a war- rant from former Commissioners bearing date Decem- ber 15, 1688," part of which is described as in the " Liberties " of Philadelphia and including a large tract of what is now known as Logan's Hill and Wayne Junction. Jan Strieper came first and bought the land; then, becoming dissatisfied, he returned to Eu- rope and conveyed his property to his brother Wil- helm by a deed of exchange. By some triek best known to those who kept the property, it was all lost to the descendants of Wilhelm Strieper.

The subject of this sketch lived during his boyhood on his father's farm, in Whitemarsh township, about a half-mile below the village of Broad Axe, bought in 1807, when William was but two years of age. He engaged in labor on the farm and at intervals in teaching school for his brother John, and at one time teaching at night in the old Sandy Hill school- house. Ile also for a short time kept the store for his brother Samuel, at the village of the Rising Sun, where, when scarcely twenty years of age, he met the lady whom he married on the 15th day of December, 1833, the Rev. John C. Clay performing the cere- mony at Gloria Dei Church, Philadelphia (Old Swedes').

Mrs. Slingluff was Mary Knorr and the daughter of Matthias Knorr, a farmer and lumber-dealer, rep- resenting the third generation in America, whose grandparents, John George Knorr and Hannah, his wife, were born in Germany prior to 1698. On the maternal side, Mrs. Slingluff was the great-great- granddaughter of Dirk or Derick Keyser, who came to America from Amsterdam, in Holland, arrived in New York in 1688, and came from thence by land to Germantown, l'a., where he purchased land and settled. He was accompanied by his son Pietra, aged eleven years, Dirk and Joanna (taken from the Holland Bible now in possession of Samuel Keyser, German- town).

From his earliest childhood Mr. Slingluff had a great love for out-of-door sports, such as running, leaping, wrestling and, later, fencing and pistol-prac-

1 This sketch was written by a member of the family.

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475

BANKS AND BANKING.

tice. He was strong of nerve, had a steady eye and never missed when he fired to kill. But in after-life he often said, "Had I my life to live over again I would never shoot a bird."

His education was mainly self-acquired. His father, a farmer, was a thoroughly good man, but un- able to give this boy the education he so much de- sired. His ambition was the study of the law, but after purchasing Blackstone's "Commentaries " and the works of Flavius Josephus, he was unable to secure other much-needed books, and concluded to remove to Norristown and secure a situation that was remunerative. IFe became errand-boy and watchman in the old Bank of Montgomery County October 24, 1825, at the age of twenty. Previous to this he attended school one or two quarters at the old Sandy Hill school-house, occasionally teaching for his brother John, then school-master, and reaping the benefit of one quarter's tuition in mathematics from the late venerable and respected Allan Corson, of Plymouth. Being of an omnivorous habit where books were concerned, he was conversant with all the works of the day contained in the Whitpain Library. He was a devout student of the Bible, and all through life quoted readily from its sacred pages. David Wolmer, a bachelor, who was cashier at the time of Mr. Slingluil's advent in the bank, soon observed with satisfaction his aptitude for the business, together with his accuracy in all things. He therefore took great pleasure in advancing his interests, and on the death of Mr. Wolmer, in March, 1829, he was elected by the directors to fill the office of eashier at a salary of six hundred dollars per year. At this time, while procuring sureties, among the directors was a "doubt- ing Thomas," who expressed himself in this wise,- " What! trust that boy !" " Yes!" was the instant reply from a farmer and a well-to-do member of the board, "put me on his bond," which was done. This incident was always remembered with gratitude by Mr. Slingluff, who, when an opportunity offered, invited the grandson of this good man to learn the banking business, which he did, and is still in the institution, a loved and respected officer. At the time of Mr. Slingluff's death this young man wrote thus,-

" It is not his own household alone that must realize and acknowledge this loss. The marks he has made and the work he has done cover a wider feld. The institution to which he gave more than half a century of untiring and zealous attention, and which flourished and grew under his faithful fatherly care intu a monument to his diligence aml skill, has Just one of its wisest counselors. Those whose lot threw them in daily contact with him have lost a friend who was ever courteous and true and ready with a word of wisdom or knowledge from a fund which his ex- perience had given him. The course which his excellent judgment approved was the one he followed with a firmness that was as immovable as it was invincible. What he understood to be his duty was the rule of his action. He was one of the few who remembered a kindness received long after they have forgotten a kindness towards another, and when all that remains of him we so respected and honored is hidden from earthly eyes forever, we cannot do less than give thought of him the warmest place in our remembrance."

