Bank of Norfolk - Roxbury, MA

Episode Information

Episode UID: 6755789290461
Episode Type: Suspension → Closure
Bank Type: state
Bank ID: 675578929 hash
Start Date: May 23, 1838
Location: Roxbury, Massachusetts (42.325, -71.095)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini (chosen from majority vote of a three-model LLM ensemble)
Short Digest: 9010bb5914d1e9fb

Response Measures

None

Description

Article labels the institution a 'Broken Bank' and gives insolvency-like figures; additional local coverage could confirm receivership/closure details.

Events (1)

1. May 23, 1838 Suspension

Cause: Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details: Reported immediate funds far too small relative to liabilities, indicating insolvency/financial failure.
Newspaper Excerpt: Broken Bank.—The Bank of Norfolk, at Roxbury, Mass., had immediate funds of 3,000 dollars, to pay its direct liabilities of $120,000; and $2,000 in specie, to pay $40,000 in bills!
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (1)

1. May 23, 1838 Constantine Republican Constantine, MI

Article from Constantine Republican, May 23, 1838

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Article Text

Paying Specie.—The Detroit Banks resumed specie payments on the 16th inst., as it was expected they would. The demands on that day, the Free Press states, "were mostly from abroad and principally from non-resuming Ohio." The Bank in this village resumed specie payments on the same day; and the two at Niles, we are informed, although of the denomination usually reproached as 'wild cat,' had been paying specie for several days before that time. A whole week of the golden days has already passed, (while we are above all banking here,) and yet, contrary to the wisest prediction, the egress of bullion from beneath our feet has not jarred the copy from our cases, nor pied a single line of types. Banks in which the people have confidence are not in much danger of a very hard run. Just enough for small change, seems to be about all the specie required. Broken Bank.—The Bank of Norfolk, at Roxbury, Mass., had immediate funds of 3,000 dollars, to pay its direct liabilities of $120,000; and $2,000 in specie, to pay $40,000 in bills! Its officers and owners, all, we are informed, claim the honor of belonging to the whig party.