KNOX COUNTY OHIO - Norton's History of Knox County [Chapter XV] ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ohfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Dave Ketterer Ketterer@empireone.net September 1, 2002 ************************************************ A History of Knox County, Ohio, From 1779 to 1862 Inclusive: Comprising Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes and incidents of men connected with the county from its first settlement: Together with complete lists of the senators, representatives, sherriffs, auditors, commissioners, treasurers, judges, justices of the peace, and other officers of the county, also of those who have served in a military capacity from its first organization to the present time, and also a sketch of Kenyon College, and other institutions of learning and religion within the county. By A. Banning Norton. Columbus: Richard Nevins, Printer. 1862 Entered according to the act of Congress in the year 1862 by A. Banning Norton, In the Clerk’s office of the Southern District of Ohio. ____________________________________________ CHAPTER XV. THE OWL CREEK BANK OF MOUNT VERNON. ITS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HISTORY.-LET IT BE RELIEVED FROM ODIUM! THE history of Knox county would be incomplete without a faithful and true account of an institution with the above euphonious name, located upon the banks of Owl Creek, and within the sacred precincts of Mount Vernon. The en- graving above gives a view of one of "the owls" issued by this bank. They were of every denomi-nation from the shinplaster form of 6 1/4 cents up to $10. The paper engraving and finish of the notes, although not so perfect in every respect as those issued by banks in the present day, nevertheless is of a higher order than those put forth by the so-called " Confederate States of America," of which Cotton is king, and Jeff. Davis vicegerent. From the journals and old files of that day, as far as accessible, we have compiled the following. There being great complaint of the scarcity of money after the war, large numbers of people in various cities and towns in the United States, and more particularly in the West and Ohio, conceived the idea of multiplying the quantity of paper in lieu of money by manufacturing what is called a " currency." Among other points, those of Mount Vernon determined to engage in the business of making money. As early as December, 1814, a meeting was held, and articles of association for the organizing of a bank, to be called the " Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon," were entered into. fixing the capital stock at $150,000, divided into shares of $50 each, payable in installments of not exceeding $5 each, and appointing certain commissioners to open stock books, &c. Petitions were then presented to the Legislature, praying for a charter; and after having petitioned the Legislature for an act authorizing such an association, and been denied the grant, determined to "go it alone," on their own hook. On the 10th day of April, 1816, the first meeting of record of those who inaugurated the Owl Creek Bank was held at the court-house in Mount Vernon, and as this is the most important of all events in the early history of Knox county, we give the proceedings entire of this the first meeting, and also of the first meeting of the Board of Mannagers on the 17th inst. " Agreeable to previous notice, there was a meeting at the courthouse on April 10th. Jonathan Miller was called to the chair, and Joseph Brown appointed Secretary. The following independent sentiments were set forth: "Resolved, That we have by the Constitution of this State guar- antied to the people of this State a full and fair right and privilege to have charters granted when we shall petition the legislative body of this State for that purpose. We, the undersigned, having complied with the requisitions of the Constitution, and will con-tinue so to do, without waiving our rights and privileges. "Therefore be it resolved, That we do form ourselves into a company for the purpose of establishing a bank in the town of Mount Vernon, Knox county (Ohio). "2. Resolved, That the following named gentlemen be appointed managers of said bank, and to draft articles of association and by-laws for the future government of the company, viz.: James Smith, Wm. Mitchell, M. Merritt, Abraham Darling, Hosmer Curtis, John Warden, Gilman Bryant, Jonathan Miller, L. S. Silliman, Benjamin Martin, Joseph Brown, John Green and Jacob Young. " From this number a committee was appointed to draft the articles, who met at the house of Joseph Brown on the 17th April, and adopted the following: ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION OF THE STOCKHOLDERS OF OWL CREEK BANK OF MOUNT VERNON. " BE IT KNOWN, That we, the subscribers, having formed a company and limited partnership, do hereby agree and associate with each other, to conduct banking business in the manner hereinafter specified, under the name and title of the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon. " And we do hereby covenant and mutually agree, that the fol-lowing are and shall be the fundamental articles of this our association, by which all persons who are parties hereto, or may in future transact business with this association, shall be bound and concluded:- " ARTICLE l. The capital stock of the company shall be two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, current money of the United States, with the privilege of extending it to five hundred thousand dollars, and of commencing business so soon as twenty-five thousand dollars is subscribed-to be divided into shares of fifty dollars each. " ARTICLE 2. The books for the subscription of said stock, shall be opened on the first Monday in March next, at such places and under such agents as the commissioners may think proper, at the hour of ten o'clock in the morning, and continue until three o'clock in the evening of the same day, and from day to day during said hours, until the whole number of shares are subscribed for. The books thus to he opened, are to be under the direction of the following named commissioners, viz: Jonathan Miller, James Smith, Gilman Bryant, John Warden, Benjamin Martin, H. Curtis, W. Mitchell, M. Merritt, A. Darling, Jacob Young, John