9105. City Bank (Dowagiac, MI)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
private
Start Date
February 8, 1908
Location
Dowagiac, Michigan (41.984, -86.109)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
7ef2c156

Response Measures

None

Description

The City Bank (operating as Lyle, Gage & Co.) abruptly quit business in early Feb 1908 and did not resume. Articles describe large insider withdrawals by President Frank W. Lyle and his son just before the bank closed and show petitioning for a receiver and trustee selection—consistent with a suspension that led to permanent closure. Although the institution had formerly been a state bank, by 1908 it operated under the Lyle, Gage & Co. organization; therefore classified as private.

Events (3)
1. February 8, 1908 Suspension
Cause
Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details
Large insider withdrawals by President Frank W. Lyle and his son just days before closure; assets/liabilities showed insolvency.
Newspaper Excerpt
That Frank W. Lyle drew $29,000 ... from the defunct City bank of Dowagiac two days before the institution closed ... The notes are dated Feb. 6, and the bank closed Saturday, Feb. 8.
Source
newspapers
2. February 14, 1908 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
DOWAGIAC BANK FAILS Institution One of Oldest in This Part of State-No Reasons Assigned. The city bank of Dowagiac, otherwise the Lyle, Gage & Co, quit business yesterday.
Source
newspapers
3. February 21, 1908 Receivership
Newspaper Excerpt
A petition has been filed with Referee in Bankruptcy Briggs, of Kalamazoo, for a receiver for the closed City bank. A hearing will be held Saturday and a meeting of the creditors will also be held there the same day.
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (7)
1. February 14, 1908 The True Northerner Paw Paw, MI
Article from The True Northerner, February 14, 1908

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

DOWAGIAC BANK FAILS Institution One of Oldest in This Part of State-No Reasons Assigned. The city bank of Dowagiac, otherwise the Lyle, Gage & Co, quit business yesterday. No reason for the suspension is given out. The city bank is one of the oldest institutions in this part of the state. It was for many years a state bank, but about four years ago liquidated from under the state organization. At that time it was capitalized at 350,000. The Lyle, Gage & Co. was formed when the bank liquidated. The officers are: President, Frank W. Lyle: vice-president Ira B. Gage; cashier, L. R. Lyle.

2. February 17, 1908 The Detroit Times Detroit, MI
Article from The Detroit Times, February 17, 1908

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

BELIEVE FRANK LYLE IN CHICAGO SUBURB DOWAGIAC, Mich., Feb. 17.-Frank W. Lyle, president of the City bank of Dowagiac, which suspended a week ago, is believed to be in Englewood, Chicago. No efforts have been made by the authorities to trace him as It is admitted that so far no incriminating circumstances in regard to the closing of the institution have been revealed. Pros.-Atty. Bresnahan was informed that President Lyle had left the Michigan Central train, which took him out of Dowagiac, Sunday, at the Englewood "station. The subpenas on Levi Lyle and Oliver Lyle, cousins of Frank W. Lyle, who reside in Decatur, will probably be served today. It is expected that a receiver will be appointed this week.

3. February 19, 1908 The Detroit Times Detroit, MI
Article from The Detroit Times, February 19, 1908

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

DREW $29,000 JUST BEFORE BANK CRASH KALAMAZOO, Mich., Feb. 19.-That Frank W. Lyle drew $29,000, and his son, Leon R. Lyle, $4,000, from the refunct City bank of Dowagiac two days before the institution closed, is the charge made since notes listed in the schedule of assets and liabilities, which have been referred to Referee in Bankruptcy H. C. Briggs, of Kalamazoo, have been found. The notes are dated Feb. 6, and the bank closed Saturday, Feb. 8. Attorneys interested in the case charge that the two items were responsible for the closing of the bank at the preser time and state that It cannot pay more than 40 cents on the dollar. The schedules show the liabilities of the bank to be $270,686.78, all of which came from about 800 depositors, but few accounts running over $1,000.

4. February 21, 1908 The Detroit Times Detroit, MI
Article from The Detroit Times, February 21, 1908

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

CAN'T PROSECUTE BANKER LYLE DOWAGIAC, Mich., Feb. 21.-A petition has been filed with Referee in Bankruptcy Briggs, of Kalamazoo, for a receiver for the closed City bank. A hearing will eb held Saturday and a meeting of the creditors will also be held there the same day. A trustee will be elected at the meeting. Otis Biglow, of Dowagiac, or C. H. Kimmerle, of Cassopolis, will be chosen. Mrs. Ida Jones, widow of Mayor Jones, charges that a $1,000 draft she asked to be forwarded to Samuel Jones, of Denver, Col., was never sent, though bank officers promised to do so after she complained. 'I have gone over the evidence we have at the present time and I fail to see where we can make charges against President Lyle," says Attorney Charles Sweet, who represents a number of depositors. "Mr. Lyle was a smart business man."

5. February 29, 1908 The Diamond Drill Crystal Falls, MI
Article from The Diamond Drill, February 29, 1908

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

Echo of a Bank Failure. Dowaglac, Mich., Feb. 24.-Charles and Michael Tobeas, proprietors of the Chicago Fair, one of the largest gener. al stores in this section, have filed a $13,000trust mortgage running to Chas. E. Sweet, of Dowagiac, and E. J. Dufty, of Detroit, for the benefit of creditors. The firm's difficulty is attributed to poor collections and slack trade resulting from the recent failure of the City bank.

6. February 15, 1916 The Detroit Times Detroit, MI
Article from The Detroit Times, February 15, 1916

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

CASHIER FREE AFTER 8 YEARS CASSOPOLIS, Mich., Feb. 15.(Special)-Ira B. Gage, one of the officers of the City bank of Dowagiae, which closed its doors eight years ago and precipitated a financial panic throughout Cass county and southwestern Michigan, was made a free man in circuit court when Judge L. B. Desvoignes dismissed the charge against him and released the bond under which he had been held to appear in court. This action followed a recent decision of the supreme court in which it was shown that Judge Desvoignes had erred in refusing a change of venue in the case, on a motion made at the time by Attorney James H. Kinnane, of Dowagiae, who then represented Gage.

7. February 16, 1916 South Bend News-Times South Bend, IN
Article from South Bend News-Times, February 16, 1916

Click image to open full size in new tab

Article Text

EX-BANKER IS FREED Ira B. Gage Released From Charges Eight Years Ago. News-Times Special Service: CASSOPOLIS, Feb. 16.-Ira B. Gage, one of the officers of the city bank of Dowagiac, which closed its doors eight years ago and precipitated a financial panic throughout Cass county and southwestern Michigan, was made a free man in circuit court when Judge L. B. Des Voignes dismissed the charges against him and released the bond under which he has been held to appear in court. This action followed a recent decision of the supreme court in which it was shown that Judge Des Voignes had erred in refusing a change of venue in the case on a motion made at the time by Atty. James H. Kinnane of Dowagjac, who then represented Gage. The latter after the motion to dismiss the case had been granted, said that for the first time in eight years he had felt like a free man, as the charges, which he said were untrue, had hung over him for that length of time. The former Dowagiac banker is now cashier in a bath house in Chicago, a position that pays him barely enough to live on.