December 1, 2023 • 31 mins
Step inside the hallowed walls of The Mokena State Bank, as we chronicle over a century of its rich and vibrant history. This story takes you on a journey that captures the spirit of this iconic institution that has endured safe cracking, robberies, and economic tremors, yet stood firm as the heart of the local community.
This bank was one of Mokena's most beautiful and ornate buildings. While there was a previous attempt, the Mokena State Bank was the first bank to establish themselves. The bank was run by well known community members and became a place full of activity over the years. In a time before ATM's and drive through tellers, almost everyone in town knew the bankers by first name.
While the site of this old Mokena treasure still hosts a community bank, it is no longer the Mokena State Bank that so many community members trusted to hold their treasure for over a century.
We talk about 2 of Matt's blog posts in this episode. You can find those here: #1 The Currency of Time: The Early Days of Mokena State Bank; #2 Stick 'Em Up: The 1924 Robbery of Mokena State Bank.
Be sure to check out our website @ www.MokenasFrontPorch.com
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Find Matt's Blog here: Matt's Old Mokena
Photo & Artwork Credit: Jennifer Medema & Leslie V. Moore Jr.
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Podcast@MokenasFrontPorch.com
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https://www.southsidepod.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Israel (00:00):
Welcome to Mokena's Front Porch.
A Mokena History podcast withMatt Galik and me, Israel Smith.
Matt (00:08):
The businessmen in charge of the concern couldn't have
asked for a better location, itbeing directly across the street
from the Rock Island Depot andsmack dab in the middle of
everything in Mokena.
It was an institution offinancial security, one of the
stateliest buildings to evergrace our village.
The old building served usfaithfully for 63 years, busy as
(00:29):
a beehive, and emerged from theGreat Depression without as
much as a scratch.
In the matter of seconds, 45caliber cold pistol was shoved
through the bars into Crop'sface and a brusque voice barked
hands up.
Mokena was a changed placeafter the heinous robbery, with
all strangers looked upon withsuspicion.
Israel (00:50):
This episode we're going to talk about the Molkina State
Bank.
Matt (00:54):
We've got a couple articles.
Israel (00:59):
This one is the early days of the Molkina State Bank
that you published on Sunday,march 20th of 2022.
It's interesting because anumber of the businesses we talk
about you really see the bankdoes become a center of town, a
very important place, especiallyin the early days of Molkina
(01:22):
when farmers needed a place toput their money.
Businessmen we're off therailroad, so there's those
concerns as well.
It is interesting to see howthis bank came about.
Then we talk a little bit allthe way up to today, While we
don't have the Molkina StateBank, the legacy of that
(01:45):
property and how it's changedover the days, Even the pictures
in here are some of my favoritepictures of Molkina.
I love the old Molkina Bank.
Matt (01:58):
It was really cool it was it really was.
Israel (02:00):
Yeah, it's amazing To see that in the streetscape.
It was just really neat, Reallyneat to see.
It would have been awesome tosee that building in person.
I definitely agree.
I wish I could have.
So we're going to talk a littlebit about the early days and
then we've got another storyabout a robbery that took place
(02:22):
at the bank in 1924.
Exactly, that was a lot as well, definitely, anything you want
to preface the story with.
Matt (02:32):
The Molkina State Bank, while it still existed, might
very well have been Molkina'slongest living business.
It was founded in 1909 and gotabsorbed into the state bank of
Illinois.
It was about exactly 100 yearslater, 2009, 2010.
(02:52):
Wow, so yeah, I can't think ofanything else that existed,
business-wise, for 100 years.
Israel (02:57):
Wow, and again, this is a story where we hear names of
people that we've been hearingabout all throughout the podcast
episodes.
Matt (03:07):
Right.
Israel (03:07):
Yeah.
So again it's like thesebusiness owners and front street
business owners that reallytook a part in the community and
civically really to make thecommunity better.
Matt (03:24):
Yeah, absolutely yeah, they definitely did.
Israel (03:26):
Well, great as I said, this was posted March 20th 2022,
and it was titled the Currencyof Time on the early days of the
Molkina State Bank.
Matt (03:37):
What makes the world go round.
While our streets have neverbeen paved with gold, we've had
a tidy financial institutionwithin our village gates for
well over a century thatsafeguards the treasures of our
townfolk, weatheringsafecrackings, robberies and
global financial crises.
It's still with us to this day.
What merged with the state bankof Illinois in the first decade
(03:58):
of the 21st century wasoriginally the Molkina State
Bank, which found its beginningin the summer of 1909.
While the institution has beenaround for as long as any of us
can remember, it is not thefirst bank to exist in town.
25 years before anyone evendreamt of Molkina State Bank,
(04:19):
the Molkina Exchange Bank was onthe scene.
Time has not been kind and thenarrative of this institution
has proven impossible toreconstruct the fog of the ages.
It's hazily remembered that itwas in the hands of father and
son, azaius and Erwin McGovernyfor a time, and that future
Molkina mayor and Chicago boardof trade man Noble Jones was
(04:42):
running it in 1882, when afailed attempt to dynamite the
safe shocked the community.
Sometime in those last twodecades of the 19th century, it
went defunct and nearly everytrace of it was swept away by
the ebb and flow of time.
At the dawn of 1900, molkinafound itself in something of a
slump, with a mere 281 peopleliving in the village proper.
(05:06):
At the time, eastern WillCounty was still reeling after
the nationwide panic of 1893,which led many Moquina people
and businesses to seek greenerpastures.
An increase in railroadcommerce in the younger towns of
Alpine, marley and Orland Parkthat normally would have come
our way also didn't help matters, and neither did the lack of
(05:28):
good roads in our neck of thewoods.
Starting in the autumn of 1907,moquina underwent a rebound,
first with the opening of theBowman Dairy Company's bottling
plant on today's Wolf Road, andthen with the first inkling of a
new bank in our neighborhood.
The roots of Moquina State Bankwere planted as early as October
1907, when the state auditorissued a permit to Fred Ehlers,
(05:54):
an enterprising merchant fromGrant Park in Kankiki County, to
form a bank in our village.
Whatever his connection was toMoquina and his reasons for
going into commerce here havelong since been forgotten, but
it stands on the historicalrecord that he took three of our
businessmen with him in theventure.
However, the state of theeconomy was still a bit shaky at
(06:14):
the time and not totallyconducive to establishing a bank
.
As William Semler, moquina'scorrespondent to the Juliet
Weekly News, noted that afinancial stringency was
abounding in our midst.
He went on to detail that thepeople around here have not much
faith in bank scripts and anyother bank paper.
(06:34):
Money that is issued so it isdeclared will not accept any
such money at any rate.