Green, L. S. Silliman and Joseph Brown. At the time of subscribing, there shall be paid to the commissioners or their agents, on each share subscribed for, the sum of one dollar ; the further sum of two dollars and fifty cents shall be paid on each share, within ninety days thereafter, at such place as the commissioners shall appoint, of which due notice shall be given ; the residue in such portions and at such places as the directors hereafter to be chosen shall appoint ; they giving at least sixty days notice thereof in the public newspaper of the county: Provided, such installments shall at no time exceed two dollars and fifty cents ; neither shall any subsequent installment be called for until a previous one has become payable. " ARTICLE 3. No person or persons, body politic or corporate, shall he permitted on the first day to take more than one hundred shares, and if the shares are not all taken on that day, the foregoing part of this article is not to operate. " ARTICLE 4. If it shall so happen, that more than the stipulated number of shares may be subscribed for, the commissioners shall apportion them by deducting from the highest subscription; and if more persons subscribe than there are shares, the commissioners shall determine by lot to whom such shares belong ; and as soon as may be thereafter, receipts shall he issued to the stockholders, and certificates of the amount of stock held by each. " ARTICLE 5. If any stockholder shall fail to pay his, her, or their installment, to the amount of three dollars on each share at the time or times, or in the manner heretofore specified, such stockholder shall forfeit to the use of the company all monies paid antecedent to such failure or default; however no forfeiture of stock shall take place, after three dollars on each share shall have been paid. But to secure the regular payment of any installment or call, after five dollars on each share hath been paid, such stockholder shall not be entitled to a dividend until such installment or call shall be fully paid; and the dividend thereafter to be paid to such stockholder (as well upon the money regularly paid as upon the money paid after default) shall be calculated Only from the time when said installment shall be fully paid. " ARTICLE 6. The affairs of the company shall be conducted by thirteen directors, and a president, whose place, if chosen from among the number of directors, shall be supplied by the choice of that body, the whole of which is to reside within the county of Knox; and five directors, together with the president, shall form a board or quorum for the transacting of all business of the company. Each director shall be a stockholder at the time of his election. and shall cease to be a director if he should cease to be a stockholder; and the number of votes to which each stockholder shall he entitled, shall be in proportion to the stock he may hold, follows, viz : For the first five shares, One vote ; for ten shares, two votes ; and for each additional ten shares, one vote : and no stockholder shall be entitled to vote, who has not held his stock six calendar months next preceding the election, except as to the first election-all stockholders, residing within five miles of Mount Vernon, shall vote by ballot in person, and those who reside I greater distance from Mount Vernon than five miles may vote bx- proxy, which at all elections is to be made in such form as may be directed by the board. " ARTICLE 7. The first election for directors shall be on the fourth Monday in May next, under the superintendence of the commissioners four of whom shall form a quorum. The directors so elected shall take their seats at the hoard the day following their election. and they, or a majority of those present, shall proceed immediately to the choice of a president, all of whom shall continue in office for one year, and until their successors shall be regularly elected and qualified. All future elections for directors shall be held annually on the fourth Monday in May, under the superintendence of dire persons, being stockholders, to be appointed by the president and directors for the time being, of which at least four weeks notice 01 the time and place shall be given by advertisement in the public papers in Knox county. The bank shall be established as near the court-house, in Mount Vernon, as may be thought most convenient by the board of directors, " ARTICLE 8. As to vacancies. " ARTICLE 9. The president, directors, and superintendents of elections, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices. shall take the following oath or affirmation, as the case may be I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will impartially, faithfully, diligently and honestly execute the duties of a of the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon, conformably to the constitution and articles of association of the same, and the trust reposed in me, to the best of my skill and judgment. And the cashier, the tellers, hook-keepers and other officers, shall also take a similar oath or affirmation, and shall besides give bond with security to the satisfaction of the president and directors for a faithful discharge of the duties in their respective stations. " ARTICLE 10. The board of directors are hereby fully empowered to make, revise, alter or annul, such rules, orders, bye-laws and regulations for the government of the company, and that of their officers and others whom they may think proper to employ, as they or a majority of them shall, from time to time, think expedient, not inconsistent with law or these articles of association, and to use, employ and dispose of the joint funds or property of said company (subject only to the restrictions hereinafter mentioned) as to them or a majority of them may seem expedient. " ARTICLE 11. As to signatures to bills, &c. " ARTICLE 12. As to books. " ARTICLE 13. The board of directors shall have power to appoint a cashier and such other persons as they may think proper to employ for executing the business of the company, and to establish the compensation to be paid to the president, cashier, and others respectively; all which, together with all other necessary expenses, shall he paid out of the joint funds of the company. " ARTICLE 14. Two-thirds of the directors