3945. Milwaukee Avenue State Bank (Chicago, IL)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Run → Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
state
Start Date
August 6, 1906
Location
Chicago, Illinois (41.850, -87.650)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
528ce22dbd2b6ca1

Response Measures

None

Description

Newspaper accounts (Aug 6–Sept 1906) describe a run triggered by reports the cashier disappeared and discoveries of embezzlement/forgery. State bank examiner closed the institution and a receiver (John C. Fetzer) was appointed; the bank remained defunct (receivership, indictments, convictions). Later payments by the receiver were dividends to creditors, not a reopening of the bank. Dates use publication dates where event dates are described as 'today' or 'yesterday' in those reports.

Events (3)
1. August 6, 1906 Run
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
Run began after reports the cashier had disappeared and amid revelations of embezzlement/forgery and large shortages in the bank's accounts.
Measures
Twenty policemen were called to restrain the crowd; bank doors were closed; officers announced the bank would be investigated and later closed by the state examiner.
Newspaper Excerpt
The Milwaukee Avenue State Bank ... today closed its doors following a run. ... the police department having been notified officially that one of the officers of the bank had absconded.
Source
newspapers
2. August 6, 1906 Suspension
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
State examiner closed the bank after discovery of large shortages and alleged embezzlement by cashier Henry W. Hering and implicated president Paul O. Stensland; numerous forgeries and missing funds estimated near $800,000–$1,000,000 or more were reported in subsequent reports.
Newspaper Excerpt
State Bank Examiner C. C. Jones ... closed its doors ... the bank was closed today by Theodore Stensland, son of the president ... The bank was closed yesterday by state Bank Examiner C. C. Jones.
Source
newspapers
3. August 7, 1906 Receivership
Newspaper Excerpt
The appointment of a receiver was obtained ... The court fixed the bond of Receiver Fetzer at $1,000,000. ... receiver Fetzer began the payment of the first dividend to the depositors ... sent out notices to five thousand depositors to call at the bank and receive twenty per cent dividend on their deposits (Aug. 24).
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (23)
1. August 6, 1906 Santa Fe New Mexican Santa Fe., Santa Fe, NM
Article from Santa Fe New Mexican, August 6, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

CHICAGO BANK CLOSES DOORS Run Caused by Report that Cashier Absconded. SHORTAGE WILL BE $20,000 Poor People's Savings of Years Chief Deposits of Three Million Dollars. Chicago, Aug. 6.-The Milwaukee Avenue State Bank, one of the largest outside of the down town districts and having deposits of over three million dollars, today closed its doors following a run. The first intima tion of trouble was the appearance at the bank of twenty policemen who had been dispatched in anticipation of disorder, the police department having been notified officially that one of the officers of the bank had absconded. The suspicion of the depositors was aroused by the sight of the policemen stationed in front of the bank and in a short time a large number demanded their money. The turbulence of the crowd was finally quelled by the policemen. Working People Robbed While President Rested. The bank was organized in 1890 by Paul O. Stensland, who is its president. The capital was $250,000 with a surplus of $250,000. Of three millions on deposit the large part, it is said, is 'the savings of working people. President Stensland is now in Minnesota, on a vacation, Henry W. Herr1 ing, the cashier is missing and a warrant charging him with embezzlement has been sworn out. The state bank examiner, C. C. Jones, issued a statement that the whereabouts of the three officers of the bank is unknown to him and that the bank is without ) an official head. Theodore Stensland has been in charge of the bank during the absence of his father, the president. Last Saturday he discovered that the bank was in a serious S condition and notified Cashier Herring that there would be an investigation this morning. The bank is now the hands of the auditor of the state. Denies That Cashier Has Absconded. This afternoon, Theadore Stensland said he did not believe cashier Herring's

2. August 6, 1906 Palestine Daily Herald Palestine, TX
Article from Palestine Daily Herald, August 6, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

RUN ON BANK IN WINDY CITY TO QUIET THE CROWD THE BANK WAS CLOSED, AND THE POLICE CALLED.-CASHIER GONE. Special to the Herald. Chicago, Ill., Aug. 6.-The Milwaukee Avenue State Bank was closed today by Theodore Stensland, son of the president of the institution, while a run was in progress and the crowd was clamorous. Twenty policemen were called in to restrain the crowd. The bank has a capital of a quarter of a million, and deposits amounting to about four millions. The.run was started by rumors to the effect that the cashier had disappeared. Officers of the bank refuse to state how much money is missing. The depositors were told that the bank will be re-opened when the exact status of its finances is determined.

3. August 7, 1906 The Evening Times Grand Forks, ND
Article from The Evening Times, August 7, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

