18190. Farmers & Merchants Bank (Sapulpa, OK)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
state
Start Date
October 10, 1912
Location
Sapulpa, Oklahoma (35.999, -96.114)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
24e16fd7

Response Measures

None

Description

Newspapers report the Farmers & Merchants (State) Bank of Sapulpa as having closed/failed in October 1912 and a receiver was requested. Coverage describes the bank as insolvent for about a year and criticizes the state banking board for allowing it to continue; there is no description of a depositor run prior to suspension. OCR errors corrected (e.g., 'Sapupla' -> Sapulpa).

Events (3)
1. October 10, 1912 Suspension
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
Bank was insolvent for nearly a year according to reports; state examiners knew of condition and it ultimately closed.
Newspaper Excerpt
the Farmers and Merchants bank of Sapulpa which recently failed
Source
newspapers
2. October 17, 1912 Receivership
Newspaper Excerpt
Assistant State's Attorney Reeves asked for a receiver for the Farmers and Merchants State bank, which recently closed its doors.
Source
newspapers
3. March 23, 1913 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
attorney general has asked for a grand jury investigation into the affairs of the defunct Farmers and Merchants bank of Sapulpa.
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (7)
1. October 10, 1912 Tulsa Daily World Tulsa, OK
Article from Tulsa Daily World, October 10, 1912

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Article Text

# MAY PROSECUTE THE BANK OFFICIALS BOOKS SHOW NO RECORDS OF DEPOSITS MADE BY TULSA MAN. That criminal action against the officers of the Farmers and Merchants bank of Sapulpa which recently failed may be brought was the statement made yesterday by Frank Newkirk of Tulsa, who has received word from the receiver in charge of the defunct bank that four savings accounts in the name of Newkirk and his three children do not appear on the bank's books. About two years ago the Farmers and Merchants bank sent out small savings banks, to be used in starting a saving account. Mr Newkirk opened an account for himself and children and all together deposited about $15 in the failed institution. A few days ago he drew on the Sapulpa institution through a local bank and received word yesterday that no such account appears on the books of the Farmers and Merchants bank.

2. October 17, 1912 Iron County Register Ironton, MO
Article from Iron County Register, October 17, 1912

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Article Text

Receiver Asked for Sapulpa Bank. Sapulpa, Okla.-Assistant State's Attorney Reeves asked for a receiver for the Farmers and Merchants State bank, which recently closed its doors. The district court held its decision in abeyance.

3. October 17, 1912 The Farmington Times Farmington, MO
Article from The Farmington Times, October 17, 1912

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Article Text

Receiver Asked for Sapulpa Bank. Sapulpa, Okla.-Assistant State's Attorney Reeves asked for a receiver for the Farmers and Merchants State bank, which recently closed its doors. The district court held its decision in abeyance.

4. October 18, 1912 Carroll County Democrat Huntingdon, TN
Article from Carroll County Democrat, October 18, 1912

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Article Text

Receiver Asked for Sapulpa Bank. Sapulpa, Okla.-Assistant State's Attorney Reeves asked for a receiver for the Farmers and Merchants State bank, which recently closed its doors. The district court held its decision in abeyance.

5. March 23, 1913 Tulsa Daily World Tulsa, OK
Article from Tulsa Daily World, March 23, 1913

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Article Text

GRAND JURY IS ASKED FOR CORRUPT' CREEK ATTORNEY GENERAL REQUESTS SPECIAL INVTSTIGATION AT SAPULPA, TOWN. OKLAHOMA CITY, March 22. (Special)- -Acting under a request from the senate resolution. the attor. ney general has asked for a grand jury investigation into the affairs of the defunct Farmers and Merchants bank of Sapulpa. If the grand jury is called Assistant Attorney General Reeves will take charge of It on behalf of the state. The attorney general has ask. ed for a special judge to be asigned to the county and the supreme court will probably grant this request. The senate passed a resolution requesting a thorough probe into the failure of the Farmers and Merchants bank and requesting the atorney general to take charge of all litigation arising from this failure and others involving the guarantee law also authorizing the state's attorney to conduct criminal prosecutions in such

6. March 26, 1913 Tulsa Daily World Tulsa, OK
Article from Tulsa Daily World, March 26, 1913

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Article Text

PROBE OF CREEK TO START MONDAY JUDGE HATCHETT OF DURANT WILL CONDUCT COURT AT SAPULPÀ NEXT WEEK. MAY HAVE GRAND JURY Assistant Attorney General to Have Charge of Litigation in Banking Cases. OKLAHOMA CITY, Mar. 25-(Special.)-Chief Justice S. W. Hayes of the Oklahoma supreme court Monday assigned Judge Jesse M. Hatchett of Durant to sit as a special Judge to hear civil cases in Creek county involving the failure of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Sapulpa. Judge Hatchett will open court at Sapulpa on next Monday. He also will be requested by the attorney general to call a special grand jury to probe alleged criminal offenses in connection with the failure of the bank. Assistant Attorney General Reeves will go to Sapupla next Monday to conduct litigation on behalf of the state banking board and also the grand jury if one is called.

7. June 24, 1913 The Daily Ardmoreite Ardmore, OK
Article from The Daily Ardmoreite, June 24, 1913

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Article Text

from bad to worse, and that instead of getting better and becoming able to meet their obligations and to proceed as a going concern, they continued to go down and grow worse until they were finally compelled to close.' "This policy," continues the report, "is also very liable to open the way to favoritism and fraud, and while we do not find as a fact that it has done so, still some of the transactions would rather incline us to that belief, and in any event opens wide the doors for the same.' ### The Sapulpa Case. The committee report goes into the failure of several banks, including that of the Farmers and Merchants of Sapulpa, which the committee reports to have been in an absolutely insolvent condition for nearly a year before it failed. and so known to the state banking board through an examination. Instead of closing it the board let it run along, with a state bank examiner assigned to look after it in the meantime, until the bank's final failure cost the guaranty fund nearly $300,000, with nearly $145,000 more due the city of Sapulpa and Creek county which the guaranty fund may be liable for. "In our judgment," says the report, "if this bank had been taken charge of by the board promptly at a time when it saw it was insolvent, probably a considerable amount of this loss would have been saved.