17654. Norwalk Savings Bank (Norwalk, OH)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Run → Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
savings bank
Start Date
January 20, 1908
Location
Norwalk, Ohio (41.243, -82.616)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
41b4e5ad

Response Measures

None

Other: Voluntary assignment (assignment for benefit of creditors) resulting in closure; this is effectively a receivership/closure rather than a temporary suspension.

Description

Articles (Jan 20-23, 1908) report heavy withdrawals after the Ohio Trust company's assignment and local bankruptcies, forcing the Norwalk Savings Bank to make a voluntary assignment (closed doors) and appoint assignees. This indicates a depositor run followed by a voluntary suspension/assignment and permanent closure.

Events (3)
1. January 20, 1908 Receivership
Newspaper Excerpt
Ed. C. Einen and G. T. Thomas were appointed assignees of the bank. The Norwalk Savings bank assigned this afternoon to E. C. Elnen, its assistant treasurer, and G. T. Thomas, a lawyer.
Source
newspapers
2. January 20, 1908 Run
Cause
Local Banks
Cause Details
Withdrawals triggered indirectly by the earlier assignment of the Ohio Trust Company (and local firm bankruptcies) that undermined confidence.
Measures
No remedial measures succeeded; heavy withdrawals forced the bank to make a voluntary assignment and close its doors.
Newspaper Excerpt
The amount of deposits withdrawn made it impossible for the bank to weather the storm.
Source
newspapers
3. January 20, 1908 Suspension
Cause
Voluntary Liquidation
Cause Details
Bank made a voluntary assignment for the benefit of creditors after deposit withdrawals depleted liquidity; assignment followed meeting of directors and officers.
Newspaper Excerpt
The Norwalk Savings bank assigned this afternoon to E. C. Einen ... The Norwalk Savings bank ... closed its doors Monday afternoon by a voluntary deed of assignment.
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (3)
1. January 21, 1908 The Barre Daily Times Barre, VT
Article from The Barre Daily Times, January 21, 1908

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Article Text

VOLUNTARILY ASSIGNED. But Norwalk, Ohio, Savings Bank, Depositors Will Not Lose. Norwalk, O., Jan. 21.-The Norwalk Savings bank made a voluntary assignment for the benefit of its creditors, following a meeting of directors and of ficers yesterday. This was indirectly due to the assignment last week of the Ohio Trust company of this citv. The amount of deposits withdrawn made it impossible for the bank to weather the storm. Ed. C. Einen and G. T. Thomas were appointed assignees of the bank. It is believed the bank will be able to pay its creditors and depositors in full. Its last monthly statement. in December, shows its total resources to be $358,000, and its individual deposits $235,000.

2. January 21, 1908 New-York Tribune New York, NY
Article from New-York Tribune, January 21, 1908

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Article Text

ANOTHER NORWALK BANK FAILS. [By Telegraph to The Tribune.] Norwalk, Ohio, Jan. 20.-The Norwalk Savings Bank assigned this afternoon to E. €. Elnen, its assistant treasurer, and G. T. Thomas, a lawyer. The last report showed $250,000 in individual deposits and $358,000 as the total assets. It is the second bank failure since the bankruptcy of the Norwalk Steel and Iron Company.

3. January 23, 1908 The Marion Daily Mirror Marion, OH
Article from The Marion Daily Mirror, January 23, 1908

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Article Text

NAMES MIXED Norwalk's Strongest Financial Institution was Made to Fail. Norwalk, O., Jan. 23.-By the confusion of names in a special sent out of this city, it was made to appear that the Norwalk National bank was in financial distress. The name of the Norwalk Savings bank, which closed its doors Monday afternoon by a voluntary deed of assignment, should have been used. The Norwalk National bank is one of the oldest and strongest financial institutions in northern Ohio, and its president, John Gardiner, the oldest active banker in the state if not the whole United States. Mr. Gardiner has been continuously engaged in the banking business for nearly seventy years and has weathered every panic and financial disturbance during that time. The firancial depression of the country for the past few months or the more acute distress in this city the past few days, with its two bank failures, are those of the Ohio Trust Co., and the Norwalk Savings bank, have caused him no worry, for his old fashioned banking methods wiped that care away. It has been a byword on the streets of Norwalk the past week that "if your money is in the Gardiner bank.' it is perfectly safe." The situation here is much relieved and conservative businessmen believe the crisis has been passed.