WORCESTER MAGAZINE 45

The Park Trust Company

With Mayor George M. Wright as Its President and Many Other Prominent Business Men in Its

Directorate, Worcester's Newest Banking Institution Opens Its Doors for Business and

Adds Another Force in Extending the City's Financial Prestige

, IT H t he coming of th e new y ear of nin eteen
) hun d red and six tee n the re was t he ad vent ,
a lso, of th e n ew Park Trust Compa ny , t he
fo rma l open ing of which on th e first clay of
J an ua rv mav be r ecord ed as one of th e n ot­
a ble events in t he :ii lHlll ~ ia l hist ory of Worcest er. Th is
hi story , more th an a centu ry olel a ud fla wless in it s re c­
01'(1 of int l'gTity, has been duri ng all th ese years th e espe ­
cia l prid eof Worcest er cit izens and has been marked by
a conscrv at ism almost without pa rall ed in a rapi dl y
gro wing city , for it is n ea r-ly eleven y ears since a n ew
- bank , und e r eu t irvl y IWW a us p ices, has ber n ad ded to
t he l ist of fiduciary institu tio ns ill whi ch t he people pl ace
their f unds, t heir f a it h a nd t he ir confide nce. The first
of these, t he W orc est er N atio na l Bank , was i nco r po ra ted
March 7, 1804, and it was t wen ty -fo u l' years later, in
F ebruary , 1828, before a no t her bank, t he W orc este r
Cou nty I nstitu tion fo r Sav ings, was cha r te r ed by th e
Commo n wea lt h. Th e Mech ani cs' Na tiona l da t es f r om
1865, a lt houg h it was esta bl ished as a S tate in st itu ti on
near-l y tw en ty years p r evio usly, in 1848. Th e W or ­
cester Mech a ni cs.' Savings Ba nk wa s bor n in 1851, the
Five Cen t Savin gs Bank in 1855 and t he P eop le 's Sav­
in gs Bank in 1864. Th e V,rorcester T r ust Compa ny was
i ncorpora ted in 1868, th e Merchan ts' l'\ ational Bank
ope ned it s doo rs in 1905, a n d n earl y all the cit y a nd

A Vn.w or- Tji E M A' " BANK ' X G ROO ) [

,16 w0 R C E S 'r E R MAGA Z IN E

).!.\ \"O Jt G EORc:J'; ),1. ' ' ' RI G H T }T O l\", .T, L E W I S E LLS WO RT H
P r-esid en t Vi ce-P r ps id t' n t

)'In . IL-\LP]( H . Mx x x ~ IR . H O S EA M .I :"':'"

