First National Bank (Beatrice, NE)

View Charter #2357 on SPMC View balance sheet

Episode Information

Episode UID
235701161
Episode Type
Suspension → Reopening
Bank Type
national
Bank ID
23570 national
Charter Number
2357
Start Date
September 1, 1896
Location
Beatrice, Nebraska (40.268, -96.747)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini (chosen from majority vote of a three-model LLM ensemble)
Short Digest
b23554595f1e922d

Response Measures

None

Description

Sources consistently report suspension Sept 1, 1896 and official resumption mid-December 1896; some OCR variants show Nov. 1 in one wire copy.

Events (3)
1. May 12, 1877 Chartered
Source
historical_nic
2. September 1, 1896 Suspension
Cause
Local Shock
Cause Details
Voluntary closure attributed to prevailing financial stringency and three successive crop failures making assets illiquid.
Newspaper Excerpt
The First National Bank ... voluntarily closed its doors this afternoon immediately following a meeting of the board of directors.
Source
newspapers
3. December 17, 1896 Reopening
Newspaper Excerpt
The First National bank of Beatrice, Neb., which suspended payment September 1, 1896, having complied with the conditions imposed by the comptroller ... has been permitted to reopen its doors for business. (Washington, Dec. 17.)
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (14)
1. September 2, 1896 The Morning News Savannah, GA
Article from The Morning News, September 2, 1896

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Article Text

A NEBRASKA BANK CLOSED. No Reason Is Assigned-A Savings Bank Goes With It. Beatrice, Neb., Sept. 1.-The First National Bank, the oldest Institution of the kind in the city, supposed to be one of the strongest in the state, voluntarily closed its doors this afternoon immediately following a meeting of the board of directors. Its closing caused much surprise. The capital stock of the bank is $100,000 and surplus and undivided profits $50,000. It is officered by J. E. Smith, president, and S. C. Smith, cashier, and these gentlemen own over $65,000 of the stock. The liabilities of the bank to depositors is $110,000, and the assests are placed at $250,000. The closing of the bank carries with it the Beatrice Savings Bank, a state institution with a paid up capital of $25,000, and a surplus of $10,000. Its deposits amount to $290,000.

2. September 3, 1896 Omaha Daily Bee Omaha, NE
Article from Omaha Daily Bee, September 3, 1896

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For rent, nine-room dwelling. Inquire, 221 Bluff street. EXAMINER WHITMORE IN CHARGE. He Will Report on the Condition of the Broken Beatrice Bank. WASHINGTON, Sept. 2.-(Special Telegram.)-Acting Comptroller of the Currency Coffin was notified of the closing of the doors of the First National bank of Beatrice at a late hour yesterday. He immediately wired Bank Examiner Whitmore to proceed to Beatrice and take charge of the bank and to make a report of its condition as soon as possible. Mr. Coffin said the bank's last report to the comptroller on July 7 indicated that it was in extremely good condition. He could only attribute the failure to inability to turn the bank's assets into cash when needed, owing to the great financial depression prevailing. Supervising Architect Aiken today sent out advertisements inviting proposals for placing plumbing and gas fixtures in the Omaha public building. The proposals submitted will be opened on September 29. Five residents of Sioux City are willing to assume the job of settling up the affairs of the Stoux National bank. They are F. A. Dunnell, W. H. Dent, John C. Fency, J.W. Brown and R. C. A. Flourney. It is expected that the winding up of this bank will take some time. Senator Warren of Wyoming arrived in Washington tonight. He will remain but a short time, however, his purpose being to have a conference with the managers of the republican congressional campaign committee. Burton E. White was today commissioned postmaster at Merriman, Neb. Mrs. Emma S. Thompson of Nebraska has been appointed compiler in the statistical division of the Agricultural department at $720 per annum. Major John Egan, First artillery, having served more than thirty years in the army, has been on his own application placed upon the retired list. Transfer Their Property to Creditors. DUBUQUE, Sept. 2.-(Special Telegram.)C. H. Meyer, ex-county treasurer, and Walker & Rhomberg, real estate men, transferred their property to creditors today. Liabilities are unknown. They were indebted to the recently suspended Sioux City bank for advances on Wyoming coal mining stocks and were refused extensions.

