ABOVE IMAGE: Wm. C. Rodger & Son, Agents, Jordan, N.Y., 1889 Calendar.
Our story begins in the year 1898. William Clark Rodger, the trusted local banker, insurance agent, grain dealer, and coal dealer, passed away on January 2nd, one day after the new year had begun. Then, in what can only be described as a tragedy for all involved, shortly after his death, a dreadful secret emerged. All the monies that an entire community had entrusted to Mr. Rodger was no longer held by his bank. Everything was gone. Local businesses, churches, schools, farmers, and many residents of Jordan had lost everything.
The bank had initially been established by William's father, early Jordan resident James Rodger, whose parents immigrated from Scotland around 1804. William was born in 1832 in Wolcott, Wayne County, NY. He was considered a very respected member of the community, but he had been keeping a part of his life secret from his Jordan friends and neighbors.
ABOVE PHOTO: William Clark Rodger, Jordan Banker (1832-1898, age 66)
(Onondaga's Centennial: Gleanings of a Century, Volume 1, Edited by Dwight Hall Bruce, 1896, page 706)
The following image shows the headlines and first paragraph of an article which appeared in late January in the Saturday Globe, a newspaper in Utica, NY. The full article is transcribed below:
JORDAN'S SENSATION.
A BANKER'S DEATH... AND FAILURE ROB A WHOLE VILLAGE.
How the People of Jordan Village Were Victimized by the Crookedness of Their Trusted Banker.
Syracuse, Jan. 28.—Jordan, a little village in Onondaga county of 1,500 inhabitants, is experiencing a decided sensation, all growing out of the death on January 2 of William C. Rodger and the closing of his bank six days after. From all reliable accounts no less than $75,000 of deposits is unaccounted for and there is nothing to meet the obligations. Now to complicate matters all the more and to add to the sensational part of the failure of the bank, it is rumored that Rodgers did not die on January 2, and that some of the judgment creditors and the New York insurance company that held a policy of $20,000 on his life are going to apply to County Judge Ross for an order to examine the body and find out if it is that of Banker William C. Rodger. Those who know the circumstances connected with the banker say there is no doubt of his "being" dead, as he had lately been mentally tortured and died from an affection of the heart.
Nearly every merchant, lawyer, doctor, grocer, butcher, minister, school teacher, druggist and every church had on deposit in the Rodger Bank from $400 to $4,500, all of which has vanished. Even the church that Rodger attended, the Methodist Episcopal Church, lost all the money it had by the death of its friend and active supporter. Even the school money, amounting to $3,200, has been lost, and the village funds, in all about $1,400, cannot be accounted for.
Speculation in Chicago wheat caused the financial ruin of the Jordan banker. He was the owner of the big grain elevator in the village of Jordan, and now that he is dead his friends have come to the conclusion that he had been dealing in futures for [illegible] the money deposited in his bank to help himself along when he was losing and being squeezed, recently became ill and, as his heart was affected for years, the end came quickly.
For more than 35 years the office of postmaster of the village of Jordan has been held by the Rodger family. President Buchanan appointed the father of W. C. Rodger postmaster. When the father died the son was given the post office, and he held it to within a few years ago. The son was of the type of men who are looked upon in small towns and villages, and even in cities, as being men of the highest character. He did not chew tobacco, drink, gamble, play cards at home, and dressed in a very simple fashion. At the bank he was stern, yet kind to his employees, but was a man who would not allow any trifling, and he always kept a strict check on the books, and all of the funds that came in were passed over to him. The bank was his, the only one in town and he ran it to suit himself.
The Rodger Bank has always been regarded in financial circles as perfectly sound. The business and professional men in and around Jordan have always done business there, and as Rodger was reputed to be worth at least $150,000 there was never any rumors regarding the standing of the institution. He had the settling of at least 10 estates in recent years, and it is now reported that he was short in each transaction.
Rodger never had any confidants. Even his wife did not know much about his private business. Not until after his death did she realize that she would have to discharge the servants and then ask an old friend of the family for money to keep her in necessities.
Rodger was not confined to his home any length of time by sickness. An old friend of the family, James Higgs, told a Globe correspondent that the only time Rodger ever went to New York was in 1884, and that Higgs had to pay his expenses. This was the only time Rodger ever went away from Jordan, with the exception of his periodical visits to Syracuse.
On January 8, Robert E. Greene, who had a very small interest in the bank, failed. There were no preferences, except those required by the laws of the State. The assignment papers were signed by Greene, as surviving partner of Rodger & Co. Then for the first time the depositors of the bank began to feel uneasy. In the bank were deposits that represented the work of a life time. One man, S. L. Rockwell, postmaster of the village, awoke one morning to find that all the money he turned over to Rodger, $25,000, was not to be accounted for.
