15803. Exchange Bank (New York, NY)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Run → Suspension → Unsure
Bank Type
state
Start Date
June 22, 1819
Location
New York, New York (40.714, -74.006)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
1d4b54e6

Response Measures

Accommodated withdrawals, Capital injected, Full suspension

Other: Placed funds with Washington & Warren Bank to redeem notes; hypothecated property and shipped specie to redeem distant notes.

Description

Contemporary articles (June 1819) report a run on the Exchange Bank and an announcement that the bank had suspended the business (limited suspension of redemption). Jacob Barker published addresses promising redemption and measures to raise specie; articles do not definitively show a permanent closure within these items, so I classify as run → suspension with outcome unsure. OCR errors corrected (e.g., 'Saundy Hill' -> Sandy Hill, 'V ashington Warren' -> Washington & Warren).

Events (3)
1. June 22, 1819 Suspension
Cause
Rumor Or Misinformation
Cause Details
Bank ceased redeeming its paper for a limited period amid rumours and loss of market value for its bills; advertisement declared temporary suspension of payments/redemptions for a few weeks while raising funds.
Newspaper Excerpt
Feeling the same moral obligation... I have this day hypothecated sufficient property... and have full confidence in being enabled to do so within sixty days. For this object I have real estate... and also to suspend the business of the Exchange bank for a few weeks.
Source
newspapers
2. June 23, 1819 Run
Cause
Rumor Or Misinformation
Cause Details
Rumours spread through the city affecting the bank's credit; holders gathered seeking to exchange or redeem bills, producing withdrawals over a day or two.
Measures
Jacob Barker hypothecated property to cover debts, arranged for Washington & Warren Bank to redeem Exchange Bank notes, curtailed note issuance and planned to send specie to distant places for redemption.
Newspaper Excerpt
A great degree of excitement existed yesterday in consequence of the embarrassments of the Exchange Bank... rumours spread over the city affecting their credit, and which had caused a run on the Exchange Bank for a day or two previous.
Source
newspapers
3. August 12, 1819 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
And here let me unequivocally declare, I have, since the suspension, kept my eye steady and singly to the resuscitation of the credit of the paper of the two banks... The notes of the Washington and Warren Bank, payable at New-York, will, from this date, be punctually redeemed at this bank; (Jacob Barker address).
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (5)
1. June 28, 1819 Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser Alexandria, VA
Article from Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser, June 28, 1819

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New-York, June 22. EXCHANGE BANK, 22d June, 1819. Feeling the same moral obligation to protect the paper of the Washington & War ren bank as that of this bank, although not under legal obligations to do so, I have this day hypothecated sufficient property to pay the whole of the debts of that bank, with interest at seven per cent. per annum, and have full confidence in being enabled to do so within sixty days. For this object I have real estate in this city, free and unincumbered, to the value of near one hundred thousand dollars-- am the owner of two ships, soon expected from the South seas, and of nine other ships, some of which are very valuable-I have a large amount of merchandize on band, and debts are due me to double the amount of the debts of said bank, a large proportion of which is in good endorsed notes-therefore every person who holds the notes of said bank may rest perfectly satisfied that he will, after a very short delay, receive the whole of his money. To accomplish this desirable object, it has become necessary for me to repair to Saundy Hill, and also to suspend the business of the Exchange bank for a few weeks." The V ashington Warren bank has not at any period since its establishment been embarrassed-on the contrary, it has, at all times, punctually redeemed its paper; therefore, the presentalarm is wholly to be ascribed to falsehoods and misrepresentations which have brought on me these dreadful consequences after I have redeemed by far the greatest proportion of notes which the Exchange Bank had in circulation. Near four mouths since 1 observed the gathering of the commercial storm, which is now raging, and have been ever since curtailing my business, not doubting my ability to weather it. At that period I put a stop to the emission of Exchange Bank Notes at all distant places, except a few at New-Orleans, where my agent holds sufficient funds to redeem all that he has put out in that quarter, and those previously put out in the Southern States have long since been forced back by the course of exchange, and redeemed.Since the first of May, ultimo, I have not issued one tenth of the amount ot Exchange Bank Notes that I had issued at all other periods in the same length of time, since the establishment of the Bank, and the return of Bills the last seven weeks has been so urmense that there is not a large amount left in the hands of the community, all which will be shortly paid in money with interest from this day, or immediately with slock in the Washington and Warren Bank at par-and I risk nothing in saying that know this Stock to be good, although it cannot be at this time converted into money. I beg leave to assure the public that I have done all that it was possible for man to do, and that if they did but know the amount of money I have raised and applied for the redemption of notes unexpectedly sent in, they could not but be surprised at my performance in times like the present. I have been extensively engaged in business in this city 18 years, during that time once before I was reduced to the painful necessity of suspending my payments- had the tisfaction of resuming them in the short space of three months, and of paying to my then creditors twenty shillings on the pound with seven per cent interest for the delay, which I think I have a right to claim of the public as a pledge of what they are to expec: in the present case. intend making

