First National Bank - Schaefferstown, PA

Bank Information

Episode Type: Suspension → Reopening
Bank Type: national
Bank ID: 8962
Charter Number: 8962
Start Date: February 6, 1915
Location: Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania (40.298, -76.294)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: 0adadc25

Response Measures

None

Description

Cashier Alvin Binner committed suicide and a $41,000 shortage from misappropriation was discovered; the bank did not open after the suicide (suspension) and stockholders agreed to assessments to raise funds so the bank could reopen. OCR in some clippings garbled the town name (appears as ShafI ferstown/Schaffertown); standardized to Schaefferstown, PA.

Events (4)

1. December 13, 1907 Chartered

Source: historical_nic

2. February 6, 1915 Suspension

Cause: Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details: Discovery of large shortage (about $41,000) caused by misappropriation by cashier Alvin Binner, who committed suicide; examination of accounts and arrests followed.
Newspaper Excerpt: The First National Bank of ShafI ferstown, Pa., did not open for busiI ness.
Source: newspapers

3. February 10, 1915 Other

Newspaper Excerpt: Stockholders of the First National Bank ... were told that they must raise at once $41,000 in order to save the bank ... meeting to raise funds to reopen the bank was held; many stockholders balked but directors pledged funds and assessments were approved later (164 assessment). The bank was later re-opened following its suspension after the suicide of its cashier, on February 6th.
Source: newspapers

4. March 2, 1915 Reopening

Newspaper Excerpt: The First National bank of Schaffertown, Pa., has been re-opened, following its suspension after the suicide of its cashier, on February 6th.
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (5)

1. February 9, 1915 The Bridgeport Evening Farmer Bridgeport, CT

Article from The Bridgeport Evening Farmer, February 9, 1915

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NOTICE TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The undersigned having on the 29th day of January, 1915, been appointed by the Honorable Edwin B. Gager, a Judge of the Superior court of the State of Connecticu, sitting in Chambers, as Temporary Receivers, in the State of Connecticut of The Realty Investment Co., a corporation.or ganized under the laws of the State of New Jersey, were ordered to give and file a bond with good and sufficient surety, approved by said Judge, in the sum of twenty thousand dolconditioned upon lars, duties the in faithful this performance of their state as such Reiceivers and thereupon given the authority and control of the assets in this state of the said The Realty Investment Company and such other power and authority as pertain to the office of Reievers in this state; and the officers and agents of said corporation being enjoined and restrained from further action in the affairs of the said corporation in this state except at the request of and to assist the said Receivers, and it being further ordered that when and if the said Receivers were made permanent Receivers an inventory should be filed and other action taken pursuant to law: It was Further Ordered: That notice of such temporary appointment and of a hearing on the confirmation of the same and for the appointment of appraisers as required by law, be held before the undersigned on the 19th day of February, 1915, at twelve o'clock noon, in the Superior court room in the County building, in Middletown, be given to all parties in interest by serving on, or before the 31st day of January 1915, a true and attested copy of the Complaint in this action, and verification and this order upon the President of The Realty Investment Co., now in the State of Connecticut and by publishing a copy of this order of notice for three days prior to the 12th of February, 1915, in the Hartford Times, Bridgeport Farmer, Hartford Courant, Middletown Penny Press and the New Haven Journal-Courier, all being newspapers and having a circulation in the State of Connecticut, not less than six days before such hearing. (Signed) EDWIN B. GAGER, A Judge of the Superior Court for the State of Connecticut. A true copy of the order of Notice in the above entitled cause: Attest: SILAS A. ROBINSON, JOHN L. DOWER, Temporary Receivers. B9S* The First National Bank of ShafI ferstown, Pa., did not open for busiI ness. ) United States military attaches ar: rived at Cracow to observe army oper$ ations. e Several business blocks at Rome, N. . Y., were destroyed by fire at e loss I of $150,000.

