14640. State Bank and Trust Company (Tonopah, NV)

Bank Information

Episode Type: Suspension → Closure
Bank Type: state
Start Date: August 17, 1912
Location: Tonopah, Nevada (38.067, -117.230)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: c073c626

Response Measures

None

Description

The articles describe the State Bank and Trust Company as already defunct and in long-running receivership under Frank L. Wildes (no mention of any depositor run or temporary reopening). Multiple items describe receiver actions, dividends, litigation, investigations, and calls for removal of the receiver—consistent with a suspension/closure and ongoing receivership. No run or reopening is reported.

Events (5)

1. August 17, 1912 Receivership

Newspaper Excerpt: Tonopah depositors of the long defunct State Bank and Trust company are anxiously waiting the ten per cent dividend that was promised ... by Receiver Wildes ... The State bank receivership has been an eye sore to the entire state of Nevada for the last four or five years
Source: newspapers

2. September 14, 1912 Other

Newspaper Excerpt: F. L. Wildes, receiver of the bankrupt State Bank and Trust Company, has at last condescended to dole out another 10-cent dividend to the depositors of that institution
Source: newspapers

3. April 29, 1913 Other

Newspaper Excerpt: William Forman, the Tonopah attorney who is assisting in the investigation of the affairs of Receiver Frank L. Wildes of the State Bank and Trust company ... the investigation was progressing favorably
Source: newspapers

4. March 6, 1914 Other

Newspaper Excerpt: THE PASSING OF WILDES. THE Supreme court has gone on record as opposed to the reign of loot and plunder that has characterized the conduct of the receivership of the State Bank and Trust Company.
Source: newspapers

5. July 2, 1914 Other

Newspaper Excerpt: PETITION TO REMOVE RECEIVER WILDES PETITION OFFERED DEPOSITORS TO CUT DOWN EX. PENSES. A. W. Briggs is circulating a petition for the removal of Frank Wildes as receiver of the defunct State Bank and Trust company
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (9)

1. August 17, 1912 Tonopah Daily Bonanza Tonopah, NV

Article from Tonopah Daily Bonanza, August 17, 1912

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

For President WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, OF OHIO. For Vice President JAMES S. SHERMAN, OF NEW YORK A Mythical Dividend Tonopah depositors of the long defunet State Bank and Trust company are anxiously waiting the ten per cent dividend that was promised over a month ago by Receiver Wildes when he received something like $70,000 from the directors of that institution following the effecting of a compromise of the suits instituted by the bank to recover a sum twice the amount finally received. The Carson papers, at the conclusion of the suit, gave glaring announcement to the fact that Wildes had stated he would declare a dividend with the money received. That was 2 month ago, Since that date the receiver has been somewhat quiet with regard to the prospective dividend, and the depositors are anxiously waiting to receive a portion of their money. At the time it was announced Wildes would pay a dividend the Bonanza stated, and the assertions appear to have been the truth, that the receiver would need the entire amount received to pay his own princely salary, his traveling expenses and also the salary of his chief clerk, who, in reality, transacts the business of the office. The dividend has not appeared, notwithstanding the claims of the receiver, and doubt exists in the minds of many if a dividend will be paid while the present receiver remains in office. Under present conditions the depositors have no means of knowing the shape of the finances, for the receiver is not required to render an accounting by Judge Langan of the district court at Carson. No one, excepting the receiver, is cognizant of the actual expenses in maintaining the defunct institution, and according to the business methods the money received from the bank directors can be expended in a dozen different ways. The State bank receivership has been an eye sore to the entire state of Nevada for the last four or five years, and the same conditions will apparently continue to exist for the next ten years, notwithstanding the protests of the unfortunate depositors.