shall have power to call a general meeting of the stockholders, for purposes relative to the concerns of the company, giving at least two months notice in the public newspapers of the county, and specifying in such notice the object or objects of such meeting. " ARTICLE 15. The shares of the capital stock at any time, owned by any individual stockholder, may be transferred on the books of the company, according to such rules as (according to law) may be established in that behalf by the board of directors; but all sums for which the stockholder is liable, as drawer, must be satisfied before such transfer can be made. " ARTICLE 16. No transfer of stock in this company shall be considered as binding on this company, unless made in a book or 12 books to be kept for that purpose by this company. And it is hereby further expressly understood that any stockholder who shall transfer in manner aforesaid all his stock or shares in this company, to any person or persons whatever, shall cease to be a member of this company, and that any person or persons whatever who shall accept a transfer of any stock or share in this company, shall become a member of this company according to these articles of association. " ARTICLE 17. It is hereby expressly and explicitly declared, to be the object and intentions of the persons who associate under the title and firm of the president and directors of the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon, that the joint stock or property of the said com. pany (exclusive of the dividends to be wade in the manner hereinafter mentioned) shall alone be responsible for the debts and engagements of said company, or to whom they shall or may become indebted by such engagements, and no person or persons to whom this company may in any wise become indebted, shall on any pretence whatever have recourse against the separate property of any present or future member of this company, or against their persons, further than may be necessary to secure the faithful application of the funds thereof to the purposes to which by these presents they are liable. But all persons accepting any bond, bill, or note, or other contract of this company, signed by the president and coun- tersigned or attested by the cashier of the company for the time being, or dealing with it in any other manner whatever, thereby give credit to the said joint stock or property of said company, and disavow having recourse, on any pretence whatever, to the person or separate property of any present or future member of this company, except as above mentioned. And nil suits to be brought against the president for the time being, and in case of his death or removal from office, pending any such suit against him, measures shall be taken at the expense of the company for substituting his successor in office as defendant, so that persons having any demands upon the company may not be prejudiced or delayed by that event; or if the person suing shall proceed against the person first named as defendant (notwithstanding his death or removal from office) this company shall not on that account, take advantage of such proceedings by writ of error or otherwise ; and all recoveries had in manner aforesaid shall be conclusive upon the company, so far as to make the funds or joint stock of this company liable for such amount, and no further ; and the company shall immediately pay the amount of such recovery out of the joint stock, but not otherwise ; and in case of any suit in law, the president shall sign his appearance upon the writ, or file common bail thereto, it being expressly understood and declared that all persons dealing with said company agree to these terms and are to be bound thereby. " ARTICLE 18. Dividends of the profits of the company, or so much of said profits as shall be deemed expedient and proper, shall be declared half yarly in every year, and shall from time to time be determined by a majority of the directors present, at a meeting to be held for that purpose, and shall in no case exceed the amount of the net profits actually acquired by the company, so that the capital stock of the company shall never be impaired by dividends ; but the directors shall he at liberty to retain at least one per centime upon the capital, as a fund for future contingencies. " ARTICLE 19. If the directors shall, at any time, willfully and knowingly make or declare any dividend which shall impair the capital stock, all the directors present at the making or declaring such dividends, and consenting thereto, shall be liable in their individual capacities to the company, for the amount or proportion of said capital stock so divided by said directors ; and each director who may be present at the making or declaring such dividends, shall be deemed to have consented thereto, unless he does immediately enter in writing his dissent on the minutes of the proceedings of the board, and give public notice to the stockholders that such dividend has been made. " ARTICLE 20. These articles of association and agreement shall be published three times in the public newspapers of the county, at least two months before the books are opened ; and for further information, to all persons who may transact business with, or in any manner give credit to this company, every bond, bill, note, or other instrument or contract, by the effects or terms of which the company may be charged or held liable for the payment of money, shall specially declare in such form as the board of directors shall prescribe ; that payment shall be made out of the joint funds of the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon, according to the present articles of association, and not otherwise ; and it is hereby expressly declared, that no engagements can be legally made in the name of said company, unless it contain a limitation or restriction to the effect above recited. " ARTICLE 21. The company shall in no case be owners of any real property, except a site for banking business, or directly or indirectly be concerned in trade, or the purchase or sale of any goods, wares or merchandise whatever (bills of exchange and bullion excepted), except such lands, goods, wares, or merchandise as may be truly pledged to them by way of security, or conveyed to them for debts due, owing or growing due