18677. First National Bank (Freeland, PA)

View Charter #6175 on SPMC

Bank Information

Episode Type
Suspension → Reopening
Bank Type
national
Bank ID
6175
Charter Number
6175
Start Date
March 17, 1906
Location
Freeland, Pennsylvania (41.017, -75.897)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
79dd06e7

Response Measures

None

Description

The First National Bank of Freeland was closed/placed in receivership March 17, 1906 after discovery of large embezzlement by cashier F. N. Everett (bank-specific adverse information). A receiver was appointed and the bank complied with conditions to resume business and was permitted to reopen April 30, 1906. Articles mention crowds at the closed bank but no clear independent depositor-run that caused the suspension; therefore classified as suspension_reopening.

Events (4)
1. March 17, 1906 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
A crowd of anxious depositors gathered. They included the wives of many coal mine workers, who had been saving for a possible strike.
Source
newspapers
2. March 17, 1906 Receivership
Newspaper Excerpt
was declared insolvent and placed in the hands of a receiver on March 17, 1906; Robert Lyons ... appointed receiver for the First National Bank, arrived to-day and took charge. ... receiver Lyons authorized him to say that the bank would be in shape to resume in the near future.
Source
newspapers
3. March 17, 1906 Suspension
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
Alleged embezzlement of about $56,900 by Cashier F. N. Everett and related irregularities discovered by national bank examiner; bank closed pending inspection/receiver action.
Newspaper Excerpt
There was intense excitement about the doors of the closed First National Bank here this morning ... notice posted ... that the bank would remain closed until the bank examiner made an inspection.
Source
newspapers
4. April 30, 1906 Reopening
Newspaper Excerpt
The First National Bank of Freeland, Pa., which was declared insolvent and placed in the hands of a receiver March 17, 1906, having complied with the conditions imposed by the comptroller of the currency precedent to resumption and its capital now being unimpaired, has been permitted to resume business today as an active national banking association.
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (15)
1. March 17, 1906 The Washington Times Washington, DC
Article from The Washington Times, March 17, 1906

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Article Text

Excited Crowds Gather Around Doors of First National. BLAMED ON PROMOTERS Institutions In Other Cities It Is Feared May Become Involved. FREELAND, Pa., March 17.-There was intense excitement about the doors of the closed First National Bank here this morning when a crowd of anxious depositors gathered. They included the wives of many coal mine workers, who had been saving for a possible strike. The only information offered was contained in a notice posted on the window during the night that the bank would remain closed until the bank examiner made an inspection. If the defalcation is found not to exceed $59,000. confessed to by Cashier F. N. Everett. it is claimed every dollar will be returned to the depositors. The bank is capitalized at $50,000. which, together with the bond of $15,000 of Cashier Everett, furnished by a Baltimore trust company, and the probable personal assets of William D. Beckley, a stockholder. also Lider arrest. the deficit is amply covered. Beckley Principal Promoter. The Beckley and McAuliff paper mills at Catawissa were the dumping ground for the bank's cash. Beckley appears to have been the master mind as the promoter, in establishing a chain of financial institutions in the different mining towns, As a consequence of his arrest and implication here. apprehension is felt in Bloomsburg, Catawissa, and Mt. Carmel, where enterprises with which he is identified are to lated. The friends of Cashier Everett claim he was made the scapegoat of the combinations. Cashier Everett. who is charged with embezzlement, and Beckley, charged are still in They have James ton with jail. conspiracy, engaged the Attorneys HazleScharlett. of Danville, and J. H. Bigelow. of Hazleton. to defend them. t They will be given a hearing this afternoon before United States Commissioner Hill. and expect to be released in the sum of $10,000 each. Needed More Time. Everett and Beckley claim that are not as bad as II and ditions had represented, conthey been given twenty-four hours' notice the bank would have been fully protected. A run occurred on the Citizens' Bank S in Freeland this morning and residents I are wild over revelations of last night. 2

