16067. Knickerbocker Trust Company (New York, NY)

Bank Information

Episode Type: Run → Suspension → Reopening
Bank Type: trust company
Start Date: October 23, 1907
Location: New York, New York (40.714, -74.006)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: 6a6cac9d

Response Measures

Accommodated withdrawals, Borrowed from banks or large institutions, Capital injected, Full suspension, Books examined

Description

The Knickerbocker Trust Co. experienced a heavy depositor run Oct 22-23, 1907, exhausted cash and suspended payments same day; it entered receivership and was later rehabilitated and resumed business in March 1910 after stockholder/depositor arrangements. Causes were bank-specific adverse revelations about management and bad securities. Dates use newspaper reports (suspension Oct 23, 1907; resumption March 14, 1910).

Events (4)

1. October 23, 1907 Run

Cause: Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details: Revelations about management, bad securities/overreaching by directors and related failures (Otto Heinze & Co. and other exposures) sparked loss of confidence and large withdrawals.
Measures: Directors announced $8,000,000 on hand; paid out large cash sums until funds exhausted; attempted reassurances before suspending payments.
Newspaper Excerpt: the Knickerbocker Trust company ... paid out cash to depositors at the rate of $44,444 a minute for three hours, then closed its doors.
Source: newspapers

2. October 23, 1907 Suspension

Cause: Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details: Exhaustion of cash in vaults due to massive withdrawals driven by revelations about the bank's dealings; management announced suspension of payments after cash ran out despite asserted solvency of securities.
Newspaper Excerpt: Vice President J. T. Brown announced that the bank had no more cash available and that payments would be suspended.
Source: newspapers

3. March 14, 1910 Reopening

Newspaper Excerpt: Tomorrow morning the last dollar due the depositors of the Knickerbocker Trust Company at the time of the failure of the big bank, October 22, 1907, will be paid off. ... the Knickerbocker Trust Company will resume business; capital, surplus, and deposits same as before doors closed.
Source: newspapers

4. * Receivership

Newspaper Excerpt: These companies are now in the hands of receivers. ... the Knickerbocker Trust Company of New York and the Jenkins Trust Company were sold ... The companies are now in the hands of receivers.
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (25)

1. October 23, 1907 The Daily Alaskan Skagway, AK

Article from The Daily Alaskan, October 23, 1907

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(United Press Telegraph-Cable Service.) New York, Oct. 23-Four branches of The Knicker bocker Trust Company failed to open their doors this morning. Crowds of depositors formed in line at daylight and a run was imminent at all of them. The police reserves have been called out to prevent domonstrations. The bank carried $62,000,000.00 in deposits. The hardest hit of all depositors are the moderately well off business men who pat ronized the bank. No statement has been given out. Washington, Oct. 23-By order of Secretary Cortelyou large amounts of money are being advanced to the banks of the country to assist them in averting a panic which is on. Pittsburg, Oct. 23-When the hour for the opening of

2. October 23, 1907 Bluefield Evening Leader Bluefield, WV

Article from Bluefield Evening Leader, October 23, 1907

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New York, Oct. 23. A run etartel on the Trust Company of America when the doors opened today. but the allied trust companies It is announced agreed to advance fifteen million dollars to the American at once, This, with eleven million dollars said to be in the company's vaults, it is averred will be sufficient to meet all demands. If the Trust Company of America meets today's demands all the bankers will he able to weather the storm. The Knickerbocker Trust Company today placed in the state banking department's hands to rthe attorney general to hold an investigation and sea If it is necessary to appoint a receiver. The stock market opened demoralized with wide price variations. Call money was quoted at 40 per cent Edward C. Benedict was today appointed receiver for the brokerage firm of Mayer & Co., which failed yesterday for six million dollars.

3. October 23, 1907 Arizona Republican Phoenix, AZ

Article from Arizona Republican, October 23, 1907

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NEW YORK'S WORST DAY (Continued from page 1.) They were in earnest conversation during the ferry trip to New York. Upon reaching the city they went at once to the Hotel Manhattan, where several bankers later were presented to the secretary. The Knickerbocker Trust company was the storm center today, and paid out cash to depositors at the rate of $44,444 a minute for three hours, then closed its doors. The directors had as they thought, fully prepared for the run, and caused to be announced in today's papers, that $8,000,000 was on hand to meet all eventualities. At 9:30 a few depositors withdrew their accounts and an hour later, hundreds were in line to take out deposits at the main office at Thirty-fourth street and Fifth Ave., and at Harlem and the Bronx and the down town branches. The $8,000,000 lasted until 12:30, when Vice President J. T. Brown announced that the bank had no more cash available and that payments would be suspended. Brown said that the bank would open tomorrow and payments would be resumed at 1:30 p. m. The Nickerbocker it was announced, had ample securities to meet all demands, was perfectly solvent, and it was only the question of raising the

4. October 23, 1907 The Washington Times Washington, DC

Article from The Washington Times, October 23, 1907

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Presaging a Clear Sky. Every good reason sustains the belief that yesterday's financial storm in New York was only the thunder clap which presages a clear sky and good weather. The bank statements are reassuring. Under competent leadership, the bankers are uniting forces to grapple the first indications of panic. The businesses so far affected are not classified with the firm, conservative trade of banking upon which the financial world relies, and which must be shaken before there can be general panic. The condition of the Knickerbocker Trust Company is not known at this writing. It may be entirely solvent. It may have suffered from the disposition of some directors to finance operations for each other on security which would not. have been accepted 28 sufficient if offered by anyone else. But this much is sure -that the Knickerbocker was a trust company, not a national bank, and that (heing outside the District of Columbia) it enjoyed a latitude, questionable and dangerous, which is not permitted the national banks. What is happening in New York is a pulling-up of weeds. From the great insurance companies to this double failure of yeşterdaý, involving a powerful trust company and a well-known firm of stock brokers, the whole story is one of overreaching corrected, of operations on bad security either recovered or exposed, of publicity and open dealing supplanting easy money in the dark. Out of this the whole notion must benefit. When any institution, particularly one that operates with the money of investors, is brought back to the conditions of sound business, the banker and the business man generally profit as much as the individual depositor in the company directly concerned. The President puts the case

