2726. Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association (Atlanta, GA)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
state
Start Date
February 11, 1897
Location
Atlanta, Georgia (33.749, -84.388)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
acf9a718

Response Measures

None

Description

Newspaper dispatches from Feb–Mar 1897 describe the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association as insolvent and placed in the hands of a receiver. Coverage details discovered shortages of cash and securities and legal fights to recover hypothecated mortgages; stockholders met and attempted reorganization but receivership and litigation continued. No article describes a depositor run; the event is insolvency leading to receivership and effective closure.

Events (4)
1. February 11, 1897 Suspension
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
Alleged insolvency: apparent shortages of cash and securities, large loans hypothecated by president W. C. Hale, mismanagement and possible misapplication of mortgage securities leading to inability to meet withdrawals.
Newspaper Excerpt
The Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association, of Atlanta, Ga., liabilities of $1,000,000, is alleged to be insolvent and is in the hands of a receiver.
Source
newspapers
2. February 12, 1897 Receivership
Newspaper Excerpt
W. D. Ellis, counsel for the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association, this morning filed a sensational answer to the petition of Chas. E. Garner to have the Federal Court appoint a receiver for the association...the association was perfectly solvent and would repay the stockholders every dollar they had invested. J. A. Anderson, the temporary receiver, made a report showing the liabilities to be $1,313,894 (later articles).
Source
newspapers
3. February 24, 1897 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
The Report of the Expert Accountant Leaves $70,000 in Cash and $165,000 in Securities to Be Accounted For...an apparent shortage of $70,000 in cash and $165,000 in the securities of the association was found by Prof. B. F. Moore, the expert accountant examining the books for the receiver.
Source
newspapers
4. March 19, 1897 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
The legal fight over possession of the mortgage securities of the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association...The Iowa Life holds $110,000 of the mortgages and the Bates-Farley Banking Company $80,000...asked the court to compel the Iowa life and the Bates-Farley Banking Company of Atlanta to return the securities to the receivers.
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (11)
1. February 11, 1897 Owingsville Outlook Owingsville, KY
Article from Owingsville Outlook, February 11, 1897

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GENERAL NEWS. The death of Gen. Jo Shelby, of Adrian, Mo., is expected. The steamer Natchez was seriously injured below Vicksburg. Senator George, of Mississippi, is a little improved from his dangerous illness. Thirty fine horses were killed in a collision on the Illinois Central railroad near Tolena, III. Joseph L. Rawlins defeated Moses Thatcher for U. S. Senator from Utah. A contest is probable. The British-Venezuelan arbitration treaty has been duly signed and sent to Venezuela for ratification. Up to Feb. 4th there had been 3,841 deaths out of 5,098 cases of the bubonic plague, at Bombay, India. The Birmingham (Ala.) Rolling Mills will be converted into the largest steel mill south of Pittsburgh. The Missouri Legislature will consider a bill to prohibit railroad employes from flirting with female passengers. Spain has promulgated a Cuban Reform decree to go into operation as soon as the rebellion is sufficiently confined. M. B. Leonard, telegraph superintendent of the C. & 0. R. R., died of a cancerons growth in the throat, at Richmond, Va. Cyrus E. Breder, Cashier of the First National of Bethlehem, Pa., stole $12,000 of the bank's money and is sojourning in Canada. In the Tennessee Legislature the House killed the Senate bill reducing salaries of all the State officials except that of the Governor. The new tariff bill will restore the McKinley rates on lumber except that white pine is restored to the 1883 rate, which is double the McKinley rate. The ice-gorges in the Ohio river are playing hob with the steamboats and other river craft. The Buckeye State was sent aground below Louisville. The Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association, of Atlanta, Ga., liabilities of $1,000,000, is al. leged to be insolvent and is in the hands of a receiver. It is reported that McKinley is compelled to reconstruct his Cabinet and leave Sherman and Alger out, owing to the hostility of the Foraker faction in Ohio. The Indiana Supreme Court says the case of Brown and Sexton, the Louisville officers who killed John Rippey at Salem, Ind., by mistake and in self defense, is not bailable. Cuban sharpshooters are making a special target of Gen. Weyler. His horse was shot under him near Santa Clara and he has several times narrowly escaped bullets. Theo. A. Havemeyer testified before the Lexow Committee in New York that he wouldn't go into any business unless he could make 15 to 20 per cent. out of it. He is Vice President of the "Sugar Trust." Maj. Alfred A. Hartridge, of Savannah, Ga., belonging to one of best families, raised two stock certificates of the Southwestern R. R. and went to Europe. A reward of $200 is offered for his capture. Addison Cammack, born in Kentucky about 70 years ago, famous as one of the most daring operators on the New York Stock Exchange, has retired, with a fortune of millions. He offers his Exchange seat for sale. The Northwestern National Bank of Great Falls, Montana, has suspended. The assets and liabilities are each about $750,000. The officers say the defalcation of Cashier Benton D. Hatcher for $180,000 caused the trouble. The President, on recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior for reasons of economy, has signed the order discontinuing ten out of the eighteen pension agen-