3. September 5, 1896 The Diamond Drill Crystal Falls, MI
Article from The Diamond Drill, September 5, 1896

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an with then cut his throat with a razor. The Kings County (N. Y.) Elevated Railway company, capitalized at $4,750.000, has been put in the hands of a receiver. A cloudburst within eight miles of Pueblo, Col., washed away miles of railroad tracks and did much damage to the surrounding country. The historic Red Lion hotel of Stockbridge, Mass., the most popular hotel in the Berkshire hills, was totally destroyed by fire. Only the front wall. which dates from 1773, was left standing. William Robbins, the father of sereral grown children, shot and killed his 18-year-old daughter from ambush near Charleston, W. Va. It developed that she had been assaulted by her father. who murdered her to conceal the crime. The Armington & Sims Engine company, of Providence, R. I., has been placed in the hands of a committee of creditors. The liabilities of the company are about $280,000. Arstick of dynamite exploded in the hands of George Jones at Schooner Ledge, Pa., and literally blew his body into atoms. The farmhouse of Richard Tunney, near Cadillac, Mich., was struck by lightning and his two children, a boy and a girl, aged seven and ten years, were instantly killed. The First mational bank of Beatrice. Neb., has closed its doors with liabilities of $110,000. By the burning of the Hanks block at Lawrenceburg, Ky., two children of John Gray, a tailor, lost their lives. By an explosion in the drying house of the California Powder company at Hercules Station, Cal., four white men and eight Chinamen were blown to atoms. A number of white men were reported missing. Henry Regas, Henry Rogers and Thomas Keffar, employes of the Equitable powder works at East Alton. Ill., were instantly killed by the explosion of the mills. Acting Comptroller Bowers has decided that a man transferred from the volunteer service to the regular army is not entitled to veteran bounty. The debt statement issued on the 1st shows a net increase in the public debt less cash in the treasury during August of $12,342,683. Total cash in the treasury, $849,388,746. Frank Morris, aged 18 years, was hanged at Uniontown, Pa., for the murder two years ago of Bernard Loker, a farmer of Chestnut Grove. While a crew were threshing on the farm of Herbert Lossing, near Sanilae Center. Mich., the boiler exploded, killing three men and severely injuring two others. George Kelly, for several years a member of the Boston Ideal Opera company. was killed by a train at Bloomington, III. Judge Thomas. assistant attorenygeneral for the post office department. has decided that it is unlawful to send an ordinary letter by express or otherwise outside of the mails unless it be inclosed in a government-stamped envelope. Election returns from Vermont indicate that the entire republican state ticket was elected by an increased majority. Ten thousand employes under the war department have been classified in the civil service, in accordance with the sweeping order of the president of May 6 last. Secretary Hoke Smith closed his administration of the affairs of the interior department on the 1st and retired from the cabinet. Among those who paid their respects to Li Hung Chang in New York was a deputation of elergymen representing the various American boards of foreign missions engaged in missionary work in China, including the American board of commissioners for foreign missions. Joseph Orosz was executed at Pittsburgh, Pa., for the murder of his sweetheart, Theresa Bobak. Charles E. Warburton, proprietor of the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph, was found dead in bed in his room at

4. September 8, 1896 Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer Cresco, IA
Article from Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer, September 8, 1896

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CLOSED ITS DOORS. First National Bank of Beatrice, Neb., Suspends Business, Beatrice, Neb., Sept. 2.-The First national bank, the oldest institution of the kind in the city and supposed to be one of the strongest in the state, voluntarily closed its doors Tuesday afternoon, immediately following a meeting of the board of directors. Its closing caused much surprise. The capital stock of the bank is $100,000, and surplus and undivided profits $50,000. The liability of the bank to depositors is $110,000 and the assets are placed at $250,000. The closing of the bank carries with it the Beatrice savings bank, a state institution, with a paid-up capital of $25,000 and a surplus of $10,000. Its deposits amount to about $290,000. The failure is due to a variety of causes, largely the result of the prevailing financial stringency and three successive crop failures.

