University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives Department.

Plankinton Bank (Milwaukee, Wis.).

Records, 1866-1907.

Milwaukee Manuscript Collection K

13 cubic ft. (27 boxes and 82 volumes)



ABSTRACT:  The Plankinton Bank Records are the business and financial records of a leading Milwaukee bank from its organization in 1887 under the presidency of John Plankinton until its insolvency on June 1, 1893 under the presidency of Frederick T. Day, as well as for the ten years under the administration of several assignees following insolvency. In the material for the years up to June, 1893 are numerous series of business records, including volumes of registers of foreign items dispatched; various ledgers, registers, and journals; and letter books. The correspondence covers the years from 1866-1907 and is arranged chronologically by years. For the years after June, 1893 the papers relate to the operations of the several assignees, including assignments, court testimony, and miscellaneous legal papers relating to litigation in Milwaukee County circuit court concerning the affairs of the bank. Boxes 18-20 of the collection contains a 300-page "Inventory of Documents" which relates to the above-mentioned legal cases.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY: The Plankinton Bank was organized under the laws of Wisconsin early in 1887, with a capital of $200,000, with John Plankinton as president, Frederick T. Day as vice president, and J. P. Murphy as cashier. The original list of Milwaukeeans who were stockholders in the bank with the amounts of their stock subscriptions included John Plankinton, $43,500; Frederick T. Day, $63,000; William Plankinton, $10,000; F. W. Noyes, $10,000; A. K. Hamilton, $10,000; James H. Thompson, $5,000; C. E. Lewis, $7,500; J. G. Jenkins, $6,500; J. P. Murphy, Roswell Miller, Charles J. Cary, and S. A. Fields, each $5,000; William H. Momsen, $1,500; and A. A. L. Smith, $1,000. Out-of-city holders of stock were P. D. Armour of Chicago, H. O. Armour of New York City, A. F. Leopold of Chicago, and J. A. Kimberly of Neenah, each with $5,000, and the A. G. Rising estate, $2,000.

The bank first opened for business on February 7, 1887, and was said to have obtained a large line of mercantile deposits and time savings accounts, the latter attracted by the high rate of four per cent interest. The bank also carried on a large collection business.

On the death of John Plankinton in 1891, Frederick T. Day was elected president of the bank, and at the same time he increased his holdings of stock to $96,000, and William Plankinton and the Plankinton estate reduced the amount of stock which they held in the institution. Judge Jenkins and William H. Momsen slightly increased their holdings, while Thompson, Lewis, Murphy, Miller, Smith, Hamilton, P. D. Armour, Leopold, Kimberly, and Rising withdrew entirely. William Sanderson, C. L. Clausen, E. S. Elliott, M. Grigsby, Mary Thompson, and Joseph Moody were new stockholders taken into the firm. In January 1893 the institution was reorganized, and at the same time W. H. Momsen succeeded Murphy as cashier.

The immediate cause of the failure of the bank was the long line of loans made to Frank A. Lappen & Company, totaling $250,000 -- more than the capital stock of the bank. Frank A. Lappen & Company was organized in 1888 as the Lappen House Furnishing Company, and in 1889 was reorganized as Frank A. Lappen & Company. The store was located at 317-327 Grand Avenue, and the Lappen Furniture Company, another of the business firms of which Frank A. Lappen and his brother Owen Lappen, Jr. were the principal owners was located at 407-411 East Water Street. On May 12, 1893, the sheriff took possession of both stores, and the general opinion seemed to be that Mr. Frank A. Lappen, the active manager of the business, had extended his operations beyond his capital resources. Claims filed up to the evening of the day of the closing of the stores aggregated $375,000.

At the same time that a series of apparently unwise and large loans were made to the Lappen companies, President Day was listed as a borrower from the bank to a total of about $300,000, and there were said to be two or three other large borrowers. The bank survived the run on it which began on May 14, 1893 as a result of the failure of the Lappen companies, but efforts to reorganize the bank and interest other large investors failed to materialize and the bank closed its doors on June 1, 1893. William Plankinton was immediately appointed as assignee, and was eventually succeeded by Irving M. Bean, who was followed by Henry Herman.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Plankinton Bank (Milwaukee, Wis.). Records, 1866-1907. Milwaukee Manuscript Collection K. Wisconsin Historical Society. Milwaukee Area Research Center. UWM Libraries. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

RELATED COLLECTIONS:

Bank of Milwaukee.  Board of Directors.  Minute Book.  (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection AB)

Day, Frederick T., 1842-1920. Business Papers. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection M)

Smith, Henry, 1838-1916.  Papers.  (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection CP)

Wisconsin National Bank.  Board of Directors.  Resolutions.  (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection Y)

ACQUISITION:  Presented by the Wisconsin Fidelity Trust & Safe Deposit Company, through the courtesy of Mr. Howard Greene, ca. 1905.

