What's in a Name?
Because there are over 14,100 different bank charters, no collector could hope to amass a complete collection representing even a single note from all Charter numbers. Collectors of Nationals then specialize, narrowing their focus on a particular theme, such as banknotes representing a particular state, geographic region, state capitols, cities, or banks with odd or interesting names As examples, Pennsylvania has Nationals from a bank in citiy with the name of Glen Campbell (#5204) along with the more novel city of Intercourse (#9216), located in the midst of the state's Amish country.

A collector once suggested that I might consider collecting Nationals that bare my Berlin family name. The name "Berlin" is thought to have its roots from the German Baer, which quite obviously means "bear," and is the central design on the shield of the German city of Berlin, shown to the left, and the imperial crest at the right. The Berlin surname has many variations, some of which are: Ber, Berl, Berline, Berliner, Berlinger (Milton Berle's real last name), and Berlinsky. Berlin is probably most recognized as the name for the German city, which is now again the Capital. Beside the geographical names, looking in the dictionary finds "berlin" to be (1) a four-wheeled closed carriage with a footman's platform behind, separate from the body, and (2) a fine soft wool yarn, sometimes called Berlin wool.

Although there are several dozen American cities having the name of Berlin or one of it's variants, such as New Berlin, East Berlin, etc., not all these cities had banks chartered to issue National Currency notes. Of those banks chartered from 1863 to 1935 to issue these notes, secured by bonds on deposit with the U.S. Treasury, 15 such "Berlin" banks having different charter numbers are known representing the six states of Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Of those notes from 13 banks I have collected, the Berlin National Bank of Berlin, New Jersey is my favorite, as I live in Delaware, a state that borders New Jersey.

"Long-A-Coming"
Located in Camden county in southern New Jersey, Berlin was known for more than a hundred years as "Long-A-Coming." There are many legends as to the origin of the name. One credits the LeniLenape Indians who inhabited the region with the term but some historians attribute the name to the colonial travelers who rode stagecoaches between the seashore and Philadelphia. The long stretch of barren New Jersey pineland between Egg Harbor and the next stop was a boring ride and made the village appear to be, well, "long-a-coming."

Though settled for farmland, the residents of Long-A-Coming found the land would produce only a sparse living for the farmers. Turning to lumbering they more than doubled their earnings, and soon Long-A-Coming became the lumbering center of the area. The loggers hauled their timber by ox team to Chews Landing where it was loaded on ships for transport to Philadelphia. Another area industry was charcoal burning as charcoal was the principal fuel at the time. As the town progressed, it became a regular stop on the stage routes that passed through Camden, Haddonfield, Long-A-Coming, Blue Anchor, Penny Pot, Weymouth Furnace, Somers Point and Absecon.

A historical marker in front of the Berlin Borough Hall commemorates the town's origin

Prior to the Revolutionary War, the land now known as Camden County was a part of Gloucester County. Aan act of the New Jersey Legislature in 1845 created a new county—Camden County from Gloucester County, but no county seat was named. Long-A-Coming, Camden, Gloucester, Mt. Ephraim, and Haddonfield all vied for the honor. The law required a majority of the voters to favor one of the sites or no choice could be made. In 1845, an election was held but none of the towns could swing a majority vote although Camden had a plurality.

In 1846 another vote was taken. This time the smaller towns realized that not one of them could control enough votes to win over Camden if each voted for itself. So they formed an alliance to defeat the larger Camden and Long-A-Coming became the county seat. Camden politicians, however refused to throw in the towel and in 1848 the legislature ordered another election because of alleged fraud in the previous voting. This time the coalition cracked and Camden won.

One of the most frequently asked questions is, "When and why did Long-A-Coming become Berlin?" Old records show that the post office was established in 1812 under the name of Long-A-Coming, Gloucester County, New Jersey. In time, the name of the office was changed to Magnolia on February 5, 1867, and then to Berlin on May 7, 1867. As to why the change in name, no one knows for sure. Another division of public lands was made in 1859. Long-A-Coming and its surrounding area were part of the territory taken from Gloucester Township and added to Waterford Township. The Township of Berlin was created by the Act of June 11, 1910, but political feuding between the town's Republicans and Democrats would eventually divide the community in two.

The eastern portion of the town was heavily Republican, and its state Assemblyman William B. Knight in 1927 sponsored a bill in the state legislature to split Berlin into the largely Democrat-controlled Berlin Township, often called "West Berlin" by the area's older residents, and the Republican-dominated Berlin Borough. A modern day tale of two cities, the recent 2000 census shows that the Berlin Borough had 6,149 residents within its 3.58 square miles, while Berlin Township had 5,290 resident in 3.25 square miles.

Plans for a Bank
Plans were also made for a bank when the Township was formed in 1910. As a first step according to deed records, Dr. Frank O. Stem purchased suitable lots on the town's main street (now called White horse Pike, U.S. Route 30) on April 22, 1910 for the sum of $500. Three days later Stem then conveyed the lots to the new banking organization—The United Towns National Bank of Berlin, charter number 9779, for the sum of $6,500.

As a prominent figure in local political and civic affairs, Dr. Stem graduated from Lehigh University and received his medical degree from Philadelphia's Jefferson Medical College 1891. Following medical school, he was assigned to hospitals in New York and Philadelphia, and about 1893 he came to Berlin where he practiced medicine for 47 years until his death in 1940. During that time he served as Camden County coroner and Camden County Physician. When town split in two in 1927, Dr. Stem became the Borough of Berlin's first mayor and once served as the treasurer of the Camden County Park Commission. Besides medicine, politics, and the bank, Dr. Stem served as president of various enterprises and associations, such as the Berlin Rotary Club, The Breeze Publishing Company, Camden County Beverage Company, and South Jersey Club of the American Automobile Association.