On November 7, 1868, Mr. Slingluff was elected

president of the bank, and in November, 1875, resigned his position, his eldest son, John, being elected president and his youngest son, William F., cashier. In January, 1875, a valuable testimonial was presented to Mr. Slingluff by direction of the stockholders of the bank in appreciation of his val- uable services as a bank officer. It is in form a large medallion of silver and gold, adorned with a finely- engraved representation of the bank building, to- gether with explanatory inscriptions,-" In 1861, Mr. Slingluff, with the approval of the directors, offered a loan to Governor Curtin for the purpose of arming volunteers. This was done in April, and the act legalizing the loan was passed in May. The amount was $50,000, and doubtless among the very first loans the State received."

Although classed as a rebel because of his politics, which were Democratic, those who knew him best know that personally from his own funds he expended as much or more money in the way of gifts to the soldiers he visited after the battle of South Mountain, and to their families at home in assistance in their hours of need, than any other of our townsmen.

It was a source of bitter grief to him that this war was thought to have been necessary, descended as he was from a humane and peace-loving ancestry. Pre- vious to and during the war a well-known colored man often came and said, "Mr. Slingluff, we have boarders at our house and nothing for them to eat, and no clothes either." The man always obtained help.

Mr. Slingluff was quick in his perceptions, accurate in his judgment of men and measures, and in honestly carrying out his convictions made warm friends and bitter enemies. Opposition to him was sometimes transferred to the bank, but his honesty and integrity carried both safely through.

In business life he was an example of the highest integrity of character, and demanded the same quali- ties in others. He would not countenance the slight- est deviation from the standard of absolute right. During his early years as cashier of the bank he was frequently amused by one of the directors persisting in going over the accounts. One day this man turned suddenly and said, " Slingluff, what method would you pursue if you were going to rob the bank ?" With an indignation almost too great for speech, he replied, "I never made that my study." It was owing to his forethought and determination of pur- pose that a fund was accumulated sufficiently large to defray the expenses of the bank building. A visitor to Norristown from Georgia has written as follows :

"The Montgomery County Bank presents a front that for purity of style and simplicity of design surpasses anything I have niet with this side the Atlantic, and when the fact is considered that it is the work of the brainsand hands of one who pretends to no professional ideas of ar- chitecture, it becomes a matter of astonishment indeed. It is of pure white marble, the more precious that it is quarried in this county, and but a little distance from where, through human skill, it rises in beanti-

476

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

ful proportions of 'lofty columns and light façade.' The design origin- ated with and was carried out, as I understand, by the present energetic and enterprising presulent of the bank. He has certainly erected an ex- quisite monument to himself, of which those who come after may well be proud."

"Mr. Slinglutt (in the language of one who knew him well) possessed in a remarkable degree that self-reliance which gives every man power. As a bank officer he had few superiors, and the qualities of his mind would have made him a success in any other pursuit. He was a firm patriot,-neither patronizing foreign countries for what he wore nor for what he put into his dwelling. He believed in and practiced home industry. Whatever he attempted he did with his whole might. When opposed or antago- nized he allowed no compromise. With his tremen- dous power in overcoming all opposition, to those for whom he formed an attachment he was the kindest of friends. Hle particularly loved children, and many a child was made happy by his gifts and kind words.

. His heart was as tender as that of a child's. He would not hurt the smallest animal or injure the feelings of the humblest individual. But when the battle came with those he regarded as his peers, he stood like a rock. Many a soldier will remember with affection his visit at Antietam, and hundreds of soldiers' homes were made joyous by his benefac- tions."

Hle was very fond of gardening and the culture of flowers and fruits. In the garden attached to the bank his pride and delight was the annual blooming of a bed of tulips, numbering hundreds, of all shades and shapes. In after-life, in the home of his old age (if any part of such a life as his could be called old), he was pleased to sit early and late upon a piazza enjoying the beauty and fragranceof his garden. In his home he was devotedly loved by all. He commanded the strictest truth and honor from his children and all those with whom he came in contact. He took an active life- long interest in all that pertained to Norristown, the introduction of water and gas being mainly due to him. The provision for the education of children and their comfort in the erection of proper school buiklings was largely accomplished through his influ- ence, the attractive grounds upon which the build- ing at De Kalb and Oak Streets stands having been owned by him and soll to the board of school direc- tors for a nominal sum.