2. February 10, 1915 Evening Public Ledger Philadelphia, PA

Article from Evening Public Ledger, February 10, 1915

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MANY HOLDERS OF t LEBANON BANK STOCK BALK AT DEFICIT Leave Meeting When Proposal Is Made to Asseas Them to Make Up $41, 000 Shortage. SCHAEFFERSTOWN, Pa., Feb. 10.4 Stockholders of the First National Bank of this place, in town meeting here this morning, were told that they must raise at once $41,000 in order to save the bank from being wiped out as the result of the mismanagement of its affairs by Alvin Binner, the suicide cashier. This sum, It was declared by Uriah B. Horst, prest. dent of the bank, was necessary If the bank was to be reopened for business, but he gave no assurance that It represented the total loss suffered by the Institution. The failure of the bank officials to give the stockholders anything definite in the way of figures or complete information as to the manner in which the loss was sustained, had the effect of leading majority to refuse their assent to the motion that they put up the money at once, Instead there was an almost general exodus from the meeting, only a few stockholders, represented by the directorate, coming forward and affixing their names to the pledge to subscribe money. Mr. Horst, who was made chairman of the stockholders' meeting, said the $41,000 deficit required to be raised at once in order to reopen the bank included the debit accounts of the three men named by the suicide cashier in his last note to his wife and children. He expressed the belief that not one penny could be re. alized from A. J. Hoverter, the Lebanon life insurance agent, who is now under arrest on a charge of aiding Binner in the misappropriation of $18,581.21 by means of worthless checks. The second man, D. B. Kiefer, a Middletown cattle dealer, he declared. was considered good for all of the $12,000 which he is said to owe, and that the third man, Irwin Horst, Schaeff. erstown cigar manufacturer, is looked upon as certain to pay every penny of his $10,000 account. The Kiefer and Horst accounts, with the $15,000 represented by Binner's bond, the chairman pointed out would eventually reduce the present deficit of $41,000 to $4000, but the whole of the shortage is demanded at this time in order to save the bank. As it is, there is every prospect of the Treasury Department having a receiver appointed before the end of the week. Of the 250 shares of stock issued by the bank at $100 a share 176 shares were voted at the organization of the today's meet-, ing. of which A. S. Brendle, solicitor and a director of the bank, was made secre. tary. It was Brendle's motion that each of the 250 shares of stock be assessed $146, and immediately thereafter most of the stockholders left the meeting. As they were filing out through the doorway Chairman Horst called out that there would be another meeting held this ever ning, but no attention was paid to it. Examiner Logan, with T. E. Harris, an auditor from the Treasury Department, is still engaged in endeavoring to straighten out the tangle in which Binner's accounts have been found. It is declared that the statement that both Kiefer and Horst will be able to make good every dollar of their obligation contains no assurance that no more arrests will be made, as it now appears that others are deeply involved.

3. February 10, 1915 The Star-Independent Harrisburg, PA

Article from The Star-Independent, February 10, 1915

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Arthur J. Hoverter in Jail But It Is Now Said That No More Arrests Are Likely 2 NOTE-HOLDERS WILL MAKE GOOD Doubt, However, Whether Stockholders Will Put Up Needed Money-If They Do Not Do So Receiver Will Likely Be Appointed Lebanon, Pa., Feb. 10.-The stockholders of the First National Bank of Schaefferstown in town meeting to-day were told that they must raise $41,000 in order to save the bank from being wiped out as the result of the operations of Alvin Binner, the cashier, who committed suicide last Saturday. This sum, it was stated by Uriah B. Horst president of the bank, is necessary if the institution is to be reopened for business. It was stated that there is no assurance that the $41,000 represents the total loss of the bank. Failure of the bank officials to give the assembled stockholders anything definite in the way of figures covering the loss or complete information as to the manner in which the loss was sus tained caused a majority of the stock holders to withhold their assent that they put up money at once. A few of the stockholdess, represented by the directorate, pledge themselves to subscribe funds. President Horst, who was made chairman of the stockholders' meeting, in explaining the condition of the bank, said that the $41,000 required to reopen the bank were debit accounts of three men named by the suicide cashier in his last note to his wife and children. He expressed belief that not one cent could be realized from A. J. Hoverter, Lebanon life insurance agent, who is now under arrest and in jail on a charge of aiding Binner in misappropriation of $18,582.12 by means of bad checks. Two Note Holders Will Make Good D. B. Kiefer, a Middletown cattle dealer, he declared, was considered good for all of the $12,000 which he owes and Irwin Horst, the Schaefferstown cigar manufacturer and tobacco dealer, is looked upon as certain to pay every penny of his $10,000 accounts. The Kiefer and Horst accounts with the $15,000 represented by Binter's bondsmen, he pointed out, would eventually reduce the present deficit of $41,000 to but $4,000, but the whole of the deficit is demanded at this time in order to save the bank. As it is there is every prospect of the Treasury Department having a receiver apContinued on Ninth Page.

