The following article is the second concerning some of the banking problems, i. e., bank robberies, to visit Fayette County. The consequences of these robberies could be devastating to the public. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, FDIC, a United States government corporation which supplies deposit insurance to depositors in American banks, was first created in 1933. This was done to restore trust in the American banking system after the failure of more than one-third of the banks in our country due to the Great Depression (19291940). Prior to this, the depositor who had lost his money was left without any hope or help.
Now for more details of our local woes and the ways in which our citizen’s money was in jeopardy from bad people: Ellinger: The Ellinger Banking Company, which started under the tutelage of R. H. Beyer, purchased a small portion of land in May 1908. By 1920, the First State Bank of Ellinger listed its assets in the La Grange Journal as $67,669. 56. Unfortunately, Ellinger’s bank problems had already begun. The October 5, 1911, La Grange Journal reported that “at 2 o’clock Thursday morning the front door of the Ellinger State Bank was forced open, and an attempt made to blow open the bank vault, by two professionals, after touching off four charges of nitroglycerine…” Local citizens heard the explosions and began to search for the source. The burglars made a quick escape after securing twenty dollars. Earlier in the day, a stranger had purchased some food from a local store, and two masked men had a Southern Pacific railroad worker locked in a nearby boxcar. The supposition was that the two men walked away at night and made their escape by boarding the train at some remote station.
In the February 10, 1921, La Grange Journal, it was reported that "the sheriff's office was ad vised Thursday morning that the First State Bank of Ellinger had been entered during the previous night and a number of Liberty Bonds taken from the vault.” Details included the tools used were secured from a nearby blacksmith shop and from the nearby South- ern Pacific Railroad's tool house.
The Liberty Bonds total loss was
determined to be over $3000, and some gold was also taken. Bloodhounds from the Colorado County Sheriff were not able to pick up a trail and the identity of the robbers seemed to remain a mystery.
Again, the December 16, 1926, issue of the La Grange Journal stated that “the report comes that the Ellinger Bank was entered Monday night. Entrance was made to the vault by the burglar or burglars removing brick from the outside wall of the building, where the vault is located .... Leo Frede, president of the bank, [stated] that the safe was not tampered with, but that a sum of money, less than one hundred dollars was taken from the vault, the money being in small pieces.”
The First State Bank of Ellinger would close its doors for good in the 1930s, another bank falling to the effects of the Great Depression, and poor decision making.
Ironically, some of the citizens of the Ellinger community were also victims of another type of “bank robber.” From the La Grange Journal in 1912, we learn the details. Seems that a 25-yearold banker/businessman named E. F. Brown had established the Ellinger Banking Company in April 1908. By the first week of Febru ary 1912, this private bank was listed as defunct, and Mr. Brown received a five-year sentence for “bank irregularities, … owing the depositors of the Ellinger Banking Company about $22,000.” In a bankruptcy hearing in a Houston courtroom, it was learned that Brown was also involved in banks in Buda, Winchester, Elkhart, McDade, and Paige. “As a ma- nipulator of finance, he was a ge -nius” is the description given to Mr. Brown by the writer of the La Grange Journal.
Lastly, the bank at Round Top was also a victim, or in this case a near victim. The February 14, 1946, issue of the La Grange Journal reported that “burglars [who] endeavored to enter the safes at the Round Top State Bank and the Round Top Post Office were frustrated in their efforts when a neighbor snapped on his lights shortly after midnight.” (At the time, the Bank and Post Office were both located at the corner of present-day Main Street and FM 1457 in Round Top.) The article reports that entry was made by the prying open a window in the Post Office, and the safe in the Post Office was left with the door open. The combination knob and handle of the bank vault door had been removed, but the door had notbeenopened. Anefforthad also been made to dig through the concrete atop the bank’s vault, but this was unsuccessful. Local Fayette County Sheriff's Officers believed the robbery was averted when Mrs. E. L. Fricke, wife of the bank president alerted her husband of a hammering noise in the direction of the bank. Mr. Fricke then turned on their home lights, and moments later a car was heard driving away, heading toward Brenham. Fingerprints were not found, leaving law en- forcement officers to conclude that the burglars were professional.
We all seem to envision that bank robberies were the subject matter of some TV Western or gangster plot in a movie. However, these past incidents leave us to understand that there were and still are evil people who run amok in society, trying to take that which is not theirs, without regard to the damage that they undertake. However, lest one con- sider stuffing money in a mattress or burying it in the backyard, banks and similar institutions are still the safest options for the average citizen.
Sources: The La Grange Journal and Wikipedia
