Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-09-09

NAPOLEON. O., Sept. 7th, 1886

NAPOLEON, o., Sept. 7th, 1886.
Ed. NoRrHwEsT:-William Sheffield COM
mitted suicide at his residence in Napoleon
on the Sd day of October, 1888. He was the
senior member of the firm of Sheffield & Nor
ton, bankers in Napoleon. These men had
carried on the business of private banking
for number of years and had obtained,
whether honestly or not, the confidence of a
great many of our citizens, including num-
ber of the township treasurers of the county,
who were induced to deposit their money and
the moneys of the township treasurers in
their bank. This had been going on for some
years. They had been made to believe, by
the assurances and smiles of j. d. Norton,
the junior member of the firm, that their
money was safe and the bank was sound.
And these representations extended to all
classes, including laboring men and women,
guardians and orphan children. While the
people could know but little or nothing about
the inside management of the bank, they
had to depend entirely upon the assurances
of Sheffield & Norton as to its solvency; they
were assured, and indeed it was known by all
that Sheffield owned in his own right large
amount of real estate in Henry county as ap-
peared on record, and it was upon the strength
and knowledge of this large amount of real
estate in his name that induced the people to
deposit their money in the bank.
The cause of Sheffield death is now mat
ter of no concern; it does not keep the poor
men, women and children who have been
swindled. Many women in this neighbor-
hood, number of them widows, are now at
work washing for living; others are unable
to send their children to school for want of
clothing and school books. These are facts
well known to the people of Henry county.
In the statements herein made 81 shall not
extenuate, or ought set down in malice"
but shall state the simple truth.
Immediately after the death of Sheffield,
and for some ten or twelve days thereafter,
Mr.. Norton was profuse in his statements as
to the solvency of the bank and its ability to
pay the creditors every cent due them and
have large surplus left, and this too, with
out calling upon the real estate of Mr..
Sheffield for any portion of it; while in truth
and in fact, the bank was wholly insolvent
and Mr.. Norton must have known, if he knew
anything about the bank Che having always
been the business partner and cashier that
it was wholly insolvent, and that including
the money and all the assets good and bad,
could not possibly pay its debtors. He must
have known and did know, from schedule
recently made, at the request of a portion of
the creditors, that many of the debts due the
bank were worthless; that large number of
notes and accounts on hand were for money
lavishly and recklessly handed out by him
when he was candidate for State Senator,
and afterwards when he attempted to be a
candidate for Congress, but I will let many
things in this connection pass for the present.
While these false and fraudulent represen-
tations of Mr.. Norton were being made to in
duce the creditors and the public to believe
the bank was solvent, he, on or about the
18th day of October and within ten or twelve
days after Sheffield death, induced Hulda Il.
Sheffield, his mother-in-law, who had been
appointed administrator of the estate of
William Sheffield, to file petition in court
asking for the appointment of q receiver for
the bank of Sheffield & Norton. Simultan-
eously with the filing Of this petition, request
ing Norton as the surviving partner, to ad-
ministrater the effects of the bank, he Nor
tom filed his answer saying that he would
not. This was all done on the same day and
by the same attorney-the object being, as is
seen to lay some sort of q foundation for the
appointment of receiver, which was ac-
complished ON the same day from our Pro
bate Judge.
This was done and accomplished in bach
. room in the Probate Judges Office in tht
Court House, without any knowledge what
ever to one of 5O7 creditors Of that bank. NJ