5. October 23, 1907 The Times Dispatch Richmond, VA

Article from The Times Dispatch, October 23, 1907

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GREAT STRAIN ON STOCK MARKET Only Powerful and Persistent Support Saved It from Demoralization. STORM OF LIQUIDATION ON Announcement of Knickerbocker Suspension Causes Market to Stagger Under Shock. NEW YORK, October 22.-The stock market in New York has not been subjected to greater strain in many years than was the case to-day. Only the most powerful and persistent support saved it from running into absolute demoralization. and with the best that could be done the results were sufficiently serious. as is abundantly testiLied by the list of price changes and by the volume of transactions. The dealings record a greater proportion than in former times must be allowed for genuine transactions, owing to the many withdrawals of the great plunging class of operators from the market in recent months. The storm of liquidation raged in varying degree at different times of the day and with varying force in different quarters of the market. The run on the Knickerbocker Trust Company was almost a matter of course, in view of the revelations over night. and the announcement of its suspension caused the stock market to stagger and sent a tremor of apprehension through the whole financial fabric. This convulsive period of the day's. liquidation ran conditions to the verse of panic. After that the market righted itself to some extent and became quieter. The feeling in the financial district is one of open question as to how far the contraction of credit incident to the distrust now aroused may have to 20 and how far it will necessitate further business contraction to fit the resources available. Bonds were weak. Total sales par value, $3,220,000. United States honds were unchanged on call. Total sales of stocks to-day, 1,379,300 shares. NEW YORK. October 22.-Monty on call excited and strong. 6@70 per cent.: ruling rate. 45 and 50: last loan. 6. no closing bids: offered at 25. Time loans nominal: 60 days. 61-2 bid. and 90 days. 61-2 per cent. bid: six months4' 6 per cent. bid. Close: Prime mercantile paper. 7@71-2 per cent.: sterling exchange heavy, with actual business in bankers' bills at $4.8525$4.830 for demand. and at $4.81@ $4.8105 for 60day bills. Commercial bills. $4.80 1-2. Bar silver. $61 1-2. Mexican dollars, 48-3-S. Government bonds steady. Railread bonds weak.

6. October 25, 1907 The Red Cloud Chief Red Cloud, NE

Article from The Red Cloud Chief, October 25, 1907

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RUN ON KNICKERBOCKE NEW YORK TRUST COMPANY su PENDS PAYMENT. CORTELYOU TO THE RESCU Becretary of the Treasury Orders $ 000,000 Deposited in the New You City Banks and Issues Reassurir Statement-Brokers Fail, New York, Oct. 23.-Credit, the u der-the-surface foundation of all bus ness, trembled for a time, and befo confidence could be restored, Ne York's second largest financial ins tution had emptied its cash vaults u der pressure of the biggest run e perienced here in a generation; stock exchange firm had failed for $ 000,000; Wall street's principal secu itles had settled from $5 to $8 a share call money had risen to 70 per cer and local bankers, unable to stem t) tide of distrust, have been forced appeal for relief to the secretary the treasury at Washington. All this was in the face of reassu ing statements by the acting sta superintendent of banks that the su pected bank was solvent; declaration by prominent bankers that there wa no true basis for alarm, and assu ances from Washington that Secr tary Cortelyou would not hesitate act promptly in any situation whe Egitimate business was threatene Now that the first scare and tl worst of the future is discounted, it believed that local banking affairs w soon readjust themselves. Secretary Cortelyou is here to loo thoroughly into the financial situatio which he has had under observation for several weeks. He has come with pre-conceived lideas that addition money will be required to support tl situation and the relief will be dete mined by what he learns here. H fore leaving Washington Mr. Cort you directed that $6,000,000 be-depo ited with New York banks as soon the necessary collateral had be furnished, and at the same time he sued a reassuring statement. Knickerbocker Out of Cash. The Knickerbocker Trust compan the storm center, paid out cash to d positors at the rate of $44,444 a mi ute for hours, and then closed i doors. The directors had, as th thought, fully prepared for a run a caused the announcement that $8,00 000 in cash was on hand to meet a eventualities. At 9:30 o'clock a few deposito withdrew their accounts and an ho later hundreds were in line to take O their deposits at the main office, Thirty-fourth street and Fifth avenu and at the Harlem, the Bronx and ti downtown branches. The $8,000,0 lasted until 12:30, when Vice Pre dent Joseph T. Brown announced th the bank had no more cash availab and payments were suspended. T

7. October 25, 1907 Alexandria Gazette Alexandria, VA

Article from Alexandria Gazette, October 25, 1907

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seems to have much to learn of terrestrial affairs. # THE New York stock market was on the verge of a panic when J. P. Morgan, responding to a piteous appeal, sent $25,000,000 to the exchange and turned the tide. John D. Rockefeller distributed $10,000,000 through the Union Trust Company. Secretary Cortelyou deposited a large part of $25,000,000 in New York banks. Nine millions more was drawn from the Trust Company of America, but it had no difficulty, as possibly as much was deposited. The millions which poured into the market reduced the rate for money at the close to 10 per cent. Directors of the Knickerbocker Trust Company are working out a scheme to avoid liquidation by forming a syndicate to guarantee payment in full to depositors. There was a run on the Lincolu Trust Company, which had no difficulty in meeting all demands. Today pictures of Rockefeller and Morgan appeared in many newspapers with praises of their action in coming to the rescue of the market at the critical moment. Under normal conditions these two financi are generally targets for abuse from the envious. They suddenly became very popular yesterday when their services were needed.

