How high is it?
“It’s a long way up, no matter the measure. From the bottom of the foundation to the top of the penthouse vent, it is 122.8 feet. From the ground floor to the top of the penthouse vent (all that will be seen above the ground) is 104.2” (Star Gazette June 4, 1970)
It was a logical question resulting from the building of what then Elmira Mayor Edward T. Lagonegro would eventually call “the new glamour girl in town.” According to the newspaper a week earlier “People staring into the sun at Water and Baldwin Streets saw a 1.5 ton yellow beam waving a flag and a tree swing high over the nearby buildings early Thursday afternoon. Crane operator Norman Snodgrass deftly lowered the beam to the street where Mayor Edward T. Lagonegro and Chemung Canal Trust Co. officials gathered around.
“Snodgrass then maneuvered his giant “toy” around and hoisted the beam to the top of the six-story skeleton which will be Chemung Canal’s new bank office. The whole thing was the topping off ceremony marking completion of the steel work on the project which for the past seven weeks has been Elmira’s greatest downtown spectator sport in many years.” (Star Gazette May 29, 1970)
Nothing said a bank had to be square so the construction of the six-story oval office building captivated Elmira. When the bank eventually held its open house it was reported that more than 8,500 people toured the facility with more than 11,000 in the first week. It was estimated that 625 gallons of soft drink were consumed and 4,000 roses given to the ladies inspecting the Bank, which the city had designated “One Chemung Canal Plaza.” (Star Gazette Aug. 30, 1971)
Former County Historian Tom Bryne wrote in his “History of Chemung County, New York” that “the Chemung Canal Bank was chartered by the Legislature in 1833, the same year the Chemung Canal opened to navigation. The capital was fixed at $200,000 divided into 4,000 shares with a par value of $50 each. The subscription book was opened June 24, 1833. It was closed two days later. The maximum subscription was for 50 shares. A total of 704 persons subscribed for stock representing $1,434,450.”
The first president of the bank was John G. McDowell. His great great grandson Boyd McDowell would follow in his footsteps becoming President of the Bank in 1976. John G. McDowell was a State Assemblyman 1830-31 and a State Senator for four years ending in 1836. He secured the passage of the act creating the Chemung Canal Bank in 1833. He also brought about the act creating Chemung County in 1836. He would serve as chairman of the Board of Supervisors for several terms.
The Bank operated out of temporary headquarters until it moved to its new home at 415 East Water Street, the current location of the Chemung County Historical Society. It opened at this location in 1834 and operated there until 1920 when it relocated to the northeast corner of East Water and State Streets. The new building featured a ceiling painting of Elmira as it looked in 1833, the bank’s founding year. The Village of Elmira had a population of 3,750 at that time.
In 1842 John Arnot Sr., the Cashier, became the Bank’s third president. Interestingly, Arnot lived in the Bank building which was customary for the cashier. The Arnot name would become synonymous with the bank and indeed development in Elmira. Arnot would serve only a year as President, but would return to the office in 1857 serving until his death in 1873.
According the 150th Anniversary pamphlet published by the bank, “a major event in the history of the Chemung Canal Bank took place in 1857 when John Arnot Sr. … indicated a desire to acquire the ownership of the Bank. With the approval of the stockholders, John Arnot Sr. became President, Stephen Arnot Vice President, John Arnot Jr. Cashier and Mathias Arnot Assistant Cashier, which began Arnot family control which would last for the next 46 years.”
An undated article noted that “Mr. Arnot was closely connected with every public enterprise in the valley for more than half a century and often with the large means at his command in times of general financial distress held up the credit of the city and county with a firm and unyielding hand. He became a rock against when the waves of financial trouble, no matter how high they might roll, dashed in vain, and those who sought refuge with him found themselves safe.”
The Elmira Daily Gazette and Free Press reported on March 5, 1895 that the Chemung Canal Bank had become a state bank and no longer a private concern. “The change is due to the fact that the trend of legislation is now largely against private banks and it will not be very long … before they will be legislated out of existence.”
Within eight years the Chemung Canal Bank would be “No more.” The newspaper reported that the “formal merger of the Elmira Trust Company and the Chemung Canal Bank was accomplished Thanksgiving week last year and was the most important financial deal that had been accomplished in Elmira in over half a century. The merger did not go into effect until this morning …” The Chemung Canal Trust Company was created. (Daily Gazette and Free Press March 2, 1903)
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The newspaper noted that the passing of the bank was a “memorable event.” “It has withstood all storms and trials.”
The bank’s published history recorded that during the Arnot years the family was “often called upon to make sizeable loans to New York City banks. Newspaper articles of the day claimed that loans ranging in size from $100,000 to $1,000,000 were made to those banks to ‘tide them over’ and the Chemung Canal Bank became well known as a sound, growing financial institution.”
The Bank remains such today as it enters its 191st year.
The Arnot connection remains. A number of years ago I approached Bank President Jan Updegraff, seeking a contribution to the Friends of Woodlawn Cemetery for historic restoration. Jan mentioned that he had a family connection to the Arnots. His great aunt Alice married Matthias C. Arnot, the grandson of John Arnot Sr.
He then noted that the John Arnot tombstone in the Arnot plot, which is located next to the Langdon plot where Mark Twain is buried at Woodlawn, had tipped over. He indicated that if that could be corrected, perhaps the Bank could make a donation. The tombstone was stood up and the Bank was generous in their donation to the Friends of Woodlawn.
— Jim Hare writes a monthly history column.
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: How Chemung Canal Trust Company grew into an Elmira institution
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