2. June 29, 1819 Richmond Enquirer Richmond, VA
Article from Richmond Enquirer, June 29, 1819

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are award, 10. The Seminole Campaign- check to Spanish perfidy : British intrigue and Indian barbarity most approved, where best underglood 11. The Floridas-Indispensable to our pros perity: essential to oursecurity. 12 The Heroes the Revolution-They left their children a noble inheritance: sad will be the struggle that bereavesthem of it. 13. Our CountryHere freedom and science their banners shall wave, Tis the land of the free and the home of the hrave.' VOLUNTEERS. By the President of the United States.-The Volunteers of Tennessee By their patrioti-m and bravery they have merited well of their natry B Gen Jackson-The Congress of the United States; The representatives of a five nation. may they never act from any other motive than to protect the constitution, and for the best interest of their country. By Gen. Gaines-The Frontier Inhabitants, The pionears and forlorn hope of our country. By the President of theday.-Theamalgamation of political parties. producedbythewise& just measures ot our present Chief Magistrate, without the least deviation from his republican integrity. By the Vice President-The administration of James Monroe; It has been firm, decisive, and st;abounding in acts of practical wisdom best calculated to promote the substantial interests of the union, reconcile party spirit, and hasten the arrival of dhathappy period when we will be" all Federalists all Republicans By John McNairy, (after the President had retired.)-Imperishable honor to a man who chief of the nation-not of a faction. The Ball on Thursday Evening, was splendid and numerously attended-Mr. Monroe appeared to enjoy much pleasure in the scene. The President left Nashville yesterday. [Gaz. Spanish dollars are quoted, in Day & Turner's New York Price Current of the 22d instant, at only one and a half to two per cent. above par. Three months ago the premium was seven per cent. From Nashville papers, we learn that the PRESIDENT reached the residence of Gen. Jackson on the evening of the 6th inst. and was expected in Nashville on the 9th instant. We think it more and more likely, as the season advances, that the President will find it necessary to a bridge his intended route, and return without visiting St. Louis; though the exteusive arrangements for the Western Exploring Expedition would make his visit there, at the present moment, par ticularly interesting. We have learnt, from private letters, that this expedition has met with an obstruction in its progress, at St. Louis, of what nature we do not precisely understand, but which, we presume, will betemporary only-though, il but temporary, is yet to be regretted. Nat. Int. CHARLESTON, June 21.-Eleven ships, all for European ports, deeply laden with the produce of our soil-six brigs, four schooners, and two sloops- in all 23 ves sels-sailed from this port on Saturday last. The imm use quantity of produce carried off in these vessels, has produced a chasm in the market of our staple articles-and this, together with the arrival of several vessels for cargoes, have given a spur to the prices of Rice and Cotton. Good Rice was sóld on Saturday at $3 25, and Upland Cotton has been sold at 17 cents. NEW YORK, June 23.-A great degree of excitement existed yesterday in consequence of the embarrassments of the Exchange Bank. At an early hour in the forenoon, a large number of persons, holders of Mr. Barker's and the Washington and Warren bills, were assembled op. posite the Banking house in Wall street, some of them in hopes that an opportunity would offer to enable them to get rid of the bills of these banks, notwithstanding the public declaration of suspension, for a limited period of one ofthem. Many others had assembled withouthaving seen Mr. Barker's advertisement, but had gone there to procure an exchange of the mo they held on those banks, which had entirely lost its value in market 11) consequ nce of rumours spread over the city affecting their credit, and which had caused a run on the Exchange Bank for a day or two previous. At12 o' clockthe crowd was very great and much uneasiness was manifested when it had become generally known that the bank had ceased for a period to redeein its paper. But notwithstanding the great disappointments which the suspension caused to many hundreds of persons in this city, and the distress which a gr at many of them must experience from this paper's lying useless 10 their possession, we did not notice anyother disposition expressed amongthe crowd generally, than a sincere r gret at what had happened, and a hope that Mr. Barker would be able to fulfil the declarations contained in his advertisement. [Daily Adv. There are a number of advertisements in the New York papers of yesterday, in which it 1. offered to take the bills of the Washington and Warren, or of the Ex. change Bank in payment forgoods of diff at kinds, The Banks in the city of Troy, alarmed