Inquiry among the business men of the village shows that the heaviest depositors in the bank were the farmers and the men who accumulate money by shrewd speculation in land and real estate. Nathaniel Sohmers $2,300. Mrs. A. M. Peck, after the death of her husband, received $4,200 from a life insurance company. This she gave to Rodger. Henry Healey had on deposit $2,000. George Bloomfield $1,500. Thatcher Steven $1,000. Mrs. Connell $3,000, the Hardy estate $4,000, Roman Catholic Church $500, Baptist Church $450. Methodist Church $400. Episcopal Church $150. Williams & Allen $700. Miss Flora Andrews $100. Mrs. James Higgs $450. Mrs. Clarissey Johnson $2,800. Mrs. C. P. Brown $835. Hattie Higgs $450. Emma Thoms $425.
THE BANKER'S DEBTS.
The estate of Rodger is said to be insolvent. His debts are enormous. He owes H. S. Holden, of this city, $4,000 for coal. The State Bank has a note for $3,000. His indebtedness to the Bank of Auburn is believed to be not less than $30,000 and the Commercial Bank of Syracuse is owned $2,000. Other debts are coming in public notice almost daily.
Charity to the dead does not prevent friends and patrons of Mr. Rodger from supposing that he acted crookedly with them during his life time. James Higgs, one of the heaviest real estate owners in the village of Jordan, told your correspondent to-day that a few days after the death of Mr. Rodger he received a letter saying that he had a mortgage of $2,000 at the bank. Higgs went to the bank and told Mr. Green that he never executed such a mortgage and that it was a forgery. The mortgage purports that Higgs assigned an interest in the Higgs Block for a temporary loan. The mortgage was then signed over to the bank by Rodger. It was assigned by him four years ago. Other mortgages that are assigned to the bank are believed to be forgeries and were made out by Rodger in order to cover up his [s]peculations.
The examination of the bank books shows that there is about $2,000 on deposit now. Rodger's paper will foot up at least $37,000. His real estate is mortgaged and if he has any funds or securities that he did not hypothecate they have not been found, but the supposition is that Rodger died almost penniless and during his life spent not only his own money, but also the money of all of the depositors in the bank.
There will be great hardship entailed in the village of Jordan and Weedsport for a long time as a result of the failure of the Rodger Bank. S. L. Rockwell, an old man of 60, is left without a dollar. All of the $25,000 that he lost in the bank he had saved by careful economy. When Rodger was in financial straits Rockwell transferred to him about $25,000. This Rodger afterwards mortgaged for a large amount, appropriated the money thus raised to his own use, and transferred the forged mortgage to the bank. John R. Howland, of Weedsport, claims that a mortgage of $400 purporting to have been executed by him to Catherine Daggart [Daggett] is a forgery. He says he never heard of such a woman, that he did not make such a mortgage and that if the Rodger Bank holds any such mortgage it was drawn up by a person other than himself.
The visitor to Jordan these days will find standing around groups of farmer and business men, all discussing the Rodger matter. Nine out of every 10 of them believe Rodger is still alive and that the man in the coffin that was buried on January 4 was not the body of the banker.
Undertaker Praspow [Brastow], however, who had charge of the funeral arrangements, says that Rodger is dead and that the death certificate was signed by Dr. Warren. He brands as absurd the idea that Rodger is living.
What the outcome will be is only conjecture, but only the most sanguine hope to get as much as 25 per cent of their losses. Many poor people owing to Rodger's death will now become town charges.
One of Rodger's acts of duplicity was the posting of a sign last spring offering 5 per cent interest on deposits. In this way he induced many people to place their money in his bank. The latter being a private institution was not examined by the bank examiner and the general opinion was that Rodger was safe and was worth many thousands of dollars in his own right.
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Below is an article published in early February 1898, which lists, among other things, the people who had lost money as a result of the bank failure, and how much they had lost. The list includes not only people in Jordan, but also residents of neighboring communities. The losses were breathtaking.
THE BANK FAILURE: The Schedule of Assets and Liabilities Filed Last Friday
The Jordan Times, February 3, 1898
At the time of his death, William Rodger's bank was located in the Higgs Block, a large 3-story brick building once located on the southeast corner of South Main Street and Mechanic Street (approximately where J&T Car Care, the former trolley station, is located today). The Higgs Block (formerly known as the Graves Block) was destroyed by fire on November 6, 1902.
ABOVE PHOTO: Looking southeast at the Higgs Block, once located on the southeast corner of South Main Street and Mechanic Street. The Smith Wood Memorial Fountain is visible in the foreground at right. With the exception of the Higgs Block, and the 2-story wood frame building to the right, the other brick shops further to the south are still standing today on the east side of South Main Street.
ABOVE PHOTO: Inside the William C. Rodger Bank in the Higgs Block, 1891. Robert E. Greene (1842-1913, age 70), cashier and business partner of William C. Rodger, is standing at the counter. His 11-year-old daughter, Amy, is seated at right (Amy Katherine Greene Sands, 1880-1970, age 90).
ABOVE PHOTO: The former J. Rodger & Sons Storehouse located on the heel path of the old Erie Canal. This building still stands today on Water Street, just south of the Jordan Fall Festival grounds, and has been converted into apartments. The Beaver Street bridge over the canal is visible at far left. William C. Rodger owned a lumber yard just to the west of this storehouse, also on Water Street.
