22832. Oshkosh City Bank (Oshkosh, WI)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
state
Start Date
December 28, 1854
Location
Oshkosh, Wisconsin (44.025, -88.543)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
17abe921

Response Measures

None

Description

Multiple contemporary papers report the Oshkosh City Bank close its doors and suspend payment in late Dec. 1854 / early Jan. 1855 and describe it as having failed. Causes cited include failure to keep up required additional securities and depreciation of state stock; no clear, discrete depositor run leading to suspension is described in the articles, so I classify this as a suspension that resulted in permanent closure (receivership/failure). OCR errors corrected (e.g., dates and some misspellings).

Events (1)
1. December 28, 1854 Suspension
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
Bank neglected or refused to deposit additional securities required after depreciation of stocks; collateral (State stocks) had fallen in value and other banks refused its notes at par; comptroller held bonds as indemnity; circulation ~ $50,000 reported secured by devalued state stocks and coupons in comptroller's hands. Articles explicitly state failure/suspension tied to insufficient securities and depreciation of state stock holdings and refusal to deposit additional security by the bank's management (bank-specific solvency concern).
Newspaper Excerpt
the Oshkosh City Bank has been compelled to close its doors, and suspend payment.
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (6)
1. December 25, 1854 Grant County Herald Lancaster, WI
Article from Grant County Herald, December 25, 1854

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NO Thompson's Reporter makes the present value of Oshkosh City Bank, Wisconsin, paper' only 75 cents on the dollar.This Bank concluded to suspend payments for a few days in order to prepare for a run, and straightway Thompson let down his dead-fall. Oshkosh money is just as good as any other Wisconsin paper. It is secured in the same way, in the same amount and of the same kind of securities with other Wisconsin pet Bank paper. If Oshkosh money is not good it is because no other Wisconsin paper is good. We have no faith in any of it, but Ithis contemptible trick of Thompson and others in singling out a bank in Wisconsin and downing with it, ought to be understood among people.

2. January 4, 1855 Kenosha Tribune and Telegraph Kenosha, WI
Article from Kenosha Tribune and Telegraph, January 4, 1855

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The Milwaukee Sentinel of Monday says: "That Bankers of that city do not regard the notes of the Oshkosh City Bank now to be worth more than 90 cents on the dollar, though if a favorable condition of money affairs should prevail or continue, they may come up to par. The Banks of Milwaukee refuse the money at par because the Oshkosh Bank neglected or refused to deposit the additional securities made necessary by the depreciation of the stocks it had then in deposit. These Banks, says the Sentinel will receive the notes of all the Banks of the State which keep up their securities, whether in a state of suspension or not.

3. January 6, 1855 The New York Herald New York, NY
Article from The New York Herald, January 6, 1855

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At the second board the market was pretty well sustained. Nicaragua Transit advanced & per cent; Comberland, #; Missouri 6's, 4; Hudson Railroad, #; Galena and Chicago Railroad, 3. There was an offer of 85 per cent for 100 shares of Galena and Chicago, without finding a seller. The absurd panic in this stock has nearly subsided. The legality of the sales made yesterday at 70 per cent will be disputed. The New York Central Railroad Company have declared a semi-annual dividend of four per cent, which, with the dividen 1 declared last August, will be paid in the company's certificates at par, convertible into seven per cent convertible bonds when presented in suitable sums. This will about use up the three million issue of bonds which the company have been so long trying to sell. According to the annual report of the Sixth Ave. Eue Railroad Company, the receipts for the sleven months ending with the 1st of January were $223,690 39, and the expenses $188,463 73, showing a net profit of $35,226 66. Adding the estimated profits of the present month, and the balance on hand at the commensement, the amount applicable for dividends of the year will be $41,639, of which $26,250 were appropriated to the August dividend. The cost of the road amounts to $776,226 50, which is represented by $750,000 capital, $4,780 balance of morgages, and $21,486 50 borrowed from the earnings fund. Richard J. Smith, Esq., has been elected President of the Hamilton Fire Insurance Company, in place of John Bruce, Esq., resigned. The Secretary of the Treasury has given notice hat be will redeem until the 1st of March next, ks of the United States, amounting to one milnine hundred thousand dollars, at prices compounded of the following particu lars:1. The par value, or amount specified in each certificate. 2. A premium on the stock of the loan authorized by the act of July, 1846, redeemable November 12, 1856, of 2½ per cent; on the stock of the loan authorised by the of 1842, redeemable 31st December, 1862; of 10 per ent on the stock of the !oans authorized by the acts of 2847 and 1848, and redeemable, the former on the 31st of December, 1867, and the latter on the 30th June, 1868, of 16 per cent, and on the stock of the loan authorized by the act of 1850, and redeemable on the 31st of December, 1864, (commonly called the Texan indem. mity,) 6 per cent. 3. Interest on the par of each certificate from the 1st of January, 1855, to the date of receipt and settlement at the Treasury, with the allowance (for the money to each the owner) of one day's interest in addition. The Milwaukie Sentinel says:We regret to learn that the Oshkosh City Bank. Wis consin, has been compelled to close its doors and suspend payment. The circulation is in the neighborhood of $50,000, which is thus secured:Virginia 6's $15,000 selling in New York at 89. $13,450 " " 88 Missouri 6's,$10,000 8,800 " " 92 23,000 N. Caro'a 6's 25,000 Net Total $50,000 $45,250 Add to this interest coupons, due Jan. 1, in the 1,500 Comptroller's hands Total $46,750 The Comptroller also holds the personal bond of Jan. Kneeland, D. P. Hull and B. S. Henning for $12,500, as indemnity against loss by depreciation of stock security. The Secretary of the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railroad Company, under date Pittsburg,I January 3d, 1854, says :The suspension of the banking house of Wm. A. Hill Co., this morning. does not in any way interfere with payment of the interest coupons on the bonds given the city of Pittsburg and the county of Alleghany to our company, the money for that purpose and a large balance besides, at this moment being in the hands of Duncan, Sherman & Co., New York. who pay our couons Nor will the failure occasion any loss or embarsement to the company. The Board of Trustees of the Illinois and Michigan Caral have resolved (instead of the payment is one-half of, the 'coupons due January 1, 1847, as previously advertised,) to pay the full amount of the coupons due January 1, 1847; siso, to pay in full the coupons due July 1st, 1847. The coupons to be

