5459. Beech Grove State Bank (Beech Grove, IN)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
state
Start Date
November 26, 1921
Location
Beech Grove, Indiana (39.715, -86.087)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
06bd2cc9

Response Measures

None

Description

Bank was closed by the State bank examiner in late November/December 1921 after a $23,000 robbery and discovery of cashier shortages/forgery. A receiver was later appointed (April 20, 1922) and the institution remained a defunct/receivership case with final dividends paid years later. Articles mention steady withdrawals after the robbery but do not describe a distinct depositor 'run' as a discrete event; the primary cause of suspension was bank-specific adverse information (robbery and falsified accounts).

Events (2)
1. November 26, 1921 Suspension
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
Bank closed after a $23,000 robbery and discovery of cashier shortages and alleged falsified accounts (cashier arrested for obtaining money under false pretenses).
Newspaper Excerpt
Henry Schoenrock, 45, cashier of the Beech Grove State Bank, which closed its doors Saturday on the orders of Charles W. Camp, State bank examiner
Source
newspapers
2. April 20, 1922 Receivership
Newspaper Excerpt
Charles W. Jewett, former mayor of Indianapolis, is operating the Beech Grove State Bank, as receiver for the institution. Mr. Jewett was appointed receiver in Circuit Court, as a result of a suit brought by Charles W. Camp, State bank commissioner. ... The bank was closed several months ago when It was found to be unable to meet its obligations. It was later reopened.
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (12)
1. November 28, 1921 Indiana Daily Times Indianapolis, IN
Article from Indiana Daily Times, November 28, 1921

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Article Text

CASHIER HELD IN $10,000 BAIL FOR 'JUGGLING' Examiner Claims More Than $7,000 in Liberty Bonds Were Used. GRAND JURY TO ACT Henry Schoenrock, 45, cashier of the Beech Grove State Bank, which closed its doors Saturday on the orders of Charles W. Camp, State bank examiner, today was in jail waiting preliminary hearing on a charge of obtaining money under false pretense. The cashier was arrested Saturday night and has been in jail because of his failure to furnish ball in the sum of $10,000. Schoenrock is charged with manipulating more than $7,000 worth of United States Liberty bonds in an effort to cover his alleged shortages. The bank examiners today continued their investigation of the books of the bank. No definite plan has been announced by the bank offlcials for repaying depositors. SUIT TO BE BROUGHT. Mr. Carey announced that the State will bring suit for a receiver as soon as the papers can be prepared. In an effort to cover alleged shortages in his own accounts, Schoenrock is said to have listed Liberty bonds totaling more tian $7,000, which were placed in the bank by depositors for safe keeping, as the property of the bank instead of the depositors. Jourgen Olsen of Minot, N. D., is said to have more than 51 per cent of the bank's stock end is the heaviest stockholder. It is said that the authorities in Illinois recently closed two of Mr. Olson's banks in that State and a bank at Newburg, Ind., in which he was interested was closed. BANK WAS HELD UP. Schoenrock has been cashier of the Beech Grove State Bank since last May and was cashier at the time the bank was ribbed of about $23,000 in cash and Liberty bonds by George W. Miller and Clint Shaw and others last September. Shaw and Miller are now serving long prisor sentences for their part in the daring hold-up of the bank. Schoenrock was an important witness in identifying Miller as one of the bandits. It is understood that the Marion County grand jury will begin at once an investigation of the alleged shortages of the bank in an effort to determine who is responsible for the losses and the alleged juggling of the bonds.

2. November 28, 1921 The Daily Banner Cambridge, MD
Article from The Daily Banner, November 28, 1921

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Article Text

Bank Cashier Arrestea. Indianapolis, Nov 28.-Henry Schoenrock, cashier of the Beech Grove (Indiana) State Bank, was arrested. charged with falsifying accounts so as to cover shortages amounting to $7000. The arrest was made on an attidavit filed by Jeremiah Gray, president of the bank. Schoenrock's arrest followed the closing of the bank on the order of Charles W. Camp, state bank examiner, who announced the appointment of a receiver would be asked. In losing the bank. Camp said deposits had been steadily withdrawn since the robbery of $23,000 from the instlution last September

3. December 2, 1921 Indiana Daily Times Indianapolis, IN
Article from Indiana Daily Times, December 2, 1921

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Article Text

FORMER COP IS SENTENCED IN BANK ROBBERY McDonald Pleads Guilty to Receiving Stolen Goods. William McDonald, 32, formerly a member of the Indianapolis police force and accused of being the "brains" behind the Beech Grove Bank robbery, today pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving stolen goods and was sentenced to from one to fourteen years in State Prison by Judge James A. Collins in Criminal Court. McDonald admitted that he had received $500 of the stolen loot from Glenn Stout, who is already serving a long prison sentence for actual participation in the robbery. The former policemen said that he had invested the money in ten shares of stock in the Washington Bank and Trust Company, Senate avenue and West Washington street. Judge Collins immediately issued an order for the transfer of this stock to the Beech Grove Bank, which has petitioned for a receiver. This is the first of the more than $23,000 stolen from the bank to be recovered. George Miller and Stout, who formed part of the bandit quartette, were found guilty in Criminal Court several weeks ago. Clint Simms, another member of the band, has confessed and is still held in jail here.