8. November 16, 1907 The Bennington Evening Banner Bennington, VT

Article from The Bennington Evening Banner, November 16, 1907

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# BARNEY WAS A SUICIDE Ex-President of the Defunct Knickerbocker Trust. NEW YORK, Nov, 15.-Charles T. Barney, former president of the Knickerbocker Trust company, which recently closed its doors, committed suicide in his palatial home here at the northeast corner of Park avenue and Thirty-eighth street. He shot himself shortly before 10 o'clock in the morning and died at 2:30 o'clock. He had made a previous attempt on his life last Monday, but it was unsuccessful. The coroner was not notified of the suicide for some hours, when a man at the Barney residence called the office on the telephone and reported the sudden death of Charles T. Barney, fifty-five years old, a banker, Clerk Charles Burns asked for further details, and Dr. Blake of 601 Madison avenue got on the telephone. The doctor said he had been called to the house and found the banker dead. Death, the doctor said, was due to a pistol shot wound in the stomach. The doctor reported the case ther as one of suicide and not a "sudden death," as a sudden, natural death is usually reported. Mr. Barney had evidently tried to shoot himself through the heart, but his aim was poor, and the bullet entered the stomach on the left side just below the heart. The following statement was issued by George L. Nichols, the dead man's lawyer: "Charles T. Barney died as a result of a self inflicted pistol wound." Mrs. Barney and other members of the family were in the house when they heard the shot. Mr. Barney had got out of bed, dressed and had eaten his breakfast. He lingered about the house for some time and then went up to his bedroom. A few minutes later the servants in the household and the members of the family were startled by the report of the pistol. Ashbel P. Barney rushed upstairs and found his father lying across his bed groaning. He was lifted up and Dr. George A. Dixon, the family physician, was sent for at once. Other physicians came, and they had the dying man's clothing removed so that they might make a close examination. After a consultation they decided to probe for the bullet, and an operating table was improvised and the physicians began their search, but Mr. Barney died before they had finished. Mr. Nichols, personal counsel for Mr. Barney, was hurriedly sent for, and when he arrived he found the house in an uproar. He took charge of the situation at once and insisted that nothing should be said about the tragedy until the surgeons should report. Though some rumors had spread downtown about the affair, it did not become known positively until the report was made to the coroner. Just as soon as the wounded man died Mr. Nichols and the physicians called up the coroner's office and an investigation was begun. Mr. Barney had been under medical treatment for some time for nervous prostration, and the family were greatly alarmed about his condition. On Monday he attempted to jump out of a third story window, but was restrained in time and had been carefully watched since then. It was said that only Wednesday night he was in a condition touching closely on total collapse. The difficulties in which he was placed because of the suspension of the Knickerbocker Trust company were more than he could stand. Mr. Barney is believed to have lost a great part of his fortune in the crash which carried down the Knickerbocker Trust company. He had been rated at many times a millionaire, having inherited $10,000,000 alone from his father. Mr. Barney's undoing came with the disclosures in the Knickerbocker Trust company management, which followed the failure of Otto Heinze & Co. Mr. Barney had been associated with O. F. and E. R. Thomas and Charles W. Morse, and when these three men were eliminated from the banking business suspicion was directed toward the Knickerbocker. The National Bank of Commerce notified the Clearing House association that it would no longer clear for the Knickerbocker. A meeting of the trust companies' directors was hurriedly called, and that night Mr. Barney resigned the presidency. Poor Jones Shut Up. CHICAGO, Nov. 15. John H. Jones,

9. November 17, 1907 The Washington Times Washington, DC

Article from The Washington Times, November 17, 1907

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TRYING WEEK IN WALL STREET; GOLD COMING IN Recovery Must Be Slow to Be Healthful-Cry for Currency. Bears in Saddle and Are Driving at St. Paul Shares. NEW YORK, Nov. 16.-It has been a very trying week in the stock market. The long stretch of weakness covering a period of more than a year, with such enormous losses in security values as to stagger the men of millions who were the chief owners of securities, and reaching a climax in the last few weeks In the panic of prosperity, is very likely to have an aftermath. For months the word has gone forth that it was a "rich man's panic, and that it would not intefere in any way with the industrial or commercial prosperity. The rich men stood it just as long as they could, and then some of them went by the board, shorn of many millions, and only the wise men who had forseseen the conditions were able to step into the breach and check the downwad turn. But you can not hit Wall Street without injuring the whole business fabric, even though it was many months after the value of securities had depreciated nearly $3,000,000,000 before the effect was evident in industrial and commercial depression. Money Taken From Trade. No bank can pay all its depositors at once. No bank can turn its collateral into currency in troublous times without sacrificing values to a disastrous limit. With confidence shaken, the rush for deposits breaks banks. The deposits taken out do not find their way into regular channels of trade, and immediately panic results. The recovery at best is slow. The banks of New York city have worked wonders in the way of finding rellef for conditions. They have imported, or will import, some $65,000,000 gold from Europe, They will not let the 7 per cent. bank rate of the Bank of England check the movement, and with an 8 per cent rate they will still bring gold this way. They have had to take care of their customers as best they could, tide the Trust Company of America over the stones, and save the Lincoln Trust. Of course they have been assisted. as they should have been, by the Government, through th Treasury Department. Some $213,495,545 of public moneys were deposited in national banks of deposit. The Secretary of the Treasury may take whatever security he deems proper for deposits. He cannot issue currency for circulation except on Government bonds. The banks have taken out some $21,000,000 new security on Comptroller Ridgely's plan of depositing Government bonds and then substituting savings banks collateral for Government deposits. Savings banks are especially careful in the kind of investments, so that their collateral is usually worth face of investment or more. Municipal bonds form the best collateral of this character. Cry for Currency Continues. And yet with all this new money-the gold from Europe, the Government deposits and the new circulation-the cry for currency goes up from one end of the land to the other, with the single exception of Washington, where they make It and the Government constantly puts it into circulation. The business of the country is done on one part cash and nine parts confidence and when confidence is disturbed there is trouble. And the final recovery must come from the return of confidence. They are doing business in many cities today on confidence, confidence in the certificates of clearing houses and mercantile and manufacturing concern but this same confidence must be general before the recovery will be general. Some improper and uncommercial methods by certain New York bankers helped to destroy confidence and the reaping of the wage in the death of exPresident Barney, of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, on Friday of this week, was another burden on confidence. Stocks at Bargain Prices. New York Central also made a new low record, because of the enormous expenses that the company is assuming in connection with its various extensive Improvements. Both these stocks have long been considered "as good as gold," and for the first time in many years they are down to the low point. The average price of railroad stocks today is 82.44, the lowest since McKinley's second election. The losses of the week average from 2 to 5 points. The closing down of mills and the throwing out of workmen here and there is the most positive information Duro Floin Butter 30c. 1b