4. January 16, 1855 Minnesota Weekly Times Saint Paul, MN
Article from Minnesota Weekly Times, January 16, 1855

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GREAT FAILURE. NEW York, Jan. 2. Wardsworth & Sheldon, Bankers, suspended payment to-dav. Liabilities about $2,500,000 ; assetts about $1,000,000 only. They were the agent of the State of Illinois, and consequently no payment has been made this morning on account of interest on the State debt. Hon. Isaac C. Barker, has been elected President of the Board of Aldermen over Mr. Ely, Common Council. Another meeting of the unemployed is now being held in the Park at which inflammatory speeches are being made, and banners displayed. Mayor Wood took the oath of office as Mayor of the city yesterday. dshkosh CITY BANK. We regret to learn that the Oshkosh City Bank has been compelled to close its doors, and suspend payment, the circulation is in the neighborhood of $50,000 which is thus secured: Virginia 6's $15,000 selling in N. Y. at 82 $13,450 " " Missouri 6's 88 $10,000 8,800 " " N. Carolina 6's 92 25,000 23,000 $50,000 $45,256 Add to this interest coupons, due January 1st in the Comptroller's hands, 1,500 $46,750 The Comptroller also holds the personal bond of James Kneeland, D. P. Hull, and B. S. Henning for $12,500, as indemnity against loss by depreciation of stock security.-Mil. Sentinal. OSHKOSH CITY BANK FAILED. We were shown this morning a letter from Chicago, dated Dec. 28th, wherein it Is stated that the Oshkosh City Bank had failed.

