﻿ESAREY: STATE BANKING IN INDIANA 



239 



At a meeting of the directors, early in the year 1822, a dividend 

 of forty per cent was voted and also $3,500 to Nathaniel Ewing for 

 services as president. 



As soon as the Secretary of the Treasury learned that 

 the Bank was insolvent, he sent an agent, who met the board 

 of directors and made arrangements for payment of debts due the 

 United States. The directors turned over what securities they 

 had at hand and also the real estate belonging to the Bank. The 

 deed to the real estate was so imperfectly executed that it took 

 a suit in the supreme court to ascertain whether the directors had 

 actually made the transfer or not. 



Among other securities given to the United States Government 

 were bonds of the state aggregating S32,750. As soon as Governor 

 Jennings learned that the state bonds had come into the hands of 

 the United States Government he protested to the Secretary of 

 the Treasury. Not receiving any answer, Governor Jennings called 

 a special session of the legislature to advise him what to do in the 

 matter. The state had received in taxes nearly the sum of $30,000 

 in Bank currency, which was worthless if not credited on the 

 state's bonds. «9 



On March 2, 1822, the Secretary of the Treasury returned these 

 bonds to the Bank to be redeemed in the worthless paper the state 

 had received for taxes. All the affairs between the state and the 

 federal government were amicably settled, and the tax-payers of 

 the state were saved about $30,000, a full year's taxes. 



The report of the Bank to the Governor for January, 1822, is 

 interesting. The nominal capital stock of the Bank and all the 

 branches was $129,363; $30,000 each for the branches, and $39,363 

 for the parent bank. The Bank had $30 in specie and $3,218 in 

 other currency. The debts owing to it totaled $184,733, of which 

 the ''Steam Mill" owed $116,284, and different directors $17,333. 

 On its board of directors at the time were Davis Brown, president 

 of the Bank, postmaster of the borough, and a member of the 

 legislature; Wilson Lagow; Nathaniel Ewing, former president of 

 the Bank, United States pension agent for the state, and agent for 

 the ''Steam Mill;" John D. Hay; Elias McNamee, city councilman 

 for many years; Arthur Patterson, a leading merchant; William 

 Burtch, a merchant and im.porter; Samuel Tomlinson, dry-goods 

 merchant; Robert Buntin, Clerk of the Circuit Court; Dennis 

 Sayre, over whose grocery store the Bank was located; George 



" Western Sun, March 16, 1822. 



« United States Papers, 2nd Session, 17th Congress, V; also Western Sun April 6, 1822. 



[4—29048 



