Evalyn Smith Nesbitt Tome France (1855 – April 22, 1927) was the first woman president of a national bank.

Early life

Evalyn Smith Nesbitt was born in 1855 in

Port Deposit, Maryland Port Deposit is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River near its discharge into the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 653 at the 2010 census. Geography Port Deposit is located a ...

, to Henry C. Nesbitt, a merchant who owned a general store in Port Deposit and branch stores in

Harford County, Maryland Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

. In 1873, she received a degree in English literature from Wesleyan Female College in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

Career

With her husband

Jacob Tome Jacob Tome (August 13, 1810 – March 16, 1898) was an American banker, philanthropist, and politician who died as one of the richest men in the United States. He was the first millionaire of Cecil County, Maryland and an accomplished phi ...

, she co-founded the

Tome School The Tome School is a private school in North East, Maryland, North East in Cecil County, Maryland, Cecil County in the U.S. state of Maryland. Founded in 1894 by Jacob Tome, it is one of the oldest schools in Maryland. It enrolls grades K–12. As ...

in Port Deposit. After it opened in 1894, she served as the president of the board of trustees. She served as president of the Cecil National Bank of Port Deposit from 1898 to 1906 and of the National Bank of

Elkton, Maryland Elkton is a town in and the county seat of Cecil County, Maryland, Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,443 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It was formerly called Head of Elk because it sits at the head of na ...

, from 1898 to 1906.

Personal life

She married Jacob Tome, a millionaire and philanthropist, on October 1, 1884. He died in 1898. She married Dr.

Joseph I. France Joseph Irwin France (October 11, 1873January 26, 1939) was a Republican member of the United States Senate, representing the State of Maryland from 1917 to 1923. Early life France was born in Cameron, Missouri, the son of Hanna Fletcher (née J ...

, a teacher at the Tome School, in June 24, 1903. After he was elected as a U.S. senator in 1916, she helped form the Ladies of the Senate group, later called the Senate Spouses, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

; she also entertained First Lady

Grace Coolidge Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an unin ...

. Joseph France would run for U.S. president in 1932, after Evalyn France's death.

Death

She died on April 22, 1927, from complications from an operation for a

goiter A goitre, or goiter, is a swelling in the neck resulting from an enlarged thyroid gland. A goitre can be associated with a thyroid that is not functioning properly. Worldwide, over 90% of goitre cases are caused by iodine deficiency. The term is ...

at Union Memorial Hospital in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. She was interred at Hopewell Cemetery near Woodlawn, Maryland.

References

"Milestones: May 2, 1927"
''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

''. May 2, 1927. "Died. Mrs. Evalyn Smith Nesbitt Tome France, first woman president of a national bank* wife of onetime (1917-23) Senator from Maryland Dr. Joseph Irwin France; widow of Jacob Tome, and co-founder with him of the Jacob Tome Institute (Port Deposit, Md. —commonly called Tome School); in Baltimore, Md.; following an operation. *She was president of the Cecil National Bank, Port Deposit, Md. (1898-1905) and of the National Bank of Elton, Md. (1898-1904)." {{DEFAULTSORT:France, Evalyn 1855 births 1927 deaths American bank presidents American women bankers American women business executives People from Port Deposit, Maryland American women chief executives Wesleyan Female College (Wilmington) alumni