As such, the bank project wentto sleep for a while.
It sprung back to life a littleover a year later when another
mystery man came onto the scene.
A Chicago attorney by the nameof H Gilbrath engaged himself
(06:56):
promoting a state bank inMoquina.
For those last few weeks of1908, the idea was looked upon
quite favorably by Vilge.
Folk Optimism was in the air,and in reporting on the
developments for the weekly news, william Semler wrote Our
business people and prominentcitizens, as well as dairy
farmers, have come to theconclusion that a bank in this
(07:18):
town would not only greatlyimprove business facilities but
will also benefit the town and,as we hope, prove to be a
stepping stone to future worthyenterprises.
Stock in this new institutionwas being subscribed for at such
speed that just beforeChristmas it was confidently
declared that for its size, thebank will be one of the
(07:39):
strongest in the county.
The local investors set theircalendars for their first
meeting on Saturday, january 2,1909.
On a day filled with meaning,they chose 55-year-old Christian
Beckstein as the firstpresident of the Moquina State
Bank.
For many years a La Porte Roadagriculturist, but lately a
(08:02):
resident of the village,beckstein had a seven-year term
as mayor behind him when he tookthe president's chair.
He remained captain at thebank's helm until the day he
passed away in 1924.
Filling the vice president'sposition was George Cooper, a
member of a prominent localfarming family, while the
secretary's spot was taken bylocal grain merchant William H
(08:25):
Beckstein.
President Beckstein's nephew,frowning them out, was the
youngest of the group,31-year-old Frank Leiths, who
became cashier, a position akinto a modern teller.
A further 10 men were chosenfor the new bank's board of
directors.
In early 1909, the new bank'sbuilding committee was working
(08:46):
on plans for their brand-newstructure and had engaged an
architect named John Allschlagerto draw up the plans.
While he was resident ofChicago, allschlager had grown
up on a farm a few milessouthwest of town while his
families had been early membersof St John's Church, proving
that all roads lead back toMoquina.
That march, after scouting forlocations in the village,
(09:11):
cashier Frank Leiths bought afront street lot from elderly
Francisco Stoll that he, in turn, would sell to the bank for a
handsome $550 before the yearwas over.
The businessmen in charge ofthe concern couldn't have asked
for a better location, it beingdirectly across the street from
the Rock Island Depot and smackdab in the middle of everything
(09:33):
in Moquina.
Israel (09:35):
All right.
So, matt, can you just give usa picture in today's front
street of where the bank sat?
Matt (09:42):
Sure, so the old bank sat or the original bank, I should
say sat on the north side offront street, just a tad west of
the intersection with MoquinaStreet, where we have the big
parking lot there for the bank,for what is now Chase Bank or
not Chase Bank, midland, midlandStates Bank, or it's my bank, I
(10:05):
don't even know the name of itMidland Bank.
There were a few differentbuildings.
Where the parking lot is nowand the bank was roughly could
say was roughly about where thedriveway is for the
drive-through lanes of the bank.
Right about there is where thatoriginal bank building was.
Israel (10:29):
So to the right of that, we would have the general store
at the time.
Then let's see At the time.
Matt (10:37):
I believe that would have been the Colbert hardware store
on the east and then actually onthe west.
Yes, that would have been theSutter general store on that old
building that was just to thewest there, as spring dawn of
(10:58):
our tourist moment came when thebank's building committee
assembled at Secretary William HBeckstein's grain office on
Moquina Street and awarded thecontract to Alfred Wenberg of
Joliet to begin construction onthe edifice.
It would measure in at 36 by 22feet, have solid brick walls
(11:18):
and a regal facade of BedfordStone containing stately columns
and an August shield bearingthe name Moquina State Bank.
In May of 1909, ground wasbroken on the front street lot
and the first building materialsbegan arriving over the Rock
Island.
The outlook was good, with theMokina Phoenix Advertiser
(11:39):
boasting that Mokina will haveas fine a bank as any town of
its size in the country.
Another important contract waslet in this time, namely for the
bank's steel-lined vault, itsburglar-proof door and inner
safe and 50 deposit boxes, allof which would be of the best
steel and workmanship.
(12:02):
As the walls rose on the frontstreet, last-minute
modifications were being made.
A small addition was tacked onto the rear of the still
incomplete building to house itsheating and lighting system.
In July, which proved to be amonth of great progress, mokina
concrete mason Julius G Oswaldand his workforce were busy
plastering the walls.
(12:22):
Then, while the character-richstamped steel ceiling went in at
the end of the month, in thefirst few days of August came
the steel vault, which weighedin at 10,400 pounds, not
reckoning in its door, whichalone came in at 4,800 pounds.
All the finishing touches werebeing put on Mokina's newest gem
(12:44):
and before the doors werefinally thrown open to the
public, all the modernconveniences such as an adding
machine, a coal-fed stove forheat and, before long, a
telephone, were installed.
Opening day came on Saturday,august 14, 1909, and it was a
very busy day indeed, as 500souvenir fans were given away no
(13:06):
small feat, as the populationat the time was only a touch
over 350 residents.
The next big rush came for thenewly unveiled Lincoln pennies,
as many town folk wanted themfor souvenirs.
All in all, the Mokina StateBank cost $5,000 to build and by
the end of September $30,000had been deposited there,
(13:29):
roughly equal to over $900,000in today's money.
It was an institution offinancial security, one of the
stateliest buildings to evergrace our village.
The old building served usfaithfully for 63 years, busy as
a beehive, and emerged from theGreat Depression without as
much as a scratch.
The historic edifice wassubstantially remodeled and
(13:51):
added onto in 1956, in a waythat one could almost describe
as brutal, as all of the graceand dignity of the original
building were obliterated.
In the end, the bank wasunceremoniously erased from our
landscape in 1972.
Israel (14:08):
So maybe you can describe that a little bit more.
Why would you describe it asbrutal?
Matt (14:15):
Yeah.
So whenever I look at beforeand after pictures, you had the
original 1909 building and thenhow it looked after they added
onto the front of it andremodeled the front facade.
It was just all of the just Ican't think of a better word
(14:36):
than just classiness of thatoriginal facade was just totally
obliterated Really.
Israel (14:43):
When they remodeled it, so like they took the pillars
and the front facade and allthat was gone.
Matt (14:49):
Oh, wow, the pillars, the doorway, like everything that
made that building great, wasgone and it just transformed
into like a concrete box.
How sad, oh, it was terrible.
Yeah, I just happened to crossa photo of the new bank quote
unquote, the end result theother day and it was just I was
looking at it and it was justlike and was it still being used
(15:12):
as a bank?
Yeah, yeah, it was still beingused as the Moquina State Bank
when they added onto it.