President and Cashier of Defunct Chicago Bank Are Wanted by Officers-Warrants Are Refused. POLICE CALLED TO PREVENT A RIOT Angry Depositors Ready to Storm Bank-Safety Boxes Found Looted. Associated Press to The Evening Times. o Chicago, Aug. 7.-President Paul O. Stensland of the Milwau- C O kee Avenue State bank will prob- O O ably be arrested as soon as he O O enters Chicago or can be found. O Bank Examiner Jones, who closed @ . the bank yesterday, said today D O that Stensland surely had guilty O O knowledge of the looting of the D O bank. The 22,000 depositors in O the bank are gradually losing D O hope of receiving the $4,200,000 . they entrusted to Stensland's . care. Detectives are now seeking O O Cashier Henry W. Hering, the al- O O leged embezzler. Detective Can- O O non, who has the warrant for . O Hering's arrest charging embez- O O zlement, has information to the O . effect that the missing cashier O O O was in Detroit, Mich. @ The police in Detroit will be communicated with and today detectives will take up the search for Hering in earnest. There was a crowd of several hundred working people around the bank this morning notwithstanding the doors were closed and no prospect of recovering funds. Assistant Chief of Police Schuttler, with Inspector Shippey and Bank Examiner Jones, went to Justice Seversen and asked him to issue a warrant for the arrest of President Stensland. The charge in the complaint asking for the issuance of the warrant is fraud. Justice Severson was not inclined to issue the warrant and the three returned to the bank empty handed. It was expected, however, a warrant would be issued lated in the day by Justice Seversen or some other justice. A call for additional police was sent in caused by fear that the depositors and friends would storm the bank and cause a riot, when rumors spread that the contents of some of the safety deposit vaults had been tampered with. Persons with money in the vaults were said to have found their savings gone. The appointment of a receiver was obtained by two women who hold claims against the bank aggregating less than $300. The petition sets up that the two women are depositors and that August 6 the bank was closed and has not opened since; that it may never resume business; that the officials of the bank are not in their places and have left the city. The court was told that there are more than 20,000 persons who have money deposited in the alleged defunct institution and that most of these creditors are persons of little means and who know little or nothing about business methods. After further consultation with Assistant Chief of Police Schuttler and Inspector Shippey, Justice Serveson decided to. issue the warrant for the arrest of President Stensland. The complaint was signed by Bank Examiner Jones and charged Stensland with receiving deposits after the insolvency of the bank was known. The warrant was given to a detective to be served on President Stensland when found. The court fixed the bond of Receiver Fetzer at $1,000,000.

4. August 7, 1906 The Coeur D'alene Press Coeur D'alene, ID
Article from The Coeur D'alene Press, August 7, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

Chicago, Aug. 7.-With a deficit in its accounts estimated close to a million dollars and with the whereabouts of two of its high officials unknown to the authorities, the Milwaukee Avenue State bank, one of the largest cutlying banks in the city, was closed yesterday by state Bank Examiner C. C. Jones. In the excitement following the bank's close, J. C. Visser, an official of the Royal league, who had on deposit in the bank, funds of that order, fell dead of heart failure. The failure was responsible for the death of one of the depositers and led to the suicide of another man who, a month ago, had placed his earnings of a lifetime in the institution for safe keeing. Henry Koepke, a small grocer, on hearing that the bank had suspended, went to the rear of his store and shot himself. He died a few minutes later while being taken to a hospital. Riotous scenes followed the announcement of the failure and a large force of police struggled all day to keep an excited crowd of depositorsnearly all of them foreigners and many of them women-from bursting in the doors of the bank. Another sensational feature of the affair was the disappearance of the cashier, Henry W. Herring, and the issuing of a warrant for his arrest on a charge of embezzlement. A message order ing his apprehension was sent to eve. ,police station in this city. The first public announcement that the

5. August 8, 1906 The Minneapolis Journal Minneapolis, MN
Article from The Minneapolis Journal, August 8, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

# WILDCAT SCHEMES # BLAMED FOR WRECK Continued From First Page. today, as soon as J. E. Fetzer, receiver for the wrecked bank, checks up on the mortgages and notes given by hundreds of investors who hung onto the "bubble" let loose by the missing bank president. A slump in value at this time, which is feared will come, would cause much suffering and loss to owners. It has been learned that loans have been made on houses in that subdivision up to within 80 per cent of the top-notch value. The cash came from the savings of depositors of the suspended bank. Depositors Haunt Wreck. Scores of houses were constructed in the subdivision, which were declared at the time to be too expensive for the character of the section. Loan houses were told at the time that if they did not care to take the security Paul O. Stensland stood ready to furnish the money, and at a low rate of interest. Today a woebegone crowd of depositors continued to crowd around the bank. As on previous days, the unfortunates, mostly working people, came early and seemed determined to remain indefinitely. Police were on hand to repress any tendency toward disorder. "Dummies" Used? Information about the long list of forgeries--with detailed corroboration -was obtained late yesterday afternoon from a source of unimpeachable authority. The informant saw the memorandum of forgeries, memorandum notes and other fictitious paper which the fugitive president and cashier left behind them. The thefts consist of nearly 200 items, ranging from $1,000 to $15,000 each. The names forged are those of directors and stockholders in the bank and of persons associated with Stensland in other business ventures. Some dummy names are there, too. Vicepresident Arrested. If the entire amount of $1,003,000 is found on investigation to be composed wholly of forgery, of course no part of it can be recovered. This discrepancy alone will mean the loss to each depositor of one-fourth of his savings. It is furthermore feared that Stensland may have taken with him in his flight a large supply of the bank's cash. Theodore Stensland, vicepresident of the defunct Milwaukee Avenue State bank, and son of Paul O. Stensland, the fugitive head of the institution, for whose arrest a warrant has been issued, has been arrested. Sister Flees. Following the arrest of the vicepresident search was begun for his sister, Mrs. Inga Stensland Sandberg, who, it is believed, can throw some light on the mystery of her father's whereabouts. Up to today she was an instructor in the musical department of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, but when her whereabouts became known she left. Friends have attempted to locate her, but their efforts have been unavailing. Theodore Stensland was released on a bond of $15,000, signed by Jacob Korn, former state's attorney. The charge against young Stensland is the same as that against his fugitive father--accepting deposits when he knew the bank to be insolvent. Alleges Bank Laws Violated. The complaint is sworn to by J. Phillips Straub, a liquor dealer at 533 Milwaukee avenue. Mr. Straub claims that he deposited $350 in the bank Saturday morning and that, as an officer of the institution, Theodore Stensland knew at the time that it was insolvent. That the shortage in the defunct institution's assets is growing hourly is indicated by the action of State Bank Examiner C. C. Jones in securing a warrant for the arrest of President Paul Stensland. Tho he declared that it was the business of the directors to secure this paper, he found the conditions in the institution such today that he refused to wait for action on their part.

