USA > Michigan > Macomb County > History of Macomb County, Michigan > Part 121
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121
Besides the regular issue of bills, another was contemplated somewhat later, but not effected. William Vandervoort caused to be engraved for the bank a plate of bills pay- able at Tonowanda. N. Y. Impressions were taken and a few brought to Mt. Clemens, but none were ever signed.
We have now reached the period of
WILD-CAT BANKS,
a few of which made their appearance in this county. This term is applicable to those banks only which were organized under the general banking law of 1837. Hence, al- though closely allied thereto, the Macomb County Bank was not of that species.
When the Legislature of 1837 convened, the whole State was wild on the subject of banking. Petitions for the organization of banks came from nearly every hamlet and four- corner settlement of the State. Among them were two from citizens of Macomb County for a bank to be located at Romeo, presented in the house by Linus S. Gilbert. The Legislature finally passed a general law for the organization of banking associations, which was approved March 15. This act passed almost withont opposition. Only four Repre- sentatives voted against it, one of whom was Isaac Monfort, of Macomb County. Under this aet were organized the famous " wild-cat " banks.
THE BANK OF UTICA
was the first one organized in this county under the general law. The petition to the Clerk and Treasurer of the county bears date at Shelby. May 13. 1837. and prays for the organization of a bank, with a capital of $50,000. It is signed by Jacob Summers, Payne K. Leech, Jr., Asquire W. Aldrich, Benjamin L. Watkins. L. T. Jenney, Samuel Ladd, A. G. Deshon, Gurdon C. Leech, Orson Sheldon, L. D. Owen, John James, James Covel, Jr .. and Joseph Lester. On the 22d. notice was given by Rodney O. Cooley, Treasurer, and Amos Dalby, Clerk. that books would be opened at Utica, on Monday, June 26, and kept open for four days, for subscription to the capital stock. Copies of the notice were posted in twelve of the most public places in the county by Abraham Freeland, then Sheriff. On June 7, John James was appointed temporary Treasurer to receive the first installments on subscriptions, giving a bond to the Clerk and Treasurer, conditioned to pay over to the Cashier, when appointed, on the order of the Directors, when elected, the amount paid to him, or to return the same to the subscribers, if the organization of the bank should not be completed. The sureties on this bond were Gurdon C. Leech, Lyman T. Jenney, Orson Sheldon and Payne K. Leech, Jr. On August 31. the newly elected Directors, Jacob Summers, Orson Sheldon, Gurdon C. Leech, Payne K. Leech, Jr.,
921
HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
Ephraim Calkins. Daniel W. Philips, William A. Davis. George Hanscom and John James, with A. Freeland and Joseph Lester as sureties, in presence of Walter Porter and William Abernathy as witnesses, entered into bonds to the Auditor General, in the penal sum of $125.000, conditioned for the punctual payment of all debts, notes, liabilities and obligations. as required by law. The next day. a duplicate was filed with the County Clerk. and then a certificate, issued by the Clerk and Treasurer, was filed in the office of the Secretary of State. showing the due organization of the Bank of Utica. with a capital stock of $50,000.
Jacob Summers was elected the first President, and John James appointed Cashier. At some subsequent election. (furdon C. Leech seems to have been made President. Thus organized. the bank commeneed business about September 9. and continued operations a little more than a year. when its legal tribulations began. In addition to the Directors named above, the following persons appear as stockholders in the institution: A. G. Fin den. E. Endres. J. S. Fletcher. Joseph Lester, Sheldon Owen. C. S. Madison, A Keeney. S. Ladd. A. B. Adams. O. Steevens, L. D. Owen and A. Bond.
