19659. Rhode Island Union Bank (Newport, RI)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Suspension → Reopening
Bank Type
state
Start Date
May 12, 1837
Location
Newport, Rhode Island (41.490, -71.313)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
929273d4

Response Measures

None

Description

Articles state the Rhode-Island Union Bank suspended specie payments on 1837-05-12 along with other Newport banks (part of the wider suspension following Providence and Boston). The bank paid its balance to the U.S. Treasurer and honored drafts, and the Treasury account was closed — indicating the suspension was part of the wider 1837 panic and the bank remained in good standing rather than failing. No explicit single-day run or permanent closure is reported; I classify as a suspension with subsequent resumption/continued payments (suspension_reopening).

Events (2)
1. May 12, 1837 Suspension
Cause
Macro News
Cause Details
Suspended at same time as other local banks following suspensions in Providence and Boston during the 1837 banking crisis; part of broader systemic suspension of specie payments in the region/nation.
Newspaper Excerpt
suspended specie payments, simultaneously with all the other banks of Newport, on the 12th of May, 1837
Source
newspapers
2. September 13, 1837 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
the whole of which sum has since been paid. And all the drafts drawn, on the R. I. Union Bank, by the Secretary of the Treasury, previously as well as subsequently to its suspension of specie payments, having been paid, and its account with the Treasurer of the United States being closed, the Cashier of the bank has received a letter from the Hon. Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury, which has been handed to us for publication, and of which the following is a copy.
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (2)
1. September 13, 1837 The Rhode-Island Republican Newport, RI
Article from The Rhode-Island Republican, September 13, 1837

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

The Rhode-Island Union Bank, of this town, of which CHRIST. G. CHAMPLIN, Esq., is President, and GEORGE C. MASON, Esq., is Cashier, was constituted a Deposite Bank of the United States, on the 13th of August, 1836, and suspended specie payments, simultaneously with all the other banks of Newport, on the 12th of May, 1837; being the next day after the banks of Providence and Boston had suspended specie payments. The balance standing, on its books, to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States, on the day of its suspension of specie payments, was $49,362,98; as appears by the return of the state of the bank, made on the following day, to the Treasury Department; the whole of which sum has since been paid. And all the drafts drawn, on the R. I. Union Bank, by the Secretary of the Treasury, previously as well as subsequently to its suspension of specie payments, having been paid, and its account with the Treasurer of the United States being closed, the Cashier of the bank has received a letter from the Hon. Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury, which has been handed to us for publication, and of which the following is a copy.

2. September 14, 1837 Herald of the Times Newport, RI
Article from Herald of the Times, September 14, 1837

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

It will be seen by the following statement, which we copy from the Rhode Island Republican of yesterday, that the Rhode Island Union Bank,o this place, has been conducted, as a Deposite Bank, with the strictest promptitude and honor, and the entire satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury-prov. ing, so far at least as the character of this Institution is concerned, the utter falsehood and absurdity. of the charges made in the late letters of the "revered chief," against the Deposité Banks. "The Rhode Island Union Bank, of this town, of which CHRIST. G. CHAMPLIN. Esq., is President, and GEORGE C. Mason, Esq. is Cashier, was constituted a Deposite Bank of the United States, on the 13th of August, 1836, and suspended specie payments, simultaneously with all the other banks of Newport, on the 12th of May, 1837; being the next day after the banks of Providence and Boston had suspended specie payments. The balance standing, on its books, to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States, on the day of its suspension of specie payments, was $49,362.98; as appears by the return of the state of the bank, made on the following day, to the Treasury Department; the whole of which sum has since been paid. And all the drafts drawn, on the R. I. Union Bank, by the Secretary of the Treasury, previously as well as subsequently to its suspension of specie payments, having been paid, and its account with the Treasurer of the United States being closed, the Cashier of the Bank has received a letter from the Hon. Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury, which has been handed to us for publication, and of which the following is a copy.