6. August 8, 1906 East Oregonian : E.O Pendleton, OR
Article from East Oregonian : E.O, August 8, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

# NORTHWEST NEWS. A colored man calling himself Brown, is under arrest at Mabton, Wash., charged with being John Shotgun, wanted in Arkansas for the murder of two white men. Oswald Brothers, of Culdesac, Idaho, has received a threshing outfit which is to be run by gasoline engine rather than steam. This is the first outfit of the kind seen in Culdesac. The top notch price paid for wool in Baker county was reported August 4. It is understood that Mr. Cundiff, the sheepman, sold 20,000 pounds of wool at 19½ cents. This is the highest price reported so far this season. At his home at Owyhee, Malheur county, Rev. John M. Harris, aged 70 years, died very suddenly, by heart failure. He had lived in Malheur and Baker counties 16 years, and had the unusual distinction of being an excellent business man as a farmer, as well as being an able minister. He was a Baptist. Henry Hicks Bond will expiate the crime of murder on the gallows at the Boise penitentiary next Friday, August 10, and Rudolph Wetter, convicted of a double murder, will probably be executed at the same time. Wetter is now trying to secure a change of sentence to life imprisonment. Bond has no hope of anything but death on the gallows. The two boys who shot and killed aged William Powell for his money at Cottage Grove, have been captured at Drain. The boys gave their names as Thomas Reves and Hugh Saxon. The boys are alleges to have confessed and Reves is being guarded to prevent his committing suicide. Powell was a San Francisco refugee and was an umbrella repairer. William Dilis, a widely known comedian, who has played with the Baker Stock company of Portland, for several years, is made penniless by the failure of the Milwaukee Avenue State Bank of Chicago. He claims to have always been very suspicious of Paul O. Stensland, the president, and to have remonstrated with his mother about putting their money in that institution. J. P. Forbes, a Pinkerton watchman aged 25 years, fell down an open elevator shaft in the Stearns buillding at Portland, the night of August 6, and lay helpless for six hours, until he was discovered by a newsboy. His skull was fractured, arm broken and one eye gouged out, and he will probably die. He lies unconscious and can tell nothing about how he came to walk into the shaft.

7. August 16, 1906 The Wenatchee Daily World Wenatchee, WA
Article from The Wenatchee Daily World, August 16, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

Cashier Was a Bookmaker Chicago Aug. 16.-Absolute proof that Henry Hering cashier of the wrecked* Milwaukee Avenue State bank was financial backer of a bookmaking syndicate which laid odds on horse races was brought to li he late today, when Inspector Shippy found a check made payable to Harry M Smith, who for years ran a buffet at 256 South State street, and whose place was closed [this spring because of his running a handbook, that handbook being none other than that run by the syndicate headed by Hering, but whose name never appeared as connected with it until today

8. August 17, 1906 Eagle River Review Eagle River, WI
Article from Eagle River Review, August 17, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

Then followed the story of how young Stensland exposed his father to the bank directors. of the closing of the bank, and of the run. Cashier Hering was jailed Saturday night in default of bail. Vice President Gives Up. Theodore Stensland, vice president of the Milwaukee Avenue State bank, appeared in Judge Kersten's court this afternoon. Inspector Shippy and two detectives went to the home of President Stensland, at Irving Park, today to seek further evidence against the missing bank president. In the house they found what they believe to be a secret room but which was empty.

9. August 17, 1906 The Dolores Star Dolores, CO
Article from The Dolores Star, August 17, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

Wince:lsneous. Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholaie-vitch has declined to accept the post of commander-in-chief of all the Russian troops where martial law exists. After the preliminary investigation the naval prosecutors have decided to try 2,000 soldiers and sailors by court martial for participating in the Cronstadt and Sveaborg mutinies. The Mad Mullah is reported to have raided the Somaliland border, killing more than 1,000 of the Rare Haran tribe and capturing 10,000 camels. Ten warrants have been issued in the Milwaukee Avenue Chicago bank case charging the various officials with, conspiracy, perjury, larceny and forgery. M. F. Grier, assistant manager of the Hotel Metropole, the leading hotel of St. Joseph, Mo., has been arrested on a charge of obtaining money under false pretenses at Little Rock, Arkansas. E. R. Balzer, vice president, and C. F. Anderson, secretary, of the defunct J. P. Baden Produce company of Winfield, Kan., have been arrested on a charge of forgery. Anderson is also charged with perjury. The American Osteopathic association in session at Put-In-Bay, Ohio, has elected Dr. S. A. Ellis, of Boston, president. and Dr. H. L. Chiles, Auburn, N. Y., secretary. The claim of Mrs. C. J. Devlin against her late husband's estate for $620,661.42 life insurance collected by the receiver of the First National bank of Topeka, has been disallowed by the referee in bankruptcy. The Iowa democrats in state convention at Waterloo nominated a full state ticket headed by Claude A. Porter for governor. William J. Bryan was indorsed for president. The federal grand jury at Jamestown, N. Y., has reported indictments against the Standard Oil company, the Pennsylvania Railroad company, t and the Vacuum Oil company on charges of rebating. If convicted the defendants will be liable to fines aggregating $1,400,000. The senate committee which is to 'investigate land matters in Indian in territory has been called to meet e Kansas City on November 12. Secretary of Agriculture Wilson held a conference at Chicago recently with packers and cattle raisers. A v square deal for everybody was promised by the secretary. r Frank Kowalski, paying teller of e the defunct Milwaukee Avenue State bank, killed himself at his home in Chicago. This makes the third death due to the wrecking of the institution by its officers. 0 t President Ordway, of the city elec, tion commission, President Doherty, of the Gas & Electric company, and o two other men, were recently fined e and sentenced to the county jail at Denver for contempt of court in cone nection with the alleged frauds in the recent franchise election. The Standard Oil company, through r former Senator James K. Jones. of TH Arkansas, and Mr. Barnesdale, of Pittsburg, Pa., has appealed to Preste dent Roosevelt in the matter of its controversy with the department of the interior regarding oil line leases in the Indian territory. Cornelius P. Shea, of Boston, was o re-elected president by the Internaf tional Brotherhood of Teamsters at the Chicago meeting. About 50 bolte ing delegates held a rump convention e and decided to organize a rival interi. national union. 0 Fourteen indictments have been re:e turned against members of the Phils adelphia Ice trust. 1. Augustus Hartje, the Pittsburg mil. lionaire, has been held to court in r bonds of $3,000 on a charge of conr n spiracy in connection with his recent divorce suit.

