In May of 1969, Clarence Vance started doing business with the German-American State Bank, in German Valley, Illinois. German Valley was then a small village made up mostly of retired farmers. It had a church, a school, a blacksmith shop, a mom and pop grocery store, a gas station, a grain elevator, a bank, and a proverbial watering hole. German Valley is located about 10 miles Southwest of Pecatonica in Stephenson County. Clarence says it generally took him about 15 minutes to drive there.

The Bank had agreed to finance Clarence's farming operation if he would sign what is commonly referred to in farming as a "barnyard security agreement". By the terms of that security agreement, the Bank would loan Clarence the funds to run his farming operation and the Bank would be secured for those funds by the security agreement on nothing more than his "livestock, machinery, crops". In other words, the Bank would be secured by the things in Clarence's barnyard, but would not be secured by the barnyard (i.e. - the real estate).

Under the terms of their agreement, Clarence borrowed funds from the Bank as needed to finance his farm operation. When Clarence sold crops or livestock, he paid the funds from those sales to the Bank and thereby reduced the amount he owed. For the first 2 years, Clarence had no indication that the Bank was anything other than pleased to be involved in his operation.

During this same period of time, the City of Rockford, Illinois, was having a much-publicized problem finding a new landfill site. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) was closing down the site the City was then using. It was commonly referred to as "Mount Trashmore" because it went so high in the air. Rockford was having trouble finding a suitable site due to the fact that the soils in Winnebago County, for the most part, are composed of varying amounts of sand and/or gravel over a limestone base and, consequently, are very porous.

Having farmed the cropland on the farm for several years, Clarence and Harriet knew that a large area of the farm had water drainage problems. The water either had to run off or evaporate rather than seep down through the soil. Clarence and Harriet both knew that this was not consistent with sandy subsoils.

During the late Winter of 1971, an acquaintance of the Vance family, who was in the well drilling business, drilled a hole in the poor drainage area. The soil material from that drilling consisted of a very fine greenish-blue clay to a depth of approximately 48 feet where bedrock was encountered.

Clarence says that the clay was so fine that when he shook it in a container of water the clay appeared to be as fine as talcum powder. Other samples left to dry in the air and sunshine became as hard as concrete. It became obvious why the soil in the poor drainage area was always slow to dry.

A sample from that drilling was presented to the City of Rockford Public Works Department. The Public Works Department personnel were so pleased with the sample that they had a soil-testing company from Dixon, Illinois, that was doing the City's soil-testing, take samples over the entire farm. Those samples revealed that this very fine clay was present to an average depth of about 35 feet on approximately 60 acres of the farm.

The man operating the soil-boring rig stated that he had drilled most or all of the prospective sites in Winnebago County and was well acquainted with the soils in the County. He also stated that, because of the depth and scarcity of this very fine textured clay, this farm property was worth a lot of money to the right people. Clarence said that the man asked him: "What are you going to do with all your money"?

A report was prepared by the City of Rockford and/or the boring Company from Dixon and boring samples were sent to the IEPA State Headquarters in Springfield, Illinois. By a June 9, 1971 letter addressed to Mr. Clifford Wendell Commissioner of the City of Rockford Public Works Department, the IEPA stated that:

NOTE: Clarence and Harriet Vance both claim that the City of Rockford did express minimal interest in the property in late 1971 or early 1972, however, the City eventually decided to use a large gravel pit owned by Rockford Blacktop Construction Company. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency allowed the Howard family, which is now doing business as William Charles, Ltd., to line a large gravel pit, known as Pagel Pit, with asphalt. That gravel pit, used as a landfill since about 1973, now looks like a mountain that can be seen for miles around and was recently covered with a layer of dirt and seeded over. It appears that the top got so narrow that it would only accommodate two or three trucks side by side. They are now building another "mountain" next to the first one and will probably make one big "mountain" out of both.

William Charles, Ltd. is a family owned company started about 1950 (+/-) by William "Bill" Howard as a small asphalt business that has grown and diversified into aggregate production, environmental services, landfill operation, heavy-duty truck sales and service, and real estate developments. The name "William Charles" is a composite of William (deceased) and his son Charles, who appears to be "the man in charge". William Charles, Ltd. claims to be one of the largest private employers in Northern Illinois and it has been reported to own approximately 50 companies in the area. The exact number of companies owned by William Charles, Ltd. is hard to determine due to vagueness in public records and properties held in blind trusts. Major companies under the William Charles, Ltd. umbrella are: Rockford Blacktop Construction Co., the original asphalt and road construction company; Rockford Truck Sales and Service, a GMC heavy truck dealership; Winnebago Reclamation Services, which operates the Pagel Pit Landfill and several area garbage collection companies; and William Charles Investments, which owns numerous commercial properties in and around Rockford and builds subdivisions in the area. It was reported in 2000 that William Charles, Ltd. had contributed over $2.7 million from the William Howard Charitable Trust to support disabled and disadvantaged children's services.

