For three straight years the Philadelphia PGA lost money in banks!

“DID YOU KNOW”
For three straight years the Philadelphia PGA lost money in banks!

In late 1930 Robert Stalker, Philadelphia PGA secretary/treasurer, died at age 52 after having been ill for one week. A few weeks before, he had resigned his position as the professional at the Huntingdon Valley Country Club.

At the Section’s annual meeting in January 1931, Herb Jewson was back in harness as the secretary/treasurer. Jewson had been Section president for four years, 1924 to 1927. As the new treasurer Jewson inherited a bank account with no money. The country was in the Great Depression and banks had begun to fail, with the first ones closing in November 1930.

Having concern about the health of the banking system, Jewson put the Section’s money in two banks; Manayunk Trust Co. and the Commercial Trust Co. At that time the PGA Sections collected the national and local dues money in May. The national dues money was then sent to the association’s office in Chicago, which Jewson did. The national dues collected in the Philadelphia Section for 1931 came to $1,930. The Philadelphia Section dues totaled $423 that year.

On October 13, 1931 the Manayunk Trust Co. closed and was taken over by the Pennsylvania State Banking Department. The Philadelphia PGA had $142.14 in that bank, which was now unavailable. The Section had $206 available which was in the Commercial Trust Co. Jewson must have kept some of the Section’s money out of banks as the financial report at the Section’s annual meeting in November 1931 showed $342 in the Section’s treasury, counting the $206 at Commercial Trust.   

In 1932 the PGA of America began collecting the national dues, rather than trusting the various PGA Sections to safely collect and advance the money to the national office. For 1932, Jewson kept some of the Section’s money in the Commercial Trust Co., which was now the Manayunk National Bank. Another bank account was opened at the Jenkintown Citizens Bank. With money still in the Manayunk Trust Co., the Section had money in three banks.

On the first Monday of November, 1932 Jewson presented the Section’s financial report. On May 11 the State Banking Department had sent the Section $21.32 (15 percent) from the Manayunk Trust Co. The Manayunk National Bank had closed with $138.00 of the Section’s money now unavailable. Also the Jenkintown Citizens Bank had closed with $103 of the Section’s money. Again Jewson had decided not to deposit all of the Section’s money into banks. The Section’s financial report for the November meeting showed $412.65 immediately available.

Because of how he had managed the Section’s money, Jewson was returned to the office of president at the 1932 November meeting of the Philadelphia PGA, five years after he already been president for a four year term.

In 1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected US president. On January 1, 1934 FDIC was created insuring each bank account for $2,500. In the previous four years 9,000 banks in the United States had failed.

Herb Jewson was the professional, green superintendent and manager at the Roxborough Country Club, which was in Philadelphia. In 1926 the club’s lease on the land ran out. The club purchased ground in Lafayette Hill. Jewson designed a new golf course for the club and oversaw its construction. Several owners and two golf course redesigns later, it is now owned by the Union League of Philadelphia and called Union League Liberty Hill. Herb Jewson is a member of the Philadelphia PGA Hall of Fame.