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45ORCESTER MAGAZINE
The Park Trust Companyith Mayor George M. Wright as Its
President and Many Other Prominent Business Men in ItsDirectorate,
Worcester's Newest Banking Institution Opens Its Doors for Business
andAdds Another Force in Extending the City's Financial
Prestige
, ITH t he coming of th e new year of nineteen) hundred and six
teen the re was t he ad ven t ,a lso, of th e new Park Tru st
Company, t hefo rma l opening of which on th e first clay ofJ an ua
rv mav be r ecord ed as one of th e notable events in t he i i l l
l i history of Worcest er . Th ishisto ry, more th an a centu ry
olel aud flawless in its re c01'(1 of in t l'gTity, has been duri
ng all th ese year s th e espe cia l pride of Worcester citizens
and has been marked bya conscrv atism almost without pa rall ed in
a rapidl ygrowing city , for it is n ea r-ly eleven yea rs since a
newbank , under eu t irvly IWW a uspices, has ber n ad ded tot he l
ist of fiduciary institu tio ns ill whi ch t he peop le pl ace
their f unds, t heir f a i th a nd their confidence. Th e
firstof these, t he W orcest er Natio na l Bank , was inco rpora
tedMarch 7, 1804, and it was t wenty-fou l' years la ter , inF
ebruary , 1828, before another bank, the W orc esterCount y I
nstitu tion fo r Sav ing s, was cha r tered by th eCommonwea lt h.
Th e Mechan ics ' Na tional da tes f r om1865, a lthoug h it was
esta bl ished as a S ta te in st itu tionnear-ly tw enty years p
revio usly, in 1848 . Th e W or cester Mech anics.' Savings Ba nk
was bor n in 1851 , theFive Cen t Sa vings Bank in 1855 and t he P
eople's Savings Bank in 1864. Th e V,rorcester Trust Company
wasincorpora ted in 1868, th e Merchants' l'\ ational Bankopened it
s doo rs in 1905, and nearl y all th e cit y and
A Vn.w or- Tj i E M A' " BANK ' X G ROO ) [
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MAGA Z IN E w 0 R C E S r E R
)' In . IL- \LP]( H . Mx x xVi ce -Pr esid ent and 'I'rea su rc
r
).!. \ \"OJt G EORc:J'; ),1. ' ' ' RI G H T }T O l\", .T L E W I
S E LLS WO RT HP r-esid en t Vi ce-P r ps idt 'n t
THE OF YI CEI(S Ob THE PA HK TR Ul;T CO.llP.\ NY
I H OSEA M .I :"':'"Director find Couus ello r
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WORCESTERorga nizations de voted to pub l ic an d p ri vate fin
siness ha ve the prestige of man y years of suel opera tion behind
th em.
TH E O F F(C'F.RS' CORX ER
t he las t decade th e city has in creased in popund ill weal t
h to a ll ex tent littl e rea lized by th eobserv er and in th e
opin ion of ma ny ca pita lis tsbu si ness men the com mercia1 out
look fully wa rth e esta bli shui eu t of another ban ki ng en terp
rise.was n uder th ese very favora ble condi t ions t ha t t hea
tion of th e Park 'T r ust Company ha s been per th e ai m o f th e
or gan izers be ing to augment ra therto d ivide th e in vest ing a
nd saving po wers of t ileic. Jncreascd bank ing faciliti es, they
assum e, willnce t ho cre d it and st anding of merchants and ot
heress men , will provide mor e out let fo r sur plus cap i ta
lincrease th e gene ra l thr if t of t h commun it y.officers a nd
du -ectot -s, " r eads t he for m al st at emen te policy of the
new ba nk , " be lieve that they of Worccstc r depos itors should
be in vest ed inester so fat' as is consistent wit h absolute
safety,promot in g 1"0 th e g rea test possible ext ent t he g
rowthp rosperity of tIl(' Llca t-t of th e (:OIHl1lO 11\\"('aJth."r
ela tion to ot her business ai ms of th p Pa rk Tru sty it is a
uuouuc ed by th e officers t ha t t he und n rt hongh t in develop