10. November 23, 1907 The Logan Republican Logan, UT

Article from The Logan Republican, November 23, 1907

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He strikes the Goulds, the Rockefellers, the Morgans and the anti-Roosevelt Republicans generally with a battleax, that cleaves down to their very boots. Here is the opening sentence of his latest editorial: "When the game opened we were all on the alert and our combined common sense was too much for the freebooters, but as time passed vigilance began to browse and they almost got the better of the public." Soon he reaches the Wall street troubles and then he does not hesitate to proclaim that the panic there was made to order; that it was a trap set to be sprung, etc. But this part of the editorial is more graphic in itself than any recital can make it. 'This is what the editor says: "There was a step in the plot where they caught the country napping. The Wall street panics, made to order, having failed to frighten anybody, it became necessary to set a trap. Big interest rates were held out as bait to lure the money of the country to New York. The bait took and thither the money went. Then the pirates set up their chorus: "You're in, little mousie, but how to get out is a very different question." "Wall street got the money of the country and Wall street kept it. "The banks of the west were literally disemboweled. Nobody feared trouble. Why should we not profit by the necessities of the east? So we profited by them. Then came another Wall street flurry and failures and rumors of failures. The Knickerbocker Trust company went down. It went down just in the nick of time to serve the purposes of the pirates, and since they controlled it one can easily discern the reason for its failure. "Confidence throughout the country began to totter and here the west awoke to the fact that its credit hung in the air. There was no cash to base it upon. The cash was all in the vaults of the freebooters. It was exactly where they wanted it and we soon learned that they intended to keep it there." The editor grows warmer and warmer on the scent as he pursues his quarry. He insists that the anti-Roosevelt financiers maneuvered it all on Wall street to start a run on the inland banks. Their purpose was to bring disaster upon the country and all they were to gain by it was to make Roosevelt odious and destroy his influence in his party. The editorial closes with this ringing arraignment: "This last blow of the freebooters at the President and the nation was well prepared and skillfully delivered, but if we keep our heads we can parry it as we have the others. The question is: Are we going to keep our heads or shall we fall into a panic and play their game for them?" Whether these charges are justified in their entirety the Times does not know, but it doesn't question that the great financiers, some of whose plans were frustrated by the President's marly stand, were willing that tightness of the money market should prevail and sluggish business replace the vitality and profit with which it had been moving. But they invoked a spirit they could not control, and the conspirators, except a few of the very biggest of them, have been caught and crushed in the ruin they intended for others. The country at large has been a little inconvenienced by the plotters, and its business has somewhat slackened, but the country is only now resting on its oars and all its mighty powers are at work to bring back the confidence that Wall street has weakened. With that restored and the hun-

11. November 30, 1907 New-York Tribune New York, NY

Article from New-York Tribune, November 30, 1907

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PLAN OF DEPOSITORS. Satterlee Scheme for Rehabilitation of Knickerbocker Trust Company. The Knickerbocker Trust Company depositors' committee, of which Herbert I. Satterlee, son-inlew of J. Plerpont Morgan, is counsel. made public last night a plan for the rehabilitation of the company which it has been preparing for the last three weeks. The plan provides that the stockholders shall contribute the sum of $2,400,000 to the treasury of the company, for which they are to receive what will be known as "surplus certificates, Series B." These certificates will bear interest at the rate of 4 per cent yearly, payable semi-annually, but before the stockholders receive any dividends on their certificates similar certificates to be issued to depositors in payment of 30 per cent of their deposits, and designated "Beries A," must be paid off. The interest on both classes of certificates is to be cumulative and is to be payable out of the net earnings of the company. The Series B certincates are to be exchangeable at the option of the holder for stock at $300 a share. They are to be redeemed out of the net earnings and so much of the surplus as may exceed $10,000.000, below which amount the surplus is not in any event to be reduced. The balance of 70 per cent due depositors is to be paid in negotiable certificates of deposit, payable 10 per cent upon the day of resumption, and the remainder in instalments of 5 per cent at intervals of three months until the entire amount is paid. Interest at the rate of 3 per cent a year is to be allowed on balances due on these certificates, and payments on them may be anticipated if the condition of the company warrants it. The plan provides, further, that the stock of the company shall be placed in a voting trust, to continue until all the surplus certificates are paid off A majority of the voting trustees will be representative of the depositors who assent to this plan. and the board of directors of the company is to be acceptable to at least two-thirds of the trustees. The plan provides also that all deposits preferred by law which are due prior to the day of resumption, are to be paid in full. The plan is to become operative as soon as, in the opinion of the committee, a sufficient number of depositors have assented to it and the permission of the Supreme Court to resume business has been obtained. The committee reserves the right to modify the plan at any time, and any depositor has the right to withdraw his assent as provided in the agreement already published between the committee, the depositors and the three trust companies, acting jointly as depository. Mr. Satterlee said last night that there had been a conference during the afternoon, at which all the depositors' committees and the directors' committee took part. At this meeting, he said, the plan formulated by his committee had been submitted to the other committees for their approval, and had been taken by them under advisement. Justice Clark, of the Supreme Court, handed down a decision yesterday denying the application made by Mr. Untermyer, that the receivers furnish his committee with a list of the depositors of the Knickerbocker Trust Company. Albany, Nov. 29.-State bonds deposited with the state authorities to secure state deposits with the Knickerbocker Trust Company of New York and the Jenkins Trust Company were sold at auction this afternoon by Controller Glynn. These companies are now in the hands of receivers. The state depositories are required to give bonds to protect the state against loss, and in most instances guarantee bonds are furnished. In the case of the Knickerbocker company $250,000 in New York State canal bonds were offered as security. These were sold to the state at $250,013, to be applied to the canal debt sinking fund. The Jenkins Trust Company had deposited state bonds to the amount of $100,000. These were also bid in by Controller Glynn for the state, to be applied to the highway improvement sinking fund.

