Reading Savings Bank - Reading, PA

Bank Information

Episode Type: Suspension → Closure
Bank Type: savings bank
Start Date: September 1, 1882
Location: Reading, Pennsylvania (40.336, -75.927)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: bcb26ae1

Response Measures

None

Description

Article (Sept 1, 1882 report) states 'when the Reading Savings Bank failed they were compelled to suspend.' No mention of a depositor run; the bank is described as having failed earlier and remained closed. Cause of failure is not clearly described in the article; I mark event as a suspension that led to permanent closure. Bank type inferred as a state-chartered savings bank (common for 'Savings Bank').

Events (1)

1. September 1, 1882 Suspension

Cause: Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details: Article states the Reading Savings Bank 'failed' (no detailed cause given); failure preceded the Bushong firm's suspension and foreclosure actions against their mortgage. The immediate trigger for suspension is described only as the bank's failure in the community context rather than a rumor or correspondent failure.
Newspaper Excerpt: when the Reading Savings Bank failed they were compelled to suspend.
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (1)

1. September 2, 1882 The Daily Gazette Wilmington, DE

Article from The Daily Gazette, September 2, 1882

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Article Text

THE BUSHONGS' FAILURE. The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company Forecloses a Heavy Mortgage. READING, Sept. 1.-The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia to-day, through their attorney here, William P. Bard, foreclosed a mortgage of $75,000, with accrued interest amounting to $79,000, that had been given by Jacob and Henry Bushong, of this city, in 1876. Immediately before that time the Messrs. Bushong were regarded as the richest and most prosperous firm in the Schuylkill Valley. They were largely interested in various business pursuits and carried on a private banking house, whose deposits ran into millions of dollars. While building a new and competing railroad route to the coal regions between Reading and Slatington the panic overtook them and they borrowed $100,000 from the Penn Mutual Company. This did not tide them over, and when the Reading Savings Bank failed they were compelled to suspend. They paid $25,000 to the Penn Mutual and undertook to carry the balance, $75,000, at six per cent. interest. The mortgage covered the Keystone House, the Packcrack Paper Mill, four farms near Reading, the private residence of Jacob Bushong, iron ore tracts and other property. The Bushongs, however, were unable to meet their interest, hence the foreclosure. An execution was issued to the Sheriff to-day and he will make a levy in a few days. The balance of the large estate is in the hands of trustees for other creditors. The failure is especially a sad one, because the Bushongs had the confidence of the community and were always regarded as men of integrity. The date of sale has not yet been fixed upon.