Page 20 - The History of Watertown Savings Bank_Neat

A Look INSIDE the Ledger

The first savings account ledger used by staff of the bank to record and store
individual savings account activity. This ledger begins with account number
one, with the first activity dated January 2, 1984.

The first deposit of $20 was made by Ambrose
Clark of Schenectady. He was a son-in-law of Mr.
Sherman. In fact, four of the first six depositors
were members of the Sherman family, including
Wooster himself.
The bank stayed opened six days a week, from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and
from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday. These later hours
on Saturdays were for the “working man” (as
noted in bank literature) to deposit his cash after
his shift was finished. Many customers at the time
worked a six-day work week at factories, mills and
manufacturing plant.

When Watertown Savings Bank was
established, banks were not considered to be
in direct competition with each other. Strict
banking regulations at the time limited banks to
specializing in one or two types of services.
For WSB, that meant offering only savings
accounts and first-time mortgages in the
beginning. In fact, it wasn’t until decades later
that the bank was able to start offering other
services, such as checking accounts, and personal
and commercial loans, as the result of nationwide
A handful of the thousands of accounts listed in ledger #1. Depositors came from all walks of
life and from the City of Watertown, as well as from towns and villages across Jefferson County. changes in the banking industry.

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