10. August 18, 1906 The New Age Portland, OR
Article from The New Age, August 18, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

# NEWS OF THE WEEK In a Condensed Form for Our Busy Readers. # HAPPENINGS OF TWO CONTINENTS A Resume of the Less Important but Not Less Interesting Events of the Past Week, The murder of policemen in Poland continues. Japanese goods have supplanted all others in Corea. Many officers are involved in a navy scandal at San Francisco. Another Chicago bank has failed as a result of Stensland's crimes. Ex-United States Senator Turner, of Washington, is mentioned as Bryan's running mate. France has resolved to make no concessions to the Catholics and may confiscate churches. A member of the late Russian parlisment has been arrested as a leader of agrarian disorders. R. B. Brown, of Zanesvil'e, Olio, has been elected commander-in-chief of the National G. A. R. Diego Mendoza, ex-Colombian minister to the United States, declars that President Reyes is a traitor. A second grand jury has been called at Chiago to inquire into recent rebates gliven the Standard Oil company. The Milwaukee Avenue State bank, of Chicago, has delcaraed a 20 per cent dividend for depositors. More will be paid later. Secretary Root has arrived at Buenas Ayres. Mad Mullah has received a disastrous defeat. Negotiations looking to a Russo Japanese fishing treaty have been commenced. It is likely that the War department will concentrate all colored troops at one post. Many Republican state conventions are declaring in favor of Roosevelt for a third term. Persants in Southern Russia are ravaging the country and the troops refuse to fire on them. A plot to assassinate the president of Cuba was discovered just in time to frustrate the plans. The powers are expected to make strong representations to Greece. The trouble is over the barbarous acts of Greek marauders in Macedona. Government inquiry into the relations between the railroads entering Toledo, Ohio, and the ice trust show the two to be working hand in hand. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of W. R. Vice, formerly coast passenger agent of the Union Pacific. Vice is charged with embezzling $10,000 three years ago. He had been in hiding until the San Francisco disaster of April 18, when he reappeared, believing the papers incriminating him had been destroyed. The National G. A R. is in convention at Minneapolis. Crops have been damaged by unprecedented rains in Virginia. The sultan of Turkey has rewarded his physician by elevating him to the rank of general. With the exception of St. Petersburg, Russia, and Rome, Italy, Chicago leads the world in crime. A Birmingham, Alabama, bank teller and confederates have been arrested for wholesale stealing. The banks of the Chicago Clearing House association have offered a reward of $5,000 for the capture of Stensland. The Rhine & Moselle Insurance company, of Germany, has announced that it will not pay its $2,000,000 liabilities in San Francisco. The sultan of Morocco is considering the question of moving the capital from Fez to Morocco City in order to be more secure from bandits. New York is waging a war against the Coney Island street car lines. A fare of 10 cents is charged, which the courts hold is not legal and the people are fighting to keep from paying more than 5 cents. Thousands are being assaulted by the company's employes and are thrown from the cars on refusal to pay the additional fare. The Longworths have returned from Europe. There has been a wholesale slaughter of police spies in Poland. The Russian War department is planning to rebuild the navy.

11. August 22, 1906 Vernon County Censor Viroqua, WI
Article from Vernon County Censor, August 22, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

# TELEGRAMS IN BRIEF. # CHICAGO'S BANK FAILURE. Mrs. Leone Langdon Key denied the report that fugitive Banker Stensland paid her hotel bill. Theodore Stensland was held to the grand jury in $10,000 bonds signed by Attorney Kern and Alexander H. Matson. Cashier Hering of the defunct Milwaukee Avenue State bank was shown to be a great plunger on race horses. Henry W. Hering was held to a criminal court under bonds aggregating $68,000 on charges of forgery, larceny, embezzlement, perjury and conspiracy. Frank J. Kowalski, receiving teller for the Milwaukee Avenue State bank, committed suicide at his home, making the third death due to Stensland's looting. The creditors of Banker Stensland's cooperative store demand a receivership, alleging that $200,000 in bonds belonging to the institution have been transferred to Stensland. State Examiner Jones' official report on the Milwaukee Avenue bank will show that the institution was plundered of from $800,000 to $1,000,000, in addition to probable losses on $1,112,000 in questionable paper.