2. February 12, 1897 The Indianapolis Journal Indianapolis, IN
Article from The Indianapolis Journal, February 12, 1897

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FIGHTING A RECEIVERSHIP. Troubles of the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association. ATLANTA, Ga., Feb. 11.-W. D. Ellis, counsel for the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association, this morning filed a sensational answer to the petition of Chas. E. Garner to have the Federal Court appoint a receiver for the association. The answer alleges that Garner was not and has not been a stockholder in the association; that he was not a creditor, and had no right to apply for a receivership. The charges that the association was insolvent; that its books were unintelligible, and that its officers had mismanaged its affairs, together with various other charges of the petition, were emphatically denied. Owing to the illness of Captain Ellis, the hearing was postponed until Wednesday morning next. When the court convened Judge Tompkins filed an amendment to his original bill for a receiver. In the amendment he claimed that it was not necessary for a stockholder to obtain a judgment against the association, but that it was the peculiar province of a court of equity to marshal all of the assets and divide them among the members. Judge Tompkins alleged that the association had received $1,500,000 from its stockholders, and had investments of that amount in loans on real estate throughout the South. After the debts were paid, he held, the balance of the assets should be distributed under the direction of the United States Court. The original petition of Garner sets forth that he held forty-five shares of stock, whose withdrawal value was $2,700: that the association was being involved in extensive litigation and was hopelessly insolvent. Captain Ellis stated to-day that he proposed to fight this suit and every other suit in every other court looking to the appointment of a receiver. He continued that the association was perfectly solvent and would repay the stockholders every dollar they had invested. Other Business Troubles. MILWAUKEE, Wis., Feb. 11.-Thomas R. Bentley, who is building Ladies' Hall at the University of Wixeonsin, and the Wisconsin Historical Library building at the capital, assigned to-day to Frederick Keter, who furnished a bond in the sum of $50,000. Bentley is erecting a number of large buildings in the city on which work will stop. throwing many men out of employment. Assets and liabilities about $75,000 each. MILWAUKEE, Feb. 11.-The Wisconsin Odd Fellows' Mutual Life Insurance Company. which was organizd in 1869, made an assignment to-day for the benefit of its creditors, and John L. Fulton, of Whitewater, in bonds of $55,000, is the assignee. During the past year over five thousand men dropped out, which crippled the company so that it could not pay its losses. ELLENSBURG, Wash., Feb. 11.-The controller of currency has levied an assessment of $100 per share on the stockholders of the Kittitas Valley National Bank. which failed last July. This aggregates $50,000. Most of the stock is held in the East. PARIS, Ky., Feb. 11.-Edward Shinners has assigned to Herman Stitt. About a year ago young Shinners was left over $50,000 by his grandfather. He is the well-known baseball manager.