12. January 2, 1908 The Caucasian Raleigh, Goldsboro, Clinton, NC

Article from The Caucasian, January 2, 1908

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# New York Trust Companies and the Panic. The most remarkable development of the banking business of New York City during the past ten years has been the growth of its trust companies. By paying interest on deposits, thereby attracting business, by not observing—not being obliged to do so by law—certain safeguards required of the national banks, as, for instance, in the matter of reserves, they have cut heavily into the banks' business. In New York City alone they have deposits of hundreds of millions. To be able to make money after paying the high interest on deposits that they paid, they were naturally obliged to take chances and run risks that no conservative banker would approve. They engaged in ventures, underwritings, development schemes, etc., that nothing but the amazing prosperity of the past decade prevented from failing disastrously. Now, the public knew all this in a vague way, but the public always insists on astutely waiting for the horse to be stolen before locking the stable door. But when Mr. Barney resigned as president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, it believed that all it had ever heard about the business methods of certain trust companies was true of the Knickerbocker. The run began—somebody asked for a dollar!—and then there was panic-sheer, blind, unreasoning fear. Of course, the suspension of payment by the Knickerbocker Trust Company, an institution with $62,000,000 of deposits, was the signal for runs on other institutions; and not only in New York City, but elsewhere, trust companies and banks closed their doors. After sleepless nights and much thought, the majority of the banks of the great metropolis of the United States decided to issue Clearing House certificates. Other cities followed the example of New York—anything in order not to have to pay out the money that they did not have!—Edwin Lefevre in the January Everybody's.

13. January 17, 1908 Dakota Farmers' Leader Canton, SD

Article from Dakota Farmers' Leader, January 17, 1908

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# KNICKERBOCKER TRUST CO. Charles Tracy Barney, deposed president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, millionaire promoter, social leader, clubman and one of the best known men in New York City, shot himself because of his inability to endure the blot upon his business reputation which he feared would result from the suspension of the company. He had been at the head of the trust company for many years and had seen it grow from a comparatively obscure concern to one of the leading financial institutions of the city. Then, almost without warning, came the crash. The resignation of Mr. Barney as president of the Knickerbocker was accepted by the directors and the next day the great trust company, with obligations to its depositors amounting to nearly $7,000,000, was forced to suspend payment.

14. February 8, 1908 Bisbee Daily Review Bisbee, AZ

Article from Bisbee Daily Review, February 8, 1908

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# MARK AND THE HAREM. Mark Twain is the most incurable jokesmith in this or any other planet. Persons who think that this statement is too far-reaching will please peruse the following letter with regard to the Knickerbocker Trust company. Note what Mark says about a receiver." "To the Other Depositors: "The time is very short. Mr. Grover Cleveland, a depositor, has approved the Satterlee plan for resumption, and it seems to me that ought to satisfy every depositor that that plan is safe and wise. If we accept it we shall lose no part of our money; if we do not acept it the Knickerbocker will be turned over to å permanent receivership. I have already tried a permanent receivership once and did not like the result. It costs more to keep a permanent receivership than it does to keep a harem. Anybody who has had experience in these matters wil indorse this statement. In the long run-in the very long run-we got some of our money, but not enough to keep a harem with All the depositors said so, and were disappointed, and there was much regret. If we accept the Satterlee plan, and do it immediately, it will be well for us; if we refuse we invite and insure a shrinkage which the patients will not find enjoyable. I have not been invited to say these things, still it has seemed worth while to say them. Very respectfully your, "MARK TWAIN."

15. March 13, 1908 Perrysburg Journal Perrysburg, OH

Article from Perrysburg Journal, March 13, 1908

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age estimated at $100,000. Charles Aldrich, curator and founder of the state historical department of Iowa, died at Boone, Ia. Congressman Adolph Meyer, for- in merly an assistant adjutant general New the confederate army, died in Orleans. Giuseppe Alla was placed on trial He in the Denver (Col.) criminal court. shot down Father Leo Heinrichs. An effort is being made before conto secure a new apportionment by of gress the recompensation now given the government for the transportation of United States mails by rail. The Point Loma (Cal.) wireless station reported a dispatch for the navy on department from Admiral Evans board his flagship, the Connecticut. Warden Frank Conley of the Deer Lodge (Mont.) state penitentiary was dangerously wounded and his first assistant warden, James Robinson, was killed when three life convicts made a dash for liberty. ultimatum in the case of Maru has been the foreign board at the Japan's Tatsu Chinese presented Peking, to and the board has the matter under consideration. The Tatsu Maru was seized off Macao by Chinese customs cruisers. Gov. Charles E. Hughes was formally indorsed as New York's candidate for president by the Republican state New committee at its meeting in York. The Argentine elections resulted in a complete victory for the existing government. David Waldo, a wealthy horseman throughout the a and who formerly well-known States, owned United was killed near Indepenin a runaway race dence, track, Mo., accident. Colombian Raminez Arbelaez, the died at Lima, Peru. Lumber charge The Union d'affaires, company, over St. Paul, Minn., which will take than seven sawmill plants and more 3,000,000,000 feet of standing timber, the has been granted a charter by Manitoba government. A battle between farmers and three robbers, in which two of the latter were wounded, followed the daring robbery of the post offices at Pedricktown and Bridgeport, N. J. Twenty-six railroad laborers were overcome by gas in the Pennsylvania Md. railroad tunnel at Baltimore, Four died and ten badly affected. The Knickerbocker Trust company, New York, which suspended business at the beginning of the financial panic, resumes business soon. Mme. Anna Gould, who recently sea divorce from her husband, cured Count Boni de Castellane, in married Paris, denied the report that she Prince Helie de Sagan. In court at Waukegan, Ill., a verdict cf $14,000 was returned in libel suit of Attorney Philip W. Mothersill against Overseer W. G. Voliva of Zion City The army auto car, carried a York mesfrom Gen. Grant in New sage to Col. R. H. R. Loughborough, city commandant at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Germany's first mammoth war ship suclaunched at Wilhelmshaven cessfully was and named Nassau. supreme court at Nashville, saThe law. This law confines the tion upheld the Nashville segrega- terriloons Tenn., of the city to a certain tory. destroyed the boys' dormitory AgriculFire New Mexico School of many at the at Mesilla park, Tex., and sleeping ture students had narrow Appalache escapes. While boating on the skiff pond near Greers, S. C., a three mill carrying ten people capsized and women were drowned. young fire at Nilgata, Japan, the 1,500 In a were totally destroyed, was dishouses trict being swept clean. There some loss J. of Ainsworth, life. commander of the Daniel revenue cutter Wash. Rush, committed suicide at Seattle, were reported throughout was Floods Indiana. The Wabash northern its banks for miles northeast partly of out Lafayette. of South Peru was under water. conKansas Republicans in instructed state to at Topeka, Kan., vention vote for the nomination of Secretary W. H. Taft for president. States Senator Redfield ProcUnited Vermont died in Washington at tor after of a short illness following an tack of grippe. Mount blowers robbed the 40 miles Safe bank, Mount Orab, O., curreneast Orab of Cincinnati, of $3,000 in cy and complete securities. shut-down of the 15,000 coal A in Iowa, worked by mines miners, is threatened. The agreement expires March 31.

