Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-06-15

or vicinity should have pre-
dicted that the Dane County State bank
would be wrecked and that I. 0. Brick
son would be the cause Of it, everybody |
would have considered it a huge joke,
or, perhaps. the speaker fit for an asy-
lum. Then everybody knew that The |
wealthy and cautious |. o. Erickson
turned into gold everything he touched |
and that he was honest and conserva- |
tive. Yet, when the doors Of the bank
closed Saturday in the middle OF bus
mess hours, all knew that Mr. Erickson
was the principal if not the sole cause
Of it. But they knew, too, that he did
not do it Intentionally and that with
the bank went his own fortune and
possibly those Of several Of his friends
1t all depends upon how he can dispose
of more than 100000 acres Of land in
Mexico and Texas. He may lose his all
and the bank will not be able to pay
much over so per cent. of the $4,000
due depositors, Or he may be able 10
make the bank solvent and still have
81 100000 left
not easily determined,' said a gentle
man who was said to know the whole
inside history OF the crash. 1T is
true he continued, that I few
months ago was asked to assist in rails
ing the necessary funds to enable I. o.
Erickson and the Dane County bank to
meet their obligations and that I then
confidently got the full inside history
of the affair." l believed then that Mr..
Erickson would be able to raise the
needed money until he could dispose OF
his gigantic holdings of Mexican and
Texas land, some Of which, at least, l
believed to be very valuable. l an
positive he thought SO himself and he
had seen the lands both before and
after he bought them. He is as good
judge of land as anybody in Dane coun-
ty, and that is the common opinion
among all who know him, as far as
! have heard. But as for me, I do not
like the Grand Falls Irrigation COM
pany.
II. o. Erickson is the president of
this company. He was born and raised
| here in Dane county and was two
years ago worth about 100000. He
! has always enjoyed the best of reputa-
| tons and been considered a keen and
cautious business man till he three
years ago ventured into specializing in
southern land deals. He first bought
| 1an oil tbot
promised well. The agent that sold
this land to Mr.. Erickson, a Chicago
| operator, a Swede by the name of F.
w. Olson, retained an interest and was
elected superintendent of the stock
company. Two friends of Mr.. Brick
and J. H. Joice, cashier of the now de-
funct Dane County State bank, were
elected vice-president and secretary
respectively. The interest of the for
mer is only nominal, while Mr.. Joice
is more heavily interested, just how
much cannot at present be learned.
"Mr. Olson brought with him to
Stoughton an active and able sales
man, George M. Curtis, who soon sold
on the easy payment plan consider
able of the Texas land at big profit
and it is claimed that Olson, taking ad-
vantage of this, soon had l. o. Brick
son interested in one of the largest
land deals in MeXico-Hacienda Jose
de las Russias. Why, here was tract
of land pictured to Mr.. Erickson con-
siderably larger than Dane county,
fully as rich and tillable, only a lit
tie distance south of Texas, along the
seacoast, a lovely climate and near to
market, only across the Gulf from New
Orleans. And all this richness could
be had for few hundred thousand
dollars, less than so cents an acre.
Erickson went down to Mexico, saw
the land and the temptation was too
much-he bought it and made the first
payment. Olson assured him of his
confidence of selling the land at a
great profit in short time, but so far
he has brought the company nothing
better than enormous personal eXpen-
ses and several $4,000 payments in
the last twelve months. How much j
II. Joice and the hank is interested in
the Mexican lands remains to be seen
but one thing is certain, they have had
too much faith in l. O. Erickson and
backed him so far that they had to rely
on him to save them ALL"
The Dane County State bank was
organized in 1883 by l. NJ. Turner as
president and o. NJ. Falk as cashier
The latter has for many years been
one OF the most substantial business
men in Stoughton, having been estab-
lished here as druggist for thirty-three
years and is at present the
oldest merchant in the city
His word has always been
called as good as a government bond
and the little bank with capital OF
SC, 1000 was considered one of the safest
in Dane county. The president, Mr.
Turner, was also an old settler Of some
means, and therefore when Mr.. Falk
sold his interest three years ago to the
present cashier, J. H. Joice, a young
man not wealthy, but gentlemanly
and respected, the good will of the
bank was fully retained. Although it
had been well known for over year
that the bank was heavily involved in
Texas and Mexican land, only few OF
the depositors had withdrawn. The
city of Stoughton and vicinity are
mainly settled by Norwegians and they
believed in the officers Of the bank I'M
til the last The locality is one of the
richest in the state, many of the de-