2. March 17, 1906 Alexandria Gazette Alexandria, VA
Article from Alexandria Gazette, March 17, 1906

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Article Text

Excitement at Banks, Freeland, Pa., March 17.-There was intense excitement about the doors of the closed First National Bank here this morning, when a crowd of anxious depositors gathered. They included the wives of many coal mine workers who had been saving for a possible strike. The only information offered was contained in a notice posted on the window during the night that the bank would remain closed until the bank examiner made an inspection. If the defalcation is found not to exceed the $59,000 confessed to by Cashier F. N. Everett it is claimed that every dollar will be returned to the depositors, The bank is capatalized at $50,000. A run occurred on the Citizens' Bank, in Freeland, this morning, and residents are wild over revelations of last night.

3. March 19, 1906 The Sun New York, NY
Article from The Sun, March 19, 1906

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BANK'S TROUBLES NOT so BAD. Freeland (Pa.) National Soon to Reopen -Net Loss About $11,000. FREELAND, Pa., March 18.-Robert Lyons of Washington, appointed receiver for the First National Bank, arrived to-day and took charge. He was accompanied by George T. Cutts, National Bank examiner, of Philadelphia, who made an audit of the books here last Wednesday and who first discovered the alleged irregularities in Cashier Everett's conduct of the bank. Shortly after his arrival Mr. Lyone called a meeting of the board of directors and was closeted with them for two hours. When the meeting adjourned one of the directors said things looked much brighter and that the affairs of the bank were in better shape than they thought. He said Receiver Lyons authorized him to say that the bank would be in shape to resume in the near future. They figure on the restitutions already made by Attorney Beckley along with forfeiture of Cashier Everett's bond reducing the deficit of $56,900 to $11,000. Everett is still in Hazleton jail in default of $5,000 bail. He was on the verge of collapse, but was buoyed upto-day by a despatch from al New York friend, who promised to come to the rescue to-morrow.

4. March 23, 1906 Milford Chronicle Milford, DE
Article from Milford Chronicle, March 23, 1906

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Article Text

CASHIER AN EMBEZZLER First National Bank of Freeland, Pa., Loses $56,900. Hazleton, Pa., March 17.-F. N. Everett, cashier of the First National Bank of Freeland, was arrested here on the charge of embezzling $56,900 from the institution. William Beckley, a lawyer, of Bloomsburg, was arrested at about the same time on the charge of conspiracy. Both warrants were sworn out by A. Oswald, president of the bank, before United States Commissioner C. F. Hill, of this city, who committed both the accused men without bail for a further hearing, when a national bank examiner will he here. Everett and Beckley claim the money was sunk in the Pennsylvania paper mills of Catawissa. The capital stock of the bank is $50,000. It was organized in April, 1902, and Mr. Everett has been its cashier ever since. He is under $15,000 bond with a Baltimore surety company. It is said all the depositors will be fully protected. Robert Lyons, who has been appointed receiver for the bank, has arrived at Freeland, and had a conference with the officers of the instituion. After the meeting, Receiver Lyons said he was authorized to make the announcement that if no further discrepancies are found the bank will be able to resume business in a short time.

5. March 24, 1906 Richmond Planet Richmond, VA
Article from Richmond Planet, March 24, 1906

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Article Text

CASHIER AN EMBEZZLER First National Bank of Freeland, Pa., Loses $56,900. Hazleton. Pa., March 17.-F. N. Everett, cashier of the First National Bank of Freeland, was arrested here on the charge of embezzling $56,900 from the institution. William Beckley, a lawyer, of Bloomsburg, was arrested at about the same time on the charge of conspiracy. Both warrants were sworn out by A. Oswald, president of the bank, before United States Commissioner C. F. Hill, of this city, who committed both the accused men without bail for a further hearing. when a national bank examiner will he here. Everett and Beckley claim the money was sunk in the Pennsylvania paper mills of Catawissa. The capital stock of the bank is $50,000. It was organized in April, 1902, and Mr. Everett has been its cashier ever since. He is under $15.000 bond with a Baltimore surety company. It is said all the depositors will be fully protected. Robert Lyons, who has been appointed receiver for the bank, has arrived at Freeland, and had a conference with the officers of the instituion. After the meeting, Receiver Lyons said he was authorized to make the announcement that if no further dis. crepancies are found the bank will be able to resume business in a short time.

