First National Bank - Fairbanks, AK

Bank Information

Episode Type: Suspension → Closure
Bank Type: national
Bank ID: 7718
Charter Number: 7718
Start Date: December 1, 1908*
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska (64.838, -147.716)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5
Short Digest: 657fe521

Response Measures

None

Description

Article discusses court cases in 1912 regarding E. T. Barnette and the failure of the First National Bank of Fairbanks, which had closed in December 1908. It explicitly mentions the bank’s closing and references F. G. Noyes as receiver. No explicit run is reported in the coverage; closure attributed to insolvency and problematic loans/false reports. OCR is noisy but key details are clear.

Events (2)

1. December 1, 1908* Receivership

Newspaper Excerpt: R. C. Wood... and F. G. Noyes, receiver of the bank which Barnette is accused of wrecking.
Source: newspapers

2. December 1, 1908* Suspension

Cause: Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details: Bank found insolvent; bad loans and inflated Gold Bar stock valuation; false reports and alleged embezzlement
Newspaper Excerpt: He went into the dealings of the bank before and at the time of its closing in December, 1908.
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (1)

1. December 23, 1912 The Alaska Citizen Fairbanks, AK

Article from The Alaska Citizen, December 23, 1912

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Article Text

BARNETTE BANK CASES BEING TRIED AT VALDEZ MANY BAD NOTES. tions of the court took up the enVALDEZ, Dec. 16.-The Barnettetire morning. At noon the case went Wing case goes to the jury to-day. to the jury. and six hours later the and the result is only a guess. Most verdicts of guilty and not guilty. of the witnesses for the prosecution respectively. were reported. have gone over to Barnette. only When the verdict was announced R. C. Wood and J. L. Sale standing the attorneys for the defendants pat. which further queers the outmoved that the sentence be not prolook for the prosecution. nounced for several days. to which John Clark testified that he had there was no objection offered by certified to the bank statement on the government. It is presumed that Barnette will ask for a new trial. September 23, dating the same September 10 and that he had failed The conviction of the ex-banker to swear the defendant as the nois attributed by the government at tary's signature signified that he torneys to the testimony of J. 1. had. R. A. Jackson. John A. Clark. Sale. the Fairbanks jeweler; R. C. John 1.. McGinn and Frank Hawkins Wood. president of the First Nation testified that the notes of Tharp al-bank: and F. G. Noyes, receiver of the bank which Barnette is ac& Rusk, e E. Claypool. Dan Jonas John Flygar, Charles Robinson. York cused of wrecking. The testimony of these witnesses was given without and Billy Barnette and others still restraint or effort to protect the unpaid were all perfectly good loans in September. 1910. men on trial. and apparently had A letter was produced which was greater weight with the jury than written to Captain Barnette in 1909. the testimony of either John A Clark or John L. McGinn. advising him to reduce the amount of bad loans which the bank was The crime of making false report, upon which Barnette was convicted. carrying. but Dick Wood testified is a misdemeanor under the statthat only $26,000 of such loans were written off because under its then utes. and is punishable by a maxicondition the bank could stand no mum sentence of one year in jail. more losses in 1909. or by a fine not exceeding $1.000. The trial which was concluded to The testimony shows that C. E. day was the third case against CapClaypool. Jack Jesson nd Dan Jonas tain Barnette. The first case was were directors who accepted the Gold Bar stock's increase in valuatried before Judge Lyons without 1 jury. and resulted in a verdict of ion. and also accepted the worthless not guilty. B. R. Dusenbury was a notes as good paper, and that Clayco-defendant with Barnette, the ool and Jonas always did and still owe the defunct bank. charge being false report. The men were acquitted on the testimony of LATER-Special Prosecutor GibJohn L. McGinn. son opened his argument before the The second case was one of perjury this morning. He went into the dealings of the bank before and jury against Barnette and Wing, at the time of its closing in Decemand the two men were acquitted in this instance on the testimony of ber. 1908. He read a letter written John A. Clark, who declared under by R. C. Wood to Barnette and Hill oath that neither of the bankers relative to the reorganization, and had sworn to the false report which showed that Wood at that time had he had made out for them. The verprotested against the conspiracy to unload the Gold Bar stock upon the dict of the jury was instructed. The names of the jurors who tried bank; that the assets of the bank both the perjury and the false re(the Gold Bar Stock) were raised port cases are as follows: Thomas 95,000 in value at that time to save Stamey, Ed Austin, Elliott Steward the bank, which was then insolvent A. M. Baake, Charles Whalen, Allen " $41,000. had not the Gold Bar Johnson, A Bell. H. S. Coleman. C. stock valuation been raised to cover the shortage. Hubbard. James McConnell, A. P. Hunt and P. G. Cameron. FINK JUGGLED NOTES. EMBEZZLEMENT CASE ON. VALDEZ, Dec. 17.-The third case VALDEZ, Dec. 18. - The selection against Barnette and associates of a jury for the trial of Captain went to the jury at noon. after the E. T. Barnette took up the whole of close of Crossley's argument. The the time of the court today. and at jury went to dinner, and retired at the close of the afternoon session 1:55 p. m., to consider the case. but two had been accepted. Judge The arguments before the jury. in which Attorneys Gibson. Fink. Lyons has issued a call for a special venire, returnable tomorrow mornCrossley and Tozier participated, OCing. cupied nine hours' time. A sensationThe indictment on which Barnette al feature of the argument was is being tried charges that, as presFink's production and presentation ident of the bank. he embezzled the to the jury of six notes in exhibit which had been entered by the prossum of $10,003.30 on April 15. 1910, ecution as overdue and worthless by drawing out of the bank money which he claimed to be his own. at paper at the time the bank was a time when he knew that the bank reorganized, and which it was alwas insolvent. leged by the bank were used to esSimilar indictments charge him tablish a fictitious capital, and with the embezzlement of $10,000 on which notes Fink showed had been made on dates after the date of the April 19. 1910; $10,004.95 on May 5, 1910. and $50,000 on June 6. statement upon which the indict1910. It is probable that these inment was procured. or after the dictments will be consolidated for statement had been prepared and trial with the first one mentioned. sworn to-in one case, three months later. Albert Fink will. in all probability be Barnette's counsel in these cases In reply, Crossley intimated that THE JURY COMPLETE. Fink had at least juggled with VALDEZ, Dec. 20. - The jury to those notes. BARNETTE FOUND GUILTY. try the case of E. T. Barnette upon the embezzlement charges was comVALDEZ, Dec. 17. The trial of pleted last evening. When court opCaptain E. T. Barnette and Lew Wing. on the charge of falsely ened this morning Attorney Fink started his argument for dismissal reporting the condition of the bank of the cases or for an instructed of which they were officers, came verdict of "Not Guilty." He argued to an end this afternoon at 6 o'clock. the point until 20 minutes to noon. when the jury returned a verdict of when District Attorney Crossley guilty against Barnette. and a verstarted in argument against Fink's diet of not guilty in the case of Wing. proposal. Crossley will probably occupy all the afternoon with this The closing argument of District Attorney Crossley and the instrucarguments as to why the case should