First National Bank (Middletown, NY)

Episode Information

Episode UID
52301092
Episode Type
Run Only
Bank Type
national
Bank ID
5230 national
Charter Number
523
Start Date
December 12, 1890
Location
Middletown, New York (41.445, -74.424)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini (chosen from majority vote of a three-model LLM ensemble)
Short Digest
972352af48f33709

Response Measures

Accommodated withdrawals, Public signal of financial health, Capital injected, Books examined

Events (3)

1. September 29, 1864 Chartered
Source
historical_nic
2. December 12, 1890 Run
Cause
Rumor Or Misinformation
Cause Details
Rumors affecting the bank's solvency and a scare about tightness of money prompted farmers and others to withdraw deposits.
Measures
Called local prominent citizens to examine bank, issued public statement of solvency and obtained pledge from wealthy local men guaranteeing depositors would be paid.
Newspaper Excerpt
FARMERS START A RUN ON A BANK Middletown, N. Y., Dec. 12.-The First National Bank of this city successfully encountered a run this morning.
Source
newspapers
3. June 4, 1931 Voluntary Liquidation
Source
historical_nic

Newspaper Articles (3)

Article from New-York Tribune, December 13, 1890

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Article Text

FARMERS START A RUN ON A BANK Middletown, N. Y., Dec. 12.-The First National Bank of this city successfully encountered a run this morning. By noon everything was quiet, and when the hour for closing arrived the deposits exceeded the


Article from Daily Kennebec Journal, December 13, 1890

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Article Text

Run on a Bank at Middietown, N. Y MIDDLETOWN, Dec. 12-There - was a run on the First National bank today on account of the scare over the present tightness of money and about $10,000 was drawn out. The bank is said to be solvent with $28,000 surplus, and confidence is believed to have been restored.


Article from Fort Worth Daily Gazette, December 24, 1890

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Article Text

How to Avert a Panic. Brooklyn Eagle. When the officers of the First National bank of Middletown discovered that rumors affecting their solvency were in circulation and that the farmers and dairymen of Orange county were likely to withdraw their deposits in a hurry, they did a very sensible thing. They called together the solid men of Middletown and asked these to appoint a committee to examine the financial condition of the bank. The result was a specific announcement of the solvency of the bank and a pledge signed by the wealthiest men in the county that the depositorwould be paid in full. The announces ment did not altogether prevent a run on the bank, but it reduced it to very small proportions. If similar action was taken whenever a bank is threatened with a run the number and amount of financial disasters due to causeless panic would be largely reduced. There are hundreds of country banks, normally solvent and holding gilt-edged securities far in excess of their liabilities that could be easily. embarrassed and forced into temporary suspension by the spread of a panio among their depositors resulting in the immediate withdrawal of deposits. When such a panic is threatened the plan adopted by the First National bank of Middletown might be profitably copied. Get the local magnates whose names are synonyms for wealth and probity to guarantee the solvency of the bank, and there will seldom be any danger of a disastrous run.