State Bank of Commerce, Wallace, Idaho Records, 1901-1911

Overview of the Collection

Creator
State Bank of Commerce, Wallace, Idaho
Title
State Bank of Commerce, Wallace, Idaho Records
Dates
1901-1911 (inclusive)
Quantity
34 cubic feet
Collection Number
MG050 (collection)
Summary
Ledgers and correspondence of the State Bank of Commerce and its predecessor, the Bank of Commerce, including letters between bank president Bennett F. O'Neil, Idaho governor James H. Brady, and Senator William E. Borah regarding Republican Party activities in Idaho.
Repository
University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu
Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

The State Bank of Commerce, successor to the Bank of Commerce organized in 1901, was organized May 1, 1903. Its officers were Bennett F. O'Neil, president, Thomas L. Greenough, vice president, Maurice H. Hare, cashier, and Charles Z. Seelig, assistant cashier. Additional directors were Albert Burch, Ewan McIntosh, August Paulsen, and G. Scott Anderson who was also a director of the Lane Lumber Company. Later E.S. Wyman succeeded Hare as cashier and in July 1906 Harry L. Day, a major depositor in the bank--the Day family interests had a total of 12 different accounts--joined the board of directors.

The bank was suspended in May 1911 following O'Neil's unsuccessful campaign for governor. A combination of campaign expenses, bad investments and excessive borrowing--on the closing date of the bank his indebtedness comprised 70% of the bank's total loans--depleted the bank's reserves and he was unable to honor depositors' demands when they began withdrawing their money. The bank was turned over to the state bank commissioner and Harry L. Day was named trustee, thus giving him physical control of the bank's records. He asked Bland & Wilson Accountants of Spokane to go over the books and prepare a report. They concluded the failure was due to "excessive and dishonest financing of the personal enterprises of B.F. O'Neil, President and G. Scott Anderson, Director, aided and abetted by E.S. Wyman, Cashier," and also "the abstraction of funds for the private use of B.F. O'Neil."

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The papers of the State Bank of Commerce span the years 1901 to 1911. They include correspondence and bound financial volumes. In addition to the routine bank correspondence there is also personal correspondence of bank president, B.F. O'Neil, relating to investments and his activities in the Republican Party. Among his frequent correspondents are Governor James H. Brady and William E. Borah. Also included is an early treasurer's book for the town of Wallace, Idaho.

The correspondence is widely scattered, leaving large gaps in the sequence. Several volumes listed on the original inventory were missing at the time of processing. These include one Auxiliary Book, one Trial Balance Book April 1910 to 1911, two Balance Ledgers, 1901-1902 and May 1905 to 1906, one Teller's Cash Book March 1904 to June 1906, and one Closed and Transferred Accounts book. Several volumes not on the original list were with the records, and it is possible the missing volumes were misidentified originally.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The foldered correspondence, which includes both incoming and outgoing letters and telegrams, was originally arranged first alphabetically, then chronologically by year only. In order to make the collection more useable the correspondence was further separated by month, but no attempt was made to put material in strict chronological order. The letterbooks of outgoing correspondence are in chronological order.

There is a second set of letterbooks labeled "Statements" which contain letterpress copies of bank statements sent to depositors; these were placed at the beginning of the second series.

The remaining bound volumes include stock certificates, Auxiliary Records, Savings Ledgers, books listing valuable papers intrusted to the bank and include the agreements between the bank and the depositor, ledgers of individual accounts, and other financial volumes necessary for record keeping.

Some volumes from the original Bank of Commerce form their own series. These were separated from the State Bank of Commerce records because of their uniform small size and paper binding.

One final volume is the 1890-1897 Town of Wallace Treasurer's Book. This item appears on the original inventory received with the papers so was retained with the collection. Another volume which appeared on the original inventory, an account book of the Wallace Press, was transferred to the Day Mines, Inc. Collection, an unprocessed manuscript group, which also contains Wallace Press Times records. (MG 310)

Several volumes have been water damaged, and the handwriting in others is fading. Many of the volumes are labeled as exhibits for either plaintiff or prosecution in the criminal investigation which followed the failure of the bank.

Acquisition Information

The records of the State Bank of Commerce, Wallace, Idaho, were donated to the University of Idaho library by Henry L. Day in November 1968.

Separated Materials

One box of deposit slips, 2 boxes of debit and credit slips, and one box of bank statements and canceled checks were removed from the collection. In all the records were reduced by two cubic feet.

Bibliography

Barrett, Glen. Idaho Banking. Boise, Boise State University Press, 1976.