12. August 25, 1906 The Roswell Daily Record Roswell, NM
Article from The Roswell Daily Record, August 25, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

DIVIDEND ANNOUNCED. Depositors of Milwaukee Avenue Bank to Receive Twenty Per Cent. Chicago, Aug. 24.-The receiver of the defunct Milwaukee Avenue State Bank sent out notices to five thousand depositors yesterday to call at the bank and receive twenty per cent dividend on their deposits. It was the original intention to send out the notice to 22,000 depositors simultaneously, but on account of the difficulty in handling such a crowd, the receiver decided to send out only five thousand notices per day. Five hundred thousand dollars in currency and coin was taken to the bank yesterday in preparation for today's work. One hundred policement in uniform and about fifty men in plain clothes will be at the bank this morning in anticipation of the opening of the doors at nine o'clock.

13. August 25, 1906 The Paducah Evening Sun Paducah, KY
Article from The Paducah Evening Sun, August 25, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

PAYING DEPOSITORS. Looted Milwaukee Avenue State Bank Opens Doors. Chicago, August 25.- Receiver Fetzer began the payment of the first dividend to the depositors or the Milwaukee Avenue state bank this morning. This is the earliest payment ever attempted in the case of a defunct bank and the preparations for the big crowd kept the employes of the received at work hours after the time for closing last night.

14. September 13, 1906 The Fulton County News McConnellsburg, PA
Article from The Fulton County News, September 13, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

# Will Get Stensland. Chicago, Ill., (Special).-Assistant State's Attorney Barbour received the following telegram from Charles L. Binns, who is representing the State's Attorney's office in the Stensland matter at Washington: "Warrant being prepared for the President's signature. Instructions will be cabled to deliver Stensland into custody of Olson and Keely." "As soon as the warrant is signed by the President," said Assistant State's Attorney Barbour, "it will be sent to Tangier, and then the start for this country can be made at once." Mr. Barbour received a message from Assistant State's Attorney Olson at Tangier requesting that the authorities at Washington permit Stensland to return without waiting for the arrival of legal documents. The prisoner was said to be willing and anxious to return to Chicago at once. Receiver Fetzer, of the Milwaukee Avenue State Bank, which was wrecked by Stensland, receiving the following dispatch from Secretary of the Treasury Shaw in Washington: "Assistant Secretary of State consulted the Solicitor for the State Department concerning the $12,000 deposited by Stensland in the French Bank at Tangier. The Solicitor sees no course open but for you to attach the fund acording to law and according to the proceedure controlling judicial questions affecting the French Bank at Tangier."

15. September 19, 1906 The Lamar Register Lamar, CO
Article from The Lamar Register, September 19, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

Miscellaneons. Attorney General Moody has brought suit in the federal courts to recover lands in Utah held by the Utah Fuel company, alleging that the lands were secured fraudulently. A sea of semi-liquid mud. sand and stones swept down upon the township of Kwareli in the district of Telaw in the Caucasus, burying 255 persons alive. Tyro, Kansas, has a contract for natural gas at two cents a thousand which is believed to be the cheapest on record. $ All peace negotiations have been suspended in Cuba and what practically amounts to martial law has been proclaimed by President Palma. The commissioner of the general land office has decided to invite sealed bids for the land3 comprised in the famous big pasture in Oklahoma of which there are about 500, 000 acrcs. More than a score of indictments have been returned by the grand jury at Chicago against Paul O. Stensland, president, and Henry W. Hering, cashier. of the wrecked Milwaukee Avenue State bank. In a harmonious and enthusiastic convention in New York the Independence league nominated a full state ticket with William R. Hearst at the head for governor. After electing officers and choosing Atlantic City, N. J., as the next meeting place, the national convention of Hoo Hoos in session at Oklahoma City, Ok., adjourned. A. C. Ramsey, of St. Louis, was elected snark of the universe. President Roosevelt has sent Secretary Taft and Acting Secretary Bat con to Cuba to make a thorougn investigation of the conditions and lend their influence to a restoration of peace g in the island. Seven trainmen were killed in a colli1 sion of two freight trains on the Western Atlantic railroad at Ringold, Ga., recently. Railroad accidents of all kinds resulted in 1,126 deaths and injuries to 17,170 persons in the first three months of 1906. The United States cruiser Denver r has arrived at Havana for the purf pose of protecting American interests t in Cuba should occasion arise. t The Union Oil company of San e Francisco has completed its pipe line 1. across the isthmus of Panama. Forty-eight persons who recently I arrived at San Francisco from the Orient, were refused a landing. each d having an unmistakable case of trae choma. d The 36th reunion of the army of the Tennessee will be held at Council Bluffs, Iowa, November 8 and 9. The United States cruiser Des Moines has been ordered to Havana n to protect American interests in case of need. e Cicero Davis, a wealthy stockman, 1. was shot from ambush and killed on e bis ranch near Porum, 1. T.