3. February 13, 1897 The Democratic Advocate Westminster, MD
Article from The Democratic Advocate, February 13, 1897

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John Lee, a Philadelphia, Pa., yarn manufacturer, has made an assignment. Mr. Lee says the failure was caused by the general business depression. At Selma, Ala., Maas & Schwartz, cotton commission merchants, and S. Maas & Co., kindred firms, doing a wholesale grocery business, have made an assignment. Liabilities, $300,000. The Consumers' Ice Company, of Cincinnati, has assigned. The First National Bank of Griswold, Iowa, has failed. William H. Crawford & Co., Baltimore, Md., wholesale dealers in spices, have made an assignment. Sheriff Austin has taken possession of the plant of the Syracuse (N. Y.) Specialty Company, on executions issued under judgments amounting to $43,726.28. The company manufactured the Frontenac bicycle. There has been considerable dissatisfaction caused among street-car employes in Toledo, O., on account of a reduction of 10 per cent. in wages, which went into effect February 1. There have been rumors of a strike, but the men have adopted no policy yet. The Metropolitan Iron and Land Company, operating the Norrie, East Norrie and Pabst mines, in Michigan, and employing at present about 700 men, has cut the wages of all its employes 10 per cent. This cut affects every man connected with the mine. At Trenton, N.J., the American Sugar Refining Company has organized the American Coffee Refining Company, with a capital stock of $1,000,000. This is in continuation of the fight with the Arbuckle Coffee Company. The First National Bank of Bethlehem, Pa., is in trouble; cashier a defaulter for $12,500; Northwestern National Bank of Great Falls, Montana, is closed; and the First National Bank of Franklin, Ohio, is closed. The Governor of Wisconsin has decided to foreclose the mortgages held by the State against the Wisconsin Agricultural Society's grounds near Milwaukee. The society has paid no interest at all on the mortgages, which aggregate $168,448.03, and with the unpaid interest amount to over $205,000. A receiver has been appointed for the Lincoln, III., Electric Street Railway Company. The Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association, of Atlanta. Georgia, has been placed in the hands of a receiver. The association has, it is ssid, $1,250,000 loaned on real estate, Three hundred hands employed at Reiling, David & Schoen's silk mill, in West Hoboken, New Jersey, struck on Saturday because the firm refused to restore 20 per cent. taken from their wages four months ago.

4. February 25, 1897 The Morning News Savannah, GA
Article from The Morning News, February 25, 1897

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SHORTAGE IN ITS SECURITIES. NEW DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTHERN MUTUAL CRASH. The Report of the Expert Accountant Leaves $70,000 in Cash and $165,000 in Securities to Be Accounted For-President Hale May Be Able to Explain the Matter on His Return From Iowa-The Stockholders' Meeting To-day. Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 24.-The convention of the stockholders of the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association will be held here to-morrow. A large number of stockholders and their representatives arrived to-day, and several conferences were held between them, for the purpose of outlining plans for the adoption of the convention to-morrow. M. A. O'Byrne of Savannah was chairman of one of the meetings, composed of the out-of-town stockholders. There is a clash on between the state and federal courts, as to which shall control the securities of the company, which are now in the hands of the state treasurer. Yesterday, as stated in these dispatches, Judge Newman of the federal court issued an order enjoining State Treasurer Speer from turning over any of the deeds and mortgages deposited with the state to any other parties. This morning Walter E. Jervey, through his attorneys, petitioned the superior court to order Treasurer Speer to turn over the property of the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association, held in trust by him, to the receiver of the company. Judge Lumpkin granted the order and cited William J. Speer, treasurer of the state of Georgia, to appear before him on Saturday. Feb. 27, to show cause why he should not turn over the assets in his possession to the receiver in compliance with the petition of Mr. Jervey. The petition sets forth that under the laws of the state the association was required to deposit with the treasurer 75 per cent. of the amount of all the securities received by it, the treasurer recelving the same as state trustee and holding them for the stockholders. It further sets forth that he has $331,000 of such securities in his possession, and to better protect the interests of the stockholders, prays that they may be brought within relief. Unless the stockholders succeed in taking the whole case out of the courts, which does not now seem likely, there will be a lively fight between the two courts for control. Another rather sensational development in the case to-day was in the preliminary trial balance furnished to Receiver Anderson by Prof. B. F. Moore, the expert accountant. who has been at work on the books of the company under the direction of the receiver. This statement shows that there is an apparent shortage of $70,000 in cash and $165,000 in the securities of the association. It is believed that the apparent shortage in securities will be reduced, and possibly offset by withdrawals and repayment of loans, but so far no reason for the shortage of the cash has been found. President Hale left Atlanta last week for the purpose of securing the return of $110,000 of Southern Mutual securities hypothecated with the Iowa Life Insurance Company, but has not been heard from for several days, though expected home yesterday. His trip was after a conference with Receiver Anderson, who insisted on the return of these securities. When he left he stated that he would be back in time to attend the stockholders meeting. The receiver did not know of the apparent shortage till a trial balance was presented to him to-day by the expert, Prof. Moore, who is examining the books. By this it appeared that there should be $165,000 more securities than have been found or reported. The statement also indicates that there should be about $90,000 in cash deposited in bank. There are no such deposits. The largest deposit is that of $10,000 in the State Savings Bank, and this is supposed to be offset for about half the