16. April 3, 1908 The State Herald Holyoke, CO

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Power Company to Rush Work. Colorado Springs-The re-opening of the Knickerbocker Trust Company of New York, which suspended payment Oct. 23, 1907, has given renewed im petus to the operations of the Central Colorado Power Company, under the management of Curtis & Hine of this place. Officers of the company say its working force will be increased to 1.000 men within the next two months. The big Colorado concern had nearly a half a million dollars in the New York institution when It suspended payment. and this fact. combined with the general financial depression, caused a temporary cessation of a part of the work at Glenwood Springs, Gore canon and Boulder, with the consequent laying off of about 600 men. The Central Colorado Power Commany plans eventually to furnish practically the entire state with electric power for all purposes. It Is capital ized at $22,500,000, and is composed of some of the leading capitalists of this country and Europe.

17. April 16, 1908 Evening Journal Wilmington, DE

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Editorial Opinion Pay of Receivers. Dover News. The average reader understands that when a business establishment becomes practically bankrupt the courts appoint a "receiver" to take charge of the business. Well, these receivers it appears, are prepared to receive unto themselves as pay for services. all that can possibly be shaken out of receiver hopper. We read that the three receivers of the Knickerbocker Trust Company of New York, received for their services of five months. an average daily compensation of $1000 each. And the three lawyers hired by them $25,000 each additional. This was gigantic receiving from a hopper full of gold. We hardly suppose our Delaware receivers ever strike it so full in the belt. For instance when Receiver Bayard was suing at law for $2.50 Evans' match safe, and selling their stocks and securities at a dollar a peach basket, he must probably have charged a trifle less for his work than $1000 a day.

18. May 13, 1908 New-York Tribune New York, NY

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THE NEWS THIS MORNING. CONGRESS-Senate: The Postoffice appropriation bill, carrying $229,027,367, was passed; Mr. Rayner spoke on his resolution directing the President to order a court of inquiry into charges against Colonel William F. Stewart. House: The conference report on the naval appropriation bill was agreed to and it was announced that the currency bill would be considered on Thursday. FOREIGN.-Two schooners engaged in tortoise fishing off the Isle of Pines have been seized, a revenue cutter firing a shot into one Secreof them before she would heave to. tary Taft left Colon for Charleston on the Prairie, having concluded a successful trip as Inhabitants peacemaker on the isthmus. of the village of Belleghem, near Courtrai, attacked and killed a man caught robbing a chapel Ambassador Reid presided at a luncheon given by the Pilgrims in London in Russian prishonor of Edwin A. Abbey. oners at Simferopol killed four officials and Judge Rodey dismissed the suit escaped. of the American Railway Company to get possession of lands occupied by army, navy and lighthouse services in Porto Rico. Great Britain, Russia. France and Italy have decided to withdraw their troops from Crete, peaceful Prince conditions prevailing in the island. Ito, in an interview at Seoul. said that Japan's object in reforming the system of government in Corea was to make that country an independent ally of Japan. DOMESTIC.-The men of the Atlantic fleet were entertained at a reception and ball by the exclusive California Club of San Francisco. Governor Hughes was welcomed by a crowd at Washington, where he went to attend the conference of Governors and the President's dinner The body of George Clinton, first Governor of New York, was exhumed in Washington and will be reburied in Kingston, N. Y. The welfare committee closed its conference by effecting a reorganization as the Woman's Department of the National Civic Federation; Mrs. Medill McCormick. of Chicago, was A resolution presented elected president. at the Methodist Episcopal General Conference at Baltimore provides for a twelve-year term Two robfor bishops and no re-election. bers, dressed as brakemen, attacked the express messenger on a Great Northern train between Seattle and Vancouver, and looted the strong box of a sum estimated at between $1,000 and $10,000 Gustave CITY.-Stocks were weak. Lindenthal, under whose directions the original plans for the Blackwell's Island Bridge were made. said he would not have approved the changes made. Governor Hughes said he could not serve even were he elected VicePresident The initial steps were taken in a plan to reopen the Brooklyn Bank under its old name, but as the property of the International Trust Company. The floor sagged beneath one hundred petitioners in Queens BorNew York ough Hall and caused a panic. Life records showed contributions of $15,000 to the Merchants' Association at the insistence of William F. King. The Knickerbocker Trust Company announced it would pay depositors two instalments. falling due later, under the resumption agreement, on June 1. President Hepburn of the Chase National Bank said he looked for a period of unprecedented prosperity. The Denver & Rio Grande sold $15,000,000 three-year notes to local bankers to finish the Western Pacific construction work. THE WEATHER-indications for to-day: Fair and cooler. The temperature yesterday: Highest, 81 degrees: lowest, 64.