2. September 14, 1912 The Eureka Sentinel Eureka, Tonopah, NV

Article from The Eureka Sentinel, September 14, 1912

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

The State Bank Scandal F. L. Wildes, receiver of the bankrupt State Bank and Trust Company, has at last condescended to dole out another 10-cent dividend to the depositors of that institution, most of whom are residents of Tonopah and Southern Nevada. The dividends previously paid were in September, 1908, and April, 1909, when on each occasion the sum of 5 cents was distributed, so thatthree years and six months have elapsed since the

3. April 29, 1913 Tonopah Daily Bonanza Tonopah, NV

Article from Tonopah Daily Bonanza, April 29, 1913

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

INVESTIGATOR BANK RECEIVER IN TONOPAH ATTORNEY FORMAN MAKES BUS. INESS TRIP FROM STATE CAPITAL. William Forman, the Tonopah attorney who is assisting in the investigation of the affairs of Receiver Frank L. Wildes of the State Bank and Trust company, as authorized by the recent legislature, arrived this morning from Carson. Forman was summoned to this city to attend to personal matters and also in connection with the bank investigation. He leaves in the morning for Manhattan and will return to the capital in three or four days. Forman declared that the investigation was progressing favorably but further than that refused to make public the result of the work already carried out. He has requested that all persons with information concerning apparent irregularities in connection with the defunct bank or the manner in which the accounts have beeen liquidated to convey same to him. Numerous letters have already been received from various parts of the state in reply to a printed notice to this effect, and each response is given personal attention by those conducting the investigation.

4. May 3, 1913 The Eureka Sentinel Eureka, Tonopah, NV

Article from The Eureka Sentinel, May 3, 1913

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

reported to be on the ground at San Fran cisco looking over the site for the Nevada building at the big fair. The Free Press reports that the old electric light company at Elko has been absorbed by the new Elko-Lamoille Company and several changes will follow as the result of the change. A stock company of ranchers with $10,000 capital will build a flour mill at Lamoille, Elko County, with a capacity of 100 sacks a day and with machinery for grinding all kinds of stock feed. Attorney General Thatcher says that his ruling on the slot machines does not interfere with County Commissioners placing a license upon the devices. He only passed upon the right of the State to do 80. Receiver Frank Wildes of the State Bank and Trust Company has commenced suit against the Tonopah Bonanza, 8 newspaper, for $30,000 damages. He claims libel in an editorial headed "Recall and Impeach." James Quinn, a convict who escaped from the road camp last July, was recaptured near Visalia, California, when he paid a visit to his parents on the home farm. He will be returned to the prison to serve out his sentence. Commencing June 1, the Government purposes to have a daily mail service between Ely and Preston and Lund, and contracts for carrying the mail are being advertised for. The service from Preston to Ourrant Creek is also to be increased to three times a week. O. G. Dobbs, former postal clerk, ar. rested on a charge of stealing $50 from & registered letter in the local post office at Reno, and who pleaded guilty has been sentenced by Federal Judge Farrington to seven months in the Washoe County jail and to pay a fine of $200. Richard Calliber, charged with com mitting a stitutory crime upon a young girl of Virginia City, has been found guilty of attempt to commit that crime and sentenced to five years in State prison. This case attracted much attention and cost the county a large sum. Thomas J. Kirk, Jr., son of Thomas J. Kirk, Superintendent of Public In struction of California, committed suicide at Reno Monday night. He had been on an automobile ride with his wife and several friends. Excusing himself for a minute, he entered his apartment and shot himself. Harry Hansen, a miner employed by the Ophir Mining Company at Virginia City had both legs broken Thursday while at work in the understope below the 2400-foot level. A slab of rock fell from a slip in the breast of the understope, knocking him down and pinning both legs to the floor. Bert Scott was sentenced Monday by Judge Ducker to serve the remainder of his life in the Nevada penitentiary for the murder of Ben Swago at Rochester last February. Scott's sentence was fixed by the jury and was officially imposed by the Judge. The motion for a new trial was denied and an appeal will be taken. A wind with a velocity of 60 miles an hour struck Rochester camp Sunday. Many frail huts erected were blown over and their belongings scattered in the bills. The wind was ostrong for & time that it was necessary to brace the St. Francis and Crawford hotels with heavy timbers to prevent them from being blown over. N. A. ("Nick") Humell, a well known Nevada attorney and former Wadsworth newspaper man, died at his home in Sparks last Friday night. He was 49 years of age and a native of Virginia City. He was prominent in lodge affairs in Nevada and at one time was supreme representa ive of the Knights of Pythias of Nevada. Kepp Stepp, well known throughout the State, was taken into custody at Reno Thursday night by Special Agent Green of the Southern Pacific on a larceny charge, who escorted him to Auburn, California. Stepp went willingly, saying he knew what the trouble was. Stepp was one of the State police force at Ely recently. The quotations of the Goldfield Con. will be taken from the New York Stock Exchange on the 16th of June. Wingfield made application some time ago for such a procedure, which is the first time in history that a going concern has made such a request. The stock will be handled by the New York Curb Market,