Vi ce -Pr esid ent and 'I'rea su rcr Director find Couusello r

T HE OF YI C E I( S Ob' T HE P A HK TR Ul;T CO.ll P.\ N Y

 WOR CESTER
coun ty orga niz a tions de voted t o p ubl ic an d p ri vat e fin ­
ancial bu sin ess h a ve t he prestige of many y ears of sue­
cess fu l opera t ion behind th em .
THE O F F (C'F.RS ' C ORX ER
During t he last decade th e c ity has in cr eased in popu­
lati on a nd ill wealt h to a ll ex tent littl e r ea lized by th e
casua l obse rv er a nd in th e opin ion of ma ny ca p ita lists
and bu si ness men th e com mercia 1 ou t look f u l ly wa r­
r an ted t h e es ta bli shui eu t of anot h e r b an ki ng en t er p ri se.
It was n uder th ese very favora ble con d it ions t ha t t he
orga niza t ion of th e Park 'Tr ust Com pa n y ha s been per ­
rect ed, th e ai m o f th e organ izers be ing to a ugment ra t he r
th an to d ivide th e in vest ing a nd saving po we rs of t ile
publ ic. J ncr eascd ba nk ing f a cil iti es, t hey as sum e, will
adv a nce t ho cre d it an d st an ding of me r cha nt s a nd ot her
busi ness men , will pr ov id e more outl et fo r sur plu s capi t a l
awl will inc rease th e gene ra l t hr ift of t h« commun it y.
" The officers a nd du-ectot -s, " r ea ds t he f orm al st at em en t
outlining th e po licy of th e new ba nk , " belie ve that the
money o f Worccstc r depositors s hou ld be in vest ed in
W or cest er so fat' as is co ns isten t wit h ab sol ute safety,
thus promot in g 1"0 th e g rea t est possib le extent t he g ro wt h
und p rosper it y of tIl(' Ll ca t-t of th e (:OIHl1lO 11\\"('a Jt h."
In r ela t ion to ot her bus ine ss ai ms of th p Pa rk Tru st
Com pa ny it is a u uou uc ed by the officers t ha t t he u nd nr
lyin g t hongh t in develop in g the p ro j ec t has ber- n to
-sta hl ish al l in st it u t iou wh ich s ha ll 1)(' a " Ha nk fo r
g v el·~·bod y. " With t his (' ll d in vie w t hey h a vr ad opt vd
.he motto of "Sec u r ity a wl Serv ice for A ll , " th is p hr ase
ha ving' sinc e becom e a pr-ominent fea tu re i n t he puh li­
?ity p rogramrne a nd th e Iit oratu r« issued i n con nec t io n
ivi t h th e various dep art me nts, T he" Bank f or Every ­
)olly " idea ha s been em phasized not on ly in pl anni ng
:hc ser vice and eq uipmen t but al so in t he selection of
MAGAZINE J7
the dire cto rs of th e en ter p r ise. Th e r oster of' th e di ­
r ect or s shows how ie presentativ e it is of th e vari ed na ­
ti on ali t ies wh ich co mp ose Worcester 's citi zen shi p a ml
also wha t a wid e scop e is cov er ed by t he va ri ou s lilie s of
ind ust ry in wh ich the directo rate is enga ged .
A s t he new tr ust eomp an y has been in cor po rated und e r
th e law s of Massach uset ts to canyo n a ge nera l bank in g
busi ness, it has provid ed fa cili ti es for th e t run sa ction of
al l kin ds of fina n cial a ffa irs, coun non t o bo t h state a nd
nati on al ban ks, inc ludi ng th e f oll owin g: It cares for
dep osi ts subj ect t o check an d allows two p er cen t. in­
t er est upon al l bala nc es in excess of $100. It has a sa v­
in gs d ep artment organized as especia lly p ro vid ed by
law , wh er e de pos its will be t ak en f ro m on e do lla r u pw ard
a n d u pon whi ch inter est compo unded at th e usu al sav ­
ings bank ra t e will be a llo wed fr om th e first of eac h
month on a ll dep osi ts made be fo re the fifth of t he m onth.
It has safe dep os it box es whi ch a r c r en t ed for nomina l
sm u» yearly, th ese rece ptacles bein g prot ect ed hy a stro ng
st eel vault an d hav in g t he a dd iti ona l a dv an t age of t he
la test elect r ical de vices d esigned to ma ke loss by t he ft a n
impossibil it y , It ha s man y co nve n ie nc ies for women who
mak e lise o f the ba nks bus iness fa cil it ies ,
Th e Pa rk T 'rus t Co mpa ny owes it s in ception to t he