4. February 11, 1915 Harrisburg Telegraph Harrisburg, PA

Article from Harrisburg Telegraph, February 11, 1915

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SCHAEFFERSTOWN BANK SAVED Lebanon, Feb. 11.-At a meeting of stockholders held at Schaefferstown, holders of 210 shares of the capital stock of the First National Bank, whose cashier, Alvin Binner, committed suicide, publicly expressed their willingness to make up the $164 assessment which is necessary to cover the $41,000 shortage of the bank. With only 40 shares to be heard from, prospects for the immediate reopening of the institution are bright. DES MOINES ON DRY LIST Des Moines, Iowa, Feb. 11.-The City Council here today refused to grant the saloonkeepers a renewal of their licenses. This means that the eighty saloons of Des Moines will close their doors Saturday night. MORS IS "MENTALLY UNWELL" New York, Feb. 11.-Frederick Mors, who said he caused the deaths of eight aged inmates of the German Odd Fellows' Home at Yonkers, where he was employed as nurse was declared to be "mentally unwell" by alienists who examined him to-day at Bellevue Hospital. Philadelphia, Feb. 11.-The United States District Court to-day appointed a receiver for the building construction firm of J. E. and A. L. Pennock, of Philadelphia. This firm has the contract for the erection of the addition to the Harrisburg Post Office. Norfolk, Va., Feb. 11.-The American steamer Dacia sailed to-day with her cargo of cotton for Germany, which goes via Rotterdam. Great Britain has threatened to seize the ship. London, Feb. 11, 3.58 p. m.-Premier Asquith, in an announcement made to the House of Commons this afternoon, said that the British government was about to take more stringent measures against the trade of Germany. Washington, D. C., Feb. 11. - Commander Woodruff, Governor of the American islands of Samoa, reported today that the Manua islands had been swept by a heavy storm and asked for $10,000 for relief. He gave no details of loss of life or destruction of property. Secretary Daniels cabled at once for details on which to base an emergency request. to Congress.

5. March 2, 1915 Yorkville Enquirer York, SC

Article from Yorkville Enquirer, March 2, 1915

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GENERAL NEWS NOTES. Items of Interest Gathered From All Around the World. Missouri senate committee has reported adversely on a "Jim Crow" car law in that state. Arguments in the Leo M. Frank case, before the United States supreme court at Washington, were completed Friday. German postal figures show that since the beginning of the war, 864 German newspapers have suspended publication. Miss Maude Armfield has been -'009$ B up 0000'0 JO verdict B амалфе 000 breach of promise suit against Bryant Howard, Jr., by a San Diego, Cal., jury. The city officials of Amsterdam, N. Y., propose to convert the Carnegie city library building into a city jail, rather than continue to pay $3,000 a year for its maintenance. Joseph Leiter, the noted Chicago wheat speculator, testified in New York, Friday, that the present high price of wheat is due to the foreign demand and not to speculation. A Federal grand jury at New York, has returned a superseding indictment against 21 directors of the New Haven railroad, charging violation of the Sherman anti-trust laws. Wheat exports from the United States for the week ending Friday, were 7,358,000 bushels, against 10,227,000 the previous week, and 2,948,000 bushels for the same week of last year. The body of James W. King, the prominent Philadelphia lawyer, who disappeared from a Washington hotel on January 10th, was found in the Potomac river near Washington last week. The First National bank of Schaffertown, Pa., has been re-opened, following its suspension after the suicide of its cashier, on February 6th. The shortage of the cashier was made 'poos Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, has written a most pathetic letter to the children of the empire, in which he asks the "Flowers of the Empire" to pray for the success of the German-Austrian arms in the war. Two masked bandits entered a bank at Havana, Ark., Thursday, and taking more than $4,000, forced the bank president, who was alone at the time, to walk down the street with them. The president was found later, unharmed, eleven miles from town. May wheat sold at $1.46 a bushel in Chicago, Friday, 14 1-2 cents a bushel below the previous week, and 78 cents lower than the price on Thursday, on receipt of the news of the probable successful attack on the Dardanelles forts. Citizens of the 38th police district of Philadelphia say that they will form a "vigilence committee," for protection against criminals unless the department of public safety gives them assurance of better protection from criminals than they have been getting. The judge of the New Jersey supreme court trying the case against Mrs. Nettie Solins, charged with poisoning her husband at May's Landing, instructed the jury to disregard an alleged confession forced by means of the "third degree." The woman was acquitted. Adolf Mendel, an East Side, New York, banker, who failed recently for $3,000,000, has filed an offer in the Federal court to pay 100 cents on the dollar-10 per cent cash at once, 10 per cent in 90 days and the balance in income notes of a new corporation to continue the business. The promoter of the Johnson-Willard prize fight has announced that the proposed fight has been postponed until the last of March or the first of April. Johnson is in Havana and will hardly give General Carranza a chance to arrest him and turn him over to United States officers. The earnings of the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, last year were $350,229, against $4,017,800 in 1913, a decrease of 91 per cent. The interstate commerce commission, the tariff and the war are blamed for the decrease. Gross sales last year totaled $13,616,163: in 1913 the total sales were $37,630,969.