PROCESSING:  Processed by AHM on November 24, 1964.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

MILWAUKEE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION K BOX
Assignments: 3, 5-7, 14-17, 20-24 23
Assignments: 26, 27, 48, 56, 57, 59, 61, 65 24
Assignments: 105-127 25
Assignments: 128-152 26
Assignments: 153-165 27
Correspondence, 1866-1889 1
Correspondence, 1890-1891 2
Correspondence, 1892-1893 3
Correspondence, 1894-1899 7
Correspondence, 1901-1902 10
Correspondence, 1903-1907 11
Correspondence, 1900 8
Correspondence, 1900 9
Correspondence, 1893 4
Correspondence, 1893 5
Correspondence, 1893 6
Correspondence, undated 12
Correspondence, undated 13
Testimony and Legal Papers; Inventory of Documents; Spence and Foley; Henry H. Herman vs. F. Schlesinger; Milwaukee Brass and Copper Works 18
Testimony and Legal Papers; Lands in Various States and Schlesinger Acceptances 17
Testimony and Legal Papers; Lands in Various States and Schlesinger Acceptances 16
Testimony and Legal Papers; Objections of Creditors to the Administration of William Plankinton 14
Testimony and Legal Papers; Objections of Creditors to the Administration of William Plankinton 15
Testimony and Miscellaneous Legal Papers; Clearing House Matter; Benedict Company Matter; F. A. Lappen and Co.; Grigsby Litigation 21
Testimony and Miscellaneous Legal Papers; Clearing House Matter; Benedict Company Matter; F. A. Lappen and Co.; Grigsby Litigation. 22
Testimony and Miscellaneous Legal Papers; Inventory of Documents 20
Testimony and Miscellaneous Legal Papers; Inventory of Documents; Spence and Foley; Henry H. Herman vs. F. Schlesinger; Milwaukee Brass and Copper Works 19

MILWAUKEE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION K VOLUME
Assignee Letter Book, Henry Herman, 1900-1901 76
Assignee Letter Books, 1901-1902; C. D. Kendrick, 1887 77
Balances, 1887-1890 21
Balances, 1890-1892 22
Balances, 1892-1894 23
Bills Discounted Ledger, no. 1, 1887-1889 52
Bills Discounted Ledger, no. 2, 1889-1890 53
Bills Discounted Ledger, no. 3, 1888-1894 54
Cashiers Letter Book, Wm. H. Momsen and Wm. Plankinton, 1893 82
Certificates of Deposit, 1887-1893 68
City Collections, no. 1, 1887-1889 47
City Collections, no. 2, 1889-1892 48
City Collections, no. 3, 1892-1893 49
Daily Balance Ledger, no. 1, 1887-1888 28
Drafts Drawn, 1888-1890 74
Drafts, no. 1, 1887-1889 17
Drafts, no. 2, 1889-1891 18
Drafts, no. 3, 1891-1893 19
Drafts, no. 4, 1893-1893 20
Exchange Register, no. 1, 1887 58
Exchange Register, no. 2, 1887-1888 59
Exchange Register, no. 3, 1888 60
Foreign Collections, no. 2, 1889-1891 55
Foreign Collections, no. 3, 1891-1892 56
Foreign Collections, no. 4, 1892-1893 57
General Ledger, no. 1, 1887-1889 24
General Ledger, no. 2, 1889-1890 25
General Ledger, no. 3, 1890-1891 26
General Ledger, no. 4, 1890-1892 27
Index 40
Index, Individual Ledger, no. 3 42
Index, Individual Ledger, no. 4 43
Index, Individual Ledger, no. 5 44
Index, Individual Ledger, no. 6 45
Index, Individual Ledger, no. 7 46
Index, Ledger, no. 2 41
Individual Discount Ledger, no. 1 61
Individual Discount Ledger, no. 2, 1889-1890 62
Individual Discount Ledger, no. 3, 1890-1893 63
Individual Ledger, no. 2, 1888-1889 29
Individual Ledger, no. 3, A-L, 1889 30
Individual Ledger, no. 3, M-Z, 1889 31
Individual Ledger, no. 4, A-L, 1889-1890 32
Individual Ledger, no. 4, M-Z, 1889-1890 33
Individual Ledger, no. 5, A-L, 1890-1891 34
Individual Ledger, no. 5, M-Z, 1890-1891 35
Individual Ledger, no. 6, A-L, 1891-1892 36
Individual Ledger, no. 6, M-Z, 1891-1892 37
Individual Ledger, no. 7, A-L, 1892-1893 38
Individual Ledger, no. 7, M-Z, 1892-1893 39
Ledger, Savings Department, 1892-1893 50
Ledger B, Savings Department, 1892-1893 51
Letter Book, C. D. Kendrick, 1888-1893 78
Letter Book, Irving K. Bean, Assignee, 1899-1900 75
Letter Book, J. B. Murphy, 1888-1890 79
Letter Book, J. B. Murphy, 1890-1891 80
Letter Book, J. B. Murphy, 1891-1893 81
List of Creditors of the Plankinton Bank 70
List of Creditors of the Plankinton Bank 71
Memoranda, 1887-1892 66
Messengers Items, 1890-1891 67
Notarial Record, J.B. Murphy, 1887-1891 65
Notarial Record, J.B. Murphy, 1891-1892 64
Register of Foreign Exchange, 1889-1891 69
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, Chicago, 1890-1891 1
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, Chicago, 1890-1891 2
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, Chicago, 1891 3
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, Chicago, 1891-1892 4
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, Chicago, 1892 5
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, Chicago, 1892-1893 6
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, Chicago, 1893 7
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, Miscellaneous, 1888- 1889 15
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, Miscellaneous, 1889-1891 13
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, Miscellaneous, 1891-1892 14
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, New York, 1891-1892 11
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, New York, 1892-1893 12
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, New York and Chicago, 1889-1890 8
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, New York and Chicago, 1890 9
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, New York and Chicago, 1890 10
Register of Foreign Items, Dispatched, Sundries, 1892-1893 16
Stock Certificate Book, 1887-1892 72
Stock Ledger, 1887-1892 73

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