5. February 26, 1914 Carson City Daily Appeal Carson City, NV

Article from Carson City Daily Appeal, February 26, 1914

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

Cannot Appear Attorney William Forman was notified this morning that Receiver Wildes. of the State Bank and Trust company. could not appear at the date set in Tonopah for hearing his suit against the Tonopah Bonanza for damages alleged to have been sustained through a publication in this paper. The excuse is that the illness of Mrs. Wildes compels the receiver to remain in California.Bonanza.

6. March 6, 1914 Tonopah Daily Bonanza Tonopah, NV

Article from Tonopah Daily Bonanza, March 6, 1914

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

THE PASSING OF WILDES. HE Supreme court has gone on record as opposed to the reign T of loot and plunder that has characterized the conduct of the receivership of the State Bank and Trust Company. The court has called a halt on the methods that frittered away the money of depositors and kept a couple of useless employes in opulence. The court has taken an unmistakable stand in the premises that promises to speedily terminate the alleged trust confided to a mercenary whose chief qualification was the knack of prolonging the life of the receivership regardless of the pressing demands of depositors. The action of the court notifies the man who holds the office of receiver that he is accountable for his acts and that he will be held to a strict account for his stewardship. The receivership, with the implied consent of the District court, has been made a vehicle for personal greed and ravenous piracy with the sole idea of perpetuating the office until the last drop had been extracted from the long suffering and confiding creditors whose forbearance was taxed to the utmost. Thanks to the Supreme court. The voters of Nevada will have increased respect for that tribunal whose consideration should have been invoked at an earlier stage had it not been for the accident of death which disturbed the conduct of the attorney general's office. To the Honorable George B. Thatcher, of Tonopah, attorney general through appointment of Lieutenant Governor Ross (Dem.) while Governor Oddie was on an eastern trip, the result was made possible and to his indefatigable and resourceful mind is due the victory which finally perched on the banners of the people. By a joint concurrent resolution the twenty-sixth legislature took steps to investigate the affairs of the State Bank and Trust Company and an appropriation of $5000 was made for the purpose of facilitating the work. As soon as Attorney General Thatcher took hold he named Hon. William Forman, of Tonopah, special counsel and the latter proceeded with vigor to ascertain how and by what authority Receiver Wildes arrogated to himself the prerogative of spending the thousands that should have gone to the depositors. He met with stubborn opposition in the District court but vaulted over the head of that tribunal by appealing to the highest court in the state. Mr. Forman realized the folly of wast\ ing time in useless argument and took the matter to the Supreme court, where he made his argument and finally succeeded in crowning himself with glory by earning a decision favorable to the depositors. In rehearsing the history of the struggle to obtain simple justice and reparation for the crimes of four years credit must be given the committee of the Assembly which initiated the good work. This was accomplished during the dying hours of the legislature when on March 4th the speaker appointed a committee consisting of Winslow, Mighels and Kelleher to investigate the affairs of the State Bank and Trust Company. Little time remained for action but the committee proceeded with celerity to the huge task of searching the fabric that hid the doings of the receiver from the common gaze. The result of this investigation is shown in the report which appears in another column. This led to a demand for an extra session involving the impeachment of Judge Langan and the ousting of the receiver maintained by his court. The special session was denied and the matter was allowed to simmer until the Supreme court could give it the mature deliberation and consideration the importance of the case deserved. The curtain has raised on the last act in this woeful drama N and, when it descends, it is the hope of every honest citizen that it will be rung down to the plaudits of the people with the banishment of the receiver to the obseurity whence he sprang, but not before steps shall have been taken to compel restitution of ill gotten gains.

