Blaine State Bank (Blaine, WA)

Episode Information

Episode UID
2646647191149
Episode Type
Suspension โ†’ Closure
Bank Type
state
Bank ID
264664719 hash
Start Date
September 30, 1895
Location
Blaine, Washington (48.994, -122.747)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini (chosen from majority vote of a three-model LLM ensemble)
Short Digest
95eb80eeecfaee3e

Response Measures

None

Description

Receiver appointed (court/stockholder action); contested possession followed.

Events (2)
1. September 30, 1895 Receivership
Newspaper Excerpt
Lester W. David, postmaster at Blaine, was appointed receiver; went into the hands of a receiver this afternoon upon application of C. H. Stone, one of the stockholders, based upon affidavits of the other three directors.
Source
newspapers
2. September 30, 1895 Suspension
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
Stockholder applied for receiver based on affidavits of directors alleging insolvency/financial failure.
Newspaper Excerpt
The Blaine State bank of Blaine ... went into the hands of a receiver this afternoon upon application of C. H. Stone
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (11)
1. October 1, 1895 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Seattle, WA
Article from The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 1, 1895

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BLAINE STATE BANK FAILS. It Was Conducted by the Wheelers, Formerly of Seattle. Whatcom, Sept. 30.-The Blaine State bank of Blaine, of which H. W. Wheeler is president and E. R. Wheeler cashier, went into the hands of a receiver this afternoon upon application of c. H. Stone, of Seattle, one of the stockholders, based upon affidavits of the other three directors. It was the only bank in Blaine, and was the successor to the Blaine National, which suspended about a year ago. The assets and liabilities are not stated. Lester W. David, postmaster at Blaine, was appointed receiver.

2. October 1, 1895 Capital Journal Salem, OR
Article from Capital Journal, October 1, 1895

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Another Failure. NEW WHATCOM, Oct. 1.-The Blaine state bank of Blaine, of which H. W. Wheeler is president and E. R. Wheeler cashier, has gone into the hands of a receiver. Assets and liabilities not stated. It was the only bank in Blaine and Was a successor to the Blaine National bank which suspended one year ago.

3. October 1, 1895 The Herald Los Angeles, CA
Article from The Herald, October 1, 1895

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Article Text

The Blaine Bank Broken NEW WHATCOM, Wash., Sept. 30.The Blaine State bank of Blaine. Wash., of which H. w. Wheeler is president and E. R. Wheeler cashier, went into the hands of a receiver this afternoon upon the application of C. H. Stone of Seattle, one of the stockholders, based upon affidavits. of the other three directors. It was the only bank in Blaine and was the successor to the Blaine National, which suspended about a year ago. The assets and liabilities are not stated. Lester W. David, postmaster at Blaine, was appointed receiver.

4. October 1, 1895 The Daily Morning Astorian Astoria, OR
Article from The Daily Morning Astorian, October 1, 1895

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BANK FAILURE. New Whatcom, Sept. 30.-The Blaine State Bank, of Blaine, of which H. W. Wheeler is president and E. R. Wheeler cashier, went into the hands of a receiver today. The assets and liabilities are not stated. It was the only bank in Blaine and was successor to the Blaine National Bank which suspended a year ago.

5. October 3, 1895 Aberdeen Herald Aberdeen, WA
Article from Aberdeen Herald, October 3, 1895

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NEWS OF THE STATE. The Blaine State Bank, of Blaine, has suspended. Both houses of the Seattle council have ordered street car and electric light wires to be placed under ground. The number of men employed in fishing on Willapa harbor and its tributaries this fall is nearly double what it was last year, and big fish are plentiful. A convention of miners is in session this week at Spokane. with the object of advancing the interests of the miners, and of the mines, one of the principal sources of wealth of the state. Charles E. Myers, the murderer of Frank Sherry, was hanged at Walla Walla, Monday. Myers set fire to the City hotel in Asotin, two years ago, in order to burn his divorced wife. The wife escaped but Sherry perished. Another big enterprise is projected by Seattle parties. It is to use the Cedar river to furnish power to generate electricity sufficient to furnish Seattle and Tacoma with all their power; also to use part of the water to supply the city of Seattle. John McClelland, of Olympia, spent four days in a gulch in the Olympic mountains, recently, without food or fire, having lost his footing and slipped into it while hunting. He was nearly dead from hunger and cold when found by his companions. The Northern Pacific car shops at Edison showed a pay roll of $21,000 for August, affording employment to 375 men. The shops are now turning out the fourth order for 100 freight cars, which are constructed entirely of home product except the end sills, which are of oak. f Those under construction are monsters, and will hold 70,000 pounds.