effo rts of H osea Mann , a New E ng la nd fin a ncier with
un usu a lly b roa d expe r ie nc e in ba nk or ga ni za ti on . Asso­
cia t ed wit h him in the la bors o f p romotio n wer e C ha rles
T . T at ma n , a t tor ney, a nd oth er pro minen t citi zen s who
ha ve since becom e id en t ified with th e institu ti on as offi­
ce rs 0 1' d irect ors . M r. Ma nn had spent many mo nt hs in
lookin g over t he fiel d of p ro specti ve ope ra tio n a nd in
do ing the prelim inary work necessa r y to inter est m en of
a ffai rs in th e project now esta b lished as a n im portant
p art of t he ci ty 's bus iness syst em. The or ganization
onc e effecte d, the cho ice of offi ce rs to d ir ect th e dest in ies
of th e new ban kin g corpo rat ion resu lted as f ollows :
President, Geo rge M, Wrig ht ; V ice-P resid ent, H on .
J . Le wis Ellsworth , V ice-P r es ide llt anel Treasurer , R a lph
H . Ma rin.
Di rect or s- Curti s R. Bl au ch ard, o f th e Capi to l LUll Cl 1
Sys tem ; Nil s Bjo rk , p r es id ent and treas urer of the Ni ls
Bjork Com pa ny; C. E (lmoIlll Be lis le, publi sh er L 'O pi n­
ion P ubliq uc; Ma rcu s A. Cooli d ge, may o r of F it chb urg ;
48 WOR CESTER MAGAZI NE
J, Verner Cri tchl ey, ca pi ta list ; Geor ge E . Duffy , p res i­
dent of th e George E, Duffy Munu fa ctut-iug Compa ny;
Irwin P. Dorward , of th e Fuller R egali a Company;
J, Lewi» Ell sworth ; Fra n k S. Fay, t re asure r of t he
Worcest er W oolen Mill s , Rufus B. F'owl er, attorn ey and
fo rme rl y p re sid ent of th e Board of T'ra de , Lorrie R
F'owl er, treasu r er of t he A t he rton F u mit u re Compa ny ;
Willi am A . Fuller. lumber d i-al er of Clinton; J erom e R.
THE :MOJ)ER ~ V A L"LT
George, .Ir. , m an ager of th e Park bui ld ing ; John F,
H a r ri gan , treas ure r of t he Harrigan P r ess; John J .
] .in ch an , 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, presi­
d en t and treasu rer of th e B ost on Pressed Steel Meta l
Com pa ny ; F . .J n li us Q u ist , presid en t. of t he Domesti c
Vacu u m Clea ne r Compa ny ; Lu ci us L . Ri chardso n, vice­
presiden t of t he Ric ha r dson Pia no Cas e Compa ny of
L eomi n ster ; H . Osca r Rocheleau, of Ro chel ea u a nd COIll­
pany ; J ohn A , Sher ma n , of th e Sh er man En velop e Corn ­
p an y ; Chann ing Smith, propriet or of th e Va lley Woolen
Compa ny an d president and treasurer of the Chapel
Mills Ma n ufactu r in g Company; Ch ar les '1' , 'I'a tm an , for­
merl y p residen t of t he Boa rd of 'I'rade ; Luman H. Tif­
fa ny, w holesal e p ro vis ion d eal er of W ebst er; Geor ge M.
Wrigh t, mayor of W or cest er.
Se lection of a suita ble loca ti on for busi ness proved
easy of solut ion by t he comp letion of the Pa rk building.
'I' his provid ed a cen t ra l poin t in th e bus iness activi ti es
of th e city , gave ass u ra nce of ac cessi ble a nd th oroughly
mod ern quarte rs a nd mad e possib le t he equ ipment of
ba nki ng rooms which are considered un su rp assed in
Centra l Nell' England, both in bea uty of a pp ointme nt
and uti lity of arrangement for th e con ven ien ce of p a­
trons . Com men t to this effect was exp re ssed freely on
th e occasion of the public r ecepti on gi ven on New Year's
day when t he officers and director s exte n ded the season's
g r eeti ngs to a host of p erson s who respo n de d to an in­
vi tation to in sp ect th e premises. A t h rong of visitors
was observed a t all hours f r om noon until th e closing
ti me a t nin c 0 'clock in th e even ing.
T he adva n tages accru ing fro m t he p ossession of t wo
en t ra nce s to t he bankin g roo ms a re read ily p ercei ved .
Wh ile possibl y a m ajori ty of patrons enter from th e
princip al door way f ro n t ing on l\Ia in street, large num­
bers mak e use of t he ent r a nce con n ect ing with t he lobb y
