The
Banque de St. Jean
by
Geoffrey G. Bell
 Recently
while visiting a numismatic friend, I was given an interesting typed
sheet of paper discolored after many years serving as backing to
a framed photograph. The photograph had been located in a branch
of the Royal Bank of Canada in St. Jean, Quebec. On this sheet of
paper was a type-written account of the Banque de St. Jean.
This
bank was founded in 1873 by Louis Molleur with paid up capital of
$316,000 and subscribed capital of $500,000. The first manager was
Joseph Molleur, brother of Louis Molleur, the second Philibert Baudoin,
lawyer, the third Philippe Roy, who was also the President and the
fourth, P.I. L’Heureux who had been an assistant to Baudoin.
When
the bank failed, the Directors were the following: Philippe Roy,
Lucien Lamoureux, Wilfred Brosseau, Marcellin Robert, Aime Lemieux
and Henri Catudal.
The
first office was the present location of the Royal Bank. After the
fire of 1876, the Bank was located during reconstruction in a building
that is there to this day situated on the southeast corner of Jacques
Cartier and St. Charles streets. In 1877, they returned to a new
office on Richelieu Street. In 1893, the bank wishing to save money,
rented its offices to a competitor, the Banque du Peuple, and moved
its offices to the southeast corner of Richelieu and St. Georges
streets, a location now occupied by the Woodhouse store. It returned
to its original location in 1895 when the Banque du Peuple failed.
The bank had branches in Napierville, Henryville and St.Remi.
The
bank was apparently solvent until 1898, that being the time Louis
Molleur was President. Against the formal wishes of the President
and Directors, the bank financed the construction of the railroad
through the Richelieu Valley between Iberville and Noyan, 19 miles,
via Sabrevais and Henryville at a cost of $480,000. The financing
was in part done by issuing bonds and partly by individuals giving
promissory notes. Several years later, the railway went bankrupt
and was sold by public auction by order of the Exchequer Court.
It sold for $125,000 to a railway company that ran between Iberville
and St. Hycinthe, the company being the property of the Delaware
and Hudson. Later, the 2 lines were bought by Canadian National
for a big price but operations were discontinued around 1936.
The
position of the bank, already weak, was shaken by the $125,000 transaction
and in 1908 the bank was closed by the Banking Association. Mr.
Tancrede Bienvenu was the liquidator and the liquidation took nearly
4 years. The bank had $219,000 in circulating notes, investments
of $340,000, borrowed money of $560,000 and assets of $326,000.
Holders of notes were paid 100 cents on the dollar but depositors
received only 30 and a fraction cents on the dollar. Shareholders
lost their investment and many were liable for double the amount
of their investment.
This
author has no idea when this account was written so references to
locations and businesses may be long out of date. We do know the
Banque de St. Jean shut its doors on April 28, 1908. Fraudulence
and incompetence both ran riot in this case according to the Journal
of the Canadian Banker’s Association. The President was sentenced
to St. Vincent de Paul prison dying while there. He was guilty of
making false returns to the Department of Finance.
The
notes of this bank are very scarce and this author only knows of
one such note appearing in auction in the last 25 years.
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