to the said company, or purchased by them to secure such debts so due to said company. " ARTICLE 22. This association shall continue until the fourth Monday in May, one thousand eight hundred and thirty; but any number of stockholders, not less than fifty, who together shall be proprietors of not less than five hundred shares, may, for any purpose relative to the institution, at any time apply to the president and directors to call a general meeting of the stockholders, and if by them refused, the same number of stockholders, proprietors of not less than that number of shares, may and shall have power to call a general meeting of the stockholders, giving at least two months' notice in the public papers in Knox county, specifying in such notice the object or objects of such call. " ARTICLE 23. Immediately on the dissolution of this association, effectual measures shall be taken by the directors then existing, for closing all the concerns of the company, and for dividing the capital and profits which may remain among the stockholders, in proportion to their respective shares. " In witness whereof, we the undersigned have hereunto set our names or firms, this - day -, one thousand eight hundred and Shortly after the opening of subscription lists, the following notice was published: NOTICE. " It is requested that all persons holding books for the sale of shares in the Owl Creek Bank of Mt. Vernon, will be pleased to receive the installments due thereon, and forward the same by the 20th day of the present month. B. MARTIN, JOS. BROWN, } Bank JAMES SMITH, Commissioners. "MOUNT VEENON, July 3d, 1816." The preliminaries having been arranged, the bills are ready to circulate, and the officers publish the following- in the Register, page 175, which explains the modus operandi: " MOUNT VERNON, Sept.__181_. " Sixty days after date, for value received, we promise to pay JA~IES SMITH, at the house of L. S. Silliman, the sum of__________________ __________________without defalcation. " Credit the Drawer. "A.M . } Endorsers "C.D. " J. P., Drawer." [L.S.] "THE STATE OHIO", County, ss. " Before mc (A. B.), a Justice of the Peace for the county of- aforesaid, came C. D., who, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith, that, whereas, be has thrown B note into the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon for discount ; saitli, that, if discounted, he will take no advantage of any statute law of this State ; and farther this deponents saith not. " Signed, CD. " Sworn and subscribed before me the - day of-, 181- " A.B.,J.P." ____________________ "The above form of a note you will please to insert in your paper, which note must be executed with two good endorsers, without a blot or interlineation. The endorsers' names must appear written on the back of the note as well as at the foot. The form of an affidavit is given, which must be made by the drawer, and accompany the note. By Order of The Board of Directors. JAMES SMITH, President. "L.S. Silliman, Cashier. "September 13th, 1816." On the 20th November, 1816, L. S. Silliman. Cashier, notifies the stockholders of the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon that an installment of $2 on each share is requested to be paid within sixty days. March 6th, 1817, a dividend of six per cent., on account of stock actually in Bank, was declared. At a meeting of the Directors of the Bank, the following resolutions were unanimously adapted, Viz: " WHEREAS, Unfavorable constructions have been put on the twentieth section of the Articles of Association ; Therefore. " Be it Resolved, That no Director, or any other person shall have a right to draw any money out of said Bank, without giving their notes with sufficient endorsers. " Resolved, secondly, That a preference shall at all times be given to the Stockholders, in the accommodation of loans, to double tile amount of all money by them actually paid in. " B. MARTIN, Chairman. " G. BRYANT, Secretary. "June 3d, 1316.', July 9th, 1817.--All persons indebted are notified that they must pay " at the rate of from 10 to 50 per cent., in proportion to the amount of their loans." As showing the feeling existing in regard to such Banks in the winter of 1816-17, when the Owl Creek Bank was applying for a Charter, we give this anecdote: Two persons of color, at Columbus, quareled; one, wishing to make his antagonist as contemptible as possible, called him " a d--d UNCHARTERED son of a b--h." And it became very fashionable at the Capital to apply the term unchartered to all evil doers. In these times of evil talk, and while the public were busy crying down this institution, there were occasionally to be found parties willing to " give the devil his due." The following extract from the Zanesville Express of December 16th, is an instance in point: " Notwithstanding so much has been said against the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon, we are assured that two gentlemen, a few days since, presented bills at that bank for a large amount, which were redeemed with chartered paper and specie." About this time an enemy of the Bank killed a tremendous big Owl, and brought it into the town and rudely threw it down upon the counter, exclaiming, " There, d--n you, I've killed your President." The Bank building was located where Adam Weaver's hardware store now is. It was a rough, vet substantial piece of workmanship, a mixture of the Done and Corinthian styles of architecture, weather-boarded, with four-penny nails thickly driven through its batten-door and window- shutters, so thieves should not cut in and steal. On the ground it covered about fourteen feet square, and was one low story in height, and painted red! The bills rapidly depreciated under the heavy blows given. There seemed to be no stopping the clamor against the Bank. The principal circulation in Knox county was Owl Creek, and we find very many advertising for it. Of the merchants advertising for it were James Miller, and Burr, Green & Co. William Stanbery offers to sell "The Craig Farm," at present occupied by Major Joseph Brown, to the highest bidder for Owl Creek Bank paper. " J. Brown offers to sell 156 acres of land near the town of Mt. Vernon, in the Hamtramick section, for such paper. " Owls-All persons indebted to the subscriber, are requested to