Introduction
One of the last banks to be organized in Camden, Third National Bank was organized in January of 1928. The new bank survived the Depression, and remained in business as the Third National Bank & Trust Company until the 1970s, when it was merged into the United Jersey Bank. Unlike the other Camden banks that survived the Depression, Third National remained primarily a Camden institution.
Business Men Form Third National Bank
Camden Courier-Post —
Financial Institution Backed by East Camden Interests
Faith in the progress of East Camden is reflected in announcement of the organization of the Third National Bank and Trust Company, the city’s newest banking institution, to be opened in April or May in a building at the northeast corner of Twenty-seventh Street and Westfield Avenue.
Backed by 300 businessmen, most of them residents of East Camden, the new enterprise was fostered by William McCully, retired member of a large commercial firm, and Harold F. Stephenson, one of the city’s youngest business executives.
Stephenson and McCully, impelled by confidence in the future of the East End, started the movement four months ago. The application for authority to organize the company was approved yesterday by the Comptroller of Currency at Washington.
The firm has initial capital of $200,000 and a surplus of $25,000.
Included among directors are Joseph Carr and Raymond R. Donges, Camden attorneys; Ellis Parker, retired Merchantville banker; Dr. A. L. Sherk, East Camden physician; Louis Everly, coal and ice dealer, and Paul Richman, member of a local metal working and rioting firm. Other directors are Newton Garwood, county official; Martin Hambrose, retired; Henry Lippincott, Marian McGee, Elias F. Mason and Carlton Evans, member of the firm of Bell & Evans.
Stephenson is 30. His business career started on his return from France with the A.E.F. He now is secretary and treasurer of the John Crawford Company, undertakers.
The proposed bank building, now occupied by a real estate firm, will be renovated and connected with an adjoining building, which will house the vaults. Plans are complete and bids will be opened today.
“The response of East Camden residents to our project has been very gratifying,” Stephenson said last night. “There are 40,000 residents in this city east of the Cooper River and the number is increasing every day. East Camden no longer is a suburb, but an important part of a great city. A new bank is not a venture, but a necessity.”
The institution will be less than a block removed from the East End Bank and Trust Company, which was organized less than eight years ago and now ranks as one of the city’s flourishing institutions.
Directors of the new bank will meet within the next few days to elect officials and management.
Bridgeview B. And L. Pays $23,700 Series
Camden Courier-Post —
Checks totaling $23,700 were in the mail yesterday in payment of the maturing of the first series of shares by the Bridge View Building and Loan Association. One hundred eighteen shareholders share in the distribution.
The announcement was made by George Gideon, assistant secretary. The association, which was formed 13 years ago, meets in the Third National Bank and Trust Company, Twenty-seventh Street and Westfield Avenue. The second series will be opened June 1.
James R. Sudler is president of the association. Other officers are Carlton M. Harris, vice president; William S. Abbott, secretary; Fred Weisbrod, treasurer, and Charles Boulton, solicitor.
Directors are Warren Parvin, Clarence Peters, Gideon, Harris, Abbott, Weisbrod, Boulton, Lewis Hager, Franke Lake, Sudler and Joseph Stutz.
Camden Bank, Business Bldg. Targets of Two Firebombings
Camden Courier-Post —
Volkswagen Impounded By Police
—Courier-Post Photo by Sam Kushner
SCATTERED GLASS and ripped blinds are evidence of first of two firebombings in Camden today. This bombing was at 333 Arch St., home of several businesses. There were no injuries.
By JOSEPH R. McCARTHY and DOUGLAS CAMPBELL Courier-Post Staff
There was a loud bang from the back room of the Third National Bank of New Jersey, Camden at 7:34 a.m. today, just after Miss Sara Matthews, head bookkeeper, had left and shut the door.
When she rushed back into the room, a walk-up window teller’s booth, she saw flames leaping at the window.
“We panicked,” admitted Miss Matthews who, with Mrs. Ellen Egbert, head teller, had been in the bank at 27th and Federal Streets 10 or 15 minutes.
The fire was the result of one of two firebombings perpetrated today within 16 minutes and three miles of each other. The first bombing was at 333 Arch St., Camden, a building housing several businesses and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Labor Department office.
Car Impounded
Police impounded a red Volkswagen following the bombings. They said the car fits a description given by witnesses at both scenes of a car seen speeding from the bombings. Police were questioning several men about the incidents, according to Det. Capt. Donald McGlensey.
According to Harold Pike, city fire marshal, there was little damage at the Arch Street bombing, committed at 7:18 a.m. He said there were no persons in the office building. Witnesses told firemen they saw a red Volkswagen speeding from the scene following the explosion of the bomb at the front of the building, he said.
Fireman George Merriweather, on his way to work at No. 9 Engine Co., 27th and Federal Streets, saw smoke coming from the bank, across the street from the station, and alerted his fellow firemen. By the time firemen arrived at the bank, however, the fire was out.
$500 Damage
Acting battalion chief Harry Scholz said witnesses told him they saw a man driving a red Volkswagen toss a bottle against the building. The bottle struck the outdoor walk-up window and then exploded, he said, causing about $500 damage to the cage.
About ten minutes after the bank bombing, police, alerted to the description of the car, impounded a red Volkswagen at Dudley and Federal Streets, six blocks from the bank.
According to Miss Matthews, she didn’t attempt to extinguish the fire, on the Westfield Avenue side of the bank. Instead, she and Mrs. Egbert decided to run to the fire department across the street. However, firemen were already on the way.
No Injury
Miss Matthews said she saw no one when she looked into the burning tellers cage. Neither she nor Mrs. Egbert was injured.
Robert Harrison, a bank vice president, said a few items near the window were burned. He noted the teller’s cage is usually open from 3 to 6 p.m.
Fire marshal Pike said he had assigned men to investigate at both bombing sites. It was unknown if police had a suspect in the bombings.
—Courier-Post Photo by Sam Kushner
WATER and soot damage are evident in office of Puerto Rican Labor Department office at 333 Arch St., Camden, site of firebombing earlier today.
—Courier-Post Photo by Sam Kushner
SOOT marks the spot where firebomb struck the Third National Bank of New Jersey in Camden today. The bombing was the second of two in the city within 16 minutes and three miles.
Photos
27th Street side of Third National Bank, as seen from the East Camden Firehouse, North 27th Street and Federal Street — ca. 1952. The windows seen here have since been covered over.
Third National Bank — Deposit Envelope
Third National Bank — Deposit Receipt, January 24, 1964
Third National Bank — Envelope Return Address Imprint, 1960s
Check drawn on the Third National Bank, written by Mrs. Yetta Herman to Max Singer and deposited at First Camden National Bank & Trust — September 19, 1963