Deposit Bank - Deposit, NY

Bank Information

Episode Type: Suspension → Closure
Bank Type: private
Start Date: April 9, 1909
Location: Deposit, New York (42.060, -75.428)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: aeea8cf9

Response Measures

None

Description

Article (New-York Tribune, 1909-05-20) describes the Deposit bank as private bankers (Knapp Brothers) and reports its failure on April 9, 1909 with receivers and insolvency due to bad investments/advances to related concerns. No run is described; this is a failure/receivership (suspension leading to permanent closure).

Events (2)

1. April 9, 1909 Receivership

Newspaper Excerpt: It looks now as If there would be nothing for the creditors at Deposit... There were practically no cash assets in the Deposit bank when it failed. ... a sharp fight is being made to compel the receivers to distribute this sum among the depositors there. (context describing receivers and failure).
Source: newspapers

2. April 9, 1909 Suspension

Cause: Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details: Longstanding insolvency tied to Knapp Brothers' losses backing the Outing Publishing Company and costly backing of a band; intercompany loans from Binghamton Trust depleted bank cash and left practically no cash assets when it failed.
Newspaper Excerpt: the failure on April 9 of the Binghamton Trust Company and Knapp Brothers, private bankers of Deposit and Callicoon.
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (1)

1. May 20, 1909 New-York Tribune New York, NY

Article from New-York Tribune, May 20, 1909

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Article Text

BANK'S FUNDS FOR BAND MUSIC'S PART IN FAILURE. Knapp Brothers' Crash Partly Due to Entertaining New Yorkers. Entertaining New Yorkers is now said to have been one of the causes that helped to bring about the failure on April 9 of the Binghamton Trust Company and Knapp Brothers, private bankers of Deposit and Callicoon. The southern tier banking institutions had liabilities of more than $4,000,000. The fact has just come to light that Charles P. Knapp, manager of the Deposit and Callicoon banks. was the "angel" for the Knapp band which in the last two years gave many concerts in this city. His loss in backing this venture is estimated as close to $75,000. Band music was a fad with Mr. Knapp, but he backed the band which bore his name in the hope that he would be able ultimately to make it a financial success. It was this band that played at the Belasco Theatre on Sunday nights for two or three months last year. Charles P. Knapp took the band to the Taf: inauguration. and had a fino time with it in Washington. He played in the Deposit band twenty years ago. Knapp Brothers backed the Outing Publishing Company, whose printing plant is at Deposit. The Binghamton Trust Company, of which ex-Congressman Charles J. Knapp was president, lent hundreds of thousands of dollars to Knapp Brothers, who in turn spent it on the Outing Publishing Company The appraisal of the Outing plant gives it an estimated value of $175,000, and to this has been added $50,000 as the value of the good will of "Outing." The failure of the Knapp Brothers was one of the wrost in the history of the Southern Tier. It looks now as If there would be nothing for the creditors at Deposit, the home of the brothers. The Callicoon branch had about $30,000 on hand when the crash came, and a sharp fight is being made to compel the receivers to distribute this sum among the depositors there. The deposits in the Deposit bank aggregated about $450,000. and those at Callicoon $350,000. Even if the entire $30,000 goes to the Callicoon depositors the dividend will be less than 8 per cent. There were practically no cash assets in the Deposit bank when it failed. The Binghamton Trust Company had a capital of $300,000, and at the time of the failure a surplus of $317,000. and its stockholders are liable for $300.000 more. The loss to the trust company is said to be more than $500,000, and it is understood here that the directors will order an assessment to cover this loss. There was a prospect the week of the failure-that the trust company would-be reorganized, but the latest reports from Binghamton indicate that this will not be brought about. In Deposit the creditors say that there is no doubt that the bank was insolvent for years. About eight years ago the charter of the old Deposit National Bank, founded by Charles Knapp. expired. It is now believed that Knapp Brothers did not care to submit the affairs of the bank to the scrutiny of the National Bank examiners, which would have been necessary to get a new charter. The charter was allowed to lapse, and Knapp Brothers, as private bankers, kept on with the business. The reputation of the Knapps had been so good for seventy-five years, from the founding of the house by Charles Knapp. that the depositors, generally speaking, remained with the new firm. It was believed for some time before the crash that Charles P. Knapp was backing various unsuecessful business ventures, but the fact that he dropped in the neighborhood of $75,000 in backing a band which entertained New York City audiences will be a sad surprise to the creditors in Deposit and Callicoon.