Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › New Jersey › First Dewitt Bank
What happened to First Dewitt Bank?
First Dewitt Bank in West Caldwell, NJ (earlier called First Dewitt Savings and Loan Association) merged into Sovereign Bank of Wilmington, DE on Feb 19, 1997. That bank is now called Santander Bank, N.A. (Wilmington, DE).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1942First Dewitt Savings and Loan Association opens in West Caldwell, NJ
- Aug 1, 1994renamed First Dewitt Bank
- Feb 19, 1997MERGEDFirst Dewitt Bank merged into Sovereign Bank of Wilmington, DE.FDIC certificate 30198 ends; its business continues under certificate 29950.
- TodayOPEN
Santander Bank, N.A.Main office Wilmington, DE · FDIC certificate 29950 · 368 offices in 9 states on June 30, 2026Every Santander Bank, N.A. office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.santander.com
If you still have something from First Dewitt Bank
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows First Dewitt Bank as lienholder, start with Santander Bank, N.A.. In a merger the surviving bank takes over the other bank's loans, so it is the bank to ask for a recordable lien release; if the loan was sold along the way, it can tell you to whom.
The FDIC says it cannot process lien releases for banks that merged or were acquired without government assistance, which is what the record shows here.
Record the release with the same county office that recorded the original mortgage or deed of trust.
An old account, passbook or CD
Ask Santander Bank, N.A. to search for the account under the name First Dewitt Bank. A passbook or certificate shows an account existed. It doesn't show the money is still there, and the OCC notes that federal rules require banks to keep most account records for five years.
Accounts nobody touches are eventually turned over to a state. The OCC puts the usual wait at three to five years with no activity, set by each state's law. Search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and any other state they lived in. It is free to search and to claim through a state's own site, and MissingMoney.com, an official site of the state administrators' association, searches most states at once.
A safe deposit box
Ask Santander Bank, N.A. which branch now holds boxes from the First Dewitt Bank office you used. The OCC says a box with no activity for three to five years (the period is set by state statute) is likely treated as dormant, and its contents may be turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain. The office list below shows which bank each office reports under now.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Its offices in the FDIC deposit reports
14 offices filed under this charter in some year from 1994 on. 1 is still open as of June 30, 2026.
| Office | Now |
|---|---|
| 463 Washington AveBelleville, NJ | OpenSantander Bank, N.A. |
| 463 Washington AvenueBelleville, NJ | No longer reported |
| 1072 Broad St.Bloomfield, NJ | No longer reported |
| 60 Belleville AvenueBloomfield, NJ | No longer reported |
| 667 Bloomfield AvenueBloomfield, NJ | No longer reported |
| 532 Pompton AvenueCedar Grove, NJ | No longer reported |
| 1980 Route 10 W.Morris Plains, NJ | No longer reported |
| 2518 Old Hooper AvenueBrick, NJ | No longer reported |
| 1161 Burnt Tavern RdBricktown, NJ | No longer reported |
| 901 W Park AveOcean, NJ | No longer reported |
| 730 Jamaica BlvdToms River, NJ | No longer reported |
| 2500 Belmar Blvd LWall, NJ | No longer reported |
| 110 River Styx Rd.Hopatcong, NJ | No longer reported |
| 14 Main StreetEnglishtown, NJ | No longer reported |
Banks folded into First Dewitt Bank
3 banks merged directly into this charter.
| Bank | Ended |
|---|---|
| Ocean Independent BankOcean, NJ | Oct 21, 1994 |
| Cedar Grove Savings and Loan AssociationCedar Grove, NJ | Aug 31, 1982 |
| First State Savings and Loan AssociationBloomfield, NJ | Aug 31, 1977 |
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 30198 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.