3386. Exchange Bank of Dow City (Dow City, IA)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
state
Start Date
April 6, 1904
Location
Dow City, Iowa (41.929, -95.494)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
55843b9d

Response Measures

None

Description

Multiple contemporaneous newspaper articles (April 6-9, 1904) report the Exchange Bank of Dow City failed or closed and a receiver (N. Wilder) was appointed. Cause repeatedly given as speculation in western cattle and heavy checks from the Green Cattle Company; later reporting (1905) describes charges of fraudulent banking. No run is described in the articles. Date of suspension/closure reported as April 6, 1904.

Events (2)
1. April 6, 1904 Receivership
Newspaper Excerpt
N. Wilder of Dow City has been appointed receiver of the two banks.
Source
newspapers
2. April 6, 1904 Suspension
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
Speculation in western cattle by owner H. S. (Green) led to heavy losses; checks of the Green Cattle Company presented ($10,000) precipitated failure.
Newspaper Excerpt
The Exchange Bank of Dow City ... have failed ... N. Wilder of Dow City has been appointed receiver of the two banks.
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (12)
1. April 7, 1904 The Minneapolis Journal Minneapolis, MN
Article from The Minneapolis Journal, April 7, 1904

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Article Text

SPECULATED IN CATTLE Banks of H. S. Greene of Dow City Make an Assignment. MARSHALLTOWN. IOWA-The Exchange bank of Dow City and the Bank of Buck Grove have failed, with reported total liabilities of half a million dollars and assets of only $150,000. Both banks are owned by H. S. Greene of Dow City. The assets exceed the direct liabilities by between $75,000 and $100,000, and the depositors will be paid in full. Speculation in western cattle is given as the cause of the failure. N. Wilder of Dow City has been appointed receiver of the two banks.

2. April 7, 1904 The Topeka State Journal Topeka, KS
Article from The Topeka State Journal, April 7, 1904

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TWO BANKS CLOSE, Failure Due to Speculation in Western Cattle. Marshalltown, Iowa, April -The Exchange bank of Dow City and the Bank of Buck Grove, Crawford county, have failed with reported total liabilities half a million dollars, and assets of only a hundred and fifty thousand dollars and are in the hands of a receiver. Both are owned by H. S. Greene of Dow City. Mr. Greene says the assets are between $75,000 and $100,000 greater than the direct liabilities and depositors will be paid in full. He says the direct liabilities aggregate only $200,000 dollars. Speculation in western cattle is the cause of the failure.

3. April 7, 1904 Evening Times-Republican Marshalltown, IA
Article from Evening Times-Republican, April 7, 1904

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GREEN WAS UNFORTUNATE. President of Dow City Bank Has the Sympathy of the Citizens. Special to Times-Republican. Denison, April 7.-The failure of the Exchange Bank of Dow City was the topic of conversation here yesterday afternoon. This failure, which as stated yesterday in the T.-R. carries with the bank of Buck Grove, has not affected Mr. Green's bank at Overton, Neb., which latter bank is a state institution. From the records filed yesterday the assets are found to be $140,000. Of these cash and items are $20,000; equity in the Green Cattle Company, $50,000, and real estate, $70,000. N. R. Wilder, of Dow City, who was appointed receiver of the Dow City and Buck Grove banks and qualified with a bond of $30,000, has as yet made no statement or the libabilities. They are estimated from $250,000 to $500,000, but the latter sum is likely too high. Mr. Green has been dealing heavily in stock. He is the president and principal owner of the Green Cattle Company of Wyoming, which. it is said, has been losing heavily of late. The checks of this company on the Dow City bank were the immediate cause of the failure, $10,000 of this paper having been presented Tuesday. In the schedule of assets filed yesterday he shows 7,500 head of cattle and 300 head of horses, with an incumbrance

4. April 7, 1904 The Saint Paul Globe Saint Paul, MN
Article from The Saint Paul Globe, April 7, 1904

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Article Text

Northwest News IOWA BANKS FAIL FOR HALF MILLION H. S. Greene Owns Them and Speculation in Cattle Causes the Smash. MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa, April 6.-The Exchange Bank of Dow City and the Bank of Buck Grove have failed, with reported total liabilities of $500,000 and assets of only $150,000. Both banks are owned by H. S. Greene, of Dow City. Mr. Greene says the assets exceed the direct liabilities by between $75,000 and $100,000, and that the depositors will be paid in full. Speculation in Western cattle is given as the cause of the failure. N. Wilder, of Dow City, has been appointed receiver of the two banks.

5. April 7, 1904 The Indianapolis Journal Indianapolis, IN
Article from The Indianapolis Journal, April 7, 1904

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Article Text

FAILURE OF PRIVATE BANKS IN IOWA TOWNS MARSHALLTOWN, Ia., April 6.-The Exchange Bank of Dow City and the Bank of Buck Grove, Crawford county, have failed, with reported total liabilities of half a million dollars and assets of only $150,000. Both banks are owned by E. H. Greene, of Dow City. Mr. Greene says the assets are between $75,000 and $100,000 greater than the direct liabilities and that depositors will be paid in full. Speculation in Western cattle is given as the cause of the failure. N. Wilder, of Dow City, has been appointed receiver of the ,two banks.

