Serial #1 Lazy Deuce First NB of Kankakee, IL Emory Cobb - Inventor of the Bank Wire

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National Bank Notes > Illinois

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Kankakee, First NB, 1793
Fr. 389 $2 Original #1
Grade: VF/XF    

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The First National Bank of Kankakee was established in Kankakee County on February 20, 1871. At that time they issued 1,000 sheets of $1-1-1-2 Original Series notes as part of their original capital. This serial #1 Lazy Deuce was saved as a souvenir by the bankers, and from the somewhat toned paper quality, it probably hung on the bank wall for years, or at least until they closed in 1916. From that point we know nothing of its history until its emergence on the numismatic market about five years ago. Since its return we have found the following interesting facts surrounding this note. The president of the bank, and signer of this note, was Emory Cobb, a native of New York State, being born in Dryden, New York in 1831. He became a telegraph operator, who went to Chicago in 1851 as a bookkeeper for Erie & Michigan Telegraph Company and the following year he became a manager. He soon supervised the merger of Chicago's three telegraph companies into the Western Union Telegraph Company, where he became superintendent of the Western Division in 1867. He introduced a plan to wire money by telegraph and within 10 years it was a mainstay of the business. In 1865 he took a health leave from Western Union, but remained a director. In Kankakee he had many successes including founding the First National Bank of Kankakee in 1871, the Arcade Building & Opera House in 1884, building the Riverview Hotel in 1887, organizing Kankakee Electric Railway in 1891 and creating Electric Park. He served on the University Of Illinois Board Of Directors from 1873 to 1893. The cashier of the bank, Helen Clarke, was the earliest known female that I have seen signing a National Bank Note. This note is a wonderful piece of banking history. The paper is toned, and there is a tiny tear in the top.

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