ABOVE IMAGE: 1874 Sweet's Atlas map showing the J. Rodger & Son Storehouse and W. C. Rodger & Co. Lumber Yard on Water Street. Also note the J. Rodger & Son Block on the northeast corner of Mechanic Street and North Main Street (where Lyons National Bank is today).
ABOVE IMAGE: Advertisement for William Rodger's coal business (The Jordan Times, February 3, 1898).
ABOVE PHOTO: Headstone for William C. Rodger (1832-1898, age 66) and his second wife (Caroline) Julia Knowlton Rodger (1835-1914, age 79), Maple Grove Cemetery, Jordan.
The following profile was favorably written about William C. Rodger in 1896, two years before his death.
Onondaga's Centennial: Gleanings of a Century, Volume 2, edited by Dwight Hall Bruce, 1896, page 45:
William C. Rodger was born near Wolcott, Wayne county, N.Y., October 30, 1832. He has, however, spent his life in Jordan, for his parents lived only about one year and a half in Wayne county when they moved to the town of Elbridge, settlement in Jordan permanently. His father, James Rodger, was born in Albany, N.Y., in 1805, one week after his parents landed in that place from Scotland. They had come direct from Greennock, Scotland, with the intention of making America their permanent home. William Rodger, the father of James Rodger, was a blacksmith, and carried on the business in Albany until 1818, when the family removed to Madison county, purchased a farm near Quality Hill, which he worked in connection with his trade until 1832, when they removed to the town of Elbridge, purchased a farm about one and a quarter miles north of the village of Elbridge, where they resided at the time of his death, December, 1822. It devolved on James, who had grown to be quite a boy, together with his mother, to carry on the farm. This they did successfully till James Rodger had grown to manhood, and, in fact, till some years after he was married. He married Olive M. Clark, a native of Vermont, who had become a resident of Elbridge. James Rodger, at the time mentioned, had closed out his interest in the Elbridge place and moved to Wolcott, where William C. Rodger, the subject of this portrait and sketch, was born. After James Rodger returned to Jordan he entered upon a commercial career, which continued the balance of his life, a career that was crowned with success in no small degree. As a boy William C. Rodger attended the Jordan public schools, and later graduated at the Jordan Academy. At the age of nineteen he was through with school and ready to start an active life, for he possessed the same quality of metal that had come down from his Scotch ancestors and that comprised energy, pluck and ambition.
His father had become a large dealer in all kinds of grain, and was also carrying on the grocery and milling business in Jordan. William C. was admitted to an interest in the business, and they together conducted it until James Rodgers death, which occurred in 1885. His wife survived till 1894. In addition to the branches of business mentioned, they had, in 1872, bought the Jordan Bank, which they continued to run, and which is still conducted under the style of Rodger & Co. Mr. Rodger is now engaged extensively in buying and shipping all kinds of grain, and with these lines carries on the coal business in Jordan. He is, besides these, interested in other industries that require much of his time and capital. The success he has achieved places Mr. Rodger amongst the first business men of the county.
While Mr. Rodger has been earnest and active in business he has also taken a lively interest in political matters of the town, county and State. As a Republican he has been for many years an influential worker, giving much valuable service to the party. In recognition of this he was appointed postmaster at that place in 1862, during President Lincoln's administration, and largely through his efforts the business of the office increased till it became a presidential office. He has been president of the village, and for many years a member of the Board of Education. The fact that Jordan has today one of the finest public school buildings in the county was due largely to his push and zeal in the matter. Since 1890, though, Mr. Rodger has been, politically, in the Prohibition ranks, being now as fervent in the interests of this party as he formerly was in the Republican.
Mr. Rodger married for his first wife, in 1854, Amelia Buckhout, of Castile, N. Y., by whom he had three children, Ella, who married Charles W. Laird of Jordan; Emma, who married Walter W. B. Rodger, of Greennock, Scotland, where they now reside. He owns a large estate, and is a man of prominence both socially and politically. He is the provost of the city, and recently was presented by the corporation with an elaborate silver mounted cradle, with design of municipal building and coat of arms, as a memento of the occasion of the birth of a son, the first one born to a provost while holding the office. The third child and daughter died in infancy.
Mrs. Rodger died in 1857. Mr. Rodger's second wife, whom he married in 1862, was Julia Knowlton, of Jordan, who is still living. They have had four sons, three of whom are living, namely: William K., Charles H., and Winfred C. The two older sons are now associated in business with Mr. Rodger, the youngest, Winfred C., being yet in school.
ABOVE PHOTO: Methodist Church Choir, circa 1875-1880.
In the front row are two of William Rodger's daughters, Emma Rodger at left, and Ella Rodger Laird at right. Amelia Hardy is in the center.
MIDDLE ROW (L to R): Miss Warner, Adelia Hardy, Emma Stocking.
BACK ROW (L to R): Hiram Converse, Hiram's sister, Cornelia Phillips Williams, James Murray (a Jordan harness maker).
Ella Rodger Laird was the grandmother of Dorothy Laird Beck, whom many will remember as "Mrs. Beck," a school librarian at Ramsdell Elementary School (today's Jordan-Elbridge Middle School), and later the Director of the Jordan Bramley Library from 1979 to 1987.