5. February 26, 1897 The Roanoke Times Roanoke, VA
Article from The Roanoke Times, February 26, 1897

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A BIG SHORTAGE. Stockholders' Meeting of Southern Mutual at Atlanta. Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 25.-Four hundred stockholders of the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association met here to-day to discuss the affairs of that insolvent company. M. A. O'Byrne, of Sa. vannah, was elected chairman, and W. H. Black, of Atlanta, secretary: W. C. Hale, president of the company, was absent and no one could tell where he was. The meeting lasted all day and until 10 o'clock to-night. A new board of directors was elected, and the meeting voted to try to get the temporary receivership dismissed and e-organize the association. The stockholders who were here from all over the South want to put an experienced building and loan man in charge and keep the concern running. J.'A. Anderson, the temporary receiver. made a report, showing the liabilities to be $1,313,894. It is hard to approximate the assets. R. M. Farrar, the treasurer, is charged with $20,000, but that sum is not tangible. Farrar was cashier of the Merchants' Bank, which failed last fall. The reserve fund of $69,000 has not appeared in evidence. Mortgages to the amount of $110,000 were sent to the Iowa Life Insurance Company to secure a loan which President Hale hoped to make in order to tide over the association's financial trouble. There was a lack of information on this point and no one knew whether the Iowa Life had ever advanced any thing on the mortgages. E. A. Richards, the business partner of Hale, said that he understood the mort. gages had not been transferred and were the property of the, association. Hale hoped to raise the money on these mortgages and pay the withdrawals. The mortgages were to be redeemed in ten years Richards, who represented Hale in the meeting, said that theassociation was not really short more than $35,000, including the funds in the hands of the treasurer. Application will be made to the Federal court here to-morrow for the appointment of a permanent receiver. A message was received from President Hale to day, dated Baltimore, saying he would be here on Saturday.

6. February 26, 1897 Richmond Dispatch Richmond, VA
Article from Richmond Dispatch, February 26, 1897

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SOUTHERN BUILDING ASSOCIATION. Meeting of Stockholders-They Want to Reorganize. ATLANTA, GA., February 25.-Four hundred stockholders of the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association met here to-day, to discuss the affairs of that insolvent company. M. A. O'Bryne, of Savannah, was elected chairman, and W. H. Black, of Atlanta, secretary. W. C. Hale, the president of the company, was absent, and no one could tell where he was. The meeting lasted all day and until 10 o'clock to-night. A new board of directors was elected, and the meeting voted to try to get the temporary receivership dismissed and reorganize the association. The stockholders, who are here from all over the South, want to put an experienced building-and-loan man in charge, and keep the concern running. J. A. Anderson, the temporary receiver, made a report, showing the liabilities to be $1,313,394. It is hard to approximate the assets. R. M. Farrar, the treasurer, is charged with $20,000, but that sum is not tangible. Farrar was cashier of the Merchants' Bank, which failed last fall. The reserve fund of $69,000 has not appeared in evidence. Mortgages to the amount of $110,000 were sent to the Iowa Life-Insurance Company, to secure a loan which President Hale hoped to make, in order to tide over the association's financial trouble. There was a lack of information on this point, and no one knew whether the Iowa Life had ever advanced anything on the mortgage or not. E. A. Richard, the business partner of Hale, said that he understood the mortgages had been transferred, and still were the property of the "association. Hale hoped to raise money on these mortgages and pay the withdrawals. The mortgages were to be redeemed in ten years. Richard, who represented Hale in the meeting, said that the association was not really short more than $35,000, including the funds in the hands of the treasurer. Application will be made to the Federal Court here to-morrow for the appointment of a permanent receiver. A. message was received from President Hale during the day, dated Baltimore, stating that he would be here on Saturday.