16. September 19, 1906 Vernon County Censor Viroqua, WI
Article from Vernon County Censor, September 19, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

# FORMAL RETURN # OF INDICTMENTS STENSLAND'S VOYAGE TO UNIT. ED STATES IN DOUBT. # DEPARTURE KEPT A SECRET State Auditor Attacks Appointment of Receiver of Defunct Milwaukee Avenue State Bank-Theodore Stensland, It is Said, Disclosed Whereabouts of His Father. Chicago, Ill., Sept. 13. Formal return of the 20 joint indictments charg-ing forgery against Paul O. Stensland, president of the defunct Milwaukee Avenue State bank and Henry W. Her-ing, the cashier, was made by the grand jury yesterday in Judge Kavanaugh's court. Stensland's Voyage in Doubt. Reports reached Chicago to the effect that Paul O. Stensland has sailed for New York. No such word was received at the state's attorney's office. Assistant State's Attorney Barbour said he had been informed that the authorities at Washington had or-dered that Stensland's departure be kept a secret. The forgery indictments had been prepared by the state's attorney's office before the grand jury convened and there was needed only the for-mality of the jurors signing the in-dictments, once they had voted them. The other indictments decided upon by the grand jury had to be drawn after the action was taken, causing a delay in their return. State Attacks Receivership. Attack was made in the circuit court yesterday by State Auditor James S. McCullough on the proceed-ings by which John C. Fetzer was ap-pointed receiver for the defunct bank. In a bill which was presented to the court by Attorney General Stead it is declared the appointment of Fetzer was illegal and that all acts done by him under the appointment are void, as well as all orders entered in behalf of the receiver by Judge Brentano. Notes Alleged as Forged. In the indictments were a number of copies of the notes to which names were said to be forged. The notes and names forged, as charged in the indictments, are as follows: Note for $4,200, dated November 28, 1905, name forged-Ole Stensland. Note for $9,800, dated October 11, 1905, name forged-Thomas Olson. Note for $5,000, dated June 20, 1905, name forged-Fenski Brothers, 139 McHenry street. Note for $2,436, dated April 30, 1906, name forged-M. C. Bartholdy. Note of $5,000, dated June 11, 1905, name forged-George C. Johnson. Note for $5,800, dated May 28, 1905, name forged-L. A. La Buy, 581 Milwaukee avenue. Note for $10,000, dated February 28, 1903, name forged-F. Herbold. Note for $10,000, dated September 2, 1903, name forged-F. S. Peabody. Note for $7,500, dated October 14, 1905 name forged-B. J. Eisendrath. Note for $6,000, dated June 11, name forged-George C. Johnson. Note for $9,850, dated March 10, 1904, name forged-C. F. Kimball & Co. and C. F. Kimball. Note for $5,000, dated June 20, 1905, name forged-Fenski Bros., 139 Mc Henry street. Note for $8,500, dated October 1, 1905, name forged-Tom Olson. Note for $2,500, dated April 30, 1906, name forged-M. C. Bartholdy, 586 Milwaukee avenue. Note for $5,000, dated June 22, 1905, name forged-Moeller Bros., 930 Milwaukee avenue. Note for $5,000, dated October 1, 1905, name forged-S. J. Eisendrath. Note for $15,000, dated February 28, 1903, name forged-Jacob J. Kern, 77 Clark street. Note for $5,000, dated June 22, 1905, name forged-Moeller Bros., 930 Milwaukee avenue. Note for $2,000, dated May 1, 1906, name forged-C. H. Beckman, 703 West Division street. Note for $2,500, dated May 1, 1906. name forged-C. H. Beckman. Did Son Betray Paul O. Stensland? Strong indications that it was Theodore Stensland who betrayed to the state's attorney the hiding place of his father, Paul O. Stensland, are seen by some persons in the fact that Theodore, the director most closely in touch with the bank's affairs, was not indicted, but was used as a witness before the grand jury. New Romance in Looter's Life. The grand jury hearing brought to light another romance in Paul O. Stensland's life. In a package marked "Nobody's Business," displayed by Inspector Shippy in the grand jury room, papers were found to indicate that Stensland paid $1,600 to one Philip Votava in settlement of a claim for alienation of the affections of Votava's pretty young wife. Mrs. Votava, wife of a workingman, visited Stensland at the bank. When her husband discovered his wife's guilt he threatened a scandal, which Stensland quieted with $1,600 of his depositors' money on February 26, 1906. Theodore Stensland was in the grand jury room only five minutes. His testimony was, therefore, brief.

17. September 27, 1906 Audubon Republican Audubon, IA
Article from Audubon Republican, September 27, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

