The
First National Bank of Northfield, the bank Jesse James and the
Younger Gang attempted to rob in 1876.
From the very beginning,
the official records
of The First National Bank of Northfield were filled with the
names of men who were building the new community. Frederick Goodsell,
the bank’s first
president, was the son of one of the founders of Carleton College.
John F. Ames and Edward T. Archibald were responsible for Cannon
River milling companies in Northfield and Dundas. John C. Nutting
and J. A. Scriver were connected to buildings bearing their family
names. Local businessmen Harold Thoreson and George M. Phillips,
and Faribault banker Hudson Wilson were the other stockholders.
A printed brochure
dated January 1, 1873, announced the bank’s opening in these
words: This bank, having been organized under the National Banking
Act, as successors to the Bank of Northfield, commences this day,
the transaction of a general Banking business; and promises to
serve its depositors and correspondents in the most prompt and
accommodating manner. Particular attention will be given to collections
and remittances will be made promptly at the lowest rates.
During the first
21 years of its existence, the bank was headquartered in the Scriver
Building, the site now occupied by the Northfield Historical Society
Museum. It was there that the infamous bank raid of 1876 occurred.
In 1893, the bank moved to the Nutting Building at the corner
of Fourth and Division Streets. Built in 1889 by J. C. Nutting
and G.M. Phillips, the three story brick and stone structure originally
housed a pharmacy and a jewelry store.
According to newspaper
reports, many of the features of the new bank were state of the
art. When completed, its equipment will excel that of some pretentious
city banks, and will be a credit to our community as well as to
the institution itself.
The vault is, of
course, wholly fire proof, having walls of brick and cement, two
feet thick throughout, with the usual air space of four inches.
The outer door hangs on a powerful crane hinge with ball bearings,
and is forced into its place by a worm gear double pressure bar
so as to make it absolutely air tight when closed.
The doors are as
handsome in detail as they are massive in proportion and it is
well worth a visit to the bank to see them. A major renovation
project, completed in 1993, expanded the size of the main bank,
and encompassed five buildings.
The Nutting Addition
on Fourth Street had been added to the east side of the building
in 1903. In 1976, the bank expanded into the building that had
been occupied by a retail clothing store. Interior stonework from
that building is featured in the current bank lobby. The Second
Mergen Building was acquired in 1990. The south half of the building
had been constructed in 1883, and the north section in 1886.
This history of
The First National Bank is closely interwoven with the development
of this community. The preservation of the corner of Fourth and
Division Streets was undertaken in the spirit of maintaining that
relationship.
On Thursday, September
7, 1876, eight notorious outlaws, including Jesse James and his
brother Frank, and the Younger brothers, Cole, James and Robert,
approached Northfield with the intention of raiding the bank.
With guns drawn,
the robbers insisted that cashier Joseph Lee Heywood open the
safe. He refused, indicating that there was a time lock and it
could not be opened.
The citizens of
Northfield, led by merchants J. S. Allen and A.R. Manning, and
medical student H. M. Wheeler, engaged the rest of the gang in
a gun battle on the street.
As it became apparent
that the robbery attempt was failing, the three men in the bank
fled, but not before one of them fired a fatal shot into Heywood’s
head.
When the battle
had ended, three lay dead--robbers Clel Mill and William Stiles,
and Joseph Lee Heywood. Four days later Nicholas Gustafson, an
innocent bystander, died of a gunshot wound.
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