Name/Title
[Minutes of Executive Committee]Entry/Object ID
2014.018.0110Description
14"h x 9"w x 1 ¼"d This ledger of May 11, 1931-September 25, 1933 of the Executive Committee meetings had the usual black pebble finish with maroon spine and corners. The spine had five panels. "Ledger" appeared in gold on the second panel and "300-S" appeared on panel five. The label on Cover P. 2 advised the holder to order number 664 with 300 pages as a replacement. There were alphabetical tabs and each tab had at least one entry. There was not a page reference for each name.
P. 2-13 had information about insurance policies, mostly for fire, held by people who had used their property and buildings as collateral
P. 14-15 Blank
P. 16-130 were minutes of the Executive Committee
The committee met weekly from May 11, 1931 to June 29. There were three meetings in July. The group met weekly in August, three times in September and October, four times in November, and five times in December. In 1932, the Committee met three times in January, four times in February, three times in March, but only twice in April. In May, they met four times, three times in June and July, and four times in August. During the fall, they met three times in September, four times in October, and three times in November and December. In 1933, the Committee met four times in January and three times in February. During March and April, 352 people signed proxies to reorganize the bank, occasioned by the government bank holiday. The Committee met five times in May, twice in June, July, and August, and three times in September. There the account ended.
P. 131-276 were blank
Notes on matters of more than passing interest:
May 11, 1931 J. Allan Coad, Joseph Saunders, Charles V. Hayden, Jr., and J .J. Norris attended. Mr. Norris became the secretary for the meetings. Mr. Hayden gave information about unnamed "unfinished business," and the group looked at loans.
June 15, 1931 The Committee voted to buy roofing paper and to pay the premium on Theodore Dent's life insurance policy to keep it in force. $10,000 would be paid on indebtedness to Title Guarantee & Trust Company.
July 20, 1931 The Committee examined the soon-to-be-published list of delinquent tax payers to see if any owed money to the bank as well.
August 10, 1931 $20,000 went to Title Guarantee and Trust Company. Overdue loans were examined. Mr. Briscoe, the bank's attorney, was asked to give a report in June and December.
October 10, 1931 Special meeting of the Committee. Charlotte Hall School wanted $6,000 for six months. The Committee agreed to a loan for a week until the full Board of Directors could consider the request.
October 13, 1931 All the paper associated with Leonardtown Implement Company was held as collateral. The fee on employee J. G. Wilkinson's bond was paid, as was the premium for robbery insurance. The Committee approved the purchase of a $10,000 Liberty bond to be used as a depository bond. The premium for the Miller's Wharf fire insurance was ordered paid.
October 19, 1931 The Committee decided to sell the Henderson property on Saint George Island for no less than $500, $600 preferred. The Charlotte Hall School loan was discussed.
October 26, 1931 The bank had $688,000 in deposits, $39,000 in reserve, $17,000 in cash, and overdue paper of $3,500. A depository bond required by the State of Maryland was $24,000. The Henderson property sold for $550. Work on Miller's Wharf was delayed. The bank auditor had asked for a list of mortgages. Charles Norris was hired to go over the books to find a discrepancy of some time ago.
November 5, 1931 The committee identified five notes that were doubtful of collection for a total of $532.
November 9, 1931 There were many loan requests, including three from Lettie Dent, the Superintendent of Schools. The Committee decided to rent the Hughes property in Hermanville for $110 per month. The Henderson property was fully sold. The annual giveaway calendars cost $151. There were judgments against five people.
November 16, 1931 Cardinal Gibbons Institute's loan for $4,500 was renewed. One loan requested by Miss Dent was not allowed because the County Commissioners had not included the amount in their budget, so there was no way for the schools to pay the money back. One of the life insurance policies on Theodore Dent was held by the issuing company to be worthless.
November 23, 1931 The bank had reserves of $14,800, held cash of $13,800, checking accounts had $140,000, and there was $525,800 in savings accounts. Overdue paper equaled $4305.
November 30, 1931 The Committee decided the bid on the Costigan property that was to be sold for taxes. They also decided to sell $10,000 worth of mortgage bonds.