3. August 17, 1819 Elizabeth-Town Gazette Elizabeth, NJ
Article from Elizabeth-Town Gazette, August 17, 1819

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with aiding and abetting piracy, by issuing commissions in the Bahamas to the subjects of powers in amity with Spain. But I suppose this will be a chase after a wild goose." Aug. 12. JACOB BARKER has just published an address to the public, in a pamphlet of more than 50 pages. The following extracts are interesting. "And here let me unequivocally declare, I have, since the suspension, kept my eye steady and singly to the resuscitation of the credit of the paper of the two banks. And the object nearest my heart is the redemption, at par, of all their notes; this I shall never lose sight of, and shall pursue it until accomplished, "with a step as steady as time, and with an appetite as keen as death." "The notes of the Washington and Warren Bank, payable at New-York, will, from this date, be punctually redeemed at this bank; and the others will continue to be redeemed at the bank at Sandy Hill. And although I cannot restore the credit of the notes of the Exchange Bank with the same rapidity with which those of the Washington & Warren have been brought up from a discount of 50 per cent; yet it has been improved more quickly than speculators wished. I know them to be equally good, and I confidently calculate that no man will approach the polls at the next spring election with a bill in his pocket, which he cannot then convert into money, at par, if he chooses so to do. At that time I wish to be considered a candidate for a seat in the senate of this state, an honor now solicited, which was spontaneously conferred on me by the freeholders of the district when I was rich. The success and fidelity, with which I endeavored to promote their every wish, will, I trust, be a sufficient inducement for all honourable men, who were then satisfied with my conduct, to prefer an old, tried, and faithful servant to a stranger—unless, indeed, they should suppose that a poor man is less honest or less capable of serving them with fidelity than a rich one, which opinion is not to be expected from the enlightened freeholders of the southern district. "The public will doubtless recollect, that I have not, in my previous publications, fixed any period for the redemption of the notes of the Exchange Bank, and, I am very sorry to add, that it is not in my power to say precisely when they will be redeemed; I, however, think it will be in less than half the time that the other banks in this city took, when they, under less adverse circumstances, suspended their payments. And, while I am mortified at my inability to keep up my notes at par, it is gratifying to know that they will now command the specie from the brokers at a less premium than theirs did at that time "I have placed in the hands of the President, Directors and Company of the Bank of Washington and Warren, a sufficiency of funds to pay every Exchange Bank note that is in circulation, which they will apply exclusively to that object, and as speedily as it can be done without embarrassing their own concerns. The period, therefore, depends, in a great measure, on the circulation given to the notes of the Washington & Warren Bank; which bank I consider, from the knowledge I have of its concerns, as good as any other, if not the best, in America. Specie will be sent to Georgia, and to other distant places, to redeem the notes of the Exchange Bank at par, as soon as the sickly season passes away, which, I hope, will convince those who do not reside in the city, that the confidence with which they have received and circulated them, has not been misplaced, and that I shall not give a preference to the holders thereof who reside immediately around me. "Being liable to such numberless suits, that no estate in America would be sufficiently large to pay the expense of defending through the various courts to which they may be carried, as the costs of defending one on a single one dollar note, independent of counsel fees, will amount to $100, it is, therefore, absolutely necessary that I take some measure to protect my estate from the ravages of the law, and to preserve it for the benefit of my creditors. To accomplish this end, I have it in contemplation, if it should be found necessary, to apply for the benefit of the law exempting the person of the debtor from imprisonment. This, however mortifying, I shall do with the same cheerfulness with which I have been accustomed to march to the performance of every other duty. It will saddle the costs on all those who persevere with their suits, unless my estate shall prove sufficient after paying all my other debts, of which, there must be doubt, when it is considered