of th e Park bu ild in g. Th e lat ter mod e of access is n atu ­
rall y prefera ble to ten an ts of th e ma ny offices in t he
stru cture, bu t is also a con ven ience f e r ot hers wh o have
business th er e.
'I'he offi cer s ' roo ms occupy th e sou th sid e of th e space
devoted to bu sin ess, or to the right as on e elltel's the bank
throu gh a vest ib ule entrance fro m Main street. This
vestibu le en t r a nce itself is an especia lly not iceabl e fea­
tu re in th e gen era l interior plan, hav ing II floor of gray
T enn essee mar ble an d a beautiful wainscoa tin g of Eu g­
lish vein I tali an m ar ble, su rmo u n ted by bro nze a nd pl at e
glass scr een work mad e to order f ro m a specia l d esi gn of
t he architects. T he officers ' rooms a rc enc losed by a
marbl e r ail in g a nd a re fu rn ish ed in ma hoga ny . .
S pace set aside for th e publi c exte nds near-ly to the
real' of t he bu ilding a n d is cons t r uct ed ent irely of Ital ian
marbl e. T he floor ing' is of th e sam e ma te ria l as t he vesti­
bul e, T he wood wor k, which is a ll of mah ogany, seems
to ma tch perfectly the entire co lor sc heme an d the in­
ter ior deco rat ions . The metal screens whi ch surmount
t he cou nt e r an d c1ivide the va ri ou s departmen ts for tell­
Cl'S and ot hers of the cleri cal for ce a r e fashio ne d of light
statuary bro nze .
In t he rea l' of the pu bl ic f oy er is t he \\ ' 01Jl3l1 ' S 1'0 0 111 ,
well lighted , taste f u lly arran ged a nd pa ne led in m a
hogan y . A r ug of Ch inese pat tern covel's th e floor and
t he win dow han g in gs a re of silk tapestry . T he window
scre ens are of tea kwood. Th e room has a n atm osph er e
of cosy seclus ion and is furni sh ed wit h wr-itin g d esks,
cha irs, telepho ne and all t he conv en ieu cios n ecessary for
a dep a rtrnen t of this chara ct er .
D ir ect ly bene at h the main ba nking' 1'0 0111 a r« clie vaults
and the safety deposit depart ment. Th ese are reached
by a bro ad sta ir wa y of marble wh ich ope ns from the
ma in floor neal' t he f ront entran ce. H ere also a n alcove
ha s been fitted up for th e cou ven icn ce of business men,
Th e ma in vau lt, last of the ge nera l equ ip ment to be com­
pl eted , is eig h t by six tee n feet ill d imen sions and is con­
s idered one of the most th orou ghly const ru cted in th e
co u nt ry . Fa ci ng th e gr eat va u lt door is th e sa fety de­
pos it dep art ment , con ta in ing mah oga ny boot hs. In th e
r ea r of t he large va ult is a fir ep ro of storage vault, lock­
ers and ot her com for ts for employes of t he institu ti on.
Th e va ults a re con n ected with th e offi ces by an eleva tor .
H eati ng and ventilating are accomp lished by a we11­
kn own mechan ical system, the ail' being pu r ified . The
electr ic fixt ur es a re of a sp ecial design which conforms
with t he gen era l a r ch itect u ra l pl an and p ro vides scienti­
fically correct illumination. T he ceiling fixt ures are of
sta tuary bronze with sem i-globes whi ch cas t a softe ned
rad ian ce with ou t redu cin g t he ligh t. 'I' he office equi p­
men t is ul t r a mod ern in eve ry parti cul a r ,
In t he op in ion of leadin g b usi ness men of th e city the
choi ce of officers fo r th e P ark Trust Compa ny shou ld be
in itself a gua rantee of the success of th e new bank.
Georgc M. W ri gh t, th e presiden t , a nd H on . J. L ewis
El lswort h, t he vice-presid ent , are so well k no wn in ',vor­
cester an d th r ou ghou t this sec tion of Nell' En gland that
it seems a lmost superfluous to r eview th ei r qu alifications
f or su ch pos iti ons of trust. As head of th e wire COIll­
pa ny whi ch bears his name and which h as been built lip
by him t o it s present la r ge propor-tions, Mr. Wright has
ab ly demonst rated his ca pacity for busin ess undertak­