6. March 30, 1906 Evening Star Washington, DC
Article from Evening Star, March 30, 1906

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e e be selling of both short and the by long and would scattered stocks some by liquidation professional the element public, certain interests in the market look for prices to rule firm within a few days and would not be surprised to see substantial advances a little later on, even if a general strike is actually declared. A man who understands the coal situation said that the present outlook indicates that the strike could not possibly be of long duration. The statement comes from good sources that the anthracite operators will stand firm and not make any concessions. The funds of the miners are not large, and it was asserted It would be absolutely impossible for them to support a general strike of both hard and soft coal miners for a long period. It seems to be the opinion also that the miners whom F. L. Robbins controls will be allowed to continue at work. With respect to the effect of a strike upon the market it is pointed out by a large financial interest that the buyers of real stocks during the last thirty days have been principally men who by past experience were fully able to appreciate the possibilities of a coal strike in connection with the stock market. This man further points out that the principal buyers of stocks have been men who are competent financially to carry them for an indefinite period and that they would not throw them over on the declaration of a strike that apparently will not last long. * * The heads of several large commission houses express the opinion that money is not likely to be the factor during the next week or two that has been predicted. * * The attorneys for the Chicago Union Traction Company held another conference here yesterday, but did not take any important action. * A dispatch from Pittsburg this morning in regard to the coal supply in that district says the United States Steel Corporation has been accumulating coal at its various plants for weeks. At Homestead side tracks are being laid, and an enormous pile of coal has already been stored near the Howard axle works. Trains of coal are being brought in daily over the Pennsylvania and Bessemer and Lake Erie. Preparations have also been made to secure coal in the Connellsville region, where the miners will not be affected by a strike. The Jones and Laughlin Steel Company operates its own mines at Coal Center, and has been accumulating for weeks, and Is reported to be in as good shape for fuel as the United States Steel Corporation. The Crucible Steel Company's plants and those of the Carnegie Steel Company. namely, the upper and lower Union mills, are well supplied. Officlals of all the departments declared last night that enough fuel is on hand to last about four months. The Royal Mall steamship Nigeria, which left Sekondi, West Africa, March 13, having on board £60,000 gold consigned to the Bank of British West Africa, limited, of London, arrived at Plymouth today. The application of the Delaware and Eastern Railroad Company to issue a mortgage for $1,000,000 has been granted by the state railroad commission. The proceeds are. to be used for the construction of the proposed railroad in Delaware county. * * * The directors of the Tennessee Coal and Iron and Rallroad Company at their meeting in Birmingham yesterday, elected John A. Topping, president of the Republic Iron and Steel Company, a director, and made him chairman of the board. Don H. Bacon, president of the company, resigned, to take effect May 15. The regular quarterly dividends of 2 per cent on the preferred stock and 1 per cent on the common stock were declared. * * The stockholders of the First National Bank of Freeland, Pa., which closed its doors March 17, will make good the deficit through an assessment on the stock and recpen the bank as soon as practicable. There is a rumor at Cleveland that the Pennsylvania company is negotiating for the purchase of the Findlay, Fort Wayne and Western Railway, from Fort Wayne to Findlay, and the Northern Ohio, which runs from Delthos to Akron. The acquisition of these roads, together with the construction of a new line twelve miles from Firdlay to Carr. would shorten the distance considerably for the Pennsylvania between Pittsburg and Chicago.

