Mortimer Brigham "Mott" Wheelock (1913)
WHEELOCK
Posted By: Kent Transier
Date: 11/8/2023 at 18:04:33
The Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, December 10, 1913
Page 1, Column 3MOTT WHEELOCK COMMITS SUICIDE
Colfax Banker Drowns in Des Moines River. Was Born in Winterset. Prominent Family.
Mott Wheelock, Colfax banker, only son of Mr. and Mrs. S. B. Wheelock, old residents of Winterset, drowned himself in the Des Moines River one day last week. The body was found at the mouth of Beaver creek, late Monday afternoon, Wheelock had tied a sack of stones around his neck and walked out into the deep water.
Mott Wheelock was born in Winterset about forty-five years ago and was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Wheelock who until a few years ago were prominent in Winterset social and business affairs. Many of his classmates yet live in the city. He worked for several years after leaving school, in Omaha and Stuart.
He was married in Stuart and went from there to Colfax where he and S. G. Ruby secured the controlling interest in the bank. He was a money maker and it is believed that after his debts are cleared up that his fortune will amount to at least a hundred thousand dollars. He was supposed to be a safe and conservative banker and had an almost unlimited credit with other banks and the confidence of Iowa’s leading financiers.
Two weeks ago, State Auditor Bleakley made a preemptory demand for a statement from the Citizens State Bank of Colfax of which Wheelock was cashier. The statement was not forthcoming and Wheelock disappeared Monday saying that he was going to Des Moines. Monday night Wheelock wrote his wife the following note from the Chamberlin hotel: “Annie Dear: When you receive this my worthless body will be in the Des Moines River. I can’t stand the strain longer. God help you. Mott”.
When that note was received, the state auditor immediately took charge of the bank and it was found that forty-one thousand dollars of its notes were worthless. The accounts were all straight and every penny accounted for. The state auditor has ordered a seventy-five percent assessment to cover the poor paper. The bank will be reopened and pay out dollar for dollar.
It was not believed in Winterset that Wheelock had killed himself and all kinds of rumors were afloat in regard to him, one of them being that he was hiding here in the house of a friend. Those who knew him best refused to believe that he was alive and the finding of his body verified their confidence in him. Wheelock was high strung and ambitious and of a nervous disposition and a mistake would weigh heavily on him. The poor loans that he had made had evidentially caused him to worry until he became insane.
______________________Transcriber's note: Full name taken from gravestone.
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Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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