W. B. Foshay Company (Minneapolis, MN)

Episode Information

Episode UID
6582681191559
Episode Type
Run → Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
trust
Bank ID
658268119 hash
Start Date
November 1, 1929
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota (44.980, -93.264)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini (chosen from majority vote of a three-model LLM ensemble)
Short Digest
51df26b3ed766bfa

Response Measures

None

Description

Articles refer to both the W. B. Foshay Company and its subsidiary Foshay State Bank; some dates in dispatches vary slightly.

Events (4)
1. November 1, 1929 Suspension
Cause
Government Action
Cause Details
Closed by order of the state banking commissioner following the bank run and company troubles.
Newspaper Excerpt
the Foshay State Bank here was closed by order of the state banking commissioner
Source
newspapers
2. November 2, 1929 Run
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
Depositors ran on the Foshay State Bank amid collapse of the Foshay corporate organization and sudden closures.
Newspaper Excerpt
there had been a run on the institution during the morning and when the closed sign was put on the door at noon many of the 1,800 depositors who arrived too late stood on the sidewalks
Source
newspapers
3. November 6, 1929 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
A voluntary petition in bankruptcy was filed in federal district court here today by officers of the W. B. Foshay company ... Joseph Chapman ... was appointed receiver by Judge John B. Sanborn.
Source
newspapers
4. February 26, 1932 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
mail fraud trial of W. B. Foshay and H. H. Henley ... Henley testified the W. B. Foshay Company had met all obligations up to within a few days before the receivership
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (4)
1. November 1, 1929 The Hastings Daily Tribune Hastings, NE
Article from The Hastings Daily Tribune, November 1, 1929

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Article Text

$10,000,000 CONCERN FAILS IN MINNESOTA Foshay Company Asks Receivership After B a n Failure Northwest's Greatest Economic Disaster Carried Operations in Banking, Public Utilities and Real Estate. ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 1.-(U.P.) -Recelvership was asked today for the W. B. Foshay Company, $10,000,000 mid-west banking, public utilities and real estate firm with headquarters in Minneapolis. The request for receivership was filed by three other officials of the company shortly after the Foshay State Bank here was closed by order of the state banking commissioner. No reason for the crash of the company was given and officials refused to discuss its position in the recent stock market crash. The Foshay Company controlled vast blocks of stock in power plants, bus lines and steamship companies and was heavily Interested in Minnesota real estate. During period of expansion extending over the past six months the company took over three Twin City banks, and completed construction of a 30-story tower office building in Minneapolis. Thousands of investors in the Northwest and Midwest were believed to have been wiped out in the crash. The Minneapolis and St. Paul bankers halled the passing of the gigantic Foshay combine as perhaps the greatest economic disaster in the history of this section. It was announced that the Northwest Bancorporation will take over the Foshay Trust and Savings Company of Minneapolis and the Third Foshay State Bank, also of Minneapolis, will become affiliated with the First Bank Stock Corporation. Neither of the holding companies was believed negotiating for the closed St. Paul bank, however The Foshay Company was organ-

2. November 2, 1929 Imperial Valley Press El Centro, CA
Article from Imperial Valley Press, November 2, 1929

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Article Text

FOSHAY FAILURE IS SHOCK Financiers Unable To Give Any Reason For Disaster. FIRM HEAD SILENT Depression Prevails In Hundreds Of Homes As Savings Wiped Out. MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 2. (U.P.)—An atmosphere of depression prevailed in thousands of homes in the west today after the failure of the W. B. Foshay Co., Minneapolis, which operated public utilities, investment companies, steamship lines, banks and real estate firms from Alaska to Central America. The huge organization, headed by Wilbur B. Foshay, and with properties estimated at more than $20,000,000, went into the hands of a receiver today. Financiers and bankers were at a loss to advance reasons for the failure. Foshay, the directing genius of the widespread organization, who came here 15 years ago and whose name is blazoned in electric lights atop his recently completed 32 story office tower building here, may have told the cause of the collapse but he was silent. "I have nothing to say at the present time," he declared, "we did all we could." There were those, however, who believed that a contributory cause to the rapidly developed firm's failure was the lavish dedicatory celebration provided by Foshay when his tower "The Washington Monument of the West" was thrown open to the public. Crash Not Blamed A large amount of money was spent on the monster celebration at which Secretary of War Good was a principal speaker and Sousa's band gave a series of concerts. There were those also who looked upon the imposing tower, supposedly financed largely by large sales to working people, as an unwise investment considering the tremendous rental value of the land on which the slender tower was built. Few believed the crash was in any way connected with the recent turn of events in Wall Street. Among the first to feel the pinch of the crash were depositors of the Foshay State Bank of St. Paul, which closed at noon by order of the state. There had been a run on the institution during the morning and when the "closed" sign was put on the door at noon many of the 1,800 depositors who arrived too late stood on the sidewalks outside excitedly discussing the affairs. No criminal action was contemplated against Foshay and his associates, at least pending an official statement on the institution's financial condition.

3. November 7, 1929 The Sauk Centre Herald Sauk Centre, MN
Article from The Sauk Centre Herald, November 7, 1929

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Article Text

Foshay Bubble Bursts; Goes Into Receivership Porperties Consisted of Banks, Public Utilities, Real Estate; Strong on Stock Minneapolis, Nov. 6.-A voluntary petition in bankruptcy was filed in federal district court here today by officers of the W. B. Foshay company, owners with its subsidiaries of Public Utilities, Steamship lines and other holdings in the United States, Canada, Alaska and Central America. Joseph Chapman, president of the L. S. Donaldson Realty company, and for many years prominent in the banking and mercantile business, was anppointed receiver by Judge John B. Sanborn. Assets and liabilities of the company were not given in the bankruptcy petition but the value of the company's holdings in 1925 was estimated at $10,000,000. Since then a number of utilities companies have been acquired,including a transportation company and several public utilities in Alaska, purchased at a price in excess of $2,000,000. The W. B. Foshay company was formed in 1917. Its head is Wilbur Burton Foshay, 48 years of age, who came here in 1915 from the Pacific coast where the company has extensive holdings. Previously he had been in the east, railroading and working for other public util. ity companies.

4. February 26, 1932 The Daily Alaska Empire Juneau, AK
Article from The Daily Alaska Empire, February 26, 1932

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Article Text

DEFENSE LOSES ONE POINTIN FOSHAY TRIAL Denied Attempts to Give Testimony on Value of Securities MINNEAPOLIS, Min., Feb. 26.Defense attempts to introduce testimony as to the market value of securities in the inventory of the W. B. Foshay Company was denied yesterday in the mail fraud trial of W. B. Foshay and H. H. Henley Judge Molyneaux held that Henley, who was on the stand, might give his opinion of the value of the securities but that offers to buy the properties could not be considered as material in showing there was a market for the securities. Henley testified the W. B. Foshay Company had met all obligations up to within a few days before the receivership and never had an overdraft at the banks up to that time.