make prompt payment, for I am in want of OWL CREEK PAPER. JOHN SHAW. " N. B. Those indebted for taxes, for 1817, are also requested to pay with the same." The paper when presented was at first redeemed by the Bank with chartered paper, and the stockholders and parties interested endeavored to sustain its credit by various devices. Among other plans adopted to keep up the paper was the following, which we give as showing the disposition of stock- holders to pay, and the strenuous efforts resorted to: " OWLS. " OWL CREEK BANK OF MOUNT VERNON, January 1st, 1818. " Whereas, several reports have been circulated, some of which are false, and injurious to the credit of the Bank, with respect to certain measures adopted by the Directors: Therefore, for the purpose of suppressing the further propagating of such false rumors, the Directors have thought proper to exhibit to the public, and to the stockholders, a fair and accurate statement of the measures actually determined on by them, and which has been the subject of such reports. The Directors have observed with regret the de- preciation of the Owl Creek paper of late, and particularly in Knox county ; they have been fully convinced that the principal cause of the sudden fall of the Owl Creek paper is owing to the circumstance of the difficulty, or almost the impossibility of obtaining such goods as are wanted by the citizens with this kind of paper. " With a view, therefore, to obviate these difficulties, and at the same timo to draw out of circulation the paper of the Bank, we have entered into the following contract with Burr, Green & Co., viz. Said Company, on their part, have undertaken to bring on a complete assortment of goods, and to retail the same for Owl (reek paper, at prices as low as thcy can be purchased for in chartered paper, and to take assignments on judgments in favor of the Bank, or wait until the Bank can with convenience exchange ; and for all paper thus collected, the only privilege granted to said Company is a loan of $700 of such money as will pay carriages, to be made use of for that purpose, and to be paid back in good chartered paper, in installments, within one year. Given under our hands. "James Smith, William Mitchell, Jonathan Miller, Benjamin Martin, John Warden, John Hawn, Jr., John Shaw, Gilman Bryant, hosmer Curtis, Wm. Y. Farquhar" PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That a meeting of the stockholders of the OWL CREEK BANK OF MOUNT VERNON, will be held at the Banking House in Mount Vernon, on the 12t11 day of March, 1818, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of closing the business of said Company, and to transact any other business relative to said Coinpany which may be thought proper when met. Dated at Mount Vernon, this 6th day of January, 1818. " Nathaniel Johnson, Jonathan Miller, Godleib Zimmerman, Benjamin Rush, l. N. Richardson, John Shaw, John Hawn, Jr., William Douglass, Samuel Mott, John Wilson, J. M. Banning, James MeGibeny, James MeGibeny for Joseph S. Newell, James Miller, Joseph Brown, L.. S. Silliman. " N. B. All the stockholders are particularly solicited to attend on said day.' The course of true hove never did run smooth. in the career of banks as well as of nations and individuals, there are " ups and downs," drawbacks and obstacles to prosperity ; and parallels in history are always to be met with. Jackson throttled the United States Bank ; Sam Williams seizes the gullet of the Owl Creek Bank: Jackson denounces Nicholas Biddle ; Williams attempts to play the tyrant over James Smith: Jackson removes the deposits ; and Sam Williams refuses to deposit. The banking question gets into the papers, and the public mind becomes much distracted thereat. Several communications appear in August and September of 1816 in regard to the Owl Creek Bank. The office of Bank President was no sine-cure in those days, at least of the Owl Creek Bank, for we find that the chief owl was compelled at all times to defend his institution from the stump and the press. The Lancaster, Zanesville, Mt. Vernon and other papers of those days, contain many arti- cles from the pen of James Smith in reply to attacks of Dr. Moore B. Bradley, Sam'l Williams and others. Some of the papers show much acerbity and bitterness of feeling; but, from our standpoint of observation, we must say that our old friend James Smith beat them all. In a communication of August 6th, 1817, replying to an article in the Ohio Spectator, in regard to a meeting of the farmers, mechanics, merchants, and innkeepers of the town of Mansfield, county of Richhand, and State of Ohio, on the 11th of July, 1817, James Smith pointedly says: " If, sirs, your sympathy has been awakened for unfortunate persons who have received the paper, I hope you will shortly be prepared to discharge your engagements with the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon. It would be an insult upon your good sense for me to tell you, that for you to refuse the paper of this bank, while you are in debt to the bank, is a full sacrifice of every spark of honor. If you, sirs, and such characters as yourselves, would pay your engagements, or one half thereof, the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon would be completely prepared to pay and give sat- isfactory exchanges for their notes in circulation. Your honors, sirs, we look after no longer, but your purses and property will have to be tried. Tavern bills and pills* ought to be paid for in this paper as well as in the Mansfield. * * * * * I would advise you to be industrious in collecting the paper, as you know you soon, or at the next court, will have judgment against you. The Owl Creek paper will answer you as well as specie. * * * * * I censure no person, not in debt to the bank, for rejecting the paper ; both the principle of moral justice and honor enjoins on every person indebted, to receive it. The sooner, sirs, you procure this paper, it will be the better for you. This bank will shortly be prepared to make general and satisfactory exchanges. JAMES SMITH. " P. 5. The editors of the Ohio Register and the Ohio Spectator will confer a favor on Messrs. Bradley and Williams, as well as myself, by giving the above a place in their respective papers. " J. S." Samuel Williams replies in the Ohio