6. October 5, 1895 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Seattle, WA
Article from The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 5, 1895

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THERECEIVER OUSTED Wheeler Gets His Man in the Blaine National Bank. BUT HE IS ARRESTED HIMSELF. Receiver of State Bank, Goes in at Pistol Point, but Is Compelled to Give Up-People Excited. Excitement has broken out afresh in the difficulties of the Wheelers and their banks at Blaine. They have been operating the Blaine State bank as the successor of the Blaine National bank. which became embarrassed a year ago, and was thrown into liquidation, retaining its old set of officers with H. W. Wheeler as president and E. R. Wheeler as cashier. A few days ago Lester W. David was appointed receiver of the Blaine State bank by the superior court for Whatcom county, and took possession of the property at the point of a revolver. Yesterday the Wheelers made a new move, and having secured the appointment by Judge Hanford, of the Federal court, of R. W. Emmons, of this city, as receiver of the Blaine National bank, they proceeded to Blaine, and are now in possession. The particulars are given in the following special dispatch to the Post-Intelligencer: "Whatcom. Oct. 4.-Special.-Deputy Marshal McGinnis returned from Blaine this evening, having this afternoon under a sweeping order from Judge Hanford. ouster Receiver Lester W. David from the possession of the Blaine State bank and placed R. W. Emmons, of Seattle, in charge of all its books, papers and assets as receiver of the Blaine National bank. to which the State bank is successor, having the same officers and stockholders, the only capital of the latter being the capital stock of the former, which still has a corporate existence. An excited crowd surrounded the bank and witnessed the transfer. David made a formal protest personally and through Senator Dorr, acting as his counsel, but no difficulty occurred. "About the same time E. R. Wheeler, cashier of both institutions, was arrested on complaint of D. C. Pruner, charged with receiving money for deposit in the Blaine State bank when he knew said bank to be insolvent. He will have a hearing tomorrow. He gave a bond of $2,500 for appearance." The Wheelers Charge Conspiracy. In applying to Judge Hanford for a receiver for the Blaine National bank. E. R. Wheeler, who brings the action, says that David was appointed in pursuance of a conspiracy, and that, although he neglected to execute a proper bond. he entered the bank, pistol in hand, and compelled the old officers to get out. Then Wheeler says David forcibly seized the property, including all the records and private papers of the Blaine National bank, together with a large sum of money and one promissory note of great value. By reason of the wrongs and trespasses committed, the deposed cashier claims that the Blaine National bank will be unable to pursue its purpose of carrying the corporation through liquidation. He then refers to David as a man wholly irresponsible, financially insolvent and of bad reputation as a business manager and as an officer, known to be largely in default to the city of Blaine in his office as former treasurer. The petition is supported by the affidavits of L. H. Wheeler and H. W. Wheeler, the latter of whom, in addition to being president of both corporations, claims to hold forty-six shares of stock in the Blaine National bank and five shares in the Blaine State bank, as well as being trustee for a large amount of stock. E. R. Wheeler, cashier of both banks, claims fifteen shares in the Blaine National bank and ten shares in the Blaine State bank, and to be trustee for 274 shares of the former and 100 shares of the latter. He has made the petition, he says, on behalf of all the stockholders except a small minority who have joined the conspirators. Judge Hanford, on appointing Emmons, fixed his bond at $2,000. How the Old Succeeded the New. It appears from the papers in court that the Blaine National bank was organized in 1891 with a capital of $50,000, and continued actively in business until Sentem-

7. October 12, 1895 The Cape Girardeau Democrat Cape Girardeau, MO
Article from The Cape Girardeau Democrat, October 12, 1895