[Someone has been through the book putting red arrows at the mentions of Theodore Dent.]
December 14, 1931 The Joy property would be sold. Mr. Garlic asked for more time on Miller's wharf and the Committee allowed that. No reason was given, but the Cambridge bank was taking $5,000 from the Leonardtown Bank. There was long discussion about Mr. Jones' arrangement to repay money from the Dent debacle.
December 28, 1931 Reserves were $23,000, cash on hand was $14,000, the checking accounts held $127,000, there was $517,700 in savings accounts, overdue paper was $5323. Any notes coming due after the first of the year were not to be renewed for more than three months. Leonardtown Implements was willing for the bank to have a mortgage on all its assets, so the Committee jumped on that.
January 16, 1932 The minutes reference a meeting of January 9, but there were no minutes for that. The Committee felt the offer for Miller's Wharf was too low.
January 25, 1932 This meeting was one of the "after special talk and consideration on matters of interest" which does not tell us anything.
February 23, 1932 The bank examiner insisted the bank had to get more collateral for loans.
February 29, 1932 With certain caveats, the Committee decided to rent the Dent garage to Cuthbert Fenwick and Gerald Clements.
March 14, 1932 The bank examiner's report had arrived, but the contents were not discussed and never appear again in the minutes.
April 11, 1932 The State Banking Commission ordered a systematic reduction in the obligations of the Board of Directors to the bank.
May 9, 1932 J. Allan Coad was now on the board of the parent bank in Cambridge. The Committee discussed cutting the interest paid on savings accounts.
May 16, 1932 President of the parent bank in Cambridge visited Leonardtown, which went well. Jennie Blackistone had a judgment against her.
June 13, 1932 Reserves were $19,163 and cash on hand was $13,287. Money in checking accounts totaled $125,000, in savings was $498,600, and the Christmas Club held $4202. Overdue notes totaled $4,509. Correspondence was read and discussed, but not included with the minutes. This is another meeting at which "matters of interest" were discussed, but not recorded.
June 21, 1932 This meeting, as did many others, did not start until 8:30 pm and did not adjourn until nearly midnight. Reserves had dropped to $14,800, but cash at about the same at $14,900. Checking accounts held $122,000, savings accounts were $498,700, and the Christmas club had crept up to $4344. Overdue notes had doubled to $9,862. Many mortgage and loan requests were considered.
July 11, 1932 Reserves had dropped to $8,935, but all the other numbers were about the same. Overdue notes had subsided to $5,841. The bank would pay the back taxes on the Dent Garage property.
August 22, 1932 Reserves stood at $19,000, Cash at $16,800, with checking at $144,600 and savings at $490,000. Christmas club had moved up to $5,438. Overdue notes declined very slightly to $5,762. The Schindler storehouse was sold. This was another meeting at which there was "a long talk over matters of importance to the bank."
August 29, 1932 The committee directed Mr. Jones to pay out any monies owed to other banks. It also directed Mr. Jones to inform a potential buyer that the price for Miller's Wharf was $10,000.
September 13, 1932 The reserves on hand had climbed to $29,000 with cash at $18,000. There were more rejections than approvals for loan applications.
September 26, 1932 Reserves stood at $41,000 with cash at $15,000. Checking accounts held $188,000 and savings $490,500. Overdue paper stood at $6437, an ever-increasing number. The parent bank in Cambridge owed the Leonardtown branch $25,000.
October 10, 1932 Overdue notes had gone up to $8296. The Leonardtown branch had sent Cambridge $20,000, which meant the branch had over $46,000 in its account at Cambridge. There were nearly twenty loan applications considered.
October 24, 1932 Reserves were at $25,800, but cash on hand was only $9,145. There was $489,000 in savings and $184,000 in checking accounts, Overdue notes had declined to $3,749. Cash at the Cambridge bank was $47,000. The Miller's Wharf tenant was ordered to pay his back rent and to be prompt in the future.
November 21, 1932 Both reserves and cash were around $11,000. The checking accounts had about $160,000 with $490,000 in savings. The Christmas club had $7,198 waiting for Santa. Overdue notes had declined to $6,440. Many demand notes were changed to scheduled payment notes.
