2122. Patriotic Bank (Washington, DC)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
private
Start Date
April 14, 1834
Location
Washington, District of Columbia (38.895, -77.036)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
c51736cf

Response Measures

None

Description

Board resolved to suspend specie payments on 1834-04-14 due to 'alarming state of the commercial affairs of this District.' Subsequent reports in early May describe the bank as having 'failed' and being forced to 'wind up its affairs.' No explicit receiver is named in the provided articles, but the bank clearly suspended and then closed.

Events (2)

1. April 14, 1834 Suspension
Cause
Local Shock
Cause Details
Board cited the alarming state of the commercial affairs of this District and extraordinary juncture of affairs as reason for suspending specie payments.
Newspaper Excerpt
At a special meeting ... it was unanimously Resolved ... that the payment of specie for its obligations ought to be, for the present, suspended.
Source
newspapers
2. May 1, 1834 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
The Patriotic Bank of Washington ... has been forced to suspend specie paymend and wind up its affairs. ... The Patriotic Bank in the City of Washington, which has failed, ... we are informed ... that the Jackson members some weeks since ... told the Sergeant-at-Arms to bring them nothing but United States Bank Bills. (reports of failure in early May 1834).
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (3)

Article from Alexandria Gazette, April 16, 1834

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Article Text

PATRIOTIC BANK, Washington, 14th April, 1834. At a special meeting of the President and Directors of the Patriotic Bank, held this day, for the purpose of taking into consideration the alarming state of the commercial affairs of this District, it was unanimously Resolved, That in the opinion of the Board the interest of the Bank and its creditors requires that the payment of specie for its obligations ought to be, for the present, suspended. Resolved, That, in the opinion of the Board, the report made by the Committee of Investigation, in January last, showing that the Bank had not only the ability to pay its obligations, but to pay the stockholders upwards of 110 per cent. was a true and correct statement of the affairs of the Bank, and that nothing has occurred, thus far, to render the securities of the Bank less safe than at that period. Resolved, That the creditors of the Bank be requested not to sacrifice their claims, as the Board feel authorized to assure them that they will all be paid. In making known this determination, the Board need hardly say that nothing but the extraordinary juncture of affairs could have brought them to the painful necessity of this annunciation. They earnestly invite all persons interested to call and satisfy themselves of the condition of the Bank, and the exertions made by the Board to sustain the institution, and that, so far as discretion and prudence would authorize, they have personally gone. W. A. BRADLEY, President. NATHAN SMITH, JOHN COYLE, THOMAS BLAGDEN, J. W. HAND, THOMAS HUGHES, EDWARD INGLE, PHINEAS BRADLEY, M.ST. CLAIR CLARKE, PISHEY THOMPSON. Attest: G. E. Dyson, Cashier.


Article from Vandalia Whig and Illinois Intelligencer, May 1, 1834

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Article Text

Three banks in the district of Columbia, have recently suspended <pecie payment: the Washington Bank, Farmers and Mechanics' bank, of Georgetown, and the bank of Alexandria. It is also reported that the bank of Virginia has failed. Such are some of the fruits of the experiment, which the people are gathering daily. Later.-The work goes bravely on. The Patriotic Bank of Washington, the especial favorite of the government, though not a pet, has been forced to suspend specie paymend and wind up its affairs. The bank of Alexandria was employed as a depository of the national revenue, and the bank


Article from The Northern Star, and Farmers' and Mechanics' Advocate, May 3, 1834

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Article Text

The Patriotic Bank in the City of Washington, which has failed, is the one in which most of the Jackson members of Congress kept their running accounts. We are informed by a letter from Washington, that the Jackson members some weeks since, told the Sergeant-at-Arms to bring them nothing but United States Bahk Bills.