5. September 15, 1896 The Progressive Farmer Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Winston, NC
Article from The Progressive Farmer, September 15, 1896

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"SOUND MONEY" AND THE BANKS. The Manufacturers' Bank of West Duluth wentof business. Couldn't meet its liabilities-in "gold." La Maida Bros. & Andrale, bankers, New York and Philadelphia, failed. Couldn't meet $30,000 of liabilities with $60,000 of assets. State Land and Trust Co, Ogallala, Neb., capital $25,000, loans and discounts $58,665, gone under the gold standard. The Bank of National City, Cal, insolvent. Receiver appointed. Union National Bank, Sioux Falls, S. D, gone. The First National Bank of Beatrice, Neb., closed doors. Couldn't pay $110,000 of liabilities with $250,000 of assets. See! $25 of honest property assets, will not pay $11 of gold standard debt. Beatrice Neb, Savings Bank also gone under, with $290,000 gold standard dollars-all of the savings from the toil of the honest laborers of that vicinity. American National Bank of New Orleans closed. Funds found squandered. Officers arrested. Three more bank failures in New Orleans las week.

6. September 19, 1896 The Madisonian Virginia City, MT
Article from The Madisonian, September 19, 1896

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FINANCE AND TRADE. The First National Bank of Beatrice, Neb., has suspended. Iron mines on the Mesaba range have nearly all closed down. The Edgar Thompson steel works at Pittsburg have closed indefinitely. According to Bradstreets there is a somewhat better feeling in business circles. The Consolidated Electric Railway company of Fort Wayne. Ind., has passed into the hands of a receiver. The J. B. Watkins Land and Mortgage company of Lawrence, Kan., was placed in the hands of receivers. Liabilities, $4,250,000. The coal trust has added another 25 cents on coal, making the price at Duluth $6.75, or $1.50 above the price at this time last year. The Columbus (O.) Central street railway company has been placed in the hands of a receiver. George H. Worthington of Cleveland being appointed. The failure of the First National Bank of Helena was announced by the posting of a notice that the bank was unable to meet withdrawals demanded of it. Creditors will be paid in full.

7. December 18, 1896 The Wichita Daily Eagle Wichita, KS
Article from The Wichita Daily Eagle, December 18, 1896

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Day's List of Failures. Webb City, Mo., Dec. 17.-S. C. Corl, dry goods and clothing, here and at Joplin, assigned today. Liabilities, $30,000; assets, $40,000. Washington, D. C., Dec. 17.-The comp troller of the currency has appointed F. G. Taylor receiver of the First National bank of Tyler, Tex. New York, Dec. 17.-Libeler & Dass, printers and lithographers, today assigned to William S. Lewis without preferences. Liabilities about $80,000; assets, $40,000. New York, Dec. 17.-A special from Montreal says two heavy failures in the lumber trade are reported, the first being Patrick W. Donnelly, with liabilities of about $100,000, and the other Jo. seph Robert, with liabilities of $250,000. The assets in each case are mills, machin ery, lumber, etc. Washington, D. C., Dec. 17.-The First National bank of Beatrice, Neb., which suspended payment Sept. 1, 1896, having complied with the conditions imposed by the comptroller of the currency precedent to resumption, and its capital stock being unimpaired, has been permitted to re-open its doors for business. Wilmington, Del., Dec. 17.-Quigley & Mullen, wholesale grocers, failed today. Judgments were entered to the amount of $71,000. The failure is said to be due to the financial difficulty which befell the Golden Sceptre Mining company, organized in West Virginia, and in which the members of the firm are interested. William D. Mullen, Jr., is the treasurer of the company; Winfield S. Quigley is its gener al manager, and among the directors are ex-Senator Higgins and Dr. R. S. Law of San Francisco. The property of the company is situated in Granite county, Mont.

