Ralph B. Pettit to Charles W. Chesnutt, 5 May 1930
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THE UNION TRUST COMPANY1
CLEVELAND, OHIO2
May 5, 1930.
Mr. Chas. W. Chesnutt,
1646 Union Trust Building,
Cleveland, Ohio.
Dear Sir:
Owing to the decline in the market value of the securities which we are holding as collateral to your $18,500.00 loan, we ask that you please make payment of $1,000.00, or furnish us with additional collateral with a loaning value of that amount.3
Yours very truly, R. B. Pettit R. B. Pettit, Ass't. Vice President. RBP/CMHCorrespondent: Ralph Bowman Pettit (1879–1954) was a White banker from Ohio who started as a bank accountant and teller in his early 20s and rose high in the ranks of Union Trust Bank after its founding in 1920. He worked primarily for the collateral loan department and was consecutively assistant vice president, vice president, and eventually treasurer of Union Trust, which is the position he held when the bank was closed after the bank collapse of 1933.
1. The Union Trust Company was a Cleveland bank trust, by 1920 a large nationwide bank following several mergers. In 1924, Chesnutt's company began renting offices in the new Union Trust Building that housed the bank's headquarters. Many of Chesnutt's investments were also with Union Trust. After the stock market collapse in 1929, he had to service a $18,500 loan for which the collateral had been stock market shares that were now worthless; the company also held the mortgage for his home at 9719 Lamont St. and for at least one rental property he owned (11900–02 Superior Ave.). Union Trust survived the early years of the Depression, but was not allowed to reopen after another collapse of the Cleveland banks in February 1933. [back]
2. For readability, the remainder of the Union Trust Company letterhead is not transcribed in the body of the letter but is included in this footnote as unformatted text. The letterhead can be seen in its entirety in the accompanying image of the letter. The text of the remainder of the letterhead is as follows: "J. R. NUTT PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF BOARD EXECUIVE MANAGERS GEORGE A. COULTON VICE PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE J. R. KRAUS VICE PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF FINANCE COMMITTEE W. M. BALDWIN, VICE PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF TRUST COMMITTEE COMMERCIAL BANKING DEPARTMENT C. E. FARNSWORTH, VICE PRESIDENT ALLARD SMITH, VICE PRESIDENT E. E. CRESWELL, VICE PRESIDENT H. E. HILLS, VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE P. STEELE, VICE PRESIDENT R. C. HYATT, VICE PRESIDENT R. S. CRAWFORD, V. PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY C. W. CARLSON, VICE PRESIDENT T. J. CHAMPION, VICE PRESIDENT R. B. PETTIT, ASST. VICE PRESIDENT C. F. HEIL, ASST. VICE PRESIDENT R. L. WILLIAMS, ASST. VICE PRESIDENT J. L. WADSWORTH, ASST. VICE PRESIDENT J. H. THOMPSON, ASST. VICE PRESIDENT W. H. FREYTAG, ASST. TREASURER W. A. HARTFORD, ASST. TREASURER, GEORGE Q. HALL, ASST. TREASURER JOHN P. KRAUS, ASST. SECRETARY BANKS AND BANKERS' DEPARTMENT C. B. ANDERSON, TREASURER M. B. KOELLIKER, ASST. VICE PRES. D. Y. LAFEVER, ASST. VICE PRESIDENT D. D. GRIGOR, ASST. TREASURER A. R. BOETHELT, ASST. TREASURER W. R. IRWIN, ASST. TREASURER" [back]
3. Before the stock market crash in 1929, it was common for stock to serve as a collateral for loans, which in Chesnutt's case were mortgages and loans with Union Trust Company relating to the real estate he owned. Chesnutt was able to avoid foreclosure when the value of this collateral collapsed in 1929 (partly by using life insurance policies as a new collateral, partly by using a large portion of his income to pay the loans back) but he never recovered financially. [back]
