Isaac B Alter

1860 - 1927  (67 years)

• Name	Isaac B Alter
  Born	18 Aug 1860	Indiana
  Gender	Male
  Died	18 Aug 1927	Rossville, Shawnee County, Kansas
  Buried	Mount Hope Cemetery, Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas
  Person ID	I555	Rossville
  Last Modified	3 Jun 2017

  
  

  Family	Orretta Alter,   d. 29 Aug 1959, Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas
  Last Modified	3 Jun 2017 11:52:59
  Family ID	F3655	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Documents » Slide Show		Obituary- Alter, I.B. 1 SIMPLE CEREMONIES FOR DEAD ROSSVILLE BANKER Funeral services for I. B. Alter, who took his life last Thursday morning, were held Saturday afternoon at 1 o’clock at the home on east Pottawatomie street. A short service was conducted by Rev. O. E. Brown, former pastor of the Rossville M. E. church. Music was furnished by Mrs. Albert Reser and Mrs. A. B. Jamieson without instrumental accompaniment. Sorrowing friends and patrons of the institution founded by the deceased man filled the house and overflowed into the yard. The burial was in Mt. Hope cemetery at Topeka, a large number of Rossville people being in the procession that accompanied the body to its last resting place. The active pallbearers included Messrs. A. E. Moore, William Howerton, L. O. Parr, George Reser, A. A. Cless and A. B. Jamieson. The honorary pall bearers included Messrs. Teodore Fields, W. V. Hook Albert Reser, E. E. Witter and Frank Stumbaugh. The news of Mr Alter’s suicide came as a bolt out of a clear sky. People were stunned and horrified. Even his most intimate friends did not realize he was in such financial straights as to cause him to take his own life. But Alter’s was a high strung, sensitive nature. He could not bear the criticisms and sensure [sic] that would have come with the closing of the banks doors. There were expressions of sorrow and regret from the crowd that pressed around the bank doors following the news of his death. Had it been known he needed help to [missing portion] _____ Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Carpenter, are away on a vacation in the lake region and may not be found in time for the funeral. ________ There has been little or no expressions of censure or bitterness---only expressions of pity and sympathy. Sympathy over the hours of agony he must have suffered in his lone struggle to bolster up his financial affairs. _________ Mr. Alter had always taken an active part in the business affairs of the community. He had been mayor, a member of the city council and a member on the school boards of directors for tweney-flve [sic] years. Only the last few years had he dropped out of active participation in civic affairs. Mr. Alter came to Rossville thirty-three years ago from Longton, Kans. and entered the Rossville State bank as cashier. He soon gained controlling interest. He made friends and prospered. A few years later he started the Delia and Silver Lake banks and was president of both institutions. He had the finest residence and grounds in town—the furnishings being such as only a man of culture and refinement would surround himself. His passing casts a pall of gloom over the town and surrounding community and only expressions of sincerest sympathy for the grief stricken widow and relatives is heard from all. No statement has been made this week as to the condition of the affairs of the dead banker. The people of all the communities affected by the tie-up of funds,has been remarkably calm and will be the means of assisting the authorities in straightening out the troubles to the best interest of all concerned. Four people have been at work constantly since last Thursday and it is thought a statement will be forthcoming later this week. _________ [hidden portion underneath] Mr. and Mrs. Marcotte, come to Rossville this morning and funeral arrangements were announced late this afternoon. Funeral services will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at the home. The body will be taken to Topeka for burial.
  		Obituary- Alter, I.B. 2 I. B. ALTER KILLS SELF Had Been In Business Here for Thirty-five Years. Assistant Bank Commissioner Takes Charge of Bank’s Affairs. I. B. Alter, 65. cashier and principal stockholder of the Rossville State bank, shot and killed himself in the bank vault this morning about 9:00 while two state bank examiners were waiting at the rear to look over his records. In a note addressed to his wife, Mr. Alter intimated that he had been having financial difficulties. William Kennedy, assistant state bank co-missioner, has taken charge of the bank’s affairs. Mr. Alter owned the controlling interest in the Rossville State bank and had been in the banking business for 40 years. He was considered a successful and conservative banker. He had been indentified [sic] with the Rossville State Bank since its institution in 1892, in the same rooms where his life ended. Prior to