A drive through was added onand all this stuff.
But yeah, it was just the.
The 1950s, especially inMoquina, were not a period where
historic preservation wasreally something that was really
(15:34):
thought of, unfortunately.
Israel (15:36):
So yeah, yeah, so it cost $5,000 to build.
And how impressive.
They had $30,000 by the end ofSeptember deposited, or, as you
said, equal to about $900,000 intoday's money.
Matt (15:48):
Yeah, it was.
It was popular and people werehappy to have it and everybody
wanted to.
I mean maybe not everybody, buta lot of people wanted to use
it services.
Israel (16:00):
Yeah, it clearly showed a need.
Yeah, did other banks pop up intown after this one?
Matt (16:08):
Not for a very long time.
Once again I'll say maybesomebody can correct me on this
but just as I'm thinking in myhead, the Moquina State Bank was
definitely the only bank intown from 1909 until the end of
World War Two.
And as the town started growingin that postwar era, I want to
say the next bank to come totown?
(16:31):
Let me think here.
I'm pretty sure the next bankto come to town would have been
the Lincoln Way savings and loan, which was also on Front Street
, which they built, the buildingthat stands just west of where
Dave Bergman's, dave's auto usedto be and later tribes brewery.
Israel (16:48):
I believe there's a chiropractor, yeah, it was a
chase, yeah, for a while it wasa chase for for a good long time
.
Matt (16:55):
Yeah, yeah, that was.
That was the Lincoln Waysavings alone and they opened in
the 1970s.
Ok, I really think they werethe next bank to come to town
after the Moquina State Bank in1909.
Israel (17:10):
So that was a pretty long and did you as a young man
in town?
Did you have a, a, a passbooksavings account at Moquina State
?
Matt (17:19):
Bank Absolutely, I did, even my.
When my parents first came totown they Set up all their stuff
there and then when I got whichyou know before before me Then
when I got old enough I got myhow old I must have been, maybe
10, 11 years old I opened up myFirst account there and it was
(17:40):
so cool.
They gave me the Stomo KinaState Bank.
Then they gave me the littleyeah, the little book, and
whenever I would go in to putmore money in or take money out,
they would feed the book intolike a typewriter kind of thing
and type all the numbers into it.
I thought that was so cool.
I know I still have that booksomewhere.
Israel (17:59):
Yeah, no, I did too, from my the town in Wisconsin,
you know yeah we had about $35in there.
Yeah, yeah, yeah no, it's supercool as a kid though.
Yeah it was a big deal.
Yeah, that book or runningthrough the machine.
Matt (18:12):
Yeah, I feel bad for kids today that they don't have that
experience.
Israel (18:15):
Yeah, right, Well, you just look it up online or yeah,
right, yeah, yeah yeah.
Very neat.
So, as with any bank or youknow, especially our, in our
town it seems Businesses dealtwith trouble on that.
So yeah, next we're gonna hearthe story of the 1924 Robbery of
(18:37):
the Mokina State Bank.
Yes, crazy story.
Matt (18:42):
And dusty small town front street.
The acrid smell of soot fromcoal fed locomotives Would have
greeted a visitor to Mokina in1924.
Citizens doing business past onthe street where every face was
familiar and every personalityknown the old Mokina State Bank,
a beacon of stoic white BedfordStone and solid red brick,
(19:04):
stuck out among a sea of woodframe buildings.
Founded in 1909 by a group ofinfluential Mokina businessmen,
this institution came to reflecta rock of financial stability
in the rural farm village.
It was here on Tuesday, october27th 1924 that one of Mokina's
most audacious crimes wascommitted.
(19:25):
At 31 years of age on thatautumn day, carl Krap was a
lifelong resident of Mokina andthe bank's assistant cashier.
The son of one of the bank'sfounders, krap found himself
occupied with some book workbehind the bars of his cashier's
cage, perched atop a high stoolin his periphery.
(19:47):
He would have been aware of twomen entering the building's
front door.
In the matter of seconds, 45caliber cold pistol was shoved
through the bars into Krap'sface and a brusque voice barked
hands up.
The young cashier laughed atwhat he took for a mischievous
joke.
Not an unexpected reaction in asmall town where not much of
(20:08):
note happened Upon seeing therage of the armed man when his
order was not complied with andthat at least one of the men had
a Hankerchief wrapped aroundhis face, krap realized the
deadly seriousness of thesituation the bank was being
robbed.
Also present in the bank at thistime were local blacksmith
Albert Brown and hisbrother-in-law Harry Peterson,
(20:31):
as well as George Hacker, whonot only was the bank's cashier
but also served as Mokina'smayor.
Having held the small buildingin their firm grip, the robbers
herded Brown, peterson andassistant cashier Krap into a
rear room where the banditsforced them to face a wall with
their hands in the air.
The lead thief jammed hispistol into Krap's side and
(20:54):
Vulgarly threatened him.
As cashier, hacker was forcedinto the bank's vault.
Carl Krap would later recallthat the criminals weapon felt
like a cannon and, with hissenses that their highest level
of awareness, he expected a shotto ring out at any second.
At the vault, bundles ofcurrency were scooped into the
second thief's burlap sack.
(21:14):
Such was the robbers haste thata packet of bills containing
$200 burst onto the floor whereit was abandoned.
As quickly they carried outtheir brazen task.
The criminals bolted from thebank and into a large touring
car when three comrades awaitedthem, one of which was said to
be armed with a shotgun.
(21:34):
The auto disappeared as itroared westward down Front
Street.
The robbers loot equaledslightly more than four thousand
dollars, consisting of paperbills as well as gold and silver
.
Measured by the standards oftoday, the value of the heist
would equal approximately fiftythousand five hundred dollars.
(21:55):
In the immediate aftermath ofthe robbery, mokina and the
surrounding countryside becamealive with law enforcement
personnel.
After being notified by localtelephone office manager Clita
Denbour, will County SheriffJohn Walker and deputies from
Frankfurt, joliet, new Lenox aswell as Mokina took up the chase
.
Initially, these men wereunsuccessful in getting ahead of
(22:19):
the robbers until the tread ofthe getaway auto's tires Was
followed in front streets dustover rural roads to an abandoned
farm outside New Lenox.
Approaching the light browntouring car with trepidation
Attending, deputies found theauto to be devoid of life.
Inside were discovered theempty billfolds of George Hacker
(22:41):
and Karl Krop, which had beensnatched from them during the
robbery, as Was the handgunwhich had been employed in the
attack.
The thieves loot was nowhere tobe found.
Most ominously, more tiretracks along the dumped vehicle
indicated that a second carescaped with the wanted men,
from which all traces dissolvedinto oblivion, and A last
(23:04):
attempt to nab the fugitives,two police German shepherds were
used to track down the men.