7. March 2, 1897 The Morning News Savannah, GA
Article from The Morning News, March 2, 1897

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DAILY $10 A YEAR CENTS A COPY WEEKLY $1.A YEAR HOPE RAISED ABOUT HALE. ED RICHARDS SAYS WILL RETURN TO ATLANTA. Richards Just Back From From New the Mr. With a Proposition York Insurance Association Return of the Mutual's for Iowa Southern the Life Securities $110,000 the State of It the Deposited With Richards Has of Iowa-Mr. Any Treasurer Also Says Hale Is Not Guilty of Crime. Ga., March 1.-Ed. A. Rich- the Atlanta, former partner of W. C. Haie, Mutual ards, president of the Southern and missing and Loan Association, to financier, eral Building all-round returned bringing gen- Atfrom New York, of lanta him to-day a proposition for the now return in the with worth of securities Iowa Life the $110,000 of the Insurance securities Com- the hands By the proposition the of pany. restored to the receivers the will be and loan association without of any money to allowed the to be the restoration is payment building provided installments, company. certain specified and next made in a period between now favors accovering Receiver Anderson to begin December. the offer rather than and Trust cepting the Union Loan O' Bryne suit against and its receiver. If. Mr. view of it court take the same and this part of the this as up that way. Company he the does, When muddle Atlanta. will is be cleared Hale may return to not a desettled Mr. Richards claims he is all his as Mr. intends to settle up Richards faulter and the association. Mr. where Mr. debts to that ne does not know under inclaims is now, and is not acting assuming to Hale from him, but is he his affairs. to him of his contract structions settle transfer Mr. Hale, Company, says, with and left a Iowa Life Insurance is able to the collateral with which owes he to the dealso all that he really association. building and loan of the funct takes secure a different view declares situation that He of others, and in possession from all of the facts are seen that there and is when it will be fund, the missing no default action securities will be the that receiver, accounted of for. the reserve with satis- the factorily of the transaction which has Speaking Life Insurance Company, on the records of This the Iowa biggest blot said: attorbeen association, the for Mr. settlement Richards Barber, is made the after proposition with Mr. Insurance Company a conference of the Iowa Life Iowa Life bought these but ney in New York. The a straight purchase, to the are Mutual willing as they this is Southern securities, they it was to return and had them only paid se- esthe transaction. Mr. Hale's real $8,000 on by mortgages on them, however, cured They will not return given time to replace were they with of these with the of the reserve deposited unless tate. securities can part be state others. treasurer These and of Iowa can- the on Jan. 1, as Insurance a Company, securities Life until other I went to Iowa removed When York, not have be been substituted. 69 Wall street, New Mr. Hale's the office papers at referring Life to Insurance I found with the agency. Iowa from for contract its eastern Hale, but heard told me "I did not see third Mr. party, who 1 return through a wish that it was Mr. wind up $27,000 worth him and Hale's placed his affairs. been For no of to Atlanta this purpose he hands. There word has for Mr. property in my to say a good this town with first other man When I landed was I the intend Hale. cents, he in and till this forty to befriend by me, him think the assets stand up. I Mr. Richards to is cleared Mutual," "will be found of the to Receiver get through your said time you fund you $23,000 matter the Southern reserve Anderson, Bank, have$30, investi- was gation. by Of State the Savings Union Loan .and R. Trust M. 000 in the with the $20,000 is charged amounts to make deposited and These think it will Company Farrar, treasurer. the reserve fund. in my I possession to $73,000 of I have property Muall be found. of Mr. Hale's owes personal the Southern weeks ago the amount toid me to the about to be I think ties pay was enough tual, supposed which $4,300. he been he In missing, located, regard when several after the checking counting securi- there the all that no have discrepancy completed. Some of of attorwill of be the books is in the hands believe neys for anything be accounted securities up has foreclosure. are done out will I don't criminal. think and Mr. for he I believe Hale will all the return assets to until Atlanta. matters I can these be and simply he waiting accounted indebtedness for, to the company cleared securities is up, returned everything settled, and and his then to come back here." DU UPONT'S DEFEAT.