his arrival in Rossville he was in the banking business at Longton, Kansas, his native town. D. W. Woolley, second special assistant bank commissioner, and W. H. Breihan, deputy bank commissioner, arrived at the Rossville bank about 8:50 o’clock this morning. They asked Miss Blanche Parr, assistant cashier, to see Alter. She stated he was at the front of the bank. Breihan returned with the report that Alter was not there. Miss Parr then said that she presumed he had stepped out for a few minutes. Glenn Page, clerk in the bank, returned at this moment [sic] from Silver Lake, where he had beers sent on an errand [sic] by Alter. Breihan asked Page to go to the vault with him to count the cash. Page opened the vault door and discovered the body of Mr. Alter. Breihan was behind Page as he opened the door. [missing portions] once and he pronounced Alter dead. Alter had shot himself in the heart with a .38 caliber revolver. While there were two persons in the bank from the time Alter was last seen alive until his body was found, no one heard the fatal shot. Page said that Alter had come to his home shortly after 7 o’clock this morning and asked for Page’s keys to the bank. Alter explained that he had left his keys in the bank. The cashier seemed in the best of spirits when he arrived about 7:35 o’clock, Page stated, and Alter asked him to attend to some business in Silver Lake. Page went to the post- office for the morning mail and, returning, met Alter who was going to mail some letters. Page then drove to Silver Lake and returned shortly before 9 o’clock. When Dr. H. L. Clark, county coroner, arrived he found the revolver lying on the floor of the bank vault. It was broken open and one exploded shell was found in the gun. Search later disclosed three other cartridges on the floor. It is believed that the gun was broken open when it struck the floor. The note which Alter addressed to his wife had been started Tuesday. Another portion had been added later, while there was a postscript in pencil on the back of the last sheet. While the text of the note was not made public, it indicated that Alter had been having financial difficulties. At the last statement as of June 30 the statement showed $225,963.38 in deposits. Real estate and other loans were $217,958.40. There were $10,500 in rediscounted bills and bills payable. Cash and sight exchange was $15,232.38 and $20,880, in real estate owned. William Howerton is president of the bank. Mr. Alter is survived by his widow who is a sister of Mrs. O. F. Marcotte and Mrs. E.E. Carpenter, of Topeka. One sister also survives. When word of the suicide was received at the state bank commissioner’s office, Kennedy came to Rossville. After a meeting of the bank’s board of directors, it was agreed to give complete charge of the bank’s affairs to the state banking department. Kennedy was placed in charge and started an examination immediately.
  		Obituary- Alter, I.B. 3 WEAVER SELECTED TO HANDLE LOCAL BANK J. D. Weaver, former Maple Hill banker, was selected yesterday as assistant receiver for the Rossville State Bank until its affairs are closed up. Mr. Weaver was agreed upon at a meeting held Wednesday afternoon in the Bank hall attended by a large number of the depositors and stockholders of the bank and Roy L. Bone, state bank commissioner. Mr. Weaver’s appointment as assistant receiver under Charles W. Johnson, the state’s general receiver, followed a conference of the day previous in Topeka when Bone refused to permit the Rossville people to put in A. J. Thomas of Silver Lake as receiver. According to the bank department the local muddle has so many angles that it requires a man of wide banking experience to handle. Mr. Weaver has had many years experience in country bank work and as he has the confidence [sic] of the local people as well as the banking department work of straightening out the bank’s affairs should progress smoothly. So far in the examination, according to the banking department the bank shortage is around $30,000, the amount Alter admitted in a note he wrote before taking his life. But there are nearly $100,000 of Alter’s personal notes outstanding, and one of the questions that will have to be decided is whether these, or any of them, are a liability against the bank itself. -------- ROSSVILLE STATE BANK MAY PAY IN FULL Nothing new has developed in the affairs of the defunct Rossville State bank this week. Mr. Weaver, the assistant receiver has been busy checking over individual accounts. In this he is being assisted by Mr. Olsen, first assistant to the general receiver of the state banking department. No further shortage than the $30,000 announced by the examiners has been uncovered. This amount will in all probability be covered by the indemnity bond and the call for double liability from the stockholders. Miss Blanche Parr, who has been with the bank for many years, has been retained as clerk, by Mr. Weaver.