Commonwealth Trust Company

Bank Information

Episode Type: Suspension → Closure
Bank Type: trust company
Start Date: May 13, 1918
Location: Houston, Texas (29.763, -95.363)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: 2fb751cf

Response Measures

None

Description

Article (1918-05-13) states the Commonwealth Trust Company of Houston is now in the hands of a receiver as the result of action taken by the attorney general of Texas. No run or depositor panic is mentioned; criminal prosecutions and a receivership follow enforcement action by the state, consistent with suspension leading to closure/receivership.

Events (2)

1. May 13, 1918 Receivership

Newspaper Excerpt: The Commonwealth Trust company, now in the hands of a receiver as the result of action taken by the attorney general of Texas, J. Greeley Jones, president of the trust company, is now in jail at Ada awaiting trial.
Source: newspapers

2. May 13, 1918 Suspension

Cause: Government Action
Cause Details: Placed in hands of a receiver following action taken by the Texas attorney general related to alleged fraudulent time certificates and criminal charges.
Newspaper Excerpt: The Commonwealth Trust company, now in the hands of a receiver as the result of action taken by the attorney general of Texas,
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (1)

1. May 13, 1918 The Oklahoma City Times Oklahoma City, OK

Article from The Oklahoma City Times, May 13, 1918

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Article Text

GARNETT SUES BANKER EDITOR FOR $250,000 Man in Commonwealth Trust Case Claims Libel. CHARGES NOW PENDING State Bankers Publication Expose Basis of Suit. Damages of $250.000 for an alleged libelous article that appeared in "The State Banker," of April, 1917, in connection with criminal charges that had been brought against the Common wealth Trust company of Houston, are asked by Charles H. Garnett in a suit brought in the district court this morning against C. K. Boardman and the state bankers' association. The article in question, which detailed the manner in which the trust company carried on its operations, referred to the men arrested in this connection as "crooks," and "swindlers." and it is chiefly for these names that Garnett bases his libel suit. Plaintiff Was Fined. The suit is directly the result of one of the most sensational exposures of high finance ever made in Oklahoma The Commonwealth Trust company, now in the hands of a receiver as the result of action taken by the attorney general of Texas, carried on extensive operations throughout Oklahoma by means of impressive looking and apparently bona fide "time certificates." involving many men. Business deals were transacted and the time certifiin These be cates payment. of the trust certificates company would given turned over to banks, and the banks would write the trust company at Houston to see if they were all right. The trust company would vouch for the certificates, which were for the most Y is charged Garnett was arrested with W. F. Bland and many others, for obtaining money under false pretenses. He was fined $500 at Stillwater last spring for the part he played in turning one of the certificates over to a bank. Criminal charges are now pending both against Garnett and Bland at Stillwater and at Ada. J. Dawson Mathews was given a maximum sentence at the Stillwater trial, which was brought by the state bankers' association, the certificates being issued for the most part in his name. J. Greeley Jones. president of the trust company, is now in jail at Ada awaiting trial. E. G. King and W. L. Nix have not yet been caught. though felony warrants them. on one are also out a fugitive against from justice J. S. Hix of is the charges, and G. C. Wisdom is in jail in Ada, where a trial is soon to be held. Garnett Denies Guilt. Garnett alleges that he was innocent in the affair of the certificates. The deals in which he was connected concerned the sale of oil leases. He alleged that he took the certificates in cashed at good faith. them the the request difof his clients, and paid over ference to them, not knowing that the certificates were valueless. The paper in which the article appeared that caused the quarter-million dollar libel suit is a bi-monthly publication of the Oklahoma State Bankers' association. Boardman, who was at the time editor. as secretary of the association, resigned last fall to take a position with the federal reserve bank at Kansas City.