First State Bank - Kansas City, KS

Episode Information

Episode UID: 7559499291296
Episode Type: Suspension → Reopening
Bank Type: state
Bank ID: 755949929 hash
Start Date: December 6, 1907
Location: Kansas City, Kansas (39.100, -94.579)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini (chosen from majority vote of a three-model LLM ensemble)
Short Digest: 95b93fae92147ce1

Response Measures

None

Description

Article names First State Bank (Argentine) as one of small local banks that did not open the morning after the National Bank of Commerce closed.

Events (1)

1. December 6, 1907 Suspension

Cause: Local Banks
Cause Details: Closed/not opened due to withdrawals and disturbance following suspension of the large National Bank of Commerce in Kansas City; knock-on effect on small local banks.
Newspaper Excerpt: The first two did not open Thursday morning. The third closed at noon.
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (1)

1. December 12, 1907 The Mena Weekly Star Mena, AR

Article from The Mena Weekly Star, December 12, 1907

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Article Text

: BIG KANSAS CITY National Bank of Commerce in the Custody of Comptroller of the Currency. ONE OF THE LARGEST BANKS IN WEST With Inability to Realize on Assets Pay BalWhich to Get Funds to as Due Other Banks Given to Cause ances of Failure- May be Able Resume. Kansas City, Dec. 6. Overwhelmed has been wave of distrust that resource by a wearing away its National nearly two months, largest bank steadily for of Commerce, the the Bank Louis and San Francisco, business Thursday the charge of the office suspended between and is in St. morning of comptroller of currency 8:30 o'clock Thursday bank morning exAt T. Bradley, national this no James brought to the bank winaminer, tice which a clerk posted on a dow: "This bank has been closed by and reso- is of its board of directors, Bradley, lution charge of James T. order of national now in bank examiner, by the comptroller of currency." about six weeks the bank has In $19,000,000 of its deposits, repaid off its loans $3,500,000, cut down and duced cash resources $11,750,000, bonds, its $2,000,000 of high grade demands sold the effort to meet the conall in it. But there has been a upon drain, culminating Wednesday tinued clearing house debit balance was which the meet. Fearing its forced nearly with a to $400,000, that beyond bank Thursexactions would be to day's to pay the directors decided be power give up the fight and let the bank liquidated. directors were in session night until after Thursday and Wednesday The again morning midnight contin- at 7 considering plans for the uing, o'clock, but they finally decided that task was too great. Inside the bank, when the notice was the air of the officers was posted, of a relaxation after a struggled terrible that When a man has strain. the limit of his capacity, physical and to mental, and the end has come, rarely shows feeling. he W.S. Wood, president of the bank, slept and W. A. Rule, the cashier, had and they little any night for a week, let down. W. H. Winants, vice simply president, worked on, answering more calls, but he showed he telephone feeling and his voice choked when talked. The other directors were the not be seen about the bank during been to hour The real fight had been made first by Woods and Rule. It had had deeperate. Dr. Woods said he his best and did not know how the done could do more. He regarded eviloss he with regret, but did not show dence of excitement. Of approximately $16,000,000 in about deposits tied up in the suspension, $5,000,000 belong to Kansas City peo- be ple. The remaining $11,000,000 longs to out of town banks. The only banks affected by the suswere the two small branches of pension the Commerce in the west bottoms, Stock Yards Bank of Commerce and the the Union Avenue Bank of Com- of and the First State Bank merce Argentine. These institutions togethhad only a few hundred thousand er dollars in deposits. The first two The did not open Thursday morning. third closed at noon. When the news of the suspension became generally known there were withdrawals from other banks, some chiefly by small depositors. These withdrawals, however were more than compensated for by the new accounts opened. All the other banks of the city were in good condition and there was no uneasiness. The bank's directors have issued the following statement: "Much as we regret to do so, we are compelled to close the doors of the National Bank of Commerce becaus we have not been able to collect mon the ey from our borrowers as fast as same was demanded by our depositors. "During this panic we have reduced our deposits from $35,500,000 to about $16,500,000, thus paying out over the counter and by transfers to other banks in this city and other cities about $18,000,000 of deposits. This, of itself, tells of our resources. We have made the fight of our life, but could not stand the slanderous statements made against the bank. "We hope to be able to open up the bank again in the near future for business. We do not believe it possible for a depositor in the National Bank of Commerce to lose a dollar We beg your indulgence and forbear ance until our affairs can be ar ranged to the satisfaction of all Inter ested parties. We appreciate sensi bly the confidence our numerous customers, large and small, have placed in us, and we hope to show in the end that we have been true to this trust.' Washington, Dec. -The comp troller of currency Thursday issued the following statement regarding the failure of the National Bank of Commerce of Kansas City: "The comptriller's office has been advised that the officers and directors of the National Bank of Commerce of Kansas City, Mo., decided not to open its doors Thursday. and requested the national bank examiner to take charge until their assets could be realized on, when there is a strong hope that the bank may be able to resume. "This bank is one of the largest in the west and in September last had about $34,000,000 of deposits Some thing like $22,000,000 of this was due