For more than a score of years he served the public in the Town Council, the school board and the Nor- ristown Library Company, to all of which interests he was as attentive as though they were largely re- munerative. He was also for many years a director of the Germantown and Norristown Railroad, treas- urer of the Schuylkill Bridge Company and of the Montgomery Cemetery Company, and a director of the King of Prussia Turnpike Company, besides being an officer and active member of the Gas and Water Companies.

died as he had lived,-like a soldier at his post, calm, self-possessed and in full possession of all his faculties, caring until the last for the needs of his family, in view of his wife's illness and his fast-approaching dissolution. There was no terror, no anxiety, but a ealın reliance on his Father in Heaven, induced by an inner consciousness of having done his duty as far as it was given him to know it.

On Monday, April 19, 1880, he was laid to rest in that cemetery that in health he had done so much to beautify. Truly it can be said of him, "An honest man's the noblest work of God."

Mr. Slingluff had five children, as follows: Sarah S., the wife of Jacob L. Rex, Esq., residing near Blue Bell, in Whitpain township, Montgomery Co .; Mary M., the wife of the Hon. A. B. Longaker, of Lehigh County ; John Slingluff, president of the Montgomery National Bank, Norristown; Clara S. Pauling, widow of the late Dr. Harry Pauling, of Norristown; Wil- liam F. Slingluff, cashier of the Montgomery National Bank, Norristown.

JOHN SLINGLUFF, the son of William H. and Mary Knorr Slingluff, was born on the 3d of August, 1839, in Norristown, the scene of his active business life. He received his earliest instruction at the public school, and at the age of fourteen became a pupil of the Elmwood Institute, under the principal- ship of Rev. G. D. Wolf. His educational opportu- nities ended with his sixteenth year, when he became engaged in the attractive employment of a civil engineer. Circumstances, however, influenced him, a year later (in 1856), to enter the Bank of Montgom- ery County as clerk, with which he has, during the remainder of his life, been largely identified. He acted as note clerk until 1868, receiving at that date promotion to the position of cashier and remaining thus officially connected with the institution until his election to presidency, which office he has held since 1875, the date of his father's retirement. Mr. Slingluff was married, on the 3d of September, 1862, to Miss Wilhelmina, daughter of Frederick Gilbert, of Norristown, and has children,-Mary ( Mrs. Howard Boyd), William H. and Helen G. Mr. Sling- luff has been and is identified with nearly every busi- ness enterprise of importance in the county, and has, from the beginning of his active career, wielded an extended influence in commercial circles. He is superintendent of the Norristown Water Company, treasurer and superintendent of the Norristown Gas Company, treasurer of the Montgomery Cemetery Company, as also of the Standard Iron Company and of the Second National Building and Loan Association. He is president of the Economy Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company and the Norristown Junction Railroad Company. Ile is a director of the Perkiomen Rail- road Company, as also of the Stony Creek Railroad Company, the Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad Company, the Philadelphia, German-

Mr. Slingluth's death ocenrred April 14, 1880. He | town and Norristown Railroad Company and the

John Saingef

I. Albertson

477

BANKS AND BANKING.

Plymouth Railroad Company. He is president of the Montgomery Insurance, Trust and Safe Deposit Company, manager of the King of Prussia Turnpike Company, superintendent of the Fire-Alarm Tele- graph Company and president of the Montgomery Hose and Steam Fire-Engine Company. Mr. Sling- luff was early instructed in the doctrines of the Old- Line Whig party, but later indorsed the platform of the Democracy, by which party he was nominated for Congressional honors in 1880, and, although defeated, ran ahead of his ticket. He has since 1877 been a member of the board of inspectors of the Montgomery County Prison and president of the board since 1880. He is also one of the managers of the Schuylkill bridge at Norristown. Mr. Slingluff is prominently identified with the order of Masonry, as past officer of Charity Lodge, No. 190, of Norristown, of which he is both treasurer and trustee; member of the Royal Arch Chapter and of Hutchinson Commandery, No. 32, Knights Templar ; representative to the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania; and a member of said Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter and Grand Commandery of Pennsylvania, having been, until deelining a reappointment, District Deputy Grand High Priest for the counties of Bucks, Chester and Montgomery for several years. He is now a member of the committee on finance of Right Wor- thy Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Mr. Slingluff is a supporter in religion of the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which Mrs. Slingluff is a member.

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History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 110

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534