December 12, 1932 The Christmas club had dropped to $1,209.
December 27, 1932 Reserves stood at $22,000 with cash at $14,000. There was $163,000 in checking accounts and $502,000 in savings. The Christmas club had $812.00 and overdue paper was at $6693. Cambridge wanted about $20,000 in bills receivable to use as collateral, so "county paper", mentioned for the first time, was included in the bank's response.
January 9, 1933 Cash held at the Cambridge bank was $36,800. The auditor had asked the directors to reduce their indebtedness to the bank; three had done that.
January 16, 1933 There was an offer of $5800 for Miller's Wharf, which was accepted.
January 23, 1933 The committee wanted $1600 for the banking property, but would accept $1500.
January 30, 1933 Cash was $13,000 and reserves were just $10,000. $136,800 was in the checking accounts and $505,000 in savings. Overdue notes amounted to $2,213. Cash available at Cambridge was $26, 823. Cuthbert Fenwick wanted the committee to reduce the rent on his garage to $35 per month. There was an offer of $1200 for the banking property, which Mr. Jones could accept if he could not get more. Miller's Wharf finally sold for $6,104.
February 13, 1933 Cash at the bank was $13,200 and reserves stood at $10,000. Checking accounts held $125,200 with savings at $501,000. Cambridge could provide $17,000 in cash. There were 26 overdue notes totaling $6,200.
February 20, 1933 J. J. Norris had passed away.
Franklin Roosevelt was inaugurated in March 1933. One his earliest acts as President was to declare a bank holiday.
There were no meetings in March.
April 10, 1933 352 people signed proxies to allow the reorganization of the Trust Company in the amount of $338,000.
May 1, 1933 There were two and one half pages listing notes for 30 days, with a couple of exceptions for 60 days. The bank took a mortgage on the Point Lookout property to cover all of Mr. Gephart's notes.
May 8, 1933 Mr. Saunders had complied with the requests of the bank examiner.
May 15, 1933 Several so-called "emergency" loans were approved, including nearly $2800 to the Board of Education.
May 22, 1933 W. H. B. Wise was furloughed until mid-June. Many "emergency" loans were processed.
May 29, 1933 More "emergency" loans.
The "emergency" loans were nearly all demand notes.
June 5, 1933 Mr. Coad represented the Leonardtown Branch at a meeting in Cambridge, but there are no details in the minutes.
June 19, 1933 This meeting was only to handle loan requests.
There were no meetings until July 24, 1933 and nothing of interest until
August 28, 1933 On the top of the page was a rubber stamp that said "County Trust Company of Maryland," so the reorganization must have been completed. The minutes also said, "The Executive Committee of the County Trust Company of Maryland, Leonardtown Branch …"
September 18, 1933 The reserve fund had $18,500 and the cash on hand was $34,700. There was $132,600 in checking accounts and $237,500 in savings. Overdue notes amounted to $4900. Several judgments were reported.
September 25, 1933 Mr. Gephart, of the Point Lookout property, had more problems. Other judgments were discussed. This meeting ended on P. 130 and that was the last page used in the book of 300 pages.Collection
County Trust Company CollectionLocation
Container
County Trust Collection, Box 3Shelf
Rack 12, Shelf 4Rack
Rack 12Wall
East wallRoom
Archives 1Building
Tudor HallRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Blackistone, Jennie S.Person or Organization
Clements, GeraldPerson or Organization
Dent, Lettie Marshall (1894-1982)Person or Organization
Dent, Theodore W.Person or Organization
Fenwick, Cuthbert Ignatius (1901-1984)Person or Organization
Gephart, Walter A.Person or Organization
Hayden, Charles V.Person or Organization
Jones, Stephen McKennyPerson or Organization
Norris, CharlesPerson or Organization
Norris, J. J.Person or Organization
Saunders, Joseph A.Person or Organization
Wilkinson, J. G.Person or Organization
Wise, W. H. B.Person or Organization
Coad, J. Allan (Joseph Allan), 1884-1963