19. September 20, 1908 Los Angeles Herald Los Angeles, CA

Article from Los Angeles Herald, September 20, 1908

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# GUARANTEEING BANK DEPOSITS posits held by national banks was in the hands of the government, and that the government stood ready to make good from it the loss to depositors resulting from the failure of a national bank, the same confidence would be felt in deposits as in national bank notes. In the case of a defalcation or a crash there would be no run on the bank, for nobody would worry about his deposits. The result of the proposed tax would undoubtedly put in circulation quite $200,000,000 now out of sight. The banking and business men are feeling about for an elastic currency scheme which would allow the putting into circulation of just that much extra money." But the scheme suggested by our contemporary was not put into effect, and, as a result of the lack of security to depositors under our currency law as it stands, when the crash of the Knickerbocker Trust company in New York came it produced a panic which led to huge withdrawal of funds by depositors all over the country, so that finally in order to prevent the wrecking of all banks in the country the governmental authorities were driven to declaring public holidays so that money could not be drawn out of the banks, and the bankers themselves were driven to securing an increase of circulating medium by the very unsatisfactory but at the same time very necessary expedient of issuing clearing house certificates. The only point in our Republican contemporary's editorial with which we differ is the suggestion that the tax should be made a burden upon the depositors. Inasmuch as it has been conservatively estimated that the tax to produce a fund amply necessary to protect the government in guaranteeing all the deposits of national banks would not amount to more than one-tenth of one per cent upon the capital stock of national banks, and inasmuch as the banks would be the direct beneficiaries of such an arrangement by being enabled to maintain in their vaults or to use for purposes of loaning and producing income the money of the depositors, the withdrawal of which the guaranty would prevent, it certainly would seem equitable and just that the burden of providing this fund should fall upon the national banks themselves in the form of a tax upon their capital stock. It is a demonstrable fact that today there are still out of circulation in this country many millions-in fact, hundreds of millions of dollars, that have not emerged from the retirement which they sought in safe deposit boxes and old socks on account of the lack of confidence in banks produced in the minds of their individual owners by the recent panic. We believe that today the banks of the United States would cheerfully submit themselves to a tax of one-tenth of one per cent per annum upon their capital stock, could they by doing so insure the immediate return of this money to circulation, and we are certain that the increased loaning ability which would be conferred upon the banks by its return would many times compensate them for the amount of the tax suggested. In view of the very well reasoned editorial from our contemporary which we have reprinted, the statement made by its candidate for president, Mr. Taft, that the proposed law guaranteeing bank deposits is impracticable, does not appear to be overwhelmingly convincing.

20. December 29, 1908 The Montgomery Advertiser Montgomery, AL

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George W. Wickersham, who has been mentioned for the position of Attorney General in the Taft cabinet, is a prominent New York lawyer. His most recent connection of public interest was his work as counsel for the receivers of the Knickerbocker Trust Company.

21. January 29, 1909 New-York Tribune New York, NY

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KNICKERBOCKER TRUST CO. FEES UP. Payment to Receivers and Counsel May Be Determined by Referee. The Appellate Division in Brooklyn yesterday made an order denying the motion made by the Knickerbocker Trust Company to make the order of the Appellate Division of last June, by which the fees of the receivers were reduced from $75,000 to $20,000 apiece, and the fees of the counsel from $75,000 to $20,000 in all, a final order. The result of the decision is practically to remit the matter to Justice Clarke for the appointment of a referee to determine the amount of compensation of the receivers and the amount to be awarded as counsel fees, and the receivers and their counsel have made a motion for the appointment of a referee for that purpose.

22. March 17, 1909 The Evening World New York, NY

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# JACKSON, POOR MAN, HERE TO PRACTISE LAW "Have My Health, Don't Mind the Rest," Former Attorney-General Says. # HE OFFENDED TAMMANY Gave Receiverships to Assistants and Turned Down Organization Selections. Former Attorney General William Schuyler Jackson arrived to-day at the Hotel Latham, No. 4 East Twenty-eighth street, and after registering went out to look up an office in which to follow the profession of law. Mr. Jackson has decided to cast the shadow of his future in the valleys of Manhattan. "A friend says that you take up the practice of law a poor man, and that your living is all in the future?" was asked of Mr. Jackson by an Evening World reporter. "Such is closer to the case than I like to confess," he replied, "but I shall hang out a shingle soon and see if I can earn a living. I had some offers to enter law firms—not the principal ones—but I have elected to go it alone, and as I have my good health. I don't much mind about the rest." He added with a chuckle: "I am a great bellever in myself, and as long as I keep a proper account with myself I don't much care what is said by others." In view of the fact that many of his assistants gathered some wealth through acting as bank receivers the plight of the head of the office is interesting. All of the others appear to be in comfortable berths. Some are connected with big financial interests, while others are still enjoying the profits of the fat receiverships which Jackson gave them. From Dec. 6 until Jan. 29 Jackson was a patient in the Albany Hospital, suffering from typhoid fever. He was near to death at one time, but none of the beneficiaries of his generosity while in office came near him. There was some talk of a dinner to him, but it ceased when Jackson got well enough to journey to South Carolina. They all forgot him—his star was descending. "Your former subordinates all seem to be doing well," was suggested. "I am glad to hear it," replied Jackson. "I tried to help them all—perhaps here is where I mostly failed. I have been told that I should have done more for myself, but I am satisfied. "And, say," he continued, changing the subject immediately, "I discovered a river without any name down in South Carolina, and I got out in a rowboat and put my appetite into that rowboat. Now I am ready to take a fall out of the world, for I have my good health and what more can a man want?" Offended Tammany. The former Attorney-General began his career in Buffalo. His success as an assistant public prosecutor got him the nomisation as Attorney-General on the Democratic ticket. After his election he offended his sponsor, State Chairman "Fingy" Conners, by charging full tilt against a forming telephone trust in Rochester. He began many actions, but finished none, and his final political error was to turn down Charles F. Murphy's Tammany-made receivers for the Knickerbocker Trust Company. The Democratic State Convention was notable for the ice heaped upon Jackson. But Jackson is still a young man. He is now a registered voter of New York County, and he says that he has decided to live out the remainder of his days right here among his chief critics.

