The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1922-02-17
BY W. o. SAUNDERS.

uC pOpuldI OSliSI llldl NNNAD
body in a town of 2.5OO inhab-
itants knows everybody else
business has been thoroly eX-
ploded in the Staid old town of
Hertford, Is miles from Eliza
beth City, where H. c. Sullivan,
cashier of the Farmers Banking
* Trust Co. looted that inStitu-
rtion to the tune of possibly S6O,-
300 without any one suSpecting
anything was wrong until the
scat got out Of the bag one day
last week. Sullivan'S defalca-
ton amounted to S5S,5OO, &C
.cording to the last figures of the
State Bank Examiner and there
are indications that additional
items of shortage will be found
before auditors now at work
conclude their Investigations,
The bank was taken irt charge
by State Examiner Latham last
Friday.
No loss occurs to the depoSitors of
the bank. the Hertford Banking Co.
having taken over the accounts of the
.defuAct institstion. Protected by a suf-
fcient bond given by the. stockholders
of the Farmers Banking & Trust Co.
the Hertford Banking Co. will take
care of the customers of the wrecked
bank.
Sullivan's shortage was disclosed last
week when Hon. James S. McNider, a
customer of the bank, demanded the
return of $4,000 in government bonds
which be had left with the bank as
collateral Mr.. McNider paid the note
.On which he had placed the collateral
early in January but did not get his
bonds back at the time. He accepted
the explanation of Cashier Sullivan
that the note and bonds had been sent
to an out -of-town bank. Small banks
do such things and Nj. AIcNider made
no question until several weeks passed
Finally Mr.. McNider became anxious
and made a demand of the directors OF
she bank. The directors called Sulli-
van to account and Sullivan confessed
that he had sold the bonds and used
the money. An examination revealed
that he had disposed of the collateral
of other customers in like manner and
had otherwise jugged the banks affairs
TO the extent of a deficit of S4SOOO
according to his own figures. The State
Bank Examiner took charge of the bank
Friday morning and ran the figures up
to nearer 100000.
Has Everybody Guessing.
And everybody is guessing how II. {,
Sullivan got away with so much money
without anyone getting wise to his Op-
erations much earlier. 1t develops now
that no one in HertfOrd knows very
much about II. c. Sullivan. He is about
40 years old. personally pleasant. cOur-
teous. afable and business like. He is
native of Kentucky. Before coming
to Hertford he was engaged in several
folk. Va. l was told in HertfOrd that
he had a record of two fires behind
him. He married Miss Emma JeSSup,
daughter of J. p. Jessup, the new
postmaster at HertfOrd and settled in
HertfOrd about six years ago. He was
active in the organization of the Farm
ers Banking & Trust Co. and was made
cashier of the bank when it was or
ganized and opened for business in
1916. He has two children by his first
wife. His first wife died and he mar
ried again about two years ago. His
present wife was Miss Jeanette Oar
den. a daughter of J. W. Darden. OF
Drivers, Va.
III. C.. Sullivan lived mOdeStly as be-
came the cashier of small bank. His
house rent is said to have been $40 a
month. He did not drink. he had no
luxurious habits and no one ever heard
of him playing the markets or gambling
in any form. But he was ambitious
He had seen millionaires created out
of the peanut industry around Suffolk
and in a general way he knew that
the big money in peanuts was IN the
manufacturing end. A few years ago
he started a peanut business in Hert-
ford known as the Eastern Peanut Co.
In a modest way he manufactured salt
ed peanuts and peanut butter and
packed fancy nuts for the retail trade
He placed advertisements in few
magazines of national circulation and
Cndeayored to create a national market
for Pride of Perquimans" peanuts.
His Beighbors saw the little industry
grow and noted the shipments OF
Pride of Perquimans' peanuts, pea
nut butter and salted nuts to all parts
of the country, without botherlng their
heads about the fact that it would take
car load of peanuts to pay for a
small ad in a nationally circulated mag
azine, or the fact that the beautifully
Autographed can containing a few
pounds Of nuts probably cost Thought in
Il small quantities) more than the nuts
were worth. 1t may be that all of the
money embezzled by H. c. Sullivan
went into that little peanut business,
\. IL Ill af ha no