in g the project has ber- n tosh a l l in st it ut iou which shall
1(' a " Hank fo r
o y With t his (' ll d in vie w t hey ha vr ad opt vdotto of
"Security a wl Serv ice fo r All , " th is p hrasesinc e become a
pr-ominent fea tu re in t he pu hli p rogramrne and th e Iit oratu
r issued in con nect ione var ious dep ar tments, T he" Bank for
Every idea ha s been emphas ized not on ly in pl anni nger vice an
d eq uipmen t but al so in t he selection of
MAGAZINE J7the directo rs of th e en ter p r ise. Th e roster
of' th e di r ectors shows how ie presentativ e it is of th e var i
ed na ti onali t ies wh ich comp ose Wor cester 's citizen ship a
mlalso what a wide scope is cover ed by t he va ri ou s lilies
ofind ust ry in which th e dir ecto rate is engaged.As the new tr
us t eomp an y has been in cor po rat ed und erth e laws of Massach
uset ts to canyo n a genera l ban k in gbusin ess, it has provided
facili ties fo r th e t run saction ofal l kin ds of financial a
ffa ir s , counnon to bo t h state a ndnati on al ban ks, inc lud
ing th e foll owing: I t cares fordep osits sub ject to check and
allows two p er cen t. inter est up on al l bala nces in excess of
$100. I t has a sa vin gs dep artmen t org an ized as especia lly p
rovided bylaw , wh er e de pos it s will be t ak en f ro m on e do
lla r upw ardand u pon whi ch interest compo unded at th e usual
sav ings bank ra t e will be allowed from th e first of eac hmonth
on all dep osits made before the fift h of t he month.I t has safe
deposit boxes whi ch a rc ren ted for nomina lsm u yearly, th ese
receptacl es bein g pr ot ected hy a st rongst eel vau lt an d
having t he add iti onal adv an tag e of thelatest electrical
devices d esign ed to make loss by t heft anim possibil ity , It ha
s man y conve niencies for women whomak e lise of the banks bus
iness fa cilities,Th e Pa rk T 'rust Compa ny owes it s in ception
to theeffo rts of H osea Man n , a New E ng lan d financier withun
usually broad expe r ience in bank or ganization . Associated wit h
him in th e la bors of p ro mot ion were Cha rlesT . Tat man, a t
tor ney, a nd oth er prominen t citizens whohave since become id en
t ified with th e institu tion as officers 0 1 d ir ect or s. Mr.
Ma nn had sp ent many mo nths inlooking over t he field of p
rospecti ve operatio n a nd indo ing th e pr elim in ar y work
necessary to inte r est men ofa ffai rs in th e pr oje ct now est a
b lished as an im portan tpar t of the ci ty 's business sys tem.
Th e or gan izat iononce effected, the choice of officers to d ir
ec t th e destiniesof th e new ban king corpo ra t ion resu lt ed
as follows :P resident , George M, Wright ; V ice-P resid ent, H on
.J . Le wis Ell sworth , Vice-P reside llt anel Treasurer , RalphH
. Marin.Di rector s- Cur ti s R. Bl auch ard, of th e Capi to l LUl
lCl 1Sys tem ; Nil s Bjork , p resident and tr eas urer of the Ni
lsBjork Compa ny ; C. E (lmoIlll Be lisle, publi sh er L 'O pi
n-ion P ubliq uc; Ma rcus A. Coolidge, mayor of F itchb urg ;
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48 WOR CESTER MAGAZI NEJ, Verner Cri tchley, ca pita list ;
George E . Duffy , p res ident of th e George E, Duffy Munu fa ctu
t-iug Compa ny;Irwin P. Dorward , of th e Fuller Regali a
Company;J, Lewi El l swort h ; Fra nk S. Fay, t reasure r of t
heWorcester W oolen Mills , Rufus B. F'owl er, attorney an dfo
rmerly p residen t of th e Board of T'ra de , Lorrie RF'owler,
treasur er of the A therton F umi t ure Compa ny ;William A.
Fuller. lumber di-al er of Clinton; J erom e R.