6. April 8, 1904 The Billings Gazette Billings, MT
Article from The Billings Gazette, April 8, 1904

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Article Text

IOWA BANKS SUSPEND LIABILITIES SAID TO EXCEED ASSETS BY SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS. Marshalltown, Ia., April 7.-The Exchange Bank of Dow City, and the Bank of Buck Grove have failed with reported total liabilities of $500,000 and assets of only $150,000. Both banks are owned by H. S. Greene of Dow City. Mr. Greene claims the assets exceed the direct liabilities by between $75,000 and $100,000 and that the depositors will be paid in full. Speculation in Western cattle is given as the cause of the failure. N. Wilder of Dow City has been appointed receiver of the two banks.

7. April 9, 1904 Ottumwa Tri-Weekly Courier Ottumwa, IA
Article from Ottumwa Tri-Weekly Courier, April 9, 1904

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TWO IOWA BANKS FAIL. Owned by One Man Who Says Depositors Will Be Paid. Marshalltown, April 7. - The Exchange bank of Dow City and the Bank of Buck Grove, Crawford county, have failed, with reported total liabilities of $500,000 and assets of only $150,000. Both are owned by H. S. Greene of Dow City. Mr. Green says the assets are between $75,000 and $100,000 greater than the direct liabilities and depositors will be paid in full. He says the direct liabilities aggregate only $200,000. Speculation in western cattle is the cause of the failure. N. Wilder of Dow City has been appointed receiver of the two banks.

8. April 9, 1904 Bismarck Daily Tribune Bismarck, ND
Article from Bismarck Daily Tribune, April 9, 1904

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Article Text

TWO IOWA BANKS FAIL. I Speculation in Western Cattle Given as Cause. Marshalltown, Ia., April 8.-The Exchange bank of Dow City and the Bank of Buck Grove have failed, with reported total liabilities of $500,000 and assets of only $150,000. Both banks are owned by H. S. Greene of Dow City. The assets exceed the direct liabilities by between $75,000 and $100,000 and the depositors will A be paid in full. Speculation in Western cattle is given as the cause of the failure. N. Wilder of Dow City has been appointed receiver of the two banks.

9. April 15, 1904 Highland Recorder Monterey, VA
Article from Highland Recorder, April 15, 1904

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NEWS IN SHORT ORDER. The Latest Happenings Condensed for Rapid Reading. Domestic. Vice Chancellor Bargen signed an order in New Jersey to show cause why an injunction should not issue tc restrain the Northern Securities Company from holding a stockholders' meeting. Work at the Bay State Mills of the American Woolen Company, in Lowell, Mass., was suspended, the company ordering a shutdown for an indefinite period. This effects 700 hands. Miss Jennie Gray, daughter of Col James R. Gray, editor of the Atlanta Journal, was married in Atlanta, Ga., to Capt. Earle D'Arcy Pearce, of the United States Army. A quarrel over a girl, their companion at school, culminated in the killing of a 16-year-old boy by another in Chicago. For half an hour traffic on Lowet Broadway was blocked by a small fire in the new subway in New York John Cleves Short Harrison, grand. son of President William Henry Harrison, died at Los Angelese, Cal. Edward and Jacob Hammond, brothers, and Oscar Sigertsen were asphyxiated by gas in Philadelphia. Five persons are dead and another is dying as the result of a fire in Mount Vernon, N. Y. The Exchange Bank of Dow City and the Bank of Buck Grove, Ia. have failed. The police raided the offices of the Pacific Underwriting and Trust Company and the Imperial Trust Company, in Chicago, and arrested those in charge on the charge of swindling Sixty-three Indians were wrecked in a train east-bound near Maywood I11. Three were instantly killed, 3 were fatally injured and 20 others were more or less seriously hurt. I The National Cotton Spinners As. sociation at Boston adopted resolu$ tions favoring an eight-hour day, antiinjunction laws and a better system of s factory inspection. In an amended bill in the United $ States Circuit Court at St. Louis an . insurance company which is resisting the payment of policies for $200,00C , on the life of James L. Blair, who was vice general counsel of the World's e Fair, charges that Blair obtained the policies by fraud. n Advices from Nome, Alaska, say ) that the spring cleanup of gold on the g Nome Peninsula will be greatly in exI cess of any previous season. Conservative estimates place the cleanup at $1,250,000. Smuel W. McCall and Charles F. Choate, Jr., were appointed receivers $ for the Union Trust Company in Bos. ton. The company's liabilities are n placed at $1,600,000. Albert Robbins and Edward L / Robbins, president and cashier, respectively, of the defunct Farmers' Bank at Auburn, Ind., were arrested for embezzlement. r The retention of 35 Greek strike. breakers at the plant of the American e Car Company, in Chicago, caused a e rumpus there and the Greeks were L driven out. The nail department of the American Steel and Wire Company's plant S at Rankin, near Pittsburg, was burned down, causing a loss of $175,000. As the result of playing with powt der, three boys were fatally injured in 1 Salt Lake, Utah, and one crippled for , life. Coal has advanced $1.20 a ton in n Iowa on account of the scarcity caused by the strike.

