Duncan, Sherman & Company

Bank Information

Episode Type: Suspension → Closure
Bank Type: private
Start Date: January 18, 1855
Location: New York, New York (40.714, -74.006)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: 19e8cb9a2d15b91d

Response Measures

None

Description

Single 1855 newspaper item reports Duncan, Sherman & Co. of New York 'refus[ing] to pay the drafts' of other firms and describes the house as financially embarrassed. No explicit mention of a depositor run; the firm refused payment (a suspension/failure). There is no later article here reporting reopening, receivership appointment, or takeover — so I classify as suspension leading to closure (suspension_closure) while noting the evidence is limited to this report.

Events (1)

1. January 18, 1855 Suspension

Cause: Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details: Firm refused to pay drafts; described as financially embarrassed following heavy losses and connections to failed correspondents (Page & Bacon, Belcher & Co.).
Newspaper Excerpt: HIGHLY IMPORTANT-FINANCUAL Embarrassment-The Telegraph brings us news of the refusal of Duncan, Sherman & Co, of New York, to pay the drafts of Messrrs. Page & Bacon...
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (1)

1. January 18, 1855 Burlington Tri-Weekly Hawk-Eye Burlington, IA

Article from Burlington Tri-Weekly Hawk-Eye, January 18, 1855

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Article Text

HIGHLY IMPORTANT-FINANCUAL EmbarrassMENT-The Telegraph brings us news of the refusal of Duncan, Sherman & Co, of New York, to pay the drafts of Messrrs. Page & Bacon, of St. Louis, and also those of the firm of Page, Bacon & Co., of San Francisco, California. We learn, in addition, from a private source, that the house at St. Louis has suspended. This is on of the most Important failures since the commencement of the present momentary crisis, as Messrs. Page & Bacon were the heaviest private bankers in St. Louis. and were only exceeded in the extent of their business transactions by the State Bank of Missouri, itself. Their transactions with California alone reached many millions of dollars per annum. We have not heard what the amount of their liabilities and assets is, but we presume it will be reckoned by millions. Messrs. Page & Bacon are said to have lost by the failure of Messrs. Belcher & Co., the great St. Louis sugar refiners, a large sum of money, placed by intelligent persons at from three to four hundred thousand dollars. This, however, must have been coupled with other great losses in order to have shaken their credit and standing. The effect of the failure upon the money market must generally prove extremely disastrous.-[Chicago Democrat.