Register of August 20, in a very long article addressed to ,James Smith, President of the Owl Creek Bank, &c., in which lie evidently lets his temper get the better of his judgment by such expressions as these: " You, sir, are President of the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon, you are Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, a Justice of the Peace, and, sometimes, preach the Gospel of Jesus, as I am informed-in politics a professed republican; all of these callings you profess to fill with fidelity, nay, in some you have sworn to discharge their incumbent duties according to the best of your abilities. * * * You have prostituted the official duties and obligations as a Justice of the Peace to subserve its interest by administering unconstitutional oaths. Were you not sworn to support the constitution of this State and of the U. States n the oath of office? Yet swearing individuals not to take advantage of the statute law to prevent the collection of your illegal demands. * * You loaned us your bills in order to destroy those rights you profess to admire, the rights of managing our pecuniary concerns. That when we assert our independence, like freemen, you threaten us with destruction and tell us we are in your net, and at your mercy, the mercy of your religion, your integrity, your republicanism-your official virtue, the potent demand of one great Owl debt." To this communication of great length-the bank President replies with vigor-we have space to extract but a paragraph which maybe called a clincher: * * * "I think it unnecessary to answer your charges against me, when you charge my official, political and religious principles; all you say about it only exposes yourself. Had you kept silent the public had not known your baseness. Truly, Samuel, you was one of the persons that took a solemn oath to take no advantage of any statute law to prevent or stop the payments of your hank engagements. You brag of your full purse ; you are then without excuse if you imagine you took an unconstitutional oath. Will you violate that oath to atone for the crime? You ought to be ashamed to let any person impose on you so far as to publish your black crimes with an idea of injuring me. If your purse is so full and heavy pay up your bank engagements. Strangers, citizens, and your neighbors too, will have much more confidence in you. FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS of the trash you mentioned will be received of you in place of gold and silver' On the 28th February, 1822, a paper was drawn up and signed by certain of the subscribers, binding themselves to give their motes, with security, by the last of March next, to John Shaw, John Triinble and Samuel Mott, trustees, whenever the sum of $15,000 shall be subscribed, for the purpose of settling up the affairs of the Owl Creek Bank. As every thing calculated to throw light upon this preservation, we give the names of the parties subscribing, and the amounts and conditions affixed: Gilman Bryant $600 Allen Scott 200 Joseph Talmage, in trade at trade prices 150 Henry Markley, in trade at trade prices 700 Eli Miller, ~ in Owl Creek paper and ~ trade 200 Jonathan Miller, in good trade or Owl's Creek paper 100 Wm. Mitchell, in Owl Creek paper or cash 400 Hosmer Curtis, in something as good as the debts 400 Moses Merritt, in Owl Creek paper or trade 150 Jacob Young, in Owl Creek paper or trade 300 Robert Giffin, in good trade at cash price 300 Jas. Shaw, in property 300 John Trimble, in good trade at cash price 250 Jonathan Hunt, in good trade at cash price 150 Jos. Brown, in good trade-say whisky 100 Samuel Mott, in trade 100 Henry Davis, Owl Creek paper or cash 400 John Hawn, in property 70 John Hawn, Jr., $300 in traid and $500 John Troutman, in good trade or Owls 200 THE FAMOUS OWL CREEK BANK CASE. Robert Giffin, Joseph Talmage, Jacob Young, William Douglass and others, on the 21st of August, 1829, by Thomas Ewing, their solicitor, filed a Bill in Chancery in the Supreme Court of Ohio for the county of Knox, against Jacob M. Banning and others, claiming the defendants whose names were set up in said Bill as Stockholders in the Owl Creek Bank, and demanding that they should be decreed to account, pro rata, for their shares of stock held to apply in payment of a certain suit prosecuted by one Luke Walpole upon the paper of said bank, and upon which a judgment thereon was recovered by said Walpole at the September term, 1826, against the parties complainants and Abraham Darling, John Ewalt and William Mitchell, for $8,445 20, and costs of suit. Upon said judgment executions having been served out and levied upon the lands of complainants, and they demanded that those who were with then in equity alike bound for payment of the same should be required to liquidate their proportion of the same, and for such other further and complete relief as they were in equity and good conscience entitled to at the hands of the court. These parties admitted themselves to have been stockholders to the amounts following, to wit: Robert Giffin, 25 shares, contributed $200-cash deposited in bank. Joseph Talmage, 10 shares, contributed $250. William Douglass, 70 shares, contributed $600. Jacob Young, 10 shares, contributed $500. Of the other judgment debtors to Walpole, Wm. Mitchell had 25 shares, and paid $500 ; Abraham Darling 25 shares, and paid $500 ; and John Ewalt had 20 shares, and had paid nothing. The stockholders to the bank were never fully known by reason of the mutilation or alteration of the books, which took place pending a suit between Luke Walpole and some of the stockholders. The bank was entered one night, and the large box that contained the papers carried off, and subsequently the box was found in a thicket of hazel, east of town, broken open, and the books and papers scattered about with several of the names of stock- holders obliterated. The testimony in this case, the proceedings of the court, and reports of the Receiver, exceptions to his report and final decree, make one of the largest volumes of record in the Clerk's office of Knox county--duly labeled "The Owl Creek Bank Case." From this official, and authoritative record we copy the names and shares of stock of parties alleged to have been partners in the firm, name and style of the "Owl Creek Bank." Hosmer Curtis 50 shares paid $500.00 Jonathan Agnew 20 30.00 William Scritchfield 5 ………. Insley D. Johnson 5 ………. Joseph Critchifield 10 133.00 James Barkhurst 5 66.00 Robert Dalrymple 12 350.00 James M. Gibeny 15 725.00 Allen Scott 10 250.00 Joseph Mann 10 ……… Gilman Bryant 50 900.00 John Green 10 ..