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The News Condensed. Important Intelligence From All Parts. DOMESTIC. IN the Rock River Methodist conference at Elgin, III., it was decided to admit women as delegates in the general conference by a vote of 142 to 27. AT Rockford, Ill., Leonard Preston, bank clerk, and George Ashbrook. of Janesville, Wis., were drowned by the capsizing of their boat. AN immense mass meeting was held in Chicago, presided over by Mayor Swift, to protest against Spanish tyranny in Cuba. Speeches were made and resolutions were adopted asking the United States government to recognize the Cuban insurgents as belligerents. FRANK J. DAVEREAUX, aged 27, and W. Porter Hunt, aged 22, two newspaper correspondents living at Oneida, N. Y., were drowned in Oneida lake by the upsetting of a boat. B. D. BLAKESLEE and N. A. .Winquest left New York for San Francisco on bicycles and will endeavor to break the present record of 48 days and 18 hours. THE schooner John Raber went ashore 18 miles east of Whiting, Ind., and Capt. Johnson and an unknown sailor were drowned. THE public debt statement issued on the 1st showed that the debt increased $1,834,687 during the month of Sep tember. The cash balance in the treasury was $185,405,363. The total debt, less the cash balance in the treasury, amounts to $941,089,636. THE Blaine (Wash.) state bank went into the hands of a receiver. THE St. Louis Loan and Investment company and the Aetna Loan and Savings company consolidated atSt. Louis with a capital of $9,000,000. FROST was general and very destructive in Virginia and North Carolina, a fifth of the tobacco crop being ruined. THE famous still run by Tom Blair, who was lynched New Year's morning at Mount Sterling, Ky., was taken in the mountains by revenue officers after a search of five years. THE monthly statement of the director of the mint shows coinage during the month of September as follows: Gold, $7,543,572; silver, $473,566; minor coins, $61,414; total coinage, $8,078,653. SOUTH CAROLINA is the only state in the union which has no divorce law, and the constitutional convention at Columbia added a section to the law which prevents recognition of divorces granted in otherstates. SINCE June 30, 1892, the net expenditures of the government have exceeded the receipts by $120,151,467. PETER CRAWFORD, 22 yearsold. a mail messenger, has been asleep in New York for the last seven months. and every device employed to awaken the man had proven futile. ALBERT WADE, assistant cashier of the First national bank at Mount Vernon, Ind., was said to be $20,000 short in his accounts. He had disappeared. CHARLES F. KLINE, a life prisoner in the penitentiary at Columbus, O., was paroled, being the first life man to be SO favored. HENRY CARPENTER. an engineer. and three negroes were killed near Dupont, Ga., by a sawmill boiler explosion. THE Texas legislature convened at Austin for the purpose of passing a law that will effectually prohibit the Corbett-Fitzsimmons prize fight at Dallas announced for October 31. THE Valley Mutual Life Insurance company of Richmond, Va., failed for $100.000. JOHN LITTLEFIELD, of Ukiah, Cal., accused of shooting J. V. Vinton, was hanged by a mob of cattlemen. BRICK yards, a row of houses and an electric light factory were burned in Philadelphia, the total loss being $250,000. STULTZ, LISBERGER & Co., large tobacco manufacturers at Danville, Va., failed for $100,000. THE banks at Monett and Purdy in Barry county, Mo., were placed in the hands of receivers. 03 00 AFTER a two-year struggle to ref trieve the loss caused by the financial depression the produce cold storage exchange in Chicago went into the hands of a receiver with liabilities of $500,000. a REV. WILLIAM E. HINSHAW was cona victed at Danville, Ind., of the murder o of his wife on January 10 last and to the jury fixed the punishment at life imprisonment. THE Texas legislature, by a vote of 27 to 1 in the senate and 110 to 5 in the t house, passed a bill making it a felony to engage in a prize fight in the state, N and attached to it a clause providing for the law going into effect at once. r THE thirty-sixth national triennial e convention of the Protestant Episcopal fi church of the United States met at a Minneapolis. e JAMES P. TILLOTSON, & prominent t member of the Chicago board of trade, it drowned himself in the lake because of heavy losses in speculation. U THE president issued an order placa ing Maj. Gen. Nelson A. Miles at the y head of the army of the United States