While promising at the outsetthe presence of farmers in the
surrounding fields, quicklythrew dogs off the target scent.
The trail seemed cold untilshortly after the robbery when
sheriff's deputy Walter Fisher,a front street storekeeper, took
(23:25):
George and Vernon thousand intocustody.
Newcomers to Mokina andinitially claiming to be
brothers, vernon supposedly hadbeen held at gunpoint outside
the bank during the raid.
During questioning heeventually confessed that his
actual surname was James.
Their kinship wasn't the onlypart of their story to be bogus.
(23:47):
A claim of being prohibitionagents also fell apart under
scrutiny.
Having made what were deemedsuspicious statements about the
robbery by our town newspaper,the News Bulletin, james and
Talzin were summarily locked upat the county jail.
In their absence, authoritiesremoved suitcases from their
(24:07):
temporary place of residence inMoquina, inside which were found
not only matching ammunitionfor the robbery gun but also
pecan letters from local girls.
The issue of James and Talzinintensified when it was
discovered that the pair wereknown to be friendly with John
Frisch, a Moquina railroadworker and the villages
(24:28):
constable.
Many in town openly wonderedabout Frisch's involvement in
the robbery, as one of thesuspected twosome had recently
swapped pistols with him.
So loud was the mistrustagainst Frisch that the Moquina
village board was forced toinvestigate him until Deputy
Fisher vociferously defended him, stating that James and Talzin
(24:49):
had pulled the wool overFrisch's eyes as to their
intentions.
As history notes, no chargeswere ever formally leveled
against James and Talzin.
There was simply no conclusiveevidence, no smoking gun, tying
them to any involvement in therobbery of the Moquina State
Bank.
After their release from jail ashort time later, james
(25:12):
threatened to exact revenge onDeputy Fisher and promptly
disappeared along with Talzininto the untraceable void of
time.
Moquina was a changed placeafter the heinous robbery, with
all strangers looked upon withsuspicion.
An unknown face would be askedto explain his business in town
and, if a satisfactory answerwasn't becoming, would be
(25:32):
hustled out of the village.
The bank was quickly stockedwith firearms and the building
itself was fortified.
Within a year of the robbery.
The cashier's cage wascompletely surrounded with a
bulletproof glass, while allwoodwork in the bank was backed
with steel, not to mention thewindows that got
bullet-resistant screens.
The doors to the cashier'sspace and the president's office
(25:56):
also got a treatment of steel,as well as an apparatus that
allowed them to be opened onlyfrom the inside by means of an
electric button.
The directors of the bankweren't about to take any
chances on the supposedlybulletproof glass and invited
Deputy Fisher to give it a test.
On the afternoon of Tuesday,november 24, 1925, the deputy
(26:19):
fired three rounds from his38-caliber revolver into the
glass.
Not a single one made itthrough.
The news bulletin was there andnoted that the only effect on
the glass was a whitening of thesurface, same as seen on a
piece of ice when it is struck.
Moquina may never know who isbehind the robbery of October 27
, 1924.
(26:40):
Loose ends existed that werenever followed up on, and
ringers for the crime werereleased without charge.
What is sure is that the crimeresonated so deeply in the
collective psyche of this sleepyrailroad village of decades
past that it is still rememberedwith dread to this day.
Israel (26:56):
This robbery really changed I mean the bank and how
it interacted with the communityas well as the whole community,
it seems.
Matt (27:06):
Yeah, it definitely did.
People were very much on sortof like needles and pins after
it happened and it was a smalltown where we're just about
everybody knew everybody elseand whatnot.
Lots of families related toeach other, stuff like this.
(27:27):
But after the robbery it was atime when strangers were looked
upon with suspicion, as therobbery was pulled off by
out-of-towners and strangersthat weren't known.
Israel (27:42):
And then the suspicion of the fresh deputy Frisch was
there.
I guess there was no realresolution to that.
I mean, he was cleared andwhile deputy Fisher kind of
stepped in and spoke up for him.
Matt (27:58):
Yeah, he did.
Israel (27:59):
But that's a lot of.
I mean, he changed weapons withthis one of these guys and
there does seem like a lot ofcoincidence there.
Matt (28:11):
Yeah, it was definitely, I think granted, I wasn't there,
but I think these two guys,james and Talzin whether or not
they were involved in therobbery we may never know they
definitely were a verysuspicious characters though.
But when they rolled into townI think they kind of identified
(28:31):
deputy Frisch as being the townconstable and tried to sort of
make friends with them and tryto maybe manipulate him, and
from what it sounds like, hejust kind of as deputy Fisher
said he kind of unwillinglyallowed himself to have the wool
pulled over his eyes.
Israel (28:50):
Kind of a little too nice for his own good maybe,
yeah yeah, yeah, exactly, and itwound up coming back to get him
.
So yeah, wow.
So $50,000 in today's money,yeah, or it was about $4,000
that was sold.
That's a big amount of money,yeah.
Matt (29:06):
Yeah, I mean, it was nothing to sneeze at.
Yeah, I mean, they got papermoney and gold and silver too,
and this was also in the dayswhen FDIC didn't exist to back
up the funds of the bank.
So I would imagine that localpeople lost their money when
this happened.
Israel (29:25):
Well, that's what I was, because is there a central?
I don't know if you know, but Imean we just heard about all
this money that was injectedinto this new bank.
I mean, you know, but you thinkthey're holding a large portion
of the money that's depositedby?
Matt (29:44):
sure by the community.
Israel (29:46):
Yeah, definitely.
So, yeah, that's what wouldhave been.
Yeah, and how that's made upand how that's covered or the
losses are are taken care of.
Matt (29:55):
It's interesting to think about it is.
Yeah, I mean it definitely wasa big event.
Unfortunately, it wasn't thefirst time that some heinous
crime had happened in Mokina,but it was.
It had been a long time sinceAnything along those lines had
occurred in town and yeah, Imean it really shook things up.
I mean it was it was coveredthe.
The robbery was covered bypapers in Chicago even so, wow,
(30:18):
yeah, yeah.
Israel (30:20):
Yeah, well, really interesting story, you know, and
all together, I mean, when youthink about the bank and, as we
said, like this cool small town,yeah, you know, country kind of
town bank, and you know, I knowyou have.
We have another story that wemight cover in another episode
of another attempt on the bank.
(30:42):
Yeah, yeah, you know, but yeah,really interesting, so it is
yeah and again.
Our deputy Walter Fisher is istalked about.
Matt (30:50):
Yeah he was there.
Israel (30:51):
You know, we you wrote the book on and that's right and
played a part here too bad,that beautiful bank is still
sitting on front street I know,I'm so jealous of Frankfurt.