5. January 24, 1855 The Daily Union Washington, DC
Article from The Daily Union, January 24, 1855

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ordered that a detachment under the command of General Don Sevarre del Castille should march to attack him; but Alvarez, who became aware of the movement, fled as usual. The detachment commanded by Castille nevertheless took possession of the farm, and reduced it to ashes, thus punishing, as much as possible, the course of the owner. In the balance of the republic reigns the most complete tranquillity." THE COAST SURVEY.-Steamer Corwin, with the hydrographie party under Lieut. Com. T. A. Craven, sailed on the 18th for the southern coast. The winter observations of the Gulf stream will be continued by the party, after which the survey of the Florida reefs will be resumed. The following are the officers of the party: lieut. commanding, T. A. Craven; lieutenant, John C. Febiger acting master, Ed. C. Renshaw; assistant surgeon, T. Le P. Crommiller; passed midshipmen, Wm. T. Truxton, Thbs. C. Eaton; engineers, D. T. Mapes, R. M. Bartleman, J. F. Lamdin; acting master of tender Sophia, John L. Davis; captain's clerk, Randolph Botts. HEAVY EMBEZZLEMENT IN AN INSURANCE OFFICE-The New York Times of yesterday morning says: Yesterday a young man, named Charles O. Richardson, was arrested by Officer Elder, of the Jefferson police court, charged by Wm. Winslow, esq., president of the St. Nicholas Insurance Company, with the crime of embezzling some $15,000 of the funds belonging to said institution. In the affidavit of the president, he states that the defendant was the acting secretary of the company from May, 1852, to August, 1854, and during that time about $10,000 was unaccounted for by the said secretary. In addition to this amount, the company find that shares of stock in the Bank of the Union, to the amount of $8,000, which they held, were also embezzled by the prisoner. The accused was taken before City Judge Stuart, at his chambers in the new court building, and held to bail in the sum of $5,000 to answer." FLORIDA LEMONS-The Jacksonville (Florida) News has been shown a lemon grown upon the banks of the St. John's river, which measured eleven and a half inches in circumference. Among quite a large lot there were a few less than nine inches in circumference. AFFAIRS IN LIBERIA.-Dates from Monrovia, Liberia, to the 8th of November, announce that the country was in quite a prosperous condition. Churches, mills, manufactories, &c., were being erected in great numbers, and the people were agitating the proposition to build a railroad between two of their principal rivers. QUICK PASSAGE-The ship Albion lately made the run from New York to Liverpool in fourteen days and six hours from dock to dock-better time than is often made by several of the steamers. RUNNING AS A PACKET.-The steamer William Penn, formerly of Philadelphia, which was erroneously reported a short time back as lost in the Black sea, is now running as a regular packet between Constantinople and Balaklava. CASE OF GREEN-The Chicago Democrat understands that additional evidence had been discovered, tending more conclusively to settle the guilt of Green, the murderer of his wife in that city. It will be recollected he was convicted, butsubsequently was granted a new trial. THE COST OF SOUP.-From the 10th to the 17th instant the soup-house opened at Newark, New Jersey, by a few German citizens for the relief of the poor of every nation distributed 4,333 pints of soup and 4,500 portions of bread, at a cost of $150 47, or about 31 cents a meal. WISCONSIN STATE BANKS.-The Milwaukie Sentinel states that all the State banks, with the single exception of the suspended Oshkosh City Bank, have deposited with the comptroller the additional 10 per cent. security called for by that officer to offset the depreciation of State stocks. THE GREAT STORM ON SUNDAY LAST-This storm appears to have passed over an incredible extent of country. A despatch from Chicago says: "The most furious storm of wind and snow within the memory of the oldest inhabitant prevailed here all day yesterday. To-day it is clear and cold." Its effects were felt as far east as Concord, where the snow is now very deep. The New York Express says: We learn of no serious damage caused by the storm but we fear that the gale may have proved disastrous to vessels on the coast, as the wind blew immediately on shore. The Park this morning is strewn with small branches and twigs blown off from the trees, and the iron railing on a Broadway is in one place broken down by the fall of large tree which was literally uprooted and prostrated by the wind." In Philadelphia a house was blown down. The local columns of the Baltimore papers of yesterday morning are filled with the accounts of the disasters from the storm, both in the bay and in the city. THE KNOW-NOTHING LEGISLATURE OF Massachusetts.The following order was adopted in the Massachusetts house of representatives on the 19th instant "That the judiciary committee consider the expediency of reporting an amendment to the constitution of the Commonwealth securing to all persons on the soil of Massachusetts their inherent and inalienable rights, in all cases whatever, except as a punishment for crime; and that they shall not be deprived of said rights without trial by jury, and what is called 'due process of law.' THE BALTIMORE PATRIOT.-Mr. John Wills has become associated with the editorial department of this journal. Mr. Wills has the reputation and deservedly so, of being one of the best commercial editors in the country. ABOLISHED.-Among the last acts of the Florida legislature was the passage of a bill abolishing the supreme court of that State. WOULDN'T SHAVE HIM.-Frederick Douglass delivered one of his lectures last week in Biddeford, Maine, and the morning afterwards stepped into the barber's shop of a Mr. Bunker, an Ethiopian with a slight European alloy in his blood, who absolutely refused to shave his "beloved brudder," as it was against the rules of the establishment to tidivate colored gentlemen. Fred. left in a very wrathful mood. WITHDRAWN.-Rev. Mr. Moore, know-nothing candidate for governor in New Hampshire, has withdrawn upon finding himself ineligible. AN AMERICAN IN THE CRIMEA-An American gentleman now in the Crimea, under date of December 12, thus writes to the editor of the New Bedford Journal: "I have no doubt you are all waiting to hear by the next steamer of the fall of Sebastopol. Now, mind, I may be mistaken, but you will wait a while longer. The siege drags heavily. No general attack has been made, and none can be made. The force in Sebastopol is supposed to be no more than 25,000 men, but there are at least 100,000 men hovering about within a few miles or leagues. A general attack on the fortress would bring this immense herd down on the unprotected ports of Balaklava and Kameish, and upon the the besierers. In fact the allies now

6. February 7, 1855 Mineral Point Tribune Mineral Point, WI
Article from Mineral Point Tribune, February 7, 1855

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$4,079,557 74 Total resources, LIABILITIES: $1,400,000 Capital, 740,764 Registered notes in circulation, 187.50 Due to State Treasurer, 1,481,866 74 Due depositors on demand, 456,727 50 Due to others, Total liabilities, $4.079,557 74 No report from Oshkosh City Bank, (suspend. ed,) nor is the new Bank of Milwaukee included in the statement, having just commenced business.