…….. John Hawn 15 150.00 Philip Melker 50 510.00 John Stilley 25 200.00 John Shaw 10 316.00 Wm. Darling, of Richland county 10 …….. James Boltom 20 160.00 George Davis 20 …….. John J. Tulloss 10 50.00 Jonathan Hunt 24 150.00 Abel A. Webster, of Richland 50 ……... Eli Miller 50 250.00 Benjamin Rush 10 266.00 Henry Markley 25 375.00 Kicholas Riley 25 500.00 Henry Davis 20 625.00 Jacob M. Banning 50 150.00 Gothieb Zimmerman 20 shares paid $345.75 W. Y. Farquhar 20 125.00 Nathaniel Scritchfield 10 133.00 Francis Wilkins 25 100.00 Eli Gregg 10 58.00 Jacob Lepley 20 ……… Samuel Mott 30 125.00 Aaron Hill 10 ……… Thomas Irvine 20 ……… Jonathan Miller 50 350.00 John Trimble 15 316.00 James Smith 50 ……… Isaac Richardson 5 66.00 John Hibbits 10 $200.00 Jacob Draper 10 200.00 Henry B. Carter 10 100.00 Wm. Robeson 20 ……… James Severe 8 ……… Rebceca Harris 25 ……… Jonathan Rapp 10 ……… Wm. Bevans 20 ……… Wm. W. Farquhar 15 265.00 All of the county of Knox- James M. Taylor, 10 shares. John Cully 10 A. H. Caffee 10 Noble Landon 10 A. Warthen 10 Silas Mead 10 Joseph Fulton 10 Jonathan Conard 10 Wm. Robinson 70 Wm. W. Gault 50 John Houston 67 Benj. Warner 10 All of the county of Licking-- Jacob Been 10 shares. John Badger 6 Hiram Ball 9 Matthew Kelly 10 Benj. Mochaber 8 Henry Vaught 10 Buckingham, Sherwood and Eben P. Sturges, traders, under the name and style of Sherwood & Sturges, 20 shares, all of whom are of Richland county, and James Smith Elijah Newcomb, 17 shares ; Thomas Butler, 50 shares, paid $330-both of Coshocton county. John Beckwith, 5 shares, of Perry county. Jacob Morris, 5 shares, of Perry county Samuel B. Carpenter, 15 shares, of Huron county. John Leyland, 10 shares, of Huron county. Enoch Harris, 15 shares, colored man, of Marion county. John Morris, 20 shares, of Wayne county. John Shrimplin, 20 shares. Adam Johnson, of Coshocton county, 50 shares Isaac Dillon, of Muskingnm cottnty, 50 shares. George Reeve, of Muskingum county, 50 shares. Robert Dalrymple, 50 shares. James Barcus, 50 shares. Wm. Critchfield, Sr., .50 shares. Wm. Darling, 50 shares. James Rightmire, 50 shares. Insley D. Johnson, 50 shares. Jacob Cook, 50 shares. The above named were claimed, as above represented, by the bill of complainants, to have been interested in the concern ; and having been duly subpoenaed and brought into court, their own answers and testimony, of much extent, was given as to who the partners were, &c. While some few plead the statute of limitations, in addition to other testimony, the greater number-to their credit be it said-confessed the soft impeachment, and expressed themselves ready to stand the consequences. Henry B. Curtis was appointed Master Commissioner, and, after a thorough and searching examination, he made, on the 18th of September, 1837, a very elaborate and able report. Having, upon his appointment, caused publication to be made by 13 newspaper to all interested, either as creditors or partners, of his appointment to chose, and finally settle, as far as practicable, the concerns of said Bank, and having before him all the testimony. He determined the relative position of the parties defendant, and discharged from liability, as stockholders, of that number Jacob M. Banning, Wm. Bevans, Isaac Dillon, George Reeves, Sturges and Sherwood, Francis Wilkins and Matthew Williams, for insufficiency of proof At the said September term of Supreme Court, A.D. 1837, Judges Reuben Wood and Peter Hitchcock approved said report, by which it appeared that the sum of $26,796.20 was required to be raised to meet and discharge the present unpaid debts of the Company, in Owl Creek Bank Bills, commonly called; and the liabilities of the parties defendant being established equal, it was fur- ther ordered that said sums, as assessed by said Master Commissioner's report, be paid by said parties to him, and the cause was continued for further report. Several of the parties defendant, by their Attorneys, filed exceptions to said report, and, as to their tights, and for further examination, the papers in the cause are referred to H. H. Hunter, Esq.. of Lancaster, as Special Master, who, at the September Term, 1838, submits a partial report, as to certain parties referred to hum, and Still further reports, as by testimony, the following additional stockholders equally liable, viz: Solomon Geller. owner of 20 shares ; John Hawn, Sr., 15 shares: Nathaniel Johnson, 00 shares (50 of which being transfers from Jonathan and Eli Miller) ; William Blackburn, 20 shares ; Matthew Merritt, 4 shares ; (G. B. Maxficld, John Troutman and N. M. Young, 10 shares each. At the same time the Special Master concludes with this statement: " It is believed that no man can, at this time, possess himself of the facts necessary to do exact justice in the case. Though it is believed that much additional evidence, with proper exertions, may be collected, to render the case more perfect. All which is respectfully suggested. "H. H. HUNTER, Spl. M. C. At the September Term, 1839, Judges Peter Hitchcock and Frederick Grimke allowed complainants leave to amend their bill, and make the newly-discovered stockholders parties, &c.; and the Court continued H. H. Hunter Special Master for further investigation, and with more extensive powers. At the September Term of 1840, Master Commissioner Hunter submitted his final report, concluding with a statement of accounts and an aggregate amount remaining due-$17,457.27; and the Court, upon further hearing of exceptions by counsel and arguments for their respective clients. decreed accordingly, and continued the appointment of Henry B. Curtis as Receiver, to collect from the parties the sums assessed against them, and to pay off the judgment creditors, &c. At succeeding terms of the Court, various orders were made, as necessary in the progress of the cause, and upon the reports of the Receiver of his action had in the premises. And thus the case " dragged its slow length along," until the final report of the Receiver