4. August 17, 1881 Watertown Republican Watertown, WI
Article from Watertown Republican, August 17, 1881

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# Wall Street Memories. [From a New York Letter.] Among other Wall Street memories connected with the late Jacob Barker was the panic of 1826, when old Jacob Barker's financial bubble burst, leading to general embarrassment. One of the victims was the distinguished ship-builder Henry Eckford Barker, who was the Jay Gould, of his day, and hence has left a permanent memory. Stokers remembered the Exchange Bank, which Barker founded at the close of the last war with Great Britain when general inflation prevailed. In three years the bank was closed amid the dismay of business men, who were in many instances ruined by the panic which followed. Barker was recognized as the great financier of the age, but his schemes were too far advanced to succeed. Jacob Barker was succeeded by Jacob Little, whose rise and fall came under Stokes' observation. The latter indeed, saw a greater range of financial talent in Wall Street than any other of its habitues. In his early days there was the solid, heavy-built form of John Jacob Astor, and then came the diminutive Stephen Whitney, whose wealth was reckoned next the former. The tall, attenuated form of A. T. Stewart, who became a director in the Merchants' Bank, was among the more recent features in his memory. Then came the

5. August 20, 1881 The Superior Times Superior, WI
Article from The Superior Times, August 20, 1881

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# Wall Street Memories. [From a New York Letter.] Among other Wall Street memories connected with the late Jacob Barker was the panic of 1826, when old Jacob Barker's financial bubble burst, leading to general embarrassment. One of the victims was the distinguished ship-builder Henry Eckford Barker, who was the Jay Gould, of his day, and hence has left a permanent memory. Stokers remembered the Exchange Bank, which Barker founded at the close of the last war with Great Britain when general inflation prevailed. In three years the bank was closed amid the dismay of business men, who were in many instances ruined by the panic which followed. Barker was recognized as the great financier of the age, but his schemes were too far advanced to succeed. Jacob Barker was succeeded by Jacob Little, whose rise and fall came under Stokes' observation. The latter indeed, saw a greater range of financial talent in Wall Street than any other of its habitues. In his early days there was the solid, heavy-built form of John Jacob Astor, and then came the diminutive Stephen Whitney, whose wealth was reckoned next the former. The tall, attenuated form of A. T. Stewart, who became a director in the Merchants' Bank, was among the more recent features in his memory. Then came the keen-eyed Yankee, David Levitt, who founded the American Exchange Bank, and who reached such wealth and distinction in finances. Commodore Vanderbilt was another magnate who has come and gone during the Stokes' Wall Street experience, and other once important names may be added, including James Brown, Daniel Drew and similar men whose names once were a power in the money market. Stokes never lost his love of the spot of his nativity (No. 45 Wall street,) and there he erected the banking-house which he and his sons have occupied so many years. The next most interesting spot in the city was No. 157 Broadway, which was his first real estate purchase, and proved immensely profitable. The deceased banker was much annoyed by the misdeeds of Ned Stokes, and when the latter killed Fisk he felt that the name was sadly stained. True, there was no blood connection, but this was not generally known, and those at a distance supposed (in many instances at least) that the murderer was of the same family. This idea was confirmed when Ned's former wealth was mentioned.