Matt (31:00):
There their old bank is still there, but we lost ours.
Yeah, yeah.
Israel (31:04):
Well, great man, this is another great story.
Thank you?
Matt (31:07):
I think so too.
Thanks for sharing theseAbsolutely.
Israel (31:12):
We hope you enjoyed this episode.
If you're enjoying our showwould really help us out a lot
if you would leave us a ratingand a review, as well as share
our show with your friends andyour family.
There's a link in the shownotes to Matt's blog article
that this episode was based on,so be sure to check that out.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next time on Mokina's
(31:32):
Front Porch.
Welcome to Mokena's Front Porch.
A Mokena History podcast withMatt Galik and me, Israel Smith.
Matt (00:08):
The businessmen in charge of the concern couldn't have
asked for a better location, itbeing directly across the street
from the Rock Island Depot andsmack dab in the middle of
everything in Mokena.
It was an institution offinancial security, one of the
stateliest buildings to evergrace our village.
The old building served usfaithfully for 63 years, busy as
(00:29):
a beehive, and emerged from theGreat Depression without as
much as a scratch.
In the matter of seconds, 45caliber cold pistol was shoved
through the bars into Crop'sface and a brusque voice barked
hands up.
Mokena was a changed placeafter the heinous robbery, with
all strangers looked upon withsuspicion.
Israel (00:50):
This episode we're going to talk about the Molkina State
Bank.
Matt (00:54):
We've got a couple articles.
Israel (00:59):
This one is the early days of the Molkina State Bank
that you published on Sunday,march 20th of 2022.
It's interesting because anumber of the businesses we talk
about you really see the bankdoes become a center of town, a
very important place, especiallyin the early days of Molkina
(01:22):
when farmers needed a place toput their money.
Businessmen we're off therailroad, so there's those
concerns as well.
It is interesting to see howthis bank came about.
Then we talk a little bit allthe way up to today, While we
don't have the Molkina StateBank, the legacy of that
(01:45):
property and how it's changedover the days, Even the pictures
in here are some of my favoritepictures of Molkina.
I love the old Molkina Bank.
Matt (01:58):
It was really cool it was it really was.
Israel (02:00):
Yeah, it's amazing To see that in the streetscape.
It was just really neat, Reallyneat to see.
It would have been awesome tosee that building in person.
I definitely agree.
I wish I could have.
So we're going to talk a littlebit about the early days and
then we've got another storyabout a robbery that took place
(02:22):
at the bank in 1924.
Exactly, that was a lot as well, definitely, anything you want
to preface the story with.
Matt (02:32):
The Molkina State Bank, while it still existed, might
very well have been Molkina'slongest living business.
It was founded in 1909 and gotabsorbed into the state bank of
Illinois.
It was about exactly 100 yearslater, 2009, 2010.
(02:52):
Wow, so yeah, I can't think ofanything else that existed,
business-wise, for 100 years.
Israel (02:57):
Wow, and again, this is a story where we hear names of
people that we've been hearingabout all throughout the podcast
episodes.
Matt (03:07):
Right.
Israel (03:07):
Yeah.
So again it's like thesebusiness owners and front street
business owners that reallytook a part in the community and
civically really to make thecommunity better.
Matt (03:24):
Yeah, absolutely yeah, they definitely did.
Israel (03:26):
Well, great as I said, this was posted March 20th 2022,
and it was titled the Currencyof Time on the early days of the
Molkina State Bank.
Matt (03:37):
What makes the world go round.
While our streets have neverbeen paved with gold, we've had
a tidy financial institutionwithin our village gates for
well over a century thatsafeguards the treasures of our
townfolk, weatheringsafecrackings, robberies and
global financial crises.
It's still with us to this day.
What merged with the state bankof Illinois in the first decade
(03:58):
of the 21st century wasoriginally the Molkina State
Bank, which found its beginningin the summer of 1909.
While the institution has beenaround for as long as any of us
can remember, it is not thefirst bank to exist in town.
25 years before anyone evendreamt of Molkina State Bank,
(04:19):
the Molkina Exchange Bank was onthe scene.
Time has not been kind and thenarrative of this institution
has proven impossible toreconstruct the fog of the ages.
It's hazily remembered that itwas in the hands of father and
son, azaius and Erwin McGovernyfor a time, and that future
Molkina mayor and Chicago boardof trade man Noble Jones was
(04:42):
running it in 1882, when afailed attempt to dynamite the
safe shocked the community.
Sometime in those last twodecades of the 19th century, it
went defunct and nearly everytrace of it was swept away by
the ebb and flow of time.
At the dawn of 1900, molkinafound itself in something of a
slump, with a mere 281 peopleliving in the village proper.
(05:06):
At the time, eastern WillCounty was still reeling after
the nationwide panic of 1893,which led many Moquina people
and businesses to seek greenerpastures.
An increase in railroadcommerce in the younger towns of
Alpine, marley and Orland Parkthat normally would have come
our way also didn't help matters, and neither did the lack of
(05:28):
good roads in our neck of thewoods.
Starting in the autumn of 1907,moquina underwent a rebound,
first with the opening of theBowman Dairy Company's bottling
plant on today's Wolf Road, andthen with the first inkling of a
new bank in our neighborhood.
The roots of Moquina State Bankwere planted as early as October
1907, when the state auditorissued a permit to Fred Ehlers,
(05:54):
an enterprising merchant fromGrant Park in Kankiki County, to
form a bank in our village.
Whatever his connection was toMoquina and his reasons for
going into commerce here havelong since been forgotten, but
it stands on the historicalrecord that he took three of our
businessmen with him in theventure.
However, the state of theeconomy was still a bit shaky at
(06:14):
the time and not totallyconducive to establishing a bank
.
As William Semler, moquina'scorrespondent to the Juliet
Weekly News, noted that afinancial stringency was
abounding in our midst.
He went on to detail that thepeople around here have not much
faith in bank scripts and anyother bank paper.
(06:34):
Money that is issued so it isdeclared will not accept any
such money at any rate.
As such, the bank project wentto sleep for a while.
It sprung back to life a littleover a year later when another
mystery man came onto the scene.
A Chicago attorney by the nameof H Gilbrath engaged himself
(06:56):
promoting a state bank inMoquina.
For those last few weeks of1908, the idea was looked upon
quite favorably by Vilge.
Folk Optimism was in the air,and in reporting on the
developments for the weekly news, william Semler wrote Our
business people and prominentcitizens, as well as dairy
farmers, have come to theconclusion that a bank in this
(07:18):
town would not only greatlyimprove business facilities but
will also benefit the town and,as we hope, prove to be a
stepping stone to future worthyenterprises.
