Mercantile Bank - Memphis, TN

Bank Information

Episode Type: Suspension → Closure
Bank Type: state
Start Date: March 4, 1918
Location: Memphis, Tennessee (35.150, -90.049)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: c69e8cca

Response Measures

None

Description

Articles (March 1918) report that John L. Emerson is receiver of the Mercantile Bank of Memphis after its president engaged in large speculative losses. The pieces describe a receivership/closure due to bank-specific misconduct; no bank run or depositor panic is mentioned and no explicit prior 'suspension' phrasing appears in the excerpts, but the assignment of a receiver indicates the bank was effectively closed. Classified as suspension_closure because the bank is closed and placed in receivership with no run reported.

Events (1)

1. March 4, 1918 Receivership

Newspaper Excerpt: John L. Emerson, receiver of the Mercantile Bank of Memphis, Tenn., to recover $201,895 ... used by C. Hunter Raine, acting president of the institution, in unprofitable speculation in cotton futures
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (2)

1. March 4, 1918 New-York Tribune New York, NY

Article from New-York Tribune, March 4, 1918

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Article Text

Sues Brokers for $201,895 Action Against Hubbard Bros. & Co. Begins To-day The trial of an action brought by Barber, Watson & Gibboney, of 165 Broadway, as counsel for John L. Emerson, receiver of the Mercantile Bank of Memphis, Tenn., to recover $201,895 from Hubbard Brothers & Co., cotton brokers, of 66 Beaver Street, will begin to-day in the United States District Court. It is alleged that the $201,895 is part of $800,000 of the bank's funds used by C. Hunter Raine, acting president of the institution, in unprofitable speculation in cotton futures through H. Reese, a director, acting as representative of Hubbard Brothers & Co. Under agreements which have the approval of the State Superintendent of Banks in Tennessee, Reese, by the payment of $16,000, and Hubbard Brothers & Co., by the surrender of $11,000 worth of stock, put up by Reese as collateral, have been released from responsibility and litigation in the courts of that state.

2. March 7, 1918 New-York Tribune New York, NY

Article from New-York Tribune, March 7, 1918

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Article Text

Brokers Sued for $201,895 Bank Receiver Charges Its President With Speculation Recovery of $201,895 is asked in a suit begun yesterday before Judge Martin T. Manton, in the Federal District Court, by John L. Emerson, receiver of the Mercantile Bank of Mem. phis, Tenn., against Hubbard Bros. & Co., brokers, of 66 Beaver Street. The complaint alleges the sum named was used by C. Hunter Raine, president of the bank, in personal speculations in cotton futures, known and intended to be wagers or bets depending upon the fluctuations and variations of the price of cotton on the New York Stock Exchange. Alleging that the .transactions were in violation of the status of the State of New York, and were therefore wholly unlawful and void, Receiver Emerson, in the complaint, which is drafted by Archibald R. Watson, of the law firm of Barber, Watson & Gibboney. asks that the margin money paid to the brokers by Raine be turned over to him for the benefit of the bank. It is alleged that Raine's speculatitons were conducted through Hubert H. Reese, a director of the bank, who, as representative of Hubbard Bros. & Co., received one-third of the gross amount of commissions paid upon any and all orders received from customers of the concern's Memphis office. Further is is charged that Samuel T. Hubbard and W. Eustace Hubbard, composing the brokerage firm, aided and abetted Raine in carrying out and concealing the fraudulent devices by which Raine utilized the bank's money. The brokerage firm in its answer says that the transactions recounted were made with the knowledge. consent. approval and authority of the bank. and, therefore, the payments are binding on the bank. The trial is expected to last several days.