8. October 13, 1895 The Times Richmond, VA
Article from The Times, October 13, 1895

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An Alleged Banker's Conspiracy. SEATTLE, WASH., Oct. 12.-Lester W. David, receiver of the Blaine State Bank, who recently was compelled to surrender to R. W. Emmons, r , eiver of the Blaine National Bank, property alleged to Belong to the latter institution, has filed an affidavit in the United States Court, alleging conspiracy to loot the National Bank, and for that purpose, he says, the State Bank was organized, while the National Bank still preserved a corporate existence. H. W. Wheeler was president, and E. R. Wheeler, cashier of both institutions, and Receiver David cites Transactions in alleged furtherance of the conspiracy, the practice of the Wheelers being to realize on the assets. of the National Bank deposit the money in the State Bank, and then borrow it on their individual account.

9. November 9, 1895 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Seattle, WA
Article from The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 9, 1895

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# PERSONAL. H. B. Brokaw, a merchant of Stanwood, is at the Butler. A. W. Coleman went to Whatcom yesterday on business. Ex-Judge J. N. Scott, of Port Townsend, is at the Northern. Mr. and Mrs. F. D. Neville, of Tacoma, are at the Tremont. Mayor J. L. Roberts, of Walla Walla, is staying at the Butler. Capt. D. F. Tozier, of the revenue cutter Grant, is at the Northern. Dr. L. L. Porter, the physician of the Roslyn mines, is at the Diller. Lester W. David, the receiver of the Blaine State bank, is at the Butler. Mrs. Harvey, son and daughter, of Fairhaven, are staying at the Butler. Mrs. M. P. Benton returned last evening from a visit to relatives at Walla Walla. E. S. Rothschild, member of the firm of Rothschild Bros., Portland, is at the Butler. E. A. Mackay, who is soon to start a glass factory in this city, is staying at the Northern. W. H. Llewellyn will represent the state at the grangers' convention to be held in Boston November 14. George H. Smith, of the firm of H. G. Foster & Co., shinglemen of Tacoma, is staying at the Northern. Register W. D. O'Toole, of the United States land office, is quite sick at his residence on Rochester avenue. J. F. Richardson and John Swanson, two well-to-do farmers of Fir, on the Skagit river, are at the Diller. E. H. Ammidown, president of the Seattle Power Company, returned yesterday from New York, where he has been on business for the company. Rev. G. R. Wallace, pastor of the First Congregational church at Portland, is the guest of Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Wickware, at 1411 Seventh street. Hon. George B. Kandle, ex-mayor of Tacoma, is registered at the Diller. H. M. Lillis, ex-chief of the Tacoma fire department, is at the same hostelry. Miss Rose Coghlan and her company came in on the Great Northern coast line from Vancouver, B. C., yesterday afternoon, and are staying at the Rainier-Grand. Capt. Henry W. K. Ayres, who is now a resident of Port Angeles but is an old Seattleite and at one time was proprietor of the Seattle Daily Post, is on a visit to the city. Dr. and Mrs. Rufus H. Smith and child left yesterday for Chicago, where the doctor will take charge of the Lakeside hospital. Their departure is regretted by many friends in this city.

10. January 21, 1896 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Seattle, WA
Article from The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 21, 1896