The following tribute appeared two days after Stem's death in The Breeze of February 8, 1940:

Elmer E. Stafford, president

The Berlin National Bank opened its doors for business on August 1, 1910. Because a permanent building for the bank was still under construction across the street, its temporary headquarters was in Elmer E. Stafford's grocery store on the corner of West Taunton Avenue and South White Horse Pike. On the bank's first day of business, deposits totaled $3,900. It was not until a few months later that the bank's new brick building at its present location on East Taunton Avenue was completed and concrete sidewalks were laid in front of the bank, the first such sidewalks in Berlin. Now, the bank operated under its new name, the Berlin National Bank. Prior to being the bank's temporary landlord, Elmer E. Stafford (1861-1957) became a resident of Berlin about 1890 where he operated a general store from 1896 to 1914. He was a friendly and accommodating storekeeper and showed kindness toward those customers who were poor. It is known that he often provided them with the necessities of life even when he knew that they would never be able to pay for them.

On October 27, 1890, he was appointed postmaster by President Benjamin Harrison, the term expiring on October 13, 1894. He was reappointed on January 5, 1899 and served until December 11, 1902. Active in local politics, Stafford was elected as a freeholder representing both Waterford Township (1896-1910) and Berlin Township (1911-1923).

With Dr. Stem, Stafford was an organizer of the Berlin National Bank in 1910, and served as its first president. He held that post until 1926 when he was succeeded by Stem. When Stem died in 1940, Robert H. Jaggard was named president until December 1, 1948 when Stafford was again elected president. He held that position until 1955, when the bank merged with the First Camden National Bank and Trust Company, after which he served as chairman of its advisory board.

In addition to Stafford as its first president, J. Montague Evans was the cashier and Clarence E. Walker, the assistant cashier. Members of the first board of directors included Stafford, Evans, Dr. Frank O. Stem, William Snyder, Robert H. Jaggard, Paul L. Heggan, Xavier F. Ottiger, and Jan Van Herwerden. Born at Philadelphia in 1884, Evans was first employed by the Philadelphia Third National Bank. In 1910, he moved to Berlin and was one of the founders of the Berlin National Bank that year. Evans was the sole employee when the bank opened and he served as its only cashier from 1910 to 1955 when the bank merged with the First Camden National Bank and Trust Company, which placed him on its advisory board along with Stafford.

J. Montague Evans, cashier

In discussing the bank's beginning, Evans was once quoted as saying:

Built in 1910, The original flat-roof building of the Berlin National Bank at the corner of South White Horse Pike and East Taunton Avenue.

A year or so after the bank was built, a hip roof was constructed over the original flat roof. An extended vestibule was built at the front entrance in October, 1925. About 1946, an addition was built to the rear of the original building. In 1940, bank officers were: Dr. Frank O. Stem, president; J. Montague Evans, cashier; Clarence E. Walker, assistant cashier; and Charles S. Straw, solicitor. After Stem's death, Robert H. Jaggard was made president. In an article commemorating the bank's 45th anniversary, The Breeze and Saturday Evening News on August 4, 1955 wrote:

One month later, the Berlin National Bank merged with the First Camden National Bank and Trust Company as its Berlin Branch. The bank was to change hands still three more times. In 1969, First Camden merged with the South Jersey National Bank, and five years later it merged with the Heritage Bank. Currently, it is part of regional bank giant PNC.

The original building as it appears today, a PNC bank

A $5 Series of 1929 Type I note of the Berlin National Bank with the serial number 1, bearing the facsimile signatures of the bank's president, Frank O. Stem and cashier J. Montague Evans.

National Bank Notes While in operation the Berlin National Bank issued $215,180 worth of National Currency notes, according to Don Kelly's standard reference. The first were the Series of 1902 Third Charter notes. There were 12,276 Date Back notes with blue treasury seal issued in 3,069 sheets of four $10 notes (serial numbers 1-3069). Also issued during the Third Charter period were 2,300 Plain Back notes, in 575 sheets of four $10 notes (serial numbers 3070-3644). Based on the names of the known bank officials at this time, it is assumed that the hand-signed signatures were those of Elmer E. Stafford (president) and J. Montague Evans (cashier). Past conversations with well-known area currency dealers Alex Perakis and "Ossie" Oswald reveal that they have never handled a large size note from the Berlin National Bank and thus could not confirm the signatures. Also, according the Kelly book, there were 25 ($250) large notes outstanding as of 1935. The Series of 1929 small notes were issued in both Type I and Type II varieties, all $5 denominations. All notes bear the facsimile signatures of Dr. Frank O. Stem as the new bank president and J. Montague Evans as cashier. There were 8,220 Type I notes issued in 1,370 sheets of six notes (serial numbers 1-1370); The Type II variety comprised 5,664 notes issued in 944 sheets (serial numbers 1-5664). As of 1935, the bank had $194,950 of all notes issued accounted for, leaving $20,230 worth of notes outstanding and available for collectors.

An uncut sheet of six $5 Series of 1929 Type II notes

In my collection from the Berlin National Bank is a $5 Series of 1929 Type I note bearing the serial number E000001A which I obtained from Ohio dealer Harry Jones at the Milwaukee ANA show in the mid-'80s. I later acquired a Series of 1929 Type II uncut sheet of six $5 notes at the 2000 Philadelphia ANA show. Whether it was fate or coincidence, the seller was Harry Jones.

In preparation of this article, I wish to acknowledge the assistance of Berlin historian Roy Schmidt and head librarian Mary Rencic of the Marie Fleche Memorial Library of Berlin, New Jersey.

References
The History of Berlin, New Jersey (Long-A-Coming) by Charles W. Wright (1979).
A History of Berlin Borough, by the Long-A-Coming Historical Society (1977).