11232. Aetna Banking and Trust Company (Butte, MT)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
state
Start Date
October 1, 1906*
Location
Butte, Montana (46.004, -112.535)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
6b4ff8d6

Response Measures

None

Description

The articles state the Aetna Banking and Trust Company failed in October, 1906 and is in the hands of a receiver; subsequent reporting (1908) discusses suits by the receiver against directors for fraudulent capitalization and misconduct. No contemporary run is described; the institution failed and entered receivership (permanent closure).

Events (3)
1. October 1, 1906* Receivership
Newspaper Excerpt
the concern now in the hands of a receiver. ... Robert Lyons, as receiver of the Aetna Banking and Trust Company, of Butte, a Virginia corporation (receiver demands accounting). (1908 article refers to the receiver in charge after the 1906 failure.)
Source
newspapers
2. October 1, 1906* Suspension
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
Insolvency attributed to alleged fraud/misconduct by president F. Augustus Heinze and cashier A. B. Clements (fraudulent payment of capital stock, misapplied funds).
Newspaper Excerpt
the Aetna Bank, which failed in October, 1906, is directed to bring suit...the concern now in the hands of a receiver.
Source
newspapers
3. February 4, 1908 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
By an order signed by Judge Lynch...Robert M. Lyons, receiver in charge of the Aetna Bank...is directed to bring suit against F. Augustus Heinze...and A. B. Clements...for $97,000 held by Heinze in the bank. (legal action by receiver related to the failure).
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (3)
1. February 5, 1908 Tonopah Daily Bonanza Tonopah, NV
Article from Tonopah Daily Bonanza, February 5, 1908

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Article Text

SUIT AGAINST HEINZE ORDERED BUTTE, Mont., Feb. 4.-By an order signed by Judge Lynch of the State District Court this morning, Robert M. Lyons, receiver in charge of the Aetna Bank, which failed in October, 1906, is directed to bring suit against F. Augustus Heinze, former director,, and A. B. Clements, former treasurer, for $97,000, held by Heinze in the bank, and which, it has developed, Heinze never paid for. In the recent trial of Clements for false certification, it developed that of the $100,000 worth of capital stock owned by Heinze, only $2500 of this was paid in, and that Clements took it himself and gave his note for it, shortly after the amount was received. Judge Lynch's order, authorizing suit for $97,000, directs that interest from the time of the issue of the stock was not paid for be included in the suit. The deal apepars to have been complicated. E. A. Heinze owned capital stock in the Aetna Savings and Trust Company, and when that went out of existence, deposits in lieu of cash this stock was exchanged for stock of the Aetna Banking and Trust Company, the concern now in the hands of a receiver.

2. May 9, 1908 New-York Tribune New York, NY
Article from New-York Tribune, May 9, 1908

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Article Text

SUIT AGAINST HEINZE AND CLEMENT. Aetna Banking Receiver Demands Accounting and Payment. F. Augustus Heinze and A. B. Clements have been sued for an accounting by Robert Lyons, as receiver of the Altna Banking and Trust Company, of Butte, a Virginia corporation. Judgment is asked in the Supreme Court to meet liabilities of the institution, which closed its doors in 1906. The receiver declares the liabilities of the banks were $400,000. Mr. Heinze paid $100,000 to E. T. WIIson, acting receiver, in 1906, for the benefit of creditors. Mr. Lyons asks that he be ordered to pay at least $92,000 more. The complaint charges that the insolvency of the institution was caused by "the acts and misconducts of these defendants." It also declares that "the pretended payment of the capital stock of the said bank by means of giving certain notes alleged in the complaint, and of the delivery to the bank of the reserve fund stock of the Atna Savings and Trust Company, was fraudulent," and demands that It be set aside. Mr. Heinze was president of the bank and Clements its cashier. It was for an alleged attempt at extortion in connection with the troubles of this institution that Mr. Heinze caused the arrest on Thursday of Edward E. Brennan, a Butte lawyer, who is now in the Tombs.

3. May 15, 1908 The Kendrick Gazette Kendrick, ID
Article from The Kendrick Gazette, May 15, 1908

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Article Text

MONTANA NOTES. W. G. Conrad, multimillionaire banker, mine owner and rancher, who is an avowed candidate for the vice presidential nomination on the democratic ticket, has opened headquarters, and Warner G. Stensel of New York has been engaged to manage his campaign. Edward Brennan, lawyer, of Butte, who was arrested last week in New York city on a charge of attempting to extort $40,000 from F. Augustus Heinze in connection with the matter of the Aetna Bank and Trust company of Butte, waived examination in police court, gave bond and was released. It is learned through the report of Dr. M. E. Knowles, state health officer, that there are between 50 and 60 cases of smallpox at Havre. All the schools, theaters and other public meeting places have been closed. The state boar dis considering the advisability of quarantining the town. Surprised in his retreat at the Bonnabel ranch, in Valley county, Montana, "Pigeon-Toed Kid," a notorious cattle rustler and one of the few remaining bad men of Montana, attempted to make a stand against a sheriff's posse recently when asked to surrender, and was killed by a deputy named Calderwood. The bullet passed completely through his body and struck John Maybelle, a herder, in the shoulder. A suit to recover approxximately $180,000 from F. Augustus Heinze and associate, A. B. Clements, was begun in the supreme court, New York, recently, by Robert Lyons, receiver of the Aetna Banking and Trust comf pany of Butte, Mont. They are asked to account for $100,000 worth of stock, a credit of $37,770 and for another amount of $43,000. The odd spectacle of a pedler endeavoring to sell Bibles, two for 25 cents, and finally entering several saloons, where he tried in vain to trade a Bible for a flask of booze, led to the arrest of William Pitts frecently in Butte. Howard Elliott, president of the Northern Pacific, who was a Helena visitor for two days last week, said that his company would throw open immediately 200,000 acres of land near Glendive and in the near future 500,d 000 acres near Billings. The company S will endeavor to bring in only actual settlers, the deeds being conditioned on residence. Sheriff Edward Martin and Deputy Sheriff Al Morgan, now in the field after the notorious halfbreed outlaw, n Mosney, are uninjured and have the desperado cornered in a cave near Arrow creek.