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# SUING FOR DAMAGES. Banker Wheeler on the Stand Against C. P. Stone. IS RIGIDLY CROSS-EXAMINED. Mrs. Eliza M. Fraser Recovers Instur- ance Policy in Full-Coroner Ask- am's Suit for Fees. Banker H. W. Wheeler's $50,000 damage suit against C. P. Stone for alleged dam- ares to character in the litigation grow- ing out of the appointment of a receiver for the Blaine State bank, Is on trial be- fore Judge Humes in the superior court, and yesterday Wheeler himself was on the stand. On direct examination his testimo- ny was in support of denials of the allega- tions of the Gleason affidavit, which was pronounced false in every particular. There was a preliminary skirmish, however, in which the defense sought to throw the case sut of court on the ground that the action had been brought upon allegations made in papers filed in court, the contention being that such statements, no matter what their nature, were not actionable. In presenting this phase of the controversy, the defense beld that the English common law was ap- plicable, but the court stated that the prac- dice in this country would admit of the ac- tion being brought. On cross-examination Wheeler was given over to J. T. Ronald, who sought to bring out the inner workings of the Commercial National bank, the National Investment Company, the American Investment Com- pany, the Sidney Sewer Pipe Company, the Sidney Hotel Company, the Puget Sound Lime Company and other organizations with which Wheeler had had intimate re- lations. The answers were not at all times satisfactory to Mr. Ronald. A portion of the testimony was as follows: Question-Is it not a fact that L. ฮ—. Wheeler owned every dollar of the stock of the American Investment Company, ex- cept one share, which W. T. Chalk owned? Answer-He might have. Q-Do you mean to say that you made the loan ($3,645.80) to the American Invest- ment Company without Investigating its standing? A.-I probably did at the time. Q-Don't you know it to be a fact that there were no assets and no property what- ever belonging to the American Investment Company except that it owned the stock of the National Investment Company? ะ.- That might have been the case. I don't re- member now. Here the witness was shown the note of the company, signed by Chalk as president. The next question was: "Did not the American Investment Com- pany put up every dollar of the capital stock of the National Investment Company, with the exception of two shares, as securi- ty for that note?" A.-It may have done so. "How many shares of the National In- vestment Company are pledged as collat- eral for that note?" was then asked. After examining the note, witnesss said there had been pledged ten shares in the Puget Sound Lime Company, twelve shares in the Sidney Sewer Pipe Company and ninety-eight shares in the National Invest- ment Company. Another question brought at a statement that there had also been put up four notes of $500 each signed by the Sidney Hotel Company. Q-Was not L. H. Wheeler one of the principal owners in the Sidney Hotel Com- pany? A.-I understand he was. Q-Didn't he have an interest in the Pu- get Sound Lime Company? A. He might have. Q-What interest did Lee Wheeler have In the Puget Sound Lime Company? A.- He was one of the principal stockholders. Q-When did the American Investment Company borrow $3,645.80 from the Com- mercial bank? A.-I don't remember the date now. Q-Didn't L. H. Wheeler owe the bank the sum of money that is shown upon the note of the American Investment Com- pany? A. He might have. Upon being asked if L. H. Wheeler did not owe the bank on September 30, 1893, $1,645.80, for which the bank holds his note, the witness said, "He might have." Being further asked if the bank, through him- self as president, did not on the same date surrender the note to L. H. Wheeler, he answered, "We might have done so." Asked if the American Investment Company did not on the same day give its note for the same amount to the bank, he replied, "He might have done so." Asked if the note of the American Investment Company had ever been paid while he was president of the bank, he said, "I do not think so. It might have been." So the cross-examination proceeded until 4:15, when Mr. Ronald announced he had finished, and the court took a recess until this morning, when the case will be taken up again.

11. January 22, 1896 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Seattle, WA
Article from The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 22, 1896

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# WHEELER GETS OUT OF COURT Does Not Prove Malice and Is Therefore Non-Suited. H. W. Wheeler will recover nothing from C. P. Stone in the suit for $50,000 damages for alleged injury to his reputation, due to statements in an affidavit filed in Judge Wian's court, Whatcom county. The case went out of Judge Humes' court shortly before noon yesterday on a motion for a non-suit. Wheeler was the only witness put on the stand. In granting the motion, Judge Humes said: "There is evidence here tending to show that the matter complained of was not pertinent to the legal proceedings in question, that the publication was not absolutely privileged. If words in themselves are actionable and the publication not privileged, malicious intent in publishing is an inference of law, and therefore needs no proof. But where the circumstances of the publication are conditionally privileged; that is, where the circumstances of the publication are such as to repel the inference of malice and excluding liability of defendant, unless upon proof of actual malice, the plaintiff must furnish such proof. This in my opinion is the rule that must govern in this case. The motion for a non-suit is granted." The action is one of a number growing out of the involved litigation following the appointment of a receiver for the Blaine State bank, and the collapse of numerous corporations in which Wheeler was either an officer or with which he had intimate business relations.