23. December 8, 1909 Evening Journal Wilmington, DE

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# M'CALL'S FERRY PLANT # BRINGS $2,000,000 After a long series of financial troubles and forced receivership caused by the collapse of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, of New York city, the McCall's Ferry Power Company, near Columbia, was sold at auction at Lancaster yesterday by Henry P. Brown, the master appointed by the United States Court, to William M. Barnum, for $2,000,000. It is understood that Mr. Barnum represented about 90 per cent. of the stockholders. It was the only bid. The decree of sale grew out of equity proceedings between the McCall Company, and the Knickerbocker Company of New York, trustee of $10,000,000 mortgage. The property was sold under a decree of the United States Circuit Courts of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Southern District of New York, and the District of Maryland, the sale being personally conducted by Mr. Brown.

24. January 4, 1910 The Birmingham Age-Herald Birmingham, AL

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# Judge Gaynor's Rising Star. "We are so much accustomed here in the south to speaking of the 'taint of Tammany' on men elevated to office by this political organization that we sometimes overlook the real worth of some men who achieve position in New York," said a man who keeps in touch with national politics. "Judge Gaynor (now 59 years of age), who was inducted into the office of mayor of New York on the first day of January, is one of the most notable men of the present day. He is of the Samuel J. Tilden type, and believes in keeping faith to the letter, on all pre-election promises of importance. His record as police commissioner some years ago proved this to the sorrow of some of the doubting among dive-keepers and shady politicians. "Here is Gaynor's record which began as a farm boy in Oneida county, New York, his native state. He had a common school education and attended Whitestown seminary. By teaching school he was enabled to read law. He settled in Brooklyn. In 1893 he declined the nomination of a mass meeting for mayor, but accepted under pressure thereafter the nomination for the supreme bench, which placed him thereon. In this election he warned John Y. McKane, 'The Boss' of the Coney Island district, that if he persisted in his election frauds he would send him to the penitentiary. McKane laughed; Judge Gaynor kept his promise—McKane was sent to Sing Sing for seven years. "In 1894 he declined the nomination offered him by the democratic party, with David B. Hill then leader. 'Boss' McLoughlin tried to get him to run for mayor of Brooklyn on a democratic ticket, which was equivalent to an election in his case, but he declined. In 1897 Richard Croker, then in absolute control, endeavored to persuade Judge Gaynor to make the race for mayor of Greater New York, but he declined this. In 1904 he was pressed to run for governor on the democratic ticket, which in that year was headed by Alton B. Parker for President. In 1905 he declined the offer of the several factions of the "fusion movement" to make him their candidate for mayor. "Judge Gaynor's record on the bench is of the very highest. He always opened court at 10 a. m. and held until 5 p. m. One of his practical reforms was revising the jury lists of King's county, throwing out more than 20,000 men shown to be incompetent. Judge Gaynor also wrote a set of nine rules for expediting the business of his court to avoid unnecessary delays for litigants. As a trial judge his record reached the highest mark. While one of 17 judges, he did one-fifth of the work of the court. He did one and two-fifths times the work of the next highest judge. On appeals he was reversed only 16 per cent of the cases tried by him—some of the judges had as many as 60 per cent of reversals. "Judge Gaynor's record with grafters is a bright star. In the matter of the fee grabbers he was Spartanic, notably in the Knickerbocker Trust company receivership. He cut the fees of this bunch of grafters from $300,000 to $75,000. He brought a tax-payers' suit in the matter of the Elevated Railways of Brooklyn, which made them pay nine times the taxes which they had tendered. "Summing up, a magazine writer says of Judge Gaynor: 'But his entire life record makes a picture of a man of intense humanity, and as administered by him, the law, offering equal consideration to the poor and to the rich, in all its cold majesty, has stood in truth for the cause of justice.' "And now many politicians are figuring on the mayor of New York for the democratic nomination for President in 1912."

25. March 13, 1910 The Washington Times Washington, DC

Article from The Washington Times, March 13, 1910

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Knickerbocker Ready to Pay Off Last Dollar Due to Depositors. MONEY ADVANCED REPAID IN STOCK Capital, Surplus, and Deposits Same as Before Doors Closed. NEW YORK, March 13.-Tomorrow morning the last dollar due the depositors of the Knickerbocker Trust Company at the time of the failure of the big bank, October 22. 1907. will be paid off. and the period of reconstruction will have ended, for the great trust company has survived, and in the financing of $35,000,000 deposits and making progress is a great story of successful effort. The Knickerbocker Trust Company paid out $8,000,000 on the day of its failure, but the bulk of its cash was tied up in stock promotions. underwritings, and was only realisable after careful conservative work. When the jar came it shook the financial foundations of this city and smashed the stock market to nearly its lowest levels. Its management claimed that it was fundamentally sound and worked constantly to bring about an end of the receivership and a rehabilitation of the company. Stockholders Contribute. After five months of nursing by the I receiver. arrangements were made by which it resumed business, the stockholders contributing $2,400,000 cash, to be repaid with 4 per cent interest, March 14, 1910, or in new stock at $300 a share, while the depositors accepted certificates of deposit for 70 per cent of their claims, bearing 3 per cent interest and "Surplus A" certificates bearing 4 per cent. The first payment to depositors was made on the day of reopening for business-83,500,900. The last of the "Surplus A" certificates will be paid tomorrow. the date when due. The certificates of deposit had twenty-eight months to run. but the resumption of prosperity followed the resumption of business and the Knickerbocker paid off its $24,000,000 certificates in thirteen months. This is almost a record in successful financiering. The spareholders who contributed the $2,400,000 will not ask for their money back, but will gladly take advantage of the proposition to take stock in the bank at $300 a share. for $310 is bid and $320 asked in the open market. Where It Stood Before. After the close of the financing tomorrow the Knickerbocker Trust Company will have a capital of $3,200,000, a surplus of $5,750,000. and deposits of $35.000,000-exactly what it had when it failed in October, 1907. Moreover, bankers assert that it is a clean, wellmanaged institution, in place of one with a "shoestring reserve. The reatoration of the ruin brings credit and reputation to a number of financiers. First Clark Williams, then superintendent of banks, worked like a Trojan to bring the depositors to see their way to join in a reorganization movement. When this was brought about George B. Cortelyou, then Secretary of the Treasury, was offered the place as president, but refused the task. Charles H. Keep was elected to the presidency, and is still the head of the institution. The flag will be flying from the Knickerbocker tomorrow.