7. April 4, 1914 The Eureka Sentinel Eureka, Tonopah, NV

Article from The Eureka Sentinel, April 4, 1914

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

Nevada State News It is estimated that the Western Pacific payroll at Elko amounts to $287,948.27 a year. A powerful tractor has been transported to Paradise valley, Humboldt County, to be used in the breaking of 350 acres of new land. Ed Allen, a delivery driver of Elko, has been arrested on the charge of selling intoxicating liquors to an Indian. He is believed to have been in the business for several months past. Judge Ducker has sentenced Matthew Price, convicted of cattle stealing in Humboldt County, to not less than seven years nor more than eight years in the Nevada State prison. Falling from a train between Ely and Lane City last Saturday, John A. Steele, a pioneer of White Pine County, dislocated his shoulder and cut his scalp and hand. He is in a hospital. The water gauge at Winnemucca has remained stationary for the past several days at 10.7 feet. The Humboldt is said to be falling in the eastern part of the State, due to cold weather, and no flood is feared. Chris Diehl, Jr., one of the foremost business men of Winnemucca, died at Beowawe Friday. Heart failure is presumed to have been the cause of his falling into the irrigating ditch from which his body was recovered. Thirty thousand head of sheep were sheared at Golconda the latter part of the week. The shearing hands have moved to other localities. The clip along the Humboldt river is now nearly completed and contracts have been signed for practically all the wool. Although women are not voters in Nevada they are allowed to hold the office of school trustee, if elected. Therefore, Mrs. Helen Schwalenberg has filed a certificate of nomination with Recorder Oldfield of White Pine County as a candidate. for the school board of the Ely district. Frank L. Wildes, receiver for the defunct State Bank and Trust Company, has dismissed his suit against the Tonopah Bonanza Publishing Company asking for judgment for $30,000 damages alleged to have been sustained through publication in the Bonanza of an article accusing Wildes of malfesasance in office. C. Nordling, who has been working for Jake Reed at Deep Creek, in the northern part of Elko County, has been arrested on a charge of horse stealing. Nordling, it is alleged, left the ranch on Thursday of last week with a horse that did not belong to him. It is stated that his trial will come up at the present term of the district court in Elko. In the case of Dr. G. U. Hall, charged with manslaughter of Mrs. Owen through wilful neglect while attending her in childbirth at Winnemucca, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty in 20 minutes after receiving the case There were three physicians connected with the case, Dr. Hall having been first called and dismissed two or three days after accouchment. The Silver State says the public generally, as well as the jury, no doubt looked upon the matter as a fight between doctors, attempting to shift responsibility. Jesse Root Grant of New York, third son of former President U.S. Grant, was Monday denied a decree of divorce sought on grounds of desertion, against Elizabeth Chapman Grant, whom he married in 1880 in San Francisco. Judge Sommers in the District Court at Goldfield denied the decree, declaring that the refusal

8. July 2, 1914 Tonopah Daily Bonanza Tonopah, NV

Article from Tonopah Daily Bonanza, July 2, 1914

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

PETITION TO REMOVE RECEIVER WILDES PETITION OFFERED DEPOSITORS TO CUT DOWN EX. PENSES. A. W. Briggs is circulating a petition for the removal of Frank Wildes as receiver of the defunct State Bank and Trust company, and depositors who have not been approached may find Mr. Briggs on dropping a card in the postoffice. The petition urges the removal on the ground of general extravagance in the conduct of the office. The appointment of Hon. Jewett Adams, a former governor and a gentleman of tried probity, who tenders his services free of cost, is recommended by the petitioners who are making an effort to save enough for at least one more dividend.

9. July 3, 1914 Carson City Daily Appeal Carson City, NV

Article from Carson City Daily Appeal, July 3, 1914

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

Claims Assessment Work Had Been Done Receiver Frank L. Wildes returned from Tonopah last evening where he has been attending the trial relative to the ownership of the California group of mining claims, the control of which rested with the receiver upon taking over the affairs of the State Bank and Trust company. It appears that the property which adjoins the Jim Butler group has been relocated because of the failure several years ago to 40 the annual work. At the trial Mr. Wildes set up the defense that the work had been do e through the underground workings of the Jim Butler at his request and that the necessary financial consideration for labor had been paid out of the assets of the bank. The California claims are now considered to be of considerable value, because of their favorable location and were the title clear they could be disposed of at a price that would go arf towards paying back some of the funds that were eetrusted to the bank by trusting depositors.