in gs. His po p u lar ity with all classes h as been shown
by h is elect ion for t he f ourth t ime as m ay or of W or­
 WOR CESTER
rester and his wid e acq ua in ta nce is consider ed a va lua ble
asset for a ball king in stitution .
J. Lewis Ellsworth is equally well known, havi ng long
been identified with busi ness, civic and state affai r s. For
tell year s he was secr etary of th e State Board of Agri­
cult ur e and duri ng his term of office made a to ut' of
Europe as a mem ber of the Na t iona l Agricultu r al Coin­
mission which in vest igated the rural cre d it syst em. D u r ­
ing his r ecent te r ms of office as pres ident of the Chamber
of Commerce he fo und ed and pl aced upon a fir m basis the
Worcest er Couuty Farm B ureau in addition to his lab ors
fo r th e city itself. H e is vice-p resi de nt and cha ir ­
man of t he exec utive comm it tee of th e Park Trust Com­
pany, a position of r espons ibili ty to which his kno wledg e
of local conditions a nd broad business experienc e seem to
ent itle him.
Hosea Mann, wh ose ene r gy laid the foundati on of the
P ark Trust Compa ny, has been a prominen t figu re in
New England banking affairs for years. Mr. Man n is a
nat ive of Verm on t and began hi s business care er as t r eas­
ur er of th e Wilm in gton Sav ings Bank H e studi ed law
in th e meanwh ile a nd after bein g ad mitted to th e Bar
was elected prosecutin g attorney of Wind ha m County.
Ret ir ing from law pra ct ice he ag a in took up banking.
F or eigh t yea rs he was a memb er of the Ve rmont L egis­
lature, durin g wh ich time he acted as cha irma n of the
banking, railr oad and oth er committees and had t he dis ­
tinction of bein g th e youngest memb er ever elected
Sp eaker of the Ho use. H e also served as in spect or of
fina nce and as st at e ba nk examiner of Vermont. I n
TURN TO THE RIGHT
R. L . COLB ERT
TRADE MA R K
Wire, Springs and Wire Specialties
W E S O LI CIT YOU R E NQUI RI ES
MORGAN SPRING CO.
WORCESTER, MASS.
WORCESTER, MASS.
MAGAZINE 4D
1900 Mr. Man n orga nized and becam e th e man agin g head
of t he 'I'or ri ng to n Natio na l Ba nk of Con nec ticut . Unde r
his administratio n the bank becam e t he lead er of nil
others in the county ill deposits and assets, a nd th rough
his effor ts open ed th e first sa vings departmen t install ed
in a national bank in th e sta te . He was the p r in cipal
f actor in the organ izati on of th e Federal Trust Company
of Bridgeport and t he subseque nt consolidation of th a t
con cern with t he Bridgep ort Trust Company. A s a di ­
r ector and cou nse llor in t-he a ff a irs of th e P a rk Tr ust
Compa ny his ex perien ce in prog ress ive bank ing ma na ge­
ment is ex pec ted to be of mater ial ben efit .
R alph H. Ma n n, v ice-pres ide nt a nd treas ure)', is a
g ra d uate of H a rva i-d a nd cngagod fir st ill th o hn uk­
ing business as a clerk of th e Gu ardi a n Tru st Comp a ny
of New York City , later becoming' a teller of t he Ma iden
L ane Savings Ban k. H e orga n ized the }f an ch ester T rust
Company, becomi ng its firs t treasurer. H e was a p­
pointed treasu rer of th e F ed eral T'rnst Compa ny of
Bridgeport and was made secr eta ry after th e conso lida ­
tion of whi ch mention has been made. Irr J 914 he was
electe d pres ident of th e Gloucest er Natio nal B a nk, th e
third oldest in th e coun try. 1t is a mat t er of r ecor d th at
th e dep osit s f t he ban k, whil e un der his su pervision,
doubl ed within a year.
Th e D ir ectors ' Roo m, a ppropi-iately furni sh ed, is lo­
ca ted on t he nin th floor of th e Pa r k bu ildin g, yet con­
veni ent to the bank qua rte rs th rou gh th e con ti nuo us
elevator service.
A . B. TA YLOR L . A , WHEELER
Pres . and Treas . Vice-P res , and S upt. S ec reta ry
54 Commercial Str eet Boston Office
28 Lincoln Street