Stock in this new institutionwas being subscribed for at such
speed that just beforeChristmas it was confidently
declared that for its size, thebank will be one of the
(07:39):
strongest in the county.
The local investors set theircalendars for their first
meeting on Saturday, january 2,1909.
On a day filled with meaning,they chose 55-year-old Christian
Beckstein as the firstpresident of the Moquina State
Bank.
For many years a La Porte Roadagriculturist, but lately a
(08:02):
resident of the village,beckstein had a seven-year term
as mayor behind him when he tookthe president's chair.
He remained captain at thebank's helm until the day he
passed away in 1924.
Filling the vice president'sposition was George Cooper, a
member of a prominent localfarming family, while the
secretary's spot was taken bylocal grain merchant William H
(08:25):
Beckstein.
President Beckstein's nephew,frowning them out, was the
youngest of the group,31-year-old Frank Leiths, who
became cashier, a position akinto a modern teller.
A further 10 men were chosenfor the new bank's board of
directors.
In early 1909, the new bank'sbuilding committee was working
(08:46):
on plans for their brand-newstructure and had engaged an
architect named John Allschlagerto draw up the plans.
While he was resident ofChicago, allschlager had grown
up on a farm a few milessouthwest of town while his
families had been early membersof St John's Church, proving
that all roads lead back toMoquina.
That march, after scouting forlocations in the village,
(09:11):
cashier Frank Leiths bought afront street lot from elderly
Francisco Stoll that he, in turn, would sell to the bank for a
handsome $550 before the yearwas over.
The businessmen in charge ofthe concern couldn't have asked
for a better location, it beingdirectly across the street from
the Rock Island Depot and smackdab in the middle of everything
(09:33):
in Moquina.
Israel (09:35):
All right.
So, matt, can you just give usa picture in today's front
street of where the bank sat?
Matt (09:42):
Sure, so the old bank sat or the original bank, I should
say sat on the north side offront street, just a tad west of
the intersection with MoquinaStreet, where we have the big
parking lot there for the bank,for what is now Chase Bank or
not Chase Bank, midland, midlandStates Bank, or it's my bank, I
(10:05):
don't even know the name of itMidland Bank.
There were a few differentbuildings.
Where the parking lot is nowand the bank was roughly could
say was roughly about where thedriveway is for the
drive-through lanes of the bank.
Right about there is where thatoriginal bank building was.
Israel (10:29):
So to the right of that, we would have the general store
at the time.
Then let's see At the time.
Matt (10:37):
I believe that would have been the Colbert hardware store
on the east and then actually onthe west.
Yes, that would have been theSutter general store on that old
building that was just to thewest there, as spring dawn of
(10:58):
our tourist moment came when thebank's building committee
assembled at Secretary William HBeckstein's grain office on
Moquina Street and awarded thecontract to Alfred Wenberg of
Joliet to begin construction onthe edifice.
It would measure in at 36 by 22feet, have solid brick walls
(11:18):
and a regal facade of BedfordStone containing stately columns
and an August shield bearingthe name Moquina State Bank.
In May of 1909, ground wasbroken on the front street lot
and the first building materialsbegan arriving over the Rock
Island.
The outlook was good, with theMokina Phoenix Advertiser
(11:39):
boasting that Mokina will haveas fine a bank as any town of
its size in the country.
Another important contract waslet in this time, namely for the
bank's steel-lined vault, itsburglar-proof door and inner
safe and 50 deposit boxes, allof which would be of the best
steel and workmanship.
(12:02):
As the walls rose on the frontstreet, last-minute
modifications were being made.
A small addition was tacked onto the rear of the still
incomplete building to house itsheating and lighting system.
In July, which proved to be amonth of great progress, mokina
concrete mason Julius G Oswaldand his workforce were busy
plastering the walls.
(12:22):
Then, while the character-richstamped steel ceiling went in at
the end of the month, in thefirst few days of August came
the steel vault, which weighedin at 10,400 pounds, not
reckoning in its door, whichalone came in at 4,800 pounds.
All the finishing touches werebeing put on Mokina's newest gem
(12:44):
and before the doors werefinally thrown open to the
public, all the modernconveniences such as an adding
machine, a coal-fed stove forheat and, before long, a
telephone, were installed.
Opening day came on Saturday,august 14, 1909, and it was a
very busy day indeed, as 500souvenir fans were given away no
(13:06):
small feat, as the populationat the time was only a touch
over 350 residents.
The next big rush came for thenewly unveiled Lincoln pennies,
as many town folk wanted themfor souvenirs.
All in all, the Mokina StateBank cost $5,000 to build and by
the end of September $30,000had been deposited there,
(13:29):
roughly equal to over $900,000in today's money.
It was an institution offinancial security, one of the
stateliest buildings to evergrace our village.
The old building served usfaithfully for 63 years, busy as
a beehive, and emerged from theGreat Depression without as
much as a scratch.
The historic edifice wassubstantially remodeled and
(13:51):
added onto in 1956, in a waythat one could almost describe
as brutal, as all of the graceand dignity of the original
building were obliterated.
In the end, the bank wasunceremoniously erased from our
landscape in 1972.
Israel (14:08):
So maybe you can describe that a little bit more.
Why would you describe it asbrutal?
Matt (14:15):
Yeah.
So whenever I look at beforeand after pictures, you had the
original 1909 building and thenhow it looked after they added
onto the front of it andremodeled the front facade.
It was just all of the just Ican't think of a better word
(14:36):
than just classiness of thatoriginal facade was just totally
obliterated Really.
Israel (14:43):
When they remodeled it, so like they took the pillars
and the front facade and allthat was gone.
Matt (14:49):
Oh, wow, the pillars, the doorway, like everything that
made that building great, wasgone and it just transformed
into like a concrete box.
How sad, oh, it was terrible.
Yeah, I just happened to crossa photo of the new bank quote
unquote, the end result theother day and it was just I was
looking at it and it was justlike and was it still being used
(15:12):
as a bank?
Yeah, yeah, it was still beingused as the Moquina State Bank
when they added onto it.
A drive through was added onand all this stuff.
But yeah, it was just the.
The 1950s, especially inMoquina, were not a period where
historic preservation wasreally something that was really
(15:34):
thought of, unfortunately.
Israel (15:36):
So yeah, yeah, so it cost $5,000 to build.
And how impressive.
They had $30,000 by the end ofSeptember deposited, or, as you
said, equal to about $900,000 intoday's money.
Matt (15:48):
Yeah, it was.
It was popular and people werehappy to have it and everybody
wanted to.
I mean maybe not everybody, buta lot of people wanted to use
it services.
Israel (16:00):
Yeah, it clearly showed a need.