was filed, and the cause finally disposed of upon exceptions taken by Miller & Dunbar, of attorneys for certain defendants, which were overruled by the District Court in chancery, 16th of June, 1859-and an entry upon the journals expresses the satisfac- tion of the Court at its termination-by the Receiver in having disposed of the remaining assets by sale under order of Court, for an amount sufficient to liquidate all outstanding indebtedness. " It is now, therefore, ordered and decreed, that said report 1 forthwith approved, and sale fully confirmed,' * * "and this whole case is accordingly discontinued." " The undersigned, now, therefore, regarding substantially- all interests adjusted and settled in behalf of party creditors, and the assets for that purpose exhausted, recommends that the suits pending be finally dismissed from the docket, without prejudice to the rights of the assignee to collect the balances against party creditors, standing unsatisfied, agreeably to former reports and decrees in this cause. The undersigned reports all costs paid, as far as known to him, and, as he believes, in full. " In taking leave of the case which, for more than thirty years, has occupied a conspicuous position on the docket of this court, and in closing the trust which, for more than twenty year s, has been confided to the undersigned, lie takes leave to congratulate the court on the final adjustment of the whole matter, and to express his profound thanks for the confidence so long continued. without which, the vexed, complex, and protracted labors of the case would have been rendered much more onerous, and the results obtained proved far less satisfactory. "To the parties (many of the original of whom have departed this life since the commencement of this suit) and to their heirs and representatives the full record of this case-while it may recall some reminiscences of an unfortunate enterprise and its calamitous results, will also remind them of many incidents, and profitable lessons in the school of experience, and be, for all time to come, the veritable history of "The Owl Creek Bank of Mt. Vernon." Such is, in brief, the history-more particularly the legal history-of the Owl Creek Bank ; an institution which, in part from its outre name, has acquired more notoriety than any outre that has ever existed in America-if not in the world fame of the " United States Bank" was not more widely extended. Its failure created no greater dismay. Nations civilized and tribes savage have seen and handled its money. In its brief life, yet protracted existence, it has been cursed most by those whom it befriended, and wronged most by those who professed to be its friends. The evil day came upon it-even in its early youth; before it had become fall grown, the keen frosts nipped it. Its crest fell and its petals closed in, because too much light struck in on it suddenly. Its head wilted; it fell ; and great was the fall thereof. Its sunshine friends deserted when the cloud portended the coming storm-some who had received its money and upon whom it had showered benefits, and some who had lent their credit and volunteered their names to the infant, deserted its cause, and attempted to plead infancy and limitation in bar. As within the human kind, when life is almost extinct, doctors are often called in only to attend upon the corpse ; so, in this instance, lawyers were brought in at the eleventh hour to the wake. In the last pangs opiates were sought be administered, and the sleep of forgetfulness was invoked by a few; bat to their credit be it said, that less than a half dozen of all the defen- dants in Knox county invoked the aid of the act of January 25th, 1810-pleading, accordingly, the statute of limitations ; or that other plea, in bar, of like character-that the partnership or association they had formed, to make themselves rich, was contrary to an act to prohibit the issuing and circulation of unauthorized bank paper. To their honor be it said that the stockholders of the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon-the hardy old pioneers-the Darlings and Youngs and Mitchells and others, who knew so well how to fell the forest; to hunt the wolves, deer and bear; to till the soil; to clear off the wilderness, and so little of banking as not to be classed as experts by financiers of more modern date, yet came up " to the scratch," and redeemed "the promises to pay" of their bank officers. It is true, that the arbitrament and final settlement of its affairs went to law ; but, under the circumstances, it was a matter of necessity that the equities should 1)e adjusted by the courts. Almost every one of the parties were willing to pay their proportion of the debts at the first ; but each thought it but right to pay his own proportion and no more. Hence the ablest of the men learned in the law at that time accessible, were " called" to take a hand in the Owl Creek Bank case. Among the number thus employed were Thomas Ewing, Henry Stanbery, H. H. Hunter and W. W. Irwin, of Lancaster ; C. B. Goddard, C. C. Converse, C. W. Searle, Wyllis Silliman and Geo. James, of Zanesville ; David Spangler, of Coshocton ; Judge Orris Parish, of Columbus ; W. Stanbery, G. B. Smythe and I. Dille, of Newark ; Jacob Parker, of Mansfield ; Benjamin S. Brown, R. C. Hurd, J. C. Hall. C. DeLano, H. Curtis, J. K. Miller, W. Dunbar and M. H. Mitchell. Of the entire number of parties defendant named ut these pages, but five, so far as known, survive. to wit our venerable townsmen, Aaron Hill and Eli Miller ; our noted countrymen, John Troutman and Nicholas Riley ; and H. Curtis, Esq., now residing in Keokuk, Iowa. And of the 24 attorneys engaged in the case, but 13 are now living. Of the Judges who have heard this great cause at different stages of its progress, Calvin Pease. Joshua Collett. Peter Hitchcock, Jno. C. Wright and N. C. Read, are dead. Finally--, after thirty years in the courts, this case, noted as that famous one of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce, was brought to a close, the last dollar of its issue presented redeemed, and, forty-three years after its birth, " all that was of earth and earthy" of the Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon, was consigned to its resting place-the Great Book of Records.