TH E : M O J ) E V A L"LT
George, .Ir. , manager of th e Park building ; John F,H arrigan
, treas urer of the Harrigan P ress; Jo hn J .].in chan , president
of th e L in ehan -Conover Compa ny;H osea Ma n n ; Ralph H . Mann
; H el'ber t A . P ike, presiden t and tr easu re r of th e Boston
Pressed Steel Meta lCompany ; F . .J nlius Quist , presid en t. of
t he DomesticVa cu um Cleane r Company ; Lu cius L . Ri chardson,
vicepr esident of the Richar dson Pia no Case Compa ny ofL
eominster ; H . Osca r Rocheleau, of Rochelea u a nd COIllpany ; J
ohn A , Sh erman, of th e Sh erman En velope Cornp an y ; Chann in
g Smith, proprietor of th e Va lley WoolenCompa ny an d president
an d treasurer of the ChapelMills Manufacturing Company; Char les
'1' , 'I'a tm an, formerl y presiden t of the Board of 'I'rade ; Lu
man H. Tif-fa ny, w holesal e p rovision deal er of W ebster;
George M.Wr igh t, may or of W orcester.Se lection of a suitable
location for busi ness provedeasy of solut ion by t he completion
of the Pa rk bu ilding.'I'his provided a central poin t in th e bus
iness activitiesof th e cit y , gave ass ura nce of accessible and
th orough lymodern quarte rs and made possible the equipment
ofbanking rooms which ar e consider ed un su rp assed inCentra l
Nell' England, both in bea uty of appointme ntan d ut i lity of
arrangement for th e con ven ience of p atrons . Comment to this
effect was expre ssed freely onth e occasion of the public
reception gi ven on New Year'sday when the officers and directors
exte nded the season'sgr eeti ngs to a host of persons who respo
nded to an invi tation to inspect th e premises. A th rong of
visitorswas observed a t all hou rs f rom noon un t il th e
closingti me a t nin c 0 'clock in th e evening .T he adva n tages
accruing from the possession of t woen t ra nces to t he banking
roo ms a re read ily perceived .Wh ile possibl y a majority of
patrons enter from th e
principal doorway fronting on l\Iain street, large number s mak
e use of t he ent ra nce connecting with the lobbof th e Park bu
ild ing. Th e lat ter mode of access is naturally pref erable to
tenan ts of th e many offices in t hstru cture, bu t is also a
convenience f e r others wh o havbusiness th er e.'I'he officer s '
roo ms occupy th e sou th sid e of th e spacdevoted to bu siness,
or to the right as one ell tel's the banthrou gh a vestibule
entrance fro m Main street. Thivestibu le en t ra nce itself is an
especially noticeabl e featu re in th e genera l in terior plan,
having II floor of graTenn essee mar ble an d a beautiful wain
scoatin g of Eu glish vein I tali an mar ble, su rmounted by bronze
a nd pl atglass screen work mad e to order f rom a specia l design
ot he architects. T he officers ' rooms arc enc losed by marbl e r
ailing a nd a re fu rn ished in ma hoga ny . .S pace set aside for
th e public exte nds near-ly to threal' of t he building and is
constructed ent ir ely of Ital iamarble. The floor ing' is of the
same ma teria l as t he vestbul e, T he woodwork, which is a ll of
mah ogany, seemto match perfec t ly the entire color scheme and the
inter ior decora t ions. The metal scr eens whi ch surmounthe cou
nt er an d c1ivide the va rious depar tments for tellCl'S and ot
hers of the cleri cal fo rce a re fashio ned of lighstatuary bronze
.In the rea l' of the pu blic foyer is the \\ '01Jl3l1 'S 1'0 0
11well ligh ted , tas tefu lly arran ged a nd pa neled in mahogan y
. A rug of Chinese pat ter n covel's th e floor ant he window
hangings a re of silk tapestry . T he windowscreens are of tea
kwood. Th e room has a n atmospherof cosy seclusion and is furni sh
ed wit h wr-itin g deskcha irs , telephone and all the conven
ieucios necessa ry foa departrnen t of this character.D ir ect ly
beneath the main banking' 1'0 0111 a r clie vaulan d th e safety
deposit depar tment. Th ese are reacheby a bro ad stair way of
marble which ope ns from thma in floor neal' the f ront entran ce.
H er e also an alcovha s been fitted up fo r th e cou ven icn ce of
business menTh e main vau lt , last of the ge nera l equ ip ment to
be completed , is eight by six teen feet ill d imen sions and is
cons idered one of the most th orough ly constru cted in thcountry
. Fa cing th e gr eat va ult door is th e sa fety deposit dep ar t
men t , containing mah ogany boot hs. In thr ear of the lar ge va
ul t is a fir eproof storage vault , lockers an d ot her comforts
fo r employes of t he institu tionTh e vaul ts a re connected with
th e offices by an elevatoH eating an d ventilating are accomp
lished by a we11kn own mechan ical system, the ail' being pu r
ified. Thelectr ic fixtur es are of a sp ecial design which
conformwith the gen era l architectura l pl an and p rovides
scientifically corr ect illumination. The ceil ing fixt ures are
osta tuary bronze with semi-globes whi ch cas t a softe neradian ce
withou t reducin g the ligh t. 'I he office equipment is ul tr a
moder n in eve ry par ti cul a r ,In the op inion of leading
business men of th e city thchoi ce of officers fo r th e P ark
Trust Compa ny should bin itself a gua rantee of the success of th
e new bankGeorgc M. W right, th e presid en t , a nd H on . J.