Yeah, did other banks pop up intown after this one?
Matt (16:08):
Not for a very long time.
Once again I'll say maybesomebody can correct me on this
but just as I'm thinking in myhead, the Moquina State Bank was
definitely the only bank intown from 1909 until the end of
World War Two.
And as the town started growingin that postwar era, I want to
say the next bank to come totown?
(16:31):
Let me think here.
I'm pretty sure the next bankto come to town would have been
the Lincoln Way savings and loan, which was also on Front Street
, which they built, the buildingthat stands just west of where
Dave Bergman's, dave's auto usedto be and later tribes brewery.
Israel (16:48):
I believe there's a chiropractor, yeah, it was a
chase, yeah, for a while it wasa chase for for a good long time
.
Matt (16:55):
Yeah, yeah, that was.
That was the Lincoln Waysavings alone and they opened in
the 1970s.
Ok, I really think they werethe next bank to come to town
after the Moquina State Bank in1909.
Israel (17:10):
So that was a pretty long and did you as a young man
in town?
Did you have a, a, a passbooksavings account at Moquina State
?
Matt (17:19):
Bank Absolutely, I did, even my.
When my parents first came totown they Set up all their stuff
there and then when I got whichyou know before before me Then
when I got old enough I got myhow old I must have been, maybe
10, 11 years old I opened up myFirst account there and it was
(17:40):
so cool.
They gave me the Stomo KinaState Bank.
Then they gave me the littleyeah, the little book, and
whenever I would go in to putmore money in or take money out,
they would feed the book intolike a typewriter kind of thing
and type all the numbers into it.
I thought that was so cool.
I know I still have that booksomewhere.
Israel (17:59):
Yeah, no, I did too, from my the town in Wisconsin,
you know yeah we had about $35in there.
Yeah, yeah, yeah no, it's supercool as a kid though.
Yeah it was a big deal.
Yeah, that book or runningthrough the machine.
Matt (18:12):
Yeah, I feel bad for kids today that they don't have that
experience.
Israel (18:15):
Yeah, right, Well, you just look it up online or yeah,
right, yeah, yeah yeah.
Very neat.
So, as with any bank or youknow, especially our, in our
town it seems Businesses dealtwith trouble on that.
So yeah, next we're gonna hearthe story of the 1924 Robbery of
(18:37):
the Mokina State Bank.
Yes, crazy story.
Matt (18:42):
And dusty small town front street.
The acrid smell of soot fromcoal fed locomotives Would have
greeted a visitor to Mokina in1924.
Citizens doing business past onthe street where every face was
familiar and every personalityknown the old Mokina State Bank,
a beacon of stoic white BedfordStone and solid red brick,
(19:04):
stuck out among a sea of woodframe buildings.
Founded in 1909 by a group ofinfluential Mokina businessmen,
this institution came to reflecta rock of financial stability
in the rural farm village.
It was here on Tuesday, october27th 1924 that one of Mokina's
most audacious crimes wascommitted.
(19:25):
At 31 years of age on thatautumn day, carl Krap was a
lifelong resident of Mokina andthe bank's assistant cashier.
The son of one of the bank'sfounders, krap found himself
occupied with some book workbehind the bars of his cashier's
cage, perched atop a high stoolin his periphery.
(19:47):
He would have been aware of twomen entering the building's
front door.
In the matter of seconds, 45caliber cold pistol was shoved
through the bars into Krap'sface and a brusque voice barked
hands up.
The young cashier laughed atwhat he took for a mischievous
joke.
Not an unexpected reaction in asmall town where not much of
(20:08):
note happened Upon seeing therage of the armed man when his
order was not complied with andthat at least one of the men had
a Hankerchief wrapped aroundhis face, krap realized the
deadly seriousness of thesituation the bank was being
robbed.
Also present in the bank at thistime were local blacksmith
Albert Brown and hisbrother-in-law Harry Peterson,
(20:31):
as well as George Hacker, whonot only was the bank's cashier
but also served as Mokina'smayor.
Having held the small buildingin their firm grip, the robbers
herded Brown, peterson andassistant cashier Krap into a
rear room where the banditsforced them to face a wall with
their hands in the air.
The lead thief jammed hispistol into Krap's side and
(20:54):
Vulgarly threatened him.
As cashier, hacker was forcedinto the bank's vault.
Carl Krap would later recallthat the criminals weapon felt
like a cannon and, with hissenses that their highest level
of awareness, he expected a shotto ring out at any second.
At the vault, bundles ofcurrency were scooped into the
second thief's burlap sack.
(21:14):
Such was the robbers haste thata packet of bills containing
$200 burst onto the floor whereit was abandoned.
As quickly they carried outtheir brazen task.
The criminals bolted from thebank and into a large touring
car when three comrades awaitedthem, one of which was said to
be armed with a shotgun.
(21:34):
The auto disappeared as itroared westward down Front
Street.
The robbers loot equaledslightly more than four thousand
dollars, consisting of paperbills as well as gold and silver
.
Measured by the standards oftoday, the value of the heist
would equal approximately fiftythousand five hundred dollars.
(21:55):
In the immediate aftermath ofthe robbery, mokina and the
surrounding countryside becamealive with law enforcement
personnel.
After being notified by localtelephone office manager Clita
Denbour, will County SheriffJohn Walker and deputies from
Frankfurt, joliet, new Lenox aswell as Mokina took up the chase
.
Initially, these men wereunsuccessful in getting ahead of
(22:19):
the robbers until the tread ofthe getaway auto's tires Was
followed in front streets dustover rural roads to an abandoned
farm outside New Lenox.
Approaching the light browntouring car with trepidation
Attending, deputies found theauto to be devoid of life.
Inside were discovered theempty billfolds of George Hacker
(22:41):
and Karl Krop, which had beensnatched from them during the
robbery, as Was the handgunwhich had been employed in the
attack.
The thieves loot was nowhere tobe found.
Most ominously, more tiretracks along the dumped vehicle
indicated that a second carescaped with the wanted men,
from which all traces dissolvedinto oblivion, and A last
(23:04):
attempt to nab the fugitives,two police German shepherds were
used to track down the men.
While promising at the outsetthe presence of farmers in the
surrounding fields, quicklythrew dogs off the target scent.
The trail seemed cold untilshortly after the robbery when
sheriff's deputy Walter Fisher,a front street storekeeper, took
(23:25):
George and Vernon thousand intocustody.
Newcomers to Mokina andinitially claiming to be
brothers, vernon supposedly hadbeen held at gunpoint outside
the bank during the raid.
During questioning heeventually confessed that his
actual surname was James.
Their kinship wasn't the onlypart of their story to be bogus.
