The Still River Bank Saga

 Twenty-seven-year-old James Van Wert of Winsted, Connecticut, was arrested in Southwick, Massachusetts, at about 11:00 pm, Friday, February 3, 1860.

Authorities reportedly found him in bed with a woman believed to be his wife's younger sister.

If, in fact, true, adultery was the least of his worries.

Earlier that Friday, Van Wert and his female companion had breakfast at Day's, a hotel in Otis, Massachusetts, before riding in a one-horse sleigh to nearby West Becket, where they had a second breakfast at Kendall Baird's Tavern. Van Wert paid for their breakfast at each place using a $3 bill, for which he received $2.50 back in change. 

As the couple was leaving Baird's, they were recognized by hotel proprietor Mr. Day, who happened to be in town. Finding it rather odd that they had had breakfast a second time, he compared the $3 bill his establishment received to that of Baird's.

Meanwhile, the pair arrived at Chester Factories Village, where they stopped and ate dinner. They continued on to Huntington. Stopping there, they purchased 25 cents worth of beer and oats. At another store, they bought a pair of 50-cent gloves. In Russell, they paid for pie and cheese with a $3 bill before inquiring about the route to Westfield. For reasons unknown, they turned off to Southwick.

During Van Wert's arrest in Southwick, authorities discovered that he had thirteen $3 bills and two new 25-cent pieces in his possession, all believed fake.

Van Wert was charged with one count of possessing counterfeit money, two counts of passing counterfeit money, and two counts of adultery. He was jailed in Lenox before being sentenced to the Massachusetts State Prison at Charlestown (Boston), where he served six years doing hard labor.

As pretend president of the so-called Still River Bank, Van Wert had been arrested in January 1860, charged with swindling, but later released pending further evidence. Because Van Wert's bogus bank had ties to Canada, prosecuting him proved difficult, and he was released. His bank, however, was forced to liquidate.

Still River Bank was being investigated after a reporter read an advertisement for it in a newspaper in 1859 and flagged it as possibly illegal. The ad read, in part, "Still River Bank, Winsted, Connecticut, J. L. Van Wert President..." Yet, there was no such bank in Winsted.

Newspapers across the country sounded the warning. They advised folks to watch out for Still River currency; the bills circulating in Canada primarily were tens, fives, and ones, all poorly printed on coarse paper.

Van Wert married again in 1870. With his new wife, Harriet, he had two children: Charles, born in 1870, and Harriet, born in 1872.

Jewelry Heist

James L. Daniels' jewelry store in Sandisfield was relieved of almost all of its contents after a break-in on October 19, 1870. The thieves were tracked to James Van Wert's farm in Tolland, Massachusetts. A search of the sprawling Van Wert farm turned up nothing, but authorities made it abundantly clear that they had zero doubt of his guilt. 

The following morning, Van Wert traveled to Sandisfield and told authorities he would pay $100 if a second search turned anything up. If nothing was found, he would pay zero. Authorities searched and searched, and right before nightfall, they were about to give up - when they found a treasure trove of jewels just outside Van Wert's property. The jewels were returned, and no charges were filed.

Mortgage Scheme

Van Wert sold several mortgages, ranging from 10K to 15K, for mostly wooded lots in Otis and Tolland. The mortgages, bought by Springfield businessmen, proved worthless.

In 1874, a local bank started foreclosing on the properties. That same year, the Van Werts divorced, with Harriet raising the children. Charles grew up not knowing his father; his mother had told him his father was dead - a secret she took to the grave.

Multiple lawsuits were eventually filed. It is believed that the court ordered most of the properties to be sold at auction, and in 1878, Van Wert's property in Tolland was seized, along with all its timber, cut and uncut.

Conclusion

James married Ellen Putnam in Holyoke on December 22, 1880. She gave birth to a daughter in July of the following year. 

Western Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut residents were probably not surprised when Van Wert (along with his new wife) was charged with swindling as president of a gigantic "bank" operation in Colorado in April 1881.

James and Ellen divorced in 1886.

When James died in 1906, his son Charles, a watchmaker in Colorado Springs, was surprised to learn that he would inherit about $6 million as part of his father's estate worth approximately $18 million, including more than 1 million acres of land.