7. April 30, 1906 The Providence News Providence, RI
Article from The Providence News, April 30, 1906

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SUSPENDED NATIONAL BANK RESUMES BUSINESS Washington. April 30.-The First National Bank of Freeland, Pa., which was declared insolvent and placed in the hands of a receiver on March 17, 1906. having complied with the conditions imposed by the comptroller of the currency precedent to resumption and Its capital now being unimpaired. has been permitted to resume business today as an active national banking association.

8. April 30, 1906 The Washington Times Washington, DC
Article from The Washington Times, April 30, 1906

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BANK IN FREELAND, PA., RESUMES BUSINESS TODAY The Comptroller of the Currency made the following announcement today: "The First National Bank of Freeland, Pa., which was declared insolvent and placed in the hands of a receiver March 17. having complied with condit'ons imposed by the Comptroller of the Currency, precedent to resumption, and its capital now being unimpaired, has been permitted to resume business today, as an active national banking association."

9. April 30, 1906 Every Evening, Wilmington Daily Commercial Wilmington, DE
Article from Every Evening, Wilmington Daily Commercial, April 30, 1906

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PERMITTED TO RESUME BUSINESS. Associated Press Dispatch DV Special Wire< Washington, April 30.-The - First National Bank of Freeland, Pa., which was declared insolvent and placed in the hands of a receiver March 17th, 1906, having complied with the conditions imposed by the Comptroller of the Currency precedent to resumption and its capital now being unimpaired, was permitted to resume business today as an active national banking association.

10. April 30, 1906 The Fairmont West Virginian Fairmont, WV
Article from The Fairmont West Virginian, April 30, 1906

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NATIONAL BANK Of Freeland, Pa.. Resumes Business To-day With Unimpaired Capital. WASHINGTON D. C., April 30. The Comptroller of the currency this morning announced that the first National Bank of Freeland, Pa.. which was declared insolvent and placed in the hands of receiver March seventeenth. having complied with conditions imposed by the comptroller of currency. its capital now being unimpaired, resumes business to-day as an active National Banking association.

11. May 1, 1906 Evening Star Washington, DC
Article from Evening Star, May 1, 1906

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May Resume Business. The First National Bank of Freeland, Pennsylvania, which was declared insolvent and placed in the hands of a receiver on March 17, 1906, having complied with the conditions imposed by the controller of the currency precedent to resumption, and its capital now being unimpaired, has been permitted to resume business today as an active national banking association.

12. May 1, 1906 Americus Times-Recorder Americus, GA
Article from Americus Times-Recorder, May 1, 1906

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Bank Resumes Business. Washington, April 30.-The first National bank, of Freeland, Pa., which was declared insolvent and placed in the hands of a receiver on March 17, 1906, having complied with the conditions imposed by the comptroller of the currency, has been permitted to sume huinsess

13. May 4, 1906 Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer Cresco, IA
Article from Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer, May 4, 1906

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National Bank to Resume. Washington, May 1.-The First National bank, of Freeland, Pa., which was declared insolvent and placed in the hands of a receiver on March 17, 1906, having complied with the conditions imposed by the comptroller of the currency precedent to resumption, and its capital now being unimpaired, has been permitted to resume business as an active national banking association.