8. December 18, 1896 Kansas City Daily Journal Kansas City, MO
Article from Kansas City Daily Journal, December 18, 1896

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Beatrice Bank Resumes. Washington, Dec. 17.-The First National bank, of Beatrice, Neb., which suspended payment September 1, 1896, having complied with the conditions imposed by the comptroller of the currency precedent to resumption, and Its capital stock being unimpaired, has been permitted to reopen its doors for business.

9. December 18, 1896 The Topeka State Journal Topeka, KS
Article from The Topeka State Journal, December 18, 1896

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A National Bank Resumes. Washington, Dec. 18-The First national bank of Beatrice, Neb., which suspended payment November 1, 1896, having complied with the conditions imposed by the comptroller of the currency precedent to resumption and its capital stock being unimpaired, has been permitted to reopen.

10. December 19, 1896 The Copper Country Evening News Calumet, MI
Article from The Copper Country Evening News, December 19, 1896

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Bank Permitted to Resume. Washington, Dec. 19.-The First National bank of Beatrice, Neb., which suspended payment Sept. 1, 1895, having complied with the conditions imposed by the comptroller of the currency, precedent to resumption and its capital stock being unimpaired, has been permitted to reopen its doors for business.

11. December 23, 1896 Barbour County Index Medicine Lodge, KS
Article from Barbour County Index, December 23, 1896

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NUMBER 33. LATE NEWS NOTES Fifty thousand Armenian children under 13 years of age were made orphans by the massacres. The House committee on Indian affairs will report a bill to remove the commissioner and create a board of three members. The First National bank of Beatrice, Neb., which suspended payment September 1, 1896, has been permitted to reopen its doors for business. A bill introduced by Representative Bull of Rhode Island appropriates $50,000 for the erection of a monumental statue to James G. Blaine in Washingson. The National Wool Growers' Association adjourned to meet January 4 next, preparatory to appearing before the House committee on ways and means in behalf of a revised wool and woolen schedule. The Cuban junta in New York has little hope that the reports that Maceo is alive are true. J. R. Hetsch, postmaster at Newport, Ky., is missing. An inspector says that his accounts are wrong. Fitzsimmons' suit against Sharkey for the $10,000 purse was thrown out of court, and Sharkey got the purse. Corbett has signed Dan Stuart's articles for a finish fight March 17, 1897, with Fitzsimmons. Convict labor in New York prisons will be abolished January 1. The Bryan lecture contract has been sold to an Atlanta syndicate. Nebraska supreme court has decided the sugar bounty law defective. St. Louis has put on 200 extra policemen to try to stem the current of lawlessness. Dr. Fraker has located in Colorado Springs and will found a sanitarium for consumptives. Federation of Labor exonerated President Gompers from charges of undue activity in Bryan's behalf. At Porter, Ohio, three children of William Stevens were burned to death by a fire started by themselves. Samuel Gompers was re-elected president of the American Federation of Labor unanimously. The resolution condemning the courts for the Debs decision was voted down and free silver overwhelmingly indorsed. Fitzsimmons is out with a challenge to meet any pugilist in the world, Sharkey preferred. Mrs. Dravton, 'of scandalous notoriety, has been married to George Haig, a divorced London whisky man. Minnesota Dairymen's association has indorsed ex-Governor Hoard of Wisconsin for secretary of agriculture. Turkish notables and Circassian ladies of the sultan's harem are being arrested by wholesale at Constantinople. "Commonweal" Coxey is in Washington lobbying in the interest of good roads and non-interest bearing bonds. American Bimetallic union is going to keep silver to the front by literature, clubs, public lectures and meetings. Casino skating rink and theater in Schleny park, Pittsburg, burned; loss $400,000 with only $75,000 insurance. Hermann, the famous magician, died suddenly of heart disease Thursday in his private railroad car at Grain Valley, New York. John J. Thornton, editor of the Clay county Ala., Advance, was assassinated while sitting at his fireside, for making war on lawless gangs. At Bethel, Ohio, two women named Moon and Shell, quarreled, and the Shell woman threw a bucket of lye on Mrs. Moon's and her baby's face killing the child and fatally injuring the mother. John Sheehan attempted to steal some geese from Mrs. Jennie Cohen's store, and when she saw him fired at her and killed Barnett Cooper. The woman then cracked the thief's skull with a hatchet. This occurred in Chicago. Freeman Morrow, aged 41, was murdered while asl ep in a mover's wagon near Perkins, Okla., then robbed. His 12-year-old daughter Ada was fatally assaulted. A negro is is suspected,ar mob threats have precipitated a race war. The pension appropriation bill was passed by the senate without division. It is identical to the bill as it passed the house, and carries $141,328,580.

