Worcester Business Journal

its capital was increased to $200,000. e bank would make large loans to the federal government during the Civil War and would continue to expand its capital. — Christina P. O'Neill I ts business began in Daniel Waldo Jr.'s counting house. In December of 1803, a committee consisting of Benjamin Heywood, Francis Blake, Isaiah omas, Dr. William Paine, and Daniel Waldo Jr. were appointed to invite and oversee subscriptions to launch the new bank. A total of 183 subscribers signed on, for a total of 2,612 shares, raising $150,000. In January of 1804, Isaiah omas and Francis Blake petitioned the General Court for the bank's charter, and on March 7, the petition was granted to the Worcester Safe Deposit Co. e first meeting in the three-story brick building housing the bank was held Oct. 6, 1804. e building was more multipurpose in its design than one would see today, containing two kitchens, two parlors, a piazza, and 13 chambers, as well as a barn and carriage house. Daniel Waldo Jr. occupied it until he built his own mansion to the south of the bank. In 1812, the state renewed the bank's charter and First bank debuts in Worcester A total of 183 sucribers signed on, for a total of 2,612 shares in 1804, raising $150,000. Image | Worcester Historical Museum Top events, 1722-1821 • 1716: First Scotch-Irish immigrants arrive in Worcester upon invitation from the governor, and would go on to develop their own community before religious differences caused a schism. • 1731: Worcester designated as county seat. • 1731: Worcester begins transition from agrarian to urban/manufacturing. • 1774: Worcester militia successfully repel British forces prior to Lexington-Concord. • 1775: Isaiah omas moves to Worcester to publish the Massachusetts Spy. • 1783: Quock Walker brings case for freedom to Worcester Court of Common Pleas; successfully prevails in Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, leading toward the end of slavery in Massachusetts. • 1784-1786: An inadequate supply of gold and silver coins after the War for Independence results in credit extended to cash-poor customers from Britain to America; land-rich but cash-poor farmers run up debt, and many end up losing their land and going to debtors prison. • 1792: Worcester Fire Department formed. • 1812: First Worcester bank, in business since 1804, rechartered. • 1819: Agricultural Society of the County of Worcester holds fair, featuring both livestock and held. Livestock and agricultural equipment signal definitive transition from agrarian to manufacturing. 16 W o r c e s t e r 3 0 0 : C i t y o f I n n o v a t o r s 1722-1821 e first business locale of the newly formed Worcester Safe Deposit Co. Image | Wikimedia

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