FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 1997

Contact:       Robert Hollenbeck, Vice President
Telephone:     (609) 844-3106

Trenton Savings Bank And Peoples Bancorp, M.H.C. Announce Intent
To Convert Mutual Holding Company To Stock Form

Lawrenceville, NJ--Peoples Bancorp, Inc. (the "Company")(Nasdaq:
TSBS) and Trenton Savings Bank (the "Bank") announced that the
Board of Directors of their mutual holding company, Peoples
Bancorp, M.H.C. (the "Mutual Holding Company"), has determined to
convert the Mutual Holding Company to a capital stock
corporation.  The Mutual Holding Company is a federally chartered
mutual holding company, and owns 5,796,000 shares, or
approximately 64%, of the issued and outstanding shares of common
stock of the Company, which in turn owns 100% of the issued and
outstanding capital stock of the Bank, a federally chartered
savings bank.

The Mutual Holding Company was formed in 1995 in connection with
the Bank's reorganization into the mutual holding company
structure.  On August 3, 1995, the Bank completed its initial
minority stock offering in which it sold 3,116,500 shares of
common stock at a price of $10 per share.  On April 25, 1997 the
stockholders of the Bank approved a plan to reorganize into a
two-tier mutual holding company.  This reorganization has been
completed.

Upon conversion of the Mutual Holding Company, shares of the
Company's common stock held by the public will be exchanged for
shares of a to-be-formed Delaware holding company, which, after
the completion of the conversion will be the Bank's parent
holding company.  Additional shares of the to-be-formed Delaware
holding company will be offered for sale to depositors of the
Bank, and to the public



Wendell T. Breithaupt, President and Chief Executive Officer of
the Bank and the Mutual Holding Company, commented, "We believe
that the conversion of the Mutual Holding Company is in the best
interests of the Mutual Holding Company, the Bank and the
Company's stockholders.  The additional capital raised in the
conversion will provide the Bank with expanded growth
opportunities and greater flexibility to implement its business
plan."

The conversion is subject to regulatory approval as well as the
approval of the Mutual Holding Company's members and the
Company's stockholders.  The conversion is expected to be
completed in the first half of 1998.  Luse Lehman Gorman Pomerenk
& Schick will act as conversion counsel.