14. May 9, 1906 The Star Reynoldsville, PA
Article from The Star, May 9, 1906

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# KEYSTONE STATE CULLINGS # WILL TEST MILEAGE BOOK PLAN Attorney General Carson Has Started Suit to Restrain the Pennsylvania Railroad. Attorney General Hampton L. Carson filed a bill in equity in the Dauphin courts to restrain the Pennsylvania and allied companies from collecting a $10 rebate on each interchangeable mileage book sold. The reasons cited by the attorney general for bringing suit are similar to those given at the time his bill was sent to the State printer for printing. The date of hearing has not yet been fixed. The standing committees of the Pennsylvania state board of trade, which was organized at Harrisburg, to make a systematic campaign for the election of legislators pledged to a 2-cent flat passenger vote on the railroads, were appointed by ex-Mayor Vance C. McCormick of Harrisburg, president of the board. Following is a list of the standing committees: Constitution and by-laws: William H. Stevenson and W. A. Griffith, Pittsburgh; Wilmer Crow, Harrisburg; J. D. Wentz, Washington. Finances: William R. Brinton, Lancaster; Clarence E. Greesey, York; Joseph C. Smith, Harrisburg. Baggage and transportation: D. C. Shaw, Pittsburgh; F. H. MacIntyre, Philadelphia; H. D. Burlingame, Altoona. Interurban railways: D. D. Harmon, Pittsburgh; Representative William T. Creasy, Catawissa; A. M. Howes, Erie. W. A. Stone has bought 150 acres of coal near Smock, from the Pittsburgh Coal Company for $1,300 an acre. He has also purchased the plant of the O'Connell Coal and Coke Company, near Smock for $70,000, and will increase the plant from 35 to 150 ovens. A new company will be organized with a capital stock of $200,000, and among those interested are W. A. Stone, L. H. Frasher, W. E. Crow and Dr. W. H. Hopwood of Uniontown. The First National Bank of Freeland, which was declared insolvent, and placed in the hands of a receiver March 17, 1906, having complied with the conditions imposed by the comptroller of the currency, precedent to resmuption, and its capital not being unimpaired, has been permitted to resume business as an active national banking association. Two men were taken to the hospital in a dying condition, a third is seriously stabbed, several others are injured and seven men are in the Windber lockup as the result of a clash between union and non-union men at Paint Creek, near Windber. Newton B. Weddell, of Chambersburg, who was arrested while running away with $400 he had secured from Mrs. Zlipha Ruthrauff on the representation that he meant to buy her a grocery store, was sentenced to three years in the penitentiary. Gov. S. W. Pennypacker issued a requisition on Gov. Pardee, of California, for the return to Pennsylvania of L. H. Mitchell, who is wanted in Luzerne county to answer a charge of conspiracy in connection with a mining deal. The Pennsylvania railroad has ordered the employes of the maintenance of way department to work 10 hours a day instead of 9. This gives an additional hour to about 12,000 men between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Capt. Charles J. Harrison and Milton J. Pritts of the Somerset County National bank, sold 1,500 acres of "A" and "B" vein coal to the Penwood Coal Company, a $150,000 corporation composed mainly of New York capitalists. Five footpads held up and robbed Leo Marks of $50 at a lonely bridge in North Bridgewater. Marks was so severely injured that it was an hour before he could crawl into the village and give an alarm. George G. Gans has purchased from W. F. Patterson of Waynesburg 300 acres of coal land in Center township, Greene county, and 100 acres of coal land in Marion county, W. Va. Palmyra, 10 miles west of Lebanon, had a serious fire. The blaze started in Shiner's bake shop, soon spreading and destroying a residence and several large barns. Governor Pennypacker reappointed General John A. Wiley of Franklin and George F. Davenport of Meadville trustees of the Polk Institution for the Feeble Minded. The poor directors of Fayette county have taken action to provide needy persons bitten by mad dogs with proper medical attention. New Castle council ordered the city solicitor to file a bill in equity to compel the Bell Telephone company to use the new city conduit, which cost nearly $100,000. The body of Luther Neiman, a Pennsylvania railway engineer who had been missing from his home in Harrisburg 10 days, was found in the Susquehanna river. The Governor issued a death war-

15. May 9, 1906 The Star Reynoldsville, PA
Article from The Star, May 9, 1906

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The First National Bank of Freeland, which was declared insolvent, and placed in the hands of a receiver March 17, 1906. having complied with the conditions imposed by the comptroller of the currency, precedent to resmuption, and its capital not being unimpaired, has been permitted to resume business as an active national banking association.