(23:47):
A claim of being prohibitionagents also fell apart under
scrutiny.
Having made what were deemedsuspicious statements about the
robbery by our town newspaper,the News Bulletin, james and
Talzin were summarily locked upat the county jail.
In their absence, authoritiesremoved suitcases from their
(24:07):
temporary place of residence inMoquina, inside which were found
not only matching ammunitionfor the robbery gun but also
pecan letters from local girls.
The issue of James and Talzinintensified when it was
discovered that the pair wereknown to be friendly with John
Frisch, a Moquina railroadworker and the villages
(24:28):
constable.
Many in town openly wonderedabout Frisch's involvement in
the robbery, as one of thesuspected twosome had recently
swapped pistols with him.
So loud was the mistrustagainst Frisch that the Moquina
village board was forced toinvestigate him until Deputy
Fisher vociferously defended him, stating that James and Talzin
(24:49):
had pulled the wool overFrisch's eyes as to their
intentions.
As history notes, no chargeswere ever formally leveled
against James and Talzin.
There was simply no conclusiveevidence, no smoking gun, tying
them to any involvement in therobbery of the Moquina State
Bank.
After their release from jail ashort time later, james
(25:12):
threatened to exact revenge onDeputy Fisher and promptly
disappeared along with Talzininto the untraceable void of
time.
Moquina was a changed placeafter the heinous robbery, with
all strangers looked upon withsuspicion.
An unknown face would be askedto explain his business in town
and, if a satisfactory answerwasn't becoming, would be
(25:32):
hustled out of the village.
The bank was quickly stockedwith firearms and the building
itself was fortified.
Within a year of the robbery.
The cashier's cage wascompletely surrounded with a
bulletproof glass, while allwoodwork in the bank was backed
with steel, not to mention thewindows that got
bullet-resistant screens.
The doors to the cashier'sspace and the president's office
(25:56):
also got a treatment of steel,as well as an apparatus that
allowed them to be opened onlyfrom the inside by means of an
electric button.
The directors of the bankweren't about to take any
chances on the supposedlybulletproof glass and invited
Deputy Fisher to give it a test.
On the afternoon of Tuesday,november 24, 1925, the deputy
(26:19):
fired three rounds from his38-caliber revolver into the
glass.
Not a single one made itthrough.
The news bulletin was there andnoted that the only effect on
the glass was a whitening of thesurface, same as seen on a
piece of ice when it is struck.
Moquina may never know who isbehind the robbery of October 27
, 1924.
(26:40):
Loose ends existed that werenever followed up on, and
ringers for the crime werereleased without charge.
What is sure is that the crimeresonated so deeply in the
collective psyche of this sleepyrailroad village of decades
past that it is still rememberedwith dread to this day.
Israel (26:56):
This robbery really changed I mean the bank and how
it interacted with the communityas well as the whole community,
it seems.
Matt (27:06):
Yeah, it definitely did.
People were very much on sortof like needles and pins after
it happened and it was a smalltown where we're just about
everybody knew everybody elseand whatnot.
Lots of families related toeach other, stuff like this.
(27:27):
But after the robbery it was atime when strangers were looked
upon with suspicion, as therobbery was pulled off by
out-of-towners and strangersthat weren't known.
Israel (27:42):
And then the suspicion of the fresh deputy Frisch was
there.
I guess there was no realresolution to that.
I mean, he was cleared andwhile deputy Fisher kind of
stepped in and spoke up for him.
Matt (27:58):
Yeah, he did.
Israel (27:59):
But that's a lot of.
I mean, he changed weapons withthis one of these guys and
there does seem like a lot ofcoincidence there.
Matt (28:11):
Yeah, it was definitely, I think granted, I wasn't there,
but I think these two guys,james and Talzin whether or not
they were involved in therobbery we may never know they
definitely were a verysuspicious characters though.
But when they rolled into townI think they kind of identified
(28:31):
deputy Frisch as being the townconstable and tried to sort of
make friends with them and tryto maybe manipulate him, and
from what it sounds like, hejust kind of as deputy Fisher
said he kind of unwillinglyallowed himself to have the wool
pulled over his eyes.
Israel (28:50):
Kind of a little too nice for his own good maybe,
yeah yeah, yeah, exactly, and itwound up coming back to get him
.
So yeah, wow.
So $50,000 in today's money,yeah, or it was about $4,000
that was sold.
That's a big amount of money,yeah.
Matt (29:06):
Yeah, I mean, it was nothing to sneeze at.
Yeah, I mean, they got papermoney and gold and silver too,
and this was also in the dayswhen FDIC didn't exist to back
up the funds of the bank.
So I would imagine that localpeople lost their money when
this happened.
Israel (29:25):
Well, that's what I was, because is there a central?
I don't know if you know, but Imean we just heard about all
this money that was injectedinto this new bank.
I mean, you know, but you thinkthey're holding a large portion
of the money that's depositedby?
Matt (29:44):
sure by the community.
Israel (29:46):
Yeah, definitely.
So, yeah, that's what wouldhave been.
Yeah, and how that's made upand how that's covered or the
losses are are taken care of.
Matt (29:55):
It's interesting to think about it is.
Yeah, I mean it definitely wasa big event.
Unfortunately, it wasn't thefirst time that some heinous
crime had happened in Mokina,but it was.
It had been a long time sinceAnything along those lines had
occurred in town and yeah, Imean it really shook things up.
I mean it was it was coveredthe.
The robbery was covered bypapers in Chicago even so, wow,
(30:18):
yeah, yeah.
Israel (30:20):
Yeah, well, really interesting story, you know, and
all together, I mean, when youthink about the bank and, as we
said, like this cool small town,yeah, you know, country kind of
town bank, and you know, I knowyou have.
We have another story that wemight cover in another episode
of another attempt on the bank.
(30:42):
Yeah, yeah, you know, but yeah,really interesting, so it is
yeah and again.
Our deputy Walter Fisher is istalked about.
Matt (30:50):
Yeah he was there.
Israel (30:51):
You know, we you wrote the book on and that's right and
played a part here too bad,that beautiful bank is still
sitting on front street I know,I'm so jealous of Frankfurt.
Matt (31:00):
There their old bank is still there, but we lost ours.
Yeah, yeah.
Israel (31:04):
Well, great man, this is another great story.
Thank you?
Matt (31:07):
I think so too.
Thanks for sharing theseAbsolutely.
Israel (31:12):
We hope you enjoyed this episode.
If you're enjoying our showwould really help us out a lot
if you would leave us a ratingand a review, as well as share
our show with your friends andyour family.
There's a link in the shownotes to Matt's blog article
that this episode was based on,so be sure to check that out.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next time on Mokina's
(31:32):
Front Porch.
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