8. March 6, 1897 The Democratic Advocate Westminster, MD
Article from The Democratic Advocate, March 6, 1897

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assignment tonight. The liabilities are $180,000. The property named in the deed includes his real estate, a stock of goods, besides $100,000 of the Gallego Mills Company stock. Mr. Cyrus Bosseaux, the vice-president of the company, made an assignment a few days ago for $50,000. The Gallego Mills is the largest milling plant in the South. For the past six years it has been operated by the present joint stock company. The Bank of Lithonia, a branch of the Union Loan and Trust Company of Atlanta, Georgia, has made an assigment to J. C. Johnson, a merchant. The liabilities are said to be between $4,000 and $5,000, besides the deposits, which are about $7, 000. Frank M. Hildebrandt, contractor, Baltimore, Md., has made an assignment. At St. Louis, Missouri, the Maullanply Savings Bank was closed on Saturday; unable to meet the demands. It had been weak for three years. It was in debt about $300, Several of the large cotton mills at Providence, Rhode Island, have curtailed production and cut down wages. Willoughby, Hill & Co., clothing manufacturers of Chicago, have assigned. This is the firm that last fall, in order to show what would be the result if Bryan was elected. purchased a lot of Mexican silver dollars and offered to sell them at 53 cents each. C. Ed. Hibarger, jeweler, of Hagerstown, Md., has applied for the benefit of the insolvent laws. Receivers were appointed in Atlanta, Ga., on Saturday, for the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association. The Philadelphia Ledger of Monday says The waning winter leaves the charitable and benevolent associations with depleted treasuries, while as yet the calls upon them are importunate and in overwhelming number. Men who have never sought charity before, and would not now if they could find work to do, are compelled to resort to them as their only refuge from starvation. Good times are coming, but SO many men must be helped to live until they arrive that the societies need hearty and liberal assistance and will continue to do SO for some time to come. Thoughtful people do not need to be reminded of these true charities, but there are many who, while charitably disposed, have an idea that the poor need relief only in winter. These people need to be told that such is particularly not the case this year. The Baltimore Evening World, Sound Money Reform, of Monday, says 'What 1. A tax rate of $2.50? Is this reform? Is this Mr. Alcaeus Hooper's idea of an economical magagement of the city's affairs? The tax rate under ring rule was $1.75. It should have been more then, and it was a tion Jugging of a floating debt that kept the rate down, bat there was no excuse then for a $2.50 rate, and there is no excuse for it now. The increase last year was over 14 per cent. Now we have a promise of another increase of 25 per cent. An increase of almost 43 per cent. in two years. This should bring the city-on the basis producing 70 per cent. of the estimate-an increase of revenue amounting to $903,000 more than the last year under ring rule. Let the economical Mr. Hooper and the people ponder on this increase.