Chicago. The story of the pursuit and capture of Paul O. Stensland, president of the wrecked Milwaukee Avenue State bank, is one of the most dramatic in the history of those all too frequent events. Traced from this city to Tangiers, Morocco, he was apprehended there by Assistant State's Attorney Olsen, who was accompanied by a representative of the Chicago Tribune. Not less interesting Is Stensland's account of the circumstances leading to the wrecking of the bank and the despoiling of thousands of depositors of the poorer class of the savings of their lifetime. Told In detail by the Tribune representative the story is as follows: It was the old story of a woman scorned that led to the finding of Stensland's trail. One of his numerous friends who thought she had been shabbily treated put the authorities In possession of the first hint as to the fugitive's whereabouts. Her information was indefinite, but investigation proved its probable accuracy. Finally, on August 13, it became certain that he was in Tangier and had been for 16 days. The facts were laid before State's Attorney Healy. He was asked if he could send a man with a representative of the Tribune to an unknown destination, where it was expected to find Stensland or his trail. Mr. Healy accepted the proposition and Assistant State's Attorney Harry Olsen was ordered to meet the representative of the Tribune In New York on Monday, August 20. The next day Mr. Olsen and the Tribune man sailed on the liner Kaiser Wilhelm II. Paris was reached Monday, August 27, and was left Tuesday at noon. Madrid was reached Wednesday afternoon, August 29, and Gibraltar 26 hours later. On Saturday morning, September 1, the boat was taken for Tangier, the Moorish city being reached early in the evening. ### Back to Gibraltar. All Saturday night and until four o'clock Sunday afternoon, September 2, the investigation proceeded. At every town Stensland's tracks were uncovered and the last clew pointed to the Grand hotel at Gibraltar. It was as follows: Assistant State's Attorney Olson had represented himself to the keeper of the hotel where Stensland stopped at Tangier as his son. Stensland, as has been stated, is traveling under the alias of P. Olsen. The names were the same and the two men do not look unlike. The hotel keeper believed the story, but could give no direct information as to Stensland's whereabouts. As he was riding to the hotel at midnight after getting the governor of the French bank out of bed, a voice from a Moorish cafe sung out: "I say, Olson, I think I know where your governor is." We dismounted as the hotel man continued: "You left the old man in 'Gib.' A friend of mine just come over on the night boat says he saw him at the Grand hotel." When we left Tangier Sunday afternoon, September 2, for Gibraltar to run down the Grand hotel clew we left 25 Moorish and Arab scouts to guard all the entrances and exits. Less than an hour after the Oldenburg, the German steamer bearing Stensland from the Rock to the Moorish coast, reached port our Arab chief of scouts sent a cable to us at Gibraltar announcing the arrival of the boat and the presence on board of the man we wanted. ### Hired Special Steamer. We began negotiations for a special steamer to bring us back to Tangier. Finally a small steamer was chartered and permission obtained from the officer of the guard to leave port. At midnight we turned tail on the Rock and headed across the straits. It was four o'clock in the morning when we rounded Malabat Point and saw the red light above the gate of the city of Tangier. The steamer Oldenburg lay half a mile off shore. We hauled alongside and asked if the passengers had landed. It was great relief to hear that they had not, as we feared that if so Stensland might have been warned

18. September 28, 1906 The Washburn Leader Washburn, ND
Article from The Washburn Leader, September 28, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

# FOREIGN NEWS. In a formal note to France and other powers Turkey draws attention to the warlike preparations which are going on in Bulgaria. While it is declared that the note makes no allusion to retaliatory steps on the part of Turkey this formal notification from the porte is regarded as ominous. Mail advices from China are disquieting to Americans having financial interests in the Orient. There is no abatement of the anti-foreign feeling and the animosity is no longer confined to Americans, but includes all foreigners except Japanese. Sunday was George Washington day in Budapest, Hungary, and the entire population from morning until night gave itself up to enthusiasm over the unveiling on monarchial territory of a monument to the first president of the United States. A column of the Thirteenth infantry under Captain Fassett was fired upon at La Paz, island of Leyte, by Pulajanes on the night of Sept. 10. Corporal D. H. Pierce of Company A and Private A. E. Winegardner of Company B were killed. Pulajanes on the island of Leyte attacked a detachment of the Twenty-fourth infantry (colored) on the night of the 10th and killed two and wounded eight of the colored soldiers. They were finally repulsed with heavy loss. The people of Sicily are in a condition of panic because of the earthquake shocks which have been occurring there for a week past. They continue to camp out in the open and many have taken refuge in caves. Besides eleven schooners wrecked at Belle Isle recently by storms seven others with over 100 people on board were driven ashore on the Labrador coast. Four fatalities only are reported thus far. The steamer Prinz Adelbert has left Tangier, Morocco, with Paul O. Stensland, president of the wrecked Milwaukee Avenue State bank of Chicago, on board. Albrecht, prince of Prussia, regent of the duchy of Brunswick and the richest prince in Germany, is dead. Death followed a stroke of apoplexy. Dominican rebels defeated the government troops in a severe battle on the Haytian frontier. The government losses were heavy. Rear Admiral Sir Edward Chichester, who commanded the British squadron at Manila during the Spanish-American war, is dead.

19. October 5, 1906 The Washburn Leader Washburn, ND
Article from The Washburn Leader, October 5, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

FOREIGN NEWS. In a formal note to France and other powers Turkey draws attention to the warlike preparations which are going on in Bulgaria. While it is declared that the note makes no allusion to retaliatory steps on the part of Turkey this formal notification from the porte is regarded as ominous. Mail advices from China are disquieting to Americans having financial interests in the Orient. There is no abatement of the anti-foreign feeling and the animosity is no longer confined to Americans, but includes all foreigners except Japanese. Sunday was George Washington day in Budapest, Hungary, and the entire population from morning until night gave itself up to enthusiasm over the unveiling on monarchial territory of a monument to the first president of the United States. A column of the Thirteenth infantry under Captain Fassett was fired upon at La Paz, island of Leyte, by Pulajanes on the night of Sept. 10. Corporal D. H. Pierce of Company A and Private A. E. Winegardner of Company B were killed. Pulajanes on the island of Leyte attacked a detachment of the Twenty-fourth infantry (colored) on the night of the 10th and killed two and wounded eight of the colored soldiers. They were finally repulsed with heavy loss. The people of Sicily are in a condition of panic because of the earthquake shocks which have been occurring there for a week past. They continue to camp out in the open and many have taken refuge in caves. Besides eleven schooners wrecked at Belle Isle recently by storms seven others with over 100 people on board were driven ashore on the Labrador coast. Four fatalities only are reported thus far. The steamer Prinz Adelbert has left Tangier, Morocco, with Paul O. Stensland, president of the wrecked Milwaukee Avenue State bank of Chicago, on board. Albrecht, prince of Prussia, regent of the duchy of Brunswick and the richest prince in Germany, is dead. Death followed a stroke of apoplexy. Dominican rebels defeated the government troops in a severe battle on the Haytian frontier. The government losses were heavy. Rear Admiral Sir Edward Chichester, who commanded the British squadron at Manila during the Spanish-American war, is dead.