LewiEl lsworth, the vice-presiden t , ar e so well known in
',vorceste r and throughout this sec tion of Nell' En gland thait
seems a lmost superfluous to review th eir qu alificationf or su ch
pos itions of trust. As head of th e wire COIlpa ny whi ch bears
his na me and which has been built lipby him t o it s presen t la r
ge propor-tions, Mr. Wright haab ly demonst rated his capacity for
busin ess un dertakings . Hi s popu la r it y with all classes has
been shownby h is elect ion for the fou r th t ime as mayor of
Wor
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W OR CESTERand his wid e acq ua intance is considered a va
luableet fo r a ball king in stitution .J. Lewis Ellsworth is equ
ally well known, having longidentified with business , civic and
state affai rs. Forars he was secretary of th e State Board of
Agriltur e and duri ng his term of office made a to ut' ofrope as a
mem ber of the Na tional Agricultu ral Coinission which in
vestigated the ru ral credit syst em. Durg his recent te rms of
office as president of the ChamberCommerce he found ed and placed
upon a firm basis thercester Couuty Farm B ureau in addit ion to
his laborsr th e city it self . H e is vice-p resi dent and chairn
of the exec utive committee of th e Park Tru st Coma position of
responsibility to which his kno wledges and broad business expe
rienc e seem to
Hosea Mann, wh ose energy laid the foundation of therk Trust
Company, has been a prominent figu re inew England banking affairs
for years . Mr. Man n is aof Vermont and began his business career
as t reaser of th e Wilm ington Sav ings Bank H e studied lawe
meanwh ile and af ter being ad mitted to th e Baras elected
prosecutin g att orney of Wind ha m Coun ty.etiring fr om law pract
ice he again took up banking.or eight yea rs he was a member of the
Ve rmont Legise, du ring which time he acted as cha irman of
therailroad and oth er committees an d had t he dis eing th e youn
gest memb er ever electedof the Ho use. H e also served as insp ect
or ofan d as st at e bank examiner of Vermont. I n
M A G A Z I N E 4D1900 Mr. Man n orga nized and became th e man
aging headof the 'I'orrington Nationa l Ba nk of Connecticut . Unde
rhis administratio n the bank became the lead er of nilothers in
the county ill deposits an d assets, and th roughhis efforts opened
th e first sa vings departmen t inst all edin a national bank in th
e state. He was th e pr incipalfactor in the organizati on of th e
Federal Trust Companyof Bridgeport and the subseque nt
consolidation of th a tconcern with t he Bridgeport Trust Company.
As a di rector and counsellor in t-he affair s of th e P ark Tr
ustCompa ny his experien ce in prog ress ive bank ing ma na gemen t
is expected to be of material benefit .Ralph H. Ma nn, v ice-pres
ide nt and treas ure), is agraduate of H a rv a i-d a nd cngagod
fir st ill th o hnuking business as a clerk of th e Guardian Trust
Companyof New York City , later becoming' a teller of t he Ma
idenLane Savings Ban k. H e orga nized the }fanchest er T
rustCompany, becoming its first treasurer. H e was appointed treasu
rer of th e F ederal T'rnst Company ofBridgeport an d was made
secretary after th e consolida tion of whi ch mention has been
made. Irr J914 he waselected pres ident of th e Gloucester National
Bank, th ethird oldest in th e coun try. 1t is a matter of r ecord
th atth e deposits f the ban k, whil e un der his su
pervision,doubl ed within a year.Th e D irectors ' Room, a ppr opi
-iat ely furni shed, is located on t he ninth floor of th e Pa rk
bu ilding, yet conveni en t to the bank qua rte rs th rough the con
tinuo uselevator service.
TURN TO THE RIGHT
TRADE MA RK
Wire, Springs and Wire SpecialtiesW E S OLI CI T YO U R E NQUI
RI ES
MORGAN SPRING CO.WORCESTER, MASS.
R. L. COLBERT A. B. TA YLOR L. A , WHEELERPres . and Treas .
Vice-Pres , and S up t. S ecretary
54 Commercial Street Boston OfficeWORCESTER, MASS. 28 Lincoln
Street