9. March 20, 1897 The Morning News Savannah, GA
Article from The Morning News, March 20, 1897

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SOUTHERN MUTUAL'S SECURITIES. The Legal Fight to Force Their Return Opened at Atlanta. Atlanta, Ga., March 19.-The legal fight over possession of the mortgage securities of the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association, which were hypothecated with the Iowa Life Insurance Company and the Bates-Farley Banking Company by W. C. Hale, president of the defunct association, was begun to-day. Messrs. Lumpkin and Burnett, the attorneys who filed the original bill for the receiver for the Southern Mutual, began the fight by filing an amendment to the original bill asking the court to compel the Iowa life and the Bates-Farley Company to turn over these securities to the receivers, Messrs. Anderson and O'Byrne. The Iowa Life holds $110,000 of the mortgages and the Bates-Farley Company $80,000. It is contended that these securities were placed in the possession of these companies wrongfully, and that they refuse to surrender them to the receivers of the company. Both companies claim to have paid Hale for the securities and will fight hard before they will surrender them. The Iowa Life, however, does not claim to have made a complete payment for what it holds and has all along professed to be willing to return them on conditions, which have been in process of consummation for several weeks. The Bates-Farley Company claims to have bought what it holds and to have paid all the purchase money. Alex Stein is the representative of the Iowa Life in Georgia, and in the amendment filed to-day the court is asked to make him a party to the suit so that service may be perfected on the company through him. Judge Lumpkin set the case for a hearing on Saturday, March 27.

10. March 21, 1897 The Morning News Savannah, GA
Article from The Morning News, March 21, 1897

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EXPECTS TO GET $110,000 BACK. Receiver O'Byrne Says Southern Mutual Affairs Are More Hopeful. Mr. M. A. O'Byrne will leave to-night for Atlanta on business of the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association, of which he is one of the receivers. A dispatch from Atlanta in yesterday's Morning News stated that legal steps had been taken to compel the Iowa Life Insurance Company and the Bates-Farley Banking Company of Atlanta to return the securities belonging to the association, hypothecated with them by the defaulting president, W. C. Hale. Mr. O'Byrne said yesterday that negotiations are in progress by which it was hoped to secure the return of the $110,000 of securities belonging to the association, which were hypothecated with the insurance company by Hale. Hale had been authorized to secure a loan on these securities for the purpose of meeting demands of withdrawing stockholders. Instead of making the deal with some reputable concern. he placed the securities with the Union Loan and Trust Company of Atlanta, one of his own concerns, through which the deal was made with the Iowa company. This company claims that its deal was made in good faith, and that it had no connection with any wrong-doing on the part of Hale. The payments were to be made in instalments and only $8,000 had been made, none of which, however, went into the treasury of the association. The Iowa company claims, however, to have bought a lot of securities from Hale outright. The Bates-Farley company claims that the $80,000 of securities held by it were bought outright. A statement of the condition of the company's finances is now being made up, Mr. O'Byrne said, and will be furnished to the stockholders as soon as completed, which will not be for several days yet. BOUGHT BY SAVANNAHIANS

11. June 15, 1900 Bradford County Telegraph Starke, FL
Article from Bradford County Telegraph, June 15, 1900

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AUDITOR'S REPORT In the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Case--Papers Constitute Four Volumes. An Atlanta dispatch says: Four large volumes of closely printed typewritten pages constituted the report in the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association, which was filed by Auditor T. A. Hammond in the superior court Friday. As there are several hundred persons directly and others indirectly affected by the finding of the auditor, the report is more than ordinary interest. The auditor decides that stockholders who had filed notices of withdrawal should not be allowed any preference over other stockholders. Another interesting point decided was that the withdrawing members were not entitled to be classed as creditors. He held further that if directors and officers of the association were receiving salaries from the association not warranted by its assets, the conduct of these directors in receiving the salaries was not such a wrong to the stockholder as would warrant a judgment being entered against the various directors to recover back the salaries paid. In his report Auditor Hammond also makes an important decision in fixing the liability of the borrowers. He reports $16,000 against the Bates-Farley Savings bank in favor of the association. the Southern Mutual case is one of considerable magnitude. It is believed to be the largest of its kind in the country, and has attracted more than local attention ever since the collapse of the association several years ago. The amount of money that the stockholders will get will depend largely upon the sum collected by the receivers. Auditor Hammond has listed the amounts standing to the credit of all. According to the report, between the time of its organization and until the appointment of receivers some three years ago, the association lost about $350.000.