On March 22. the bank paid a semi-annual State tax of $37.50. and contributed to the "safety fund " in the State treasury. for the redemption of its notes, just $23.21. The holders of its $14.225 worth of bills must have fetched a long-drawn sigh of genuine
relief when they read the State Treasurer's report for 1838. At the elose of the year. its affairs were in a sorry condition. Its liabilities were $33, 753.04, while its only resources were $2.055.51, in real and personal property, and $31. 114 of discounted paper, more than $22.000 of which was due from stockholders and Directors. The bank was ut- terly destitute of specie, or any other ready means for the redemption of its notes. The bank commissioners took immediate steps to wind up the concern. A bill was filed in the Court of Chancery by the Attorney General. Chancellor Elon Farnsworth allowed a writ of injunction January 5, 1839, and the days of usefulness of the Bank of Utica were ended. Its only reason for existence afterward was to play the part of shuttlecoek to the legal battledoor. As Chancellor Farnsworth had allowed a similar injunction against the Bank of Macomb County, just 364 days before, he must have indulged in a grim smile. as he thought of the inexpediency of granting charters to any banking institutions in Macomb County. Meanwhile, the bank's magnificent " safety fund " in the State Treasury had shrunk to $3.34. and what finally became of that is uncertain. Like all the rest of the bank's valuables, it probably kept on shrinking to infinity.
Peter S. Palmer, of Utica, was appointed Receiver February 1, 1840; his report, tiled in April, shows $8,306.05 liabilities, of which $4.770 was for notes still unredeemed. The resources were only $7,835.56, of which but $6,775.32 were considered available. Notes and accounts against citizens of Utica were generally considered good, while notes of other " wild-cat banks" were aecounted worthless.
The Legislature of 1842, passed an act to annul the corporate rights of certain banks. among which was the Bank of Utica. Under that act, the Receiver caused an appraisal of assets to be made. April 29, 1842, by James B. Cartter, James Covel. Jr .. and C. B. H. Fessenden. This appraisal was signed by P. S. Palmer, Receiver, by J. James and Payne K. Leech. Jr .. his agents. The total valuation was $2.462.77. Individual notes were ap- praised at from par down to 50 per cent; Shelby & Detroit Railroad cheeks at par; the banking house and lot, which cost $2,015.95, at $806.39, or 40 per cent; bank furniture, from 75 to 34 per cent, a claim against the Detroit City Bank at 373 per cent. Then follows a batch of notes. "wild-cat" bills and claims, all thrown together without ap- praisement, too worthless to be considered! The shuttlecock had now been banged about by the battledoor, until it was too dilapidated for further use. and the game stopped here.
57
922
HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
THE FARMERS' BANK OF ROMEO
was the next venture. On October 30, 1837, a petition was drawn up for the organiza- tion of a bank with a capital stock of $50,000, to be located at Romeo and known as the " Farmers' Bank of Romeo." It was signed by Daniel Trombley, Jacob Coddington. George Finch, Martin F. Southwell, Asahel Bailey, Marvil Shaw, Isaac Brabb, James Thorington. Charles F. Snover, Benjamin Crissman, Abner Smith. Jr., Adam Armstrong, A. B. Cooley, James Harvey, David Phelps, John A. Shaffer, A. B. Ayres, Ebenezer Kit- ridge. A. Prentiss. Orratus Hulett. Rufus Carpenter, John S. Axforth and Ephraim Graves. The books were open for subscription on December 12. in the " old red tavern." The capital stock was all subscribed, the requisite 10 per cent installment being paid on the spot in gold coin, a scarce commodity in those days. John James, of Utica, was ap- pointed temporary Treasurer, and he gave the usual bond, with G. C. Leech. O. Sheldon, A. B. Cooley. R. L Clark, A. B. Rawls. G. Gates, A. B. Ayres, G. Rix and J. W. Dyar, as sureties, and H. A. Tutner and I. Cummings as witnesses. Directors and a Cashier were chosen, and John W. Dyar was elected President. An order for plates was made on a New York engraver. and in due time the bills were received. They were deposited for safe-keeping in the Bank of Utica, but the great collapse came before any of them were signed by the officers of the bank, and all ideas of further business was indefinitely post- poned. Yet some of the bills got out and went on their way rejoicing in forged signatures. Martin Buzzell, still living at Romeo, had a $2 bill of that bank presented to him in 1838. while doing business at Natchez. Miss. Not having much confidence in that kind of eur- rency, he refused to take it.
Mr. John W. Dyar, still a resident of Romeo, inform- me that the citizens of Romeo really wanted no bank at all; but a number of Pennsylvania " wild-cat" schemers had fixed upon that village as the scene of one of their nefarious swindles. In order to anticipate them the more substantial business men of the village organized a bank, and, with the friendly aid of Messrs. James. Leech and Clark, of Utica, subscribed for all the stock.