4. December 28, 1921 Indiana Daily Times Indianapolis, IN
Article from Indiana Daily Times, December 28, 1921

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Article Text

Beech Grove Bank Is to Be Reorganized The petition of the State asking for a receiver for the Beech Grove State Bank was postponed today until Jan. 7, in Circuit Court on the motion of Sumner Kenner, deputy attorney general. A shortage was found in the accounts of the cashier after the institution had been robbed of $23,000. The bank was closed by the State bank examiners and a receiver was asked by the attorney general. The continuance was asked on the ground that the reorganization of the bank was under way and that it would be completed in another week and it would not be necessary to appoint a receiver,

5. January 13, 1922 Indiana Daily Times Indianapolis, IN
Article from Indiana Daily Times, January 13, 1922

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Article Text

INDIANA DAILY TIMES, FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 1922. the Beech Grove State Bank so crippled the institution that Charles W. Camp, C Those Who Survive State bank examiner, ordered the bank closed in December and made application Today to Be Safe in the Circuit Court for the appointment of a receiver. A receiver never has been Until Next Autumn appointed, but the case has been continued at various times for the purpose of NEW YORK, Jan. 13.-Today was seeing if the bank can be reorganized. one of the most momentous days of Bank officials told the court today they the year-Friday, the 13th. Ne expected to reopen the institution about But the 1922 calendar holds out Jan. 28. hope. At the same time the bank was orIf this day passes without disaster dered closed, Henry Schoenrock, 45, there will be nothing further to worry cashier, was arrested on an affidavit about for nine months, until Oct. 13, charging him with receiving money unwhen the same circumstance again occurs. cler der false pretenses. It is stated by Deputy Prosecutor Sidney Miller that ask Schoenrock is charged with obtaining a 15 loan of $7,000 from the Indiana State son Bank by representing that Liberty bonds Yor given as surety belonged to the bank. MAN JAILED ON

6. January 31, 1922 Indiana Daily Times Indianapolis, IN
Article from Indiana Daily Times, January 31, 1922

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Article Text

MAY START SUIT TO RECOVER FEE PAID ATTORNEY Beech Grove Bank Looter Gave Lawyer $3,750 for Defense. A suit to recover a fee of $3,750 said to have been paid to Dan Brown, attorney, by Glenn Stout, one of the men convicted of robbing the Beech Grove Bank, must be started by the receivers of the bank, U. S. Lesh, attorney general, said today in an opinion to Charles W. Camp, State bank commissioner. According to a statement made by Stout shortly after he was arrested he paid Mr. Brown $3,750 to defend him at his trial. Mr. Brown denies he ever recelved the money from Stout. "Stout shortly after he was arrested said that he gave Dan Brown, an attorney, $3,750 to be used in his defense," Mr. Camp said. "I asked the Attorney General for an opinion because I thought it was the duty of the State to recover the money." The failure to recover this money was said by Deputy Attorney General Sumner Kenner to be the reason for not reopening the bank. It was planned to reopen the bank Jan. 23 under a reorganization scheme. According to the attorney general It is necessary to collect all of the outstanding debts possible before the bank can be opened again. The bank was closed by the State banking department after it was robbed of $23,000 and the cashier was said to have been found short several thousand dollars in his accounts, Two men have been convicted of robbing the bank and the third member of the gang is awaiting trial in the Marion County jall. A suit asking for a receiver is pending in the Circuit Court. If the bank is not opened in the near future Mr. Camp said the attorney general will be asked to push the receivership suit.

7. April 21, 1922 Indiana Daily Times Indianapolis, IN
Article from Indiana Daily Times, April 21, 1922

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Article Text

Former Mayor Runs Beech Grove Bank Charles W. Jewett, former mayor of Indianapolis, is operating the Beech Grove State Bank, as receiver for the institution. Mr. Jewett was appointed receiver in Circuit Court, as a result of a suit brought by Charles W. Camp, State bank commissioner. Mr. Jewett gave $25,000 bond. The bank was closed several months ago when It was found to be unable to meet its obligations. It was later reopened.