20. November 6, 1906 Waterbury Evening Democrat Waterbury, CT
Article from Waterbury Evening Democrat, November 6, 1906

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

Stensland and Hering Sentenced. CHICAGO, Nov. 6.-Pani O. Stensland, formerly president of the failed Milwankee Avenue State bank. who was arrested in Tangier, and Henry W. Hering. cashier of the same Institution, were sentenced by Judge Pinckney In the criminal court to indeterminate terms In the penitentiary for embezzlement and forgery. The sentences may run anywhere from one to ten years.

21. May 9, 1907 Ottumwa Tri-Weekly Courier Ottumwa, IA
Article from Ottumwa Tri-Weekly Courier, May 9, 1907

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

OBJECTIONS TO FETZER'S FEE Claim of $20,000 Allowed Former Ottumwan as Stensland Bank Receiver Raises Storm, Stockholders in the defunct Milwaukee Avenue State bank of Chicago, wrecked by Stensland, now serving a term in the penitentiary, have raised a storm of protests against the allowance of the claim of $20,000 filed by John C. Fetzer, a former Ottumwan, receiver for the institution, and the claim of $20,000 filed by Fetzer as fees for his attorney. The Chicago Tribune this morning, says: A renewal of several former attacks on the legality of the appointment of John C. Fetzer as receiver of the Milwaukee Avenue State bank was made yesterday by Attorney Warren Pease, representing a large number of Polish depositors. Argument will be made today before Judge McEwen. The attack was made in an answer to Receiver Fetzer's report covering the fees of the receiver and attorneys, and the expenses of winding up the bank's affairs. It was filed in the Superior court and sets forth that no attorneys' fees should be paid to the receiver's lawyers, as Attorney General William H. Stead has at all times stood ready to handle the legal affairs of the bank at public expense. Objection also is made on the ground that the fees allowed the receiver and attorneys are excessive. ObHUNDRED jection is made also to the allowance of the shrinkage of $1,563,894, classified as forgeries and depreciation. Attorney K. B. Czarnecki, who appeared in court when the bill was LIVES filed, declared that many of the persons whose names appear on Attor ney Pease's list as objectors would repudiate the litigation. Receiver Fetzer has received on acBOAT count $20,000 for the receiver and $20,000 as fees for the attorneys.

22. August 31, 1907 The Lake County Times Hammond, IN
Article from The Lake County Times, August 31, 1907

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

# PLEA FOR RELEASE # OF BANK WRECKER Stensland Takes First Steps in Fight for Release From Penitentiary. Paul O. Stensland has taken the first step in his fight for release from the Joliet state penitentiary. The convicted president of the defunct Milwaukee Avenue State bank, who for eleven months has occupied a cell at Joliet, made a formal appeal to the state board of pardons for his freedom on August 22. Failing eyesight and general physical breakdown are the grounds upon which Stensland bases his plea. The appeal for clemency was backed with statements of Drs. Marie Olsen and Valborg Sogn, both of whom are living with Mrs. Inga Sandberg, Stensland's daughter. They submitted to the board reports on the former banker's condition. Stensland pleaded with the board for more than an hour, after which Ethan Allen Snively and Charles Eckhart, the members who heard the appeal, promised the former banker to again take up the case next month, when the board holds its regular session. Promises to Pay Debts. Stensland is declared to have promised the board that if liberated he would pay all his old debts. "I did not mean to do wrong," he is reported to have said, "and if you will let me go on parole or give me a pardon I will at once go to work and will promise to pay all my old debts." The former bank president, according to the two physicians who examined him, is suffering with fatty degeneration of the heart, chronic bronchitis, anaemia, emphysema, deficient elimination, general breakdown, insomnia, mental anguish, threatened tuberculosis and a serious affliction of the eyes. He denies forging documents, placing the responsibility of alleged forgeries upon other persons in the bank, and particularly upon former Cashier Hering. Tells of Money in Bank. "When I left Chicago there was nearly $900,000 in the bank," Stensland said, "and I could have taken that, but I did not. I had $12,000 which the Northwestern railroad had paid me for work done in connection with securing a right of way. That money I took with me on my flight, and added to this $30,000, which was on deposit there to our credit." "The fact that Dr. Sogn and I are friends of Mrs. Sandberg in no way affects our professional opinion concerning Mr. Stensland's physical condition," said Dr. Olsen. "We became interested in the case when Mr. Stensland was in Chicago testifying in matters pertaining to the receivership of the Milwaukee Avenue State bank. 'It was then that Stensland almost fainted on the witness stand and his daughter, Mrs. Sandberg, became worried. At her solicitation Dr. Sogn and myself examined him and we were also instrumental in securing him permission from the authorities to wear glasses."

23. December 19, 1907 Northern Wisconsin Advertiser Wabeno, WI
Article from Northern Wisconsin Advertiser, December 19, 1907

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

# BANK DIRECTORS FREED. Statute Held Unconstitutional as Applying to Them. Chicago, Dec. 15. - Five directors of the defunct Milwaukee Avenue State bank were freed yesterday when Judge Windes held the statute under which they had been indicted unconstitutional. Michael A. Labuy, Joseph Lister, Marcus Kirkeby, Frank R. Crane and Elof Johnson are the men who profit by the decision. They were accused of having guilty knowledge of the bank's condition previous to its suspension. Paul O. Steensland, president of the bank, and Henry Herring, cashier, who were convicted of embezzling, are now in the penitentiary. The decision will not affect them.