10. April 15, 1904 Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer Cresco, IA
Article from Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer, April 15, 1904

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Two Banks Fall. The Exchange Bank of Dow City, and the Bank of Buck Grove have failed with reported total liabilities of $500,000 and assets of only $150,DOO. Both banks are owned by H. S. Greene of Dow City. Mr. Greene claims the assets exceed the direct liabilities by between $75,000 and $100,000 and that the depositors will be paid in full. Speculations in Western cattle is given as the cause of the failure. N. Wilder of Dow City has been appointed receiver of the two banks.

11. April 20, 1904 Manchester Democrat Manchester, IA
Article from Manchester Democrat, April 20, 1904

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where he was ground to death. The Exchange Bank of Dow City and the Bank of Buck Grove have failed, with reported total liabilities of $500,000 and assets of only $150,000. Both are owned by H. S. Greene of Dow City. Mr. Greene says the assets are between $75,000 and $100,000 greater than the direct liabilities and depositors will be paid in full. Speculation in western cattle is the cause of the failure. N. Wilder of Dow City has been appointed receiver of the two banks. Charles Page, cashier of the Muscatine Savings Bank, is dead at Dallas, Texas, where he went in search of health. He was a prominent Muscatine business man for fifty years. Accused by his wife of assault with intent to commit murder, made a defendant in a divorce case and wanted by the county authorities for violating an injunction issued by the District Court, Andrew Loeffler, a Des Moines florist, took a dose of carbolic acid after he was held to answer to the grand jury. and died on the lawyers' table in the court 100m. As the result of differences between the coal dealers at Stanhope and a number of farmers an elevator company for the purpose of handling all their own grain and coal has been organized and an elevator and store house of a large capacity will be built the coming summer. On account of the coal strike the railroads have announced that at least 600 men will be laid off at once. Thirty six crews running out of Des Moines and Valley Junction have quit work. Similar action by railways centering at Boone, Belle Plain. Oskaloosa, Ottumwa and Albia will mean the loss of work to about 1,000 men. Although accused of murder in the first degree and awaiting trial with an array of evidence against him that seems impregnable, Charles W. Graves, under indictment charged with murdering his wife and burning her body, refused to leave his cell in Des Moines and escape with his fellows. Graves was walking up and down his narrow cell with the door wide open when the turnkey discovered the delivery. Charles Cackley, murderer of Constable Reuben Fenstemaker in 1806 at Farmington, who was arrested after thirty-six years, entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced at Keokuk to ten years in prison nt Fort Madison.

12. July 31, 1905 Evening Times-Republican Marshalltown, IA
Article from Evening Times-Republican, July 31, 1905

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H. S. Green, of Dow City, Arrested In California, Makes Escape From Officers FRAUDULENT BANKINGCHARGED His Arrest Was an Outgrowth of the Failure of the Dow City Exchange Bank and the Green Cattle Company - Whereabouts Had Been a Secret For Many Months. Special to Times-Republican. Dow City, July 31.-Considerable interest is manifested here in a dispatch from Winters, California, which says H. S. Green, under arrest there on a charge of fraudulent banking at Dow City, Iowa, and held on his own recognition, broke his parole and left the country. It is supposed that he went to Portland, Ore. An Iowa officer arrived at Sacramento Saturday to secure extradition papers for Green, who was president of the Dow City Exchange bank, when "it failed in April, 1904. He has been a resident of California for eight months and of Winters for three months. On April 6, 1904, the Exchange Bank of Dow City closed its doors and was placed in the hands of a receiver, the bank having failed for something over $200,000. H. S. Green was the president and owner of the bank, it being a private institution. Soon after the bank closed its doors H. S. Green disappeared and has not been seen or heard of until recently, unless it was that he kept up secret correspondence with intimate friends and relatives. The November grand jury of 1904 found an indictment against Green and the authorities made a diligent search for him, and it was not until last week that the authorities were notified that letters in the handwriting of H. S. Green, had been sent from Winters, Cal. A description and photograph of H. S. Green were at once mailed to the chief of police at Winters, and in a short time the authorities at Denison were notified that the much coveted man was at Winters, Cal. Requisition papers were at once secured and W. J McAhren, deputy United States marshal, of Denison, was sent to California to bring him back. The people of Dow City were up in arms after H .S. Green left the state, and have been making many critictsms because he was not sooner brought back to Iowa to be punished according to law, but so well did Green keep his whereabouts a secret that it was not until about fifteen months after his escape that his hiding place was known to the Crawford county authorities. H. S. Green is a brother of Judge Green, one of the district judges of Iowa, located at Audubon, and he is a brother-in-law of Attorney Sweeley, of Sioux City, who are said to have lost heavily in the failure.