Eight million dollars gone in three hours; Knickerbocker Trust shuts its doors

The National Bank of Commerce had announced on October 21, 1907 that it would no longer clear checks for the Knickerbocker Trust Company, New York's third-largest trust company and one of its most respected institutions, and by the morning of October 22, word had spread. Depositors lined up at its Fifth Avenue headquarters and pulled out roughly eight million dollars in under three hours. Two van loads of notes were rushed in to calm the crowd, but for every person paid off, ten more pushed forward demanding their money. By early afternoon, the Knickerbocker Trust suspended operations, and the panic began spreading to other banks across the city…