Bland & Wilson, Accountants. "Report on Investigation of State Bank of Commerce, Wallace, Idaho. January 12, 1912. (Papers of Harry L. Day in an unprocessed manuscript group, Day Mines, Inc., Special Collections Library, University of Idaho.) (MG318)

Illustrated History of North Idaho. s.l., Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I. Correspondence , 1901-1911Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1-2
A
200 items
1907-1909
1/3-9
B
1245 items
1906-1909
1/10
Baker Clothing, Wardner, Idaho
37 items
1907
1/11
Bankers National Bank, Chicago
13 items
1906-1907
1/12
Boise City National Bank, Boise, Idaho
7 items
1907
1/13
Borah, William E.
17 items
1907-1909
1/14
C
108 items
1901-1902
1/15-23
C
1278 items
1905-1910
1/24
Clark, W.A. and Brother, Bankers
6 items
1907
2/25
D
58 items
1901-1902
2/26
D
130 items
1905-1906
2/27
E
65 items
1901-1902
2/28-29
F
213 items
1901-1902
2/30
G
76 items
1901-1902
2/31
G
79 items
1907-1908
2/32-33
K
162 items
1907-1911
2/34
M
232 items
1908
2/35-37
N
464 items
1906-1910
2/38
National Bank of Commerce, New York City
122 items
1906-1907
2/39
P
118 items
1908
2/40-41
S
385 items
1908-1909
2/42
Y
11 items
1910
2/43
Returned letters for which there are no folders
4 items
1908-1909
2/45-48
Letterbooks
4 items
1901-1902
3/49-53
Letterbooks
5 items
1902-1909

Series II. Bound Volumes , 1901-1911Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
3/54-58
Letterbooks: Statements
5 items
1901-1907
4/59-65
Letterbooks: Statements
7 items
1907-1911
os/66
Stock Journal
1 item
1903-1908
os/67
Stock Certificate Book
1 item
1903-1909
os/68-88
Auxiliary Records
21 items
1903-1911
os/89-91
Savings Ledgers
3 items
1908-1910
os/92-97
Escrows and Valuable Papers in Trust
6 items
1901-1910
os/98-104
Reconcilement of Accounts
7 items
1902-1910
os/105-111
Trial Balance Books
7 items
1902-1910
os/112-124
Cash Books
13 items
1902-1911
os/125
Teller's Cash Book
1 item
September 1902-February 1904
os/126-128
Daily Balance Ledgers
3 items
1901-1905
os/129-133
Individual Account Ledgers
5 items
1906-1911
os/134-135
Individual Account Balance Ledgers
2 items
1905-1906
os/136-137
Individual Account Transfer Ledgers
2 items
1906-1911
os/138
Drafts, Cashiers Checks and Deposits Ledger
1 item
1906-1911
os/139
Accounts Claimed, Indirect Deposits Ledger
1 item
1910-1911
os/140-142
Ledgers: Accounts with other Banks
3 items
1906-1912
os/143
Current Liability Ledger
1 item
1905-1912
os/144
Transfer Liability Ledger
1 item
1907-1910
os/145-146
Closed and Transferred Accounts
2 items
undated
os/147
Discounted Bills Register
1 item
1901-1908
os/148-149
Unidentified Accounting Books
2 items
1906-1911
os/150
Certificate of Deposit Register
1 item
1901-1905
os/151
General Ledger
1 item
1904-1905
os/152
Unidentified Journal
1 item
January-March 1909
os/153
Detailed Account of State Bank of Commerce Account with Lane Lumber Company
1 item
December 1902 to May 1911
os/154
Deeds, Mortgages, etc.
22 items
1906-1911

Series III. Other Records from Bank of Commerce , 1901-1902Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
os/155-156
Cash Books
2 items
April 1901-January 1903
os/157-158
Counter Books
2 items
April 1901-June 1902
os/159
Debts
1 item
January 1902-December 1902
os/160
Shoshone County Warrants Paid
1 item
1902-1903
os/161
Journal
1 item
April 1901-August 1902
os/162
Ledger
1 item
April 1901-August 1902

Series IV. Non-bank Records , 1890-1897Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
os/163
Town of Wallace Treasurer's Book
1 item
1890-1897

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Banks and banking--Idaho--Wallace--History--Sources
  • Idaho--Politics and government--Sources

Personal Names

  • Borah, William Edgar, 1865-1940
  • Brady, James H.
  • O'Neill, Bennett F.

Corporate Names

  • Bank of Commerce (Wallace, Idaho)
  • Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )--Idaho
  • State Bank of Commerce (Wallace, Idaho)