8. June 5, 1922 Indiana Daily Times Indianapolis, IN
Article from Indiana Daily Times, June 5, 1922

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BOARD ENTERS SUITTO SECURE TOWNSHIP CASH Receiver of Beech Grove State Bank Said to Have Withheld $35,568.64. The board of finance of Perry Township, Marion County, today filed suit in the Circuit Court for $35,568.64 of township funds, alleged to be in the hands of the receiver of the Beech Grove State Bank. The suit names nine men who were on the bond given the bank, as a public depository, as defendants. Charles McClain, Charles Lockwood and Newton Wright constitute the board of finance. The defendants are Jeremiah Gray, George H. Schakel, Henry C. Weise, Henry A. Schakel, Christian W. Schakel, Edward A. Eickhoff, Fred A. Parker, William C. Clapp and Charles Ryker. These defendants, it is alleged, jointly went surety on a $70,000 bond, the purpose of which was to insure payment on demand of the township funds placed under the State depository law. The township trustee issued checks, according to the complaint, in payment for the construction of a school building at University Heights, the costs being $26,065.52. The sum for which a judgment is asked was said to have been left in the vaults of the bank when it failed. It is related that the receiver refused to pay It to the township trustee on demand. In addition to the $35,568.64, interest and $2,000 attorney's fee is asked. Charles W. Jewett, former mayor, is the receiver.

9. December 2, 1922 South Bend News-Times South Bend, IN
Article from South Bend News-Times, December 2, 1922

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MAN MAY MAKE GOOD $60,000 BANK LOSS INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 1.-(By A. P.)-Through consolidation of his properties of North Dakota and issuance of bonds against them Jourgeon Olsen may make good losses of between $52,000 and $60,000 of the defunct Beech Grove State bank. for which he is alleged to be responsible, Charles W. Camp, state bank examiner, was informed today. Charles W. Jewett, receiver, and Charles O. Roemler, attorney for the bank, informed Mr. Camp that they had visited Olsen at Minot, N. D., and had learned of his efforts to make good the losses. Olsen is also alleged to have been responsible for $100,000 of bad assets in the Newburg bank which was closed by the state bank department last year.

10. February 7, 1923 The Indianapolis Times Indianapolis, IN
Article from The Indianapolis Times, February 7, 1923

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# SURETY COMPANY SUED Perry Township Board Seeks $12,000 From Bank's Guarantors. Omer Green, Sarah Gardner and Walter Meade, the board of finance of Perry Township, Marion County, have filed suit in Circuit Court against the American Surety Company of New York. It was surety for the Beech Grove State Bank. The petition alleges checks for $12,000 were not honored by the bank's receivers. Attorney's fees of $2,500 also are sought.

11. March 30, 1923 The Indianapolis Times Indianapolis, IN
Article from The Indianapolis Times, March 30, 1923

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DEPOSITORS MAY RECEIVE MONEY Olsen Reported Raising Cash for Beech Grove Bank, Extension of time by Governor McCray on a requisition for the return from North Dakota of Jourgon Olsen, financial wizard thought responsible for the crash of the Farmers' State Bank at Newburg, Ind., and the Beech Grove State Bank near InGianapolls, is taken as a basis of hope on the part of depositors in the two banks that Olsen will be able to make good practically all losses. Charles W. Jewett, former mayor of Indianapolis and receiver for the Beech Grove Bank, it is understood has recommended that Governor Mc. Cray approve an extension of ninety days on hearing of the requisition, presented to the North Dakota Governor, on information that Olson and friends were planning to repay depositors through a bond Issue on 20.000 acres of North Dakota land. The bank at present. Jewett said. could pay only 15 or 18 cents on the dollar.

12. February 4, 1933 The Indianapolis Times Indianapolis, IN
Article from The Indianapolis Times, February 4, 1933

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RECEIVER PAYS LAST DIVIDEND AFTER 11 YEARS Dividends to Beech Grove Depositors Total 30 Per Cent. After waiting eleven years, depositors of the defunct Beech Grove State bank, which collapsed in 1921, have been paid their last dividends, according to circuit court records. Receiver Charles W. Jewett will file his final report with Circuit Judge Earl R. Cox about Feb. 15, Charles O. Roemler, attorney for the receiver, announced today. The fourth and last payment of $5,250 to depositors was ordered Dec. 14, 1932. Roemler explained that law suits and appeals to the supreme court had delayed liquidation of the bank's assets, which began with Jewett's appointment, April 20, 1922, five months after the institution closed its doors. An attempt to avoid delay in other receiverships, under jurisdiction of his court, is being made by Cox. He has ordered all receivers to file monthly reports of their transactions. Records in the Beech Grove receivership show Jewett did not file any report between July 3, 1924, and May 6, 1929, although the court required current annual reports. Jewett and Roemler were allowed fees totaling $11,500, or more than one-third the amount paid all depositors by the receivership, according to court records. Roemler said the $40,000, paid depositors in four installments during the eleven years, equals a 30 per cent dividend.