Millinocket Trust
Millinocket Trust Company had a charter from the state about 1906. Business was first done from an office in the A.C. Smart building until the 2 ½ story brick building was completed in 1907. Later, a small addition was constructed on one side of the building. John J. Moore was the first president and John King was treasurer and Miss Emma Gonya was clerk. In the 1920’s, the bank was part of Eastern Trust & Banking Company with presidents including George Stearns and William Newman. Other bank officers through the years were Carl Stockwell (who lived above the bank) and John Borodko. In the 1950’s a branch was opened in East Millinocket. In 1967, another branch opened in the Northern Plaza shopping center.
For many years, banks gave out coin banks to children to encourage building up some savings. When the bank was full, it was brought to the bank where the child was encouraged to deposit it in a savings account. The museum has several of these banks.
One is a small metal bank, oval in shape, with a carrying handle on the top and the coin slot on the top front. A black metal piece with the bank’s logo is attached to the front. This bank was given to the child at the time of their first deposit!
Another small metal coin bank dates from about 1905. Made of stainless steel, it has a cylindrical shape and is about three inches tall. Its coin slot is on the top. A black metal plate attached to the front reads Farmers State Bank, Baston, Minn.
As with the two above mentioned banks, small seems to be the adjective to describe all of the coin banks at the museum. An even smaller “dime bank” was one of many items used to advertise Rush Brothers Store. This black metal bank is labeled as a “Dimes Savings Bank,” and reminds people to “Save Your Dimes, Spend Them With Rush Brothers, Millinocket, Maine.”
1976 was the 200th birthday of the United States and was also the 75th birthday of the incorporation of the town of Millinocket. A souvenir coin bank was made for that occasion. It is rectangular in shape and has a large wooden nickel on the front with the words, Beware of Imitations. The bank contains two wooden nickels commemorating the 75th birthday of the town of Millinocket.
Coin banks such as the ones in the Millinocket Historical Society collection were given away by banks and also by businesses as advertising. Small and compact, many have survived, and some have found their way to the museum.
The museum also has a set of coins minted in 1901, the year of Millinocket’s incorporation. It includes an Indian head penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter, half-dollar and a Liberty head (Morgan) silver dollar.
The museum collection also contains a Millinocket Trust Company canceled check dated Dec. 28, 1911. It was made out to J. F. Kimball. Kimball was an early merchant with a store in the mill yard and later with the Kimball Trading Company at the corner of Penobscot Avenue and Central Street. The check was for the sum of $50.00 and signed by George M with the rest of the cursive signature being illegible. The museum has several canvas bank money bags (some with locks).
The following is from the Laverty book Millinocket, Magic City of Maine’s Wilderness. “Bank robberies were not as prevalent in those days. Millinocket’s big robbery scandal concerned a young man’s theft of some mailbags, but the bank produced a scare that made all the newspaper headlines and was the talk of the county in 1909. On the afternoon of November 15, an inspector was about to check the bank’s vault. Daylight was waning that wintry day, and the man struck a match to light the lamp in the room. No one knew that the gas jet had been on all that particular day. A mighty explosion occurred, blowing out windows, scattering money everywhere and killing the inspector. Miss Gonya was later praised for her quick thinking in locking the bank doors to prevent curious onlookers from entering.”
The original Millinocket Trust Company building was demolished a few years ago.
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