During the 19th century, Milford enjoyed the services of five different banking institutions, although three of them did not last very long. Banking in Milford began with the establishment of the Commercial Bank of Smyrna.
The Commercial Bank of Smyrna was authorized by the General Assembly of Delaware on February 9, 1812, established in Smyrna with a branch in Milford. The law stipulated that the capital stock should not exceed $200,000, about $6.8 million today. The stock was to be divided into 4,000 shares of $50 each with 2,000 issued in Smyrna and 2,000 issued in Milford.
Milford’s stock was sold under the direction of John Adams, James B. Ralston, John Mitchell, Elias Shockley, Robert Hill, John Williams, Thomas Peterkin and Louder Layton or “any two of them.”
The books were opened in Milford on April 6, 1812 with John Fisher of Dover coming to attend the ceremony. In a letter to Henry Ridgely, who was in Washington as Delaware’s Congressional representative, Fisher wrote about the eventful proceeding.
“The books were opened at Pettigrew’s (206 N.W. Front Street, site marked by DAR plaque) and the crowd filled the front room, a capacious piazza and the street opposite. I could liken the conduct of these folks to nothing more appropriately than what might be the scramble for money itself if throw in quantity among them.”
Fisher tells of one disappointed prospective buyer who went to Milford with 2,000 silver dollars “for the purpose of buying its full amount in stock. He had to take his specie home again.”
Later, Fisher wrote that the four commissioners of the bank had deposited $20,000, about $688,000 today, in the bank at Dover as the first installment of these subscribed shares.
John Mitchell was named president of the Milford branch and Jacob Biddle won the title of cashier, selected over Adkins, Peterkin and Spencer Williams. Biddle held the position until he resigned in 1815 and was replaced with Leonard Adkins, who served until 1826 before being replaced with Spencer Williams.
The bank was very prosperous until the Bank of Smyrna was organized. In 1820, the General Assembly extended the life of the bank for five years, but on February 6, 1822, the bank was closed by an act of the General Assembly. The bank officially closed on March 1, 1827.
The Bank of Smyrna was established in 1821, and, by 1831, an office had been opened in Milford in the building vacated by the Commercial Bank of Delaware. Peter F. Causey served on the board of directors until 1859. Other notable members of the board were Henry B. Fiddeman and Daniel Currey. George S. Adkins served as cashier until 1860 when he was succeeded by John C. Stockley. John B. Smith held the position until the opening of the First National Bank of Milford in 1876 when he became cashier there, holding that position until his death in 1926.
The third bank to open was the Bank of Milford but that bank turned out to be fraudulent. It opened in August 1852 and closed in March 1855. The Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Milford was authorized on February 25, 1859, with commissioners Shadrach Raughley, Manlove Carlisle, Curtis Watson, William N.W. Dorsey, Trusten McColley, James Lofland, John Hazzard, William Hill and Thomas Wallace.
Capital stock in that bank was set at $50,000, about $2 million today and authorized to sell at $25 per share with no more than 40 shares allowed for one subscriber. Dorsey was elected president of the bank which opened on November 25, 1861. The bank was located on Walnut Street near where the state building is located today. Bank notes of 1861 show the signature of A.S. Hazzard as cashier but those of a later date bear the signature of John W. Adkins as cashier.
During this era, the cutting, trimming and handling of bank notes was a job done by hand and relegated to female relatives at home. In her diary, Dorsey’s daughter wrote that she had been busy cutting, trimming and bundling bank notes. In another entry, she talks about her father signing the notes. The bank ceased operation by 1868 but there is no record of what happened to it.
The First National Bank of Milford opened July 31, 1876, and the first board consisted of Henry Fiddeman, Curtis Watson, Manlove Carlisle, James Lofland, George Russell, Robert Davis, James Deputy, C.J. Harrington and James Hall. Fiddeman served as president and John Smith as cashier. In 1959, this bank merged with Wilmington Trust which eventually became M&T Bank.
The bank stood on the northwest corner of North Walnut and Northeast Front Streets in a building owned by Fiddeman until it was demolished to construct the current bank building that still stands.
The Bank of Delaware also had a branch in Milford which eventually became PNC Bank. That building now houses the City of Milford Customer Service Office.