THE CLINTON RIVER BANK
came next. and was the second of that name. The first, it will be remembered, was to be organized by special charter and located at Shelby. The second was to be of the "wild-cat " species, and located at Mt. Clemens. Its capital stock was to be $50,000 and books were to be opened for subscriptions on January 9, 1838. The petition was dated and filed Novem- ber 29, having been signed by C. S. Mather, Frederick Hatch. George Whitney, Porter Kibbee, G. C. Fletcher, E. L. Atkins, P. S. Fletcher, James B. Van Rensselaer, William Lewis, R. P. Eldredge, H. M. Dodge, James Williams, H J. Higgins and R. F. Eastman. But the crash came like
"An envions, sneaking frost. That bites the first-born infants of the spring."
and the Clinton River Bank, No. 2. went to meet its illustrions namesake.
There was still another member of this " wild cat" family, which, as Artemus Ward would say, was the most "amoosin' little cuss" of the whole litter. The general law having been changed somewhat, as to the mode of organization, a document was drawn up, on the 26th of March, 1838, and filed in the office of the Secretary of State four days later, cer- tifying that a banking association had been formed with a capital stock of $50,000, to be located at the village of Belvidere-" or Belvidere City "-and to be known as
THE BANK OF LAKE ST. CLAIR.
James L. Conger was its President. A. C. Hatch, D. B. Conger, S. A. Hathaway, C. W. Hussey, S. G. Langdon were its Directors, and A Wilcox, D. G. Gurnsey and Edward
0
923
HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
R. Blackwell were the other stockholders. Bills were elaborately engraved and printed in abundance, but before they were regularly issued the bank was swamped by hard times and the city by high water. The bills were extensively circulated by the boys of the adjacent country, and in some instances, no doubt, were passed as money upon the igno- rant or unwary.
CONCLUSION.
Judging the future of the county by the past, and that is the proper criterion to judge by, what can be the limits to the progress that will be made by the genius of the American people of Macomb in the next fifty years? We can only entertain a hope for the foreign element of the population-a hope that when the next history is proposed, the im- migrants will have reached that state of intelligence which will enable them to conceive the utility of such a work. and incite them to support it, so that they may learn more, and become Americanized.
That portion of the population properly termed the American people of Macomb, seem to have made everything in which they engage so satisfactory in results, that the human mind pauses in the midst of its boundlessness, and almost seems to say -- the whole work is accomplished, and there is nothing left for the inventive genius of the rising generation to do. But much as has been accomplished. the most scientific and constructive minds, those that have accomplished the grandest results in fields of mechanics and inven- tions, realize the fact that they have just made a beginning in the arts and sciences, and that a great undiscovered world lies beyond
K
924
HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
ERRATA.
ALEXANDER GRANT. The biography of this gentleman should read: His wife was the daughter of Albert and Mary Deshon, instead of "Albert and Julia."
The following biography was received too late for insertion in its proper place:
WILLIAM FREDERICK DRAKE, P. O. Utica, son of Hiram and Antha ( Wolf) Drake, natives of New York, born in Sterling Town, Macomb Co., Mich .. October 31. 1846; edu- cated in the public school and lived in this county all his life, except three years, from 1867 to 1870, during which time he filled the position of superintending a gang of men at the House of Correction, at Detroit; has followed farming the remainder of his life, and is now farming on Section 27, Shelby Township, Macomb County: entered the army dur- ing the late rebellion at the age of nineteen as private; served six months, when he re- turned home on account of sickness; was married. December 25, 1870. to Adelaide C. Robinson, daughter of Joseph and Ann Brown (Smith), natives of Virginia. J. Brown was one of (en. Harrison's staff officers in the war of 1812, and was Judge of the Court at Shockton, Ohio for two years. previous to June, 1829. at which time he was accidentally killed. Mr. Drake's father removed to Michigan about the year 1840, where he has fol. lowed the occupation of a farmer to this time. and now resides in Sterling Town, Ma- comb Co .. Mich.
5
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 0 016 090 718 6
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.