12. December 24, 1896 Hutchinson Gazette Hutchinson, KS
Article from Hutchinson Gazette, December 24, 1896

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The First National bank of Beatrice, Neb., which suspended payment September 1, 1896, has been permitted to reopen its doors for business.

13. December 26, 1896 Omaha Daily Bee Omaha, NE
Article from Omaha Daily Bee, December 26, 1896

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NEBRASKA'S BALANCE SHEET State Treasurer Bartley's Biennial Report on Affairs of His Office. OVER A MILLION AND A HALF ON HAND Financial Transactions of the Last Two Years Show Accumulation of Cash, Outstanding Warrants and Delinquent Taxes. LINCOLN, Dec. 25.-(Special.)-In the introduction to his biennial report to the governor State Treasurer Bartley sets forth the following statement of receipts and disbursements for the period covered from the close of business November 30, 1894, to December 1, 1896. From the detailed exhibits are found: $1,121,387.34 Balance per last report Received November 30, 1894, to 3,667,594.95 December 1, 1896 $4,783,982.29 Total Disbursed November 30, 1894, to 3,059,354.99 December 1, 1896 Balance November 30, 1896 $1,729,627.30 From this amount are to be deducted the sums in suspended state depositories, as follows: $ 236,361.83 Capital National bank 4,499.00 Buffalo County National bank Globe Loan and Trust Company 12,892.54 Savings bank 14,965.57 Bank of Wymore First National bank of Beatrice. 2,803.14 $ 271,522.08 Total Balance 1,458,105.22 "During the present month," says the report, "the temporary school balance as per statement, $256,582.88, less amount in suspended depository banks ($24,624.58), will be apportioned and paid to the several counties, decreasing the cash in the state treasury at the time of this report to that amount. There is now in the state depository banks funds to apply upon the payment of registered general fund warrants in amount of $589,370.39. less amount in suspended depository banks, $58,453.36. which will, when applied, further reduce the cash balance to that extent. "In addition to general fund floating indebtedness shown in previous reports and occasioned largely by excess in appropriations over the amount raised by levy to meet the same, under a similar condition existing during the biennium for which this report is made, the floating indebtedness of the state has been further increased. "The appropriations for 1895-6 on general fund were $2,784,684.60; levy for the same period was $2,383,965.78; excess of appropriations, $400,718.82. Contributing to this excess was the unusual demand for relief requiring an appropriation of $250,000, and the reimbursing of the sinking fund for $180,000 lost in the Capital National state depository. "The outstanding registered general fund warrants November 30 are in amount $1,934,069.13, which, after deducting the cash on hand cited above to apply on same, have for their redemption the uncollected taxes of 1895-6, and delinquents from previous years, which from the statement of the auditor of public accounts, are $2,330,692.76, and if paid in will take up the entire out-

14. January 7, 1897 The Valentine Democrat Valentine, NE
Article from The Valentine Democrat, January 7, 1897

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Total $4,788,892.29 Disbursed November30, 1894, to December 1, 1896 3,059,354.99 Balance November 30, 1896.$1,729,627.30 From this amount are to be deducted the sums in suspended state depositories, as follows: Capital National Bank 236,361.83 Buffalo County National Bank. 4,499.00 Globe Loan and Trust Company Savings Bank 12,892.54 Bank of Wymore 14,965.57 First National Bank of Beatrice 2,803.14 Total $ 271,522.08 Balance 1,458,165.22