First Mortgage Company

Episode Information

Episode UID: 6855361891577
Episode Type: Suspension → Closure
Bank Type: trust
Bank ID: 685536189 hash
Start Date: May 1, 1931*
Location: El Paso, Texas (31.759, -106.487)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini (chosen from majority vote of a three-model LLM ensemble)
Short Digest: e28433765427a3ee

Response Measures

None

Description

Article states the mortgage company failed last spring but gives no precise date or explicit receiver assignment; corroborating articles would help.

Events (2)

1. May 1, 1931* Suspension

Cause: Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details: Failure of the First Mortgage Company due to interlocking officers and heavy loans to insiders led to company failure and loss of confidence
Newspaper Excerpt: The failure of the mortgage company last spring helped destroy confidence in the bank.
Source: newspapers

2. September 1, 1931* Other

Newspaper Excerpt: Withdrawals of deposits became so heavy the bank couldn't survive. The First National bank closed last September as a result of withdrawals tied to the mortgage company failure.
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (1)

1. February 13, 1932 El Paso Herald-Post El Paso, TX

Article Text

By GERALD DAILEY Herald-Post City Editor "The First Mortgage Co. broke the First National bank!" The statement has been made often since the bank closed last September. Perhaps a truer statement would be that the two institutions "broke each other." The failure of the mortgage company last spring helped destroy confidence in the bank. Withdrawals of deposits became so heavy the bank couldn't survive. But the bank officers helped make the conditions that led to the mortgage company failure. McNary First President Back in 1911 we find the First Mortgage & Guarantee Co. organized with several officers of the bank as officers of the mortgage company. For instance, James G. McNary, president of the new company, was vice president of the bank. W. L. Tooley was vice president of both companies. E. W. Kayser, bank cashier, was secretary-treasurer of the mortgage company. On May 21, 1912, the First Mortgage & Guarantee Co. was reorganized, the name being changed to First Mortgage Co., and the capital stock being increased. Directors of the new company were James G. McNary, Joshua S. Raynolds, Charles M. Newman, who, through his many companies, became one of the biggest borrowers; Felix Martinez, J. J. Mundy, W. L. Tooley, Z. T. White and E. W. Kayser. Raynolds Heads Both Most of these were identified with the bank. Raynolds became president of both the bank and the First Mortgage Co. Tooley was vice president of both. Kayser was an officer of both. This system of interlocking offi- (Continued on Page 3)