Clarence says he thought it would be to his benefit to inform "Wayne", the farm loan man he was dealing with at the German-American State Bank, about the IEPA report and he did so. Various Bank personnel expressed their pleasure with his information and their best wishes with the apparent "good fortune" of the Vance family.

Shortly after informing the Bank of this "good fortune", "Wayne" suddenly disappeared. Bank President Lowell W. ("Sam") Sample told Clarence that "Wayne" unexpectedly transferred to a bank somewhere in Central Illinois and that he was taking over the management of Clarence's business matters with the Bank.

During August of 1971, "Sam" agreed to loan Clarence the funds to buy another load of feeder cattle. On September 1, 1971, he loaned Clarence $8,500.00 to pay for those feeder cattle, which consisted of 55 head of heifers (yearling female cattle) weighing from 400 to 450 pounds, delivered to him from a cattle buyer in Columbia, Tennessee.

Shortly after these feeder cattle arrived, the engine in Clarence's primary farm tractor went bad. That tractor, a 4-cylinder gasoline John Deere 3010, was not big enough to adequately and timely farm 150 acres of clay soil cropland. Clarence had to constantly over work this tractor to get his crops planted and harvested. In mid September of 1971, the engine gave up and quit.

During that discussion, "Sam" complained about the way Clarence was tending to the health needs of his most recent load of feeder cattle. His complaint was not because he thought the cattle were being neglected. "Sam" stated that it had been "reported" to him that Clarence was buying his necessary medicines from a local Veterinary Supply Co. and treating the cattle himself. "Sam" stated that he was "unhappy" because Clarence was not having a veterinarian come to the farm and treat the cattle for him.

As had been his usual practice, Clarence treated the cattle himself because having a veterinarian do that would substantially increase his costs. Clarence was not aware that spending more money to have those medicines administered by a professional would make them work better.

NOTE: It is standard practice in areas where feeder cattle are produced that a lot of young cattle are not weaned from their mamas until they are sent to the Sale Barn to be sold. They are then kept in gathering pens while more cattle are bought to complete the load. Until they go to the Sale Barn, they are raised on fescue grass pastures and drink water from ponds. When these cattle arrive at the place where they will be feed to slaughter weight (about 1000 pounds), they do not know what corn, alfalfa hay, or a water tank is or for. It takes some of them longer to figure it out than others.

Young feeder cattle shipped any considerable distance (in this instance about 600 miles) are susceptible to shipping fever. This is a stress related pneumonia type illness caused by the total change of the animals feed and environment. This illness is not due to neglect and must be treated with antibiotics, good feed and good care. It is just a common part of the business of buying feeder cattle from other parts of the country because they are not available locally.

Based on "Sam's" promise to loan the money to fix the tractor, Clarence started to repair the engine and bought nearly $700.00 in parts. As he got deeper into the engine he discovered more serious problems. Clarence went back to the dealer where he had bought the parts and was told that he could return the parts and trade for a brand new tractor of adequate size (a 6 cylinder Diesel John Deere 4020) for $6,000.00 plus his disabled tractor. The list price on that new tractor was about $10,000.00.

Clarence went back to the Bank and asked "Sam" if he could borrow the $6,000.00 so he could trade for the new and bigger tractor. "Sam" told him that the Bank would not loan him the $6,000.00 to trade tractors, however, the Bank would loan him up to $2,000.00 to either repair or replace the engine in the too small tractor that he had.

Based on "Sam's" promise, Clarence went back to the dealer and entered into an agreement to buy a new "short block" which cost a little less than $1,200.00. The dealer gave Clarence a good discount on the engine because it was to be a cash deal. When Clarence picked up the engine, he was to take the invoice to the Bank, get the money promised, and be back the next day to pay for the engine.

Clarence says he bought that tractor from this dealer in 1965. The dealer financed the purchase of the tractor through a John Deere finance plan. After that purchase, Clarence had conducted considerable business with this dealer and, on the basis of that experience, the dealer trusted him.

Clarence believes that this and other adverse actions taken against him by "Sam" on behalf of the Bank were intended both to make it impossible to pay his Notes at the Bank and also to discredit him with the business people that made it possible for him to continue his farming operation and stay in business.

Finally, on the afternoon of May 3, 1974 (a Friday during the rush of the planting season), "Sam" told Clarence that he had "until the close of business on Monday (3:00 P.M.)", May 6, 1974, to pay all of the approximately $21,000.00 he owed the Bank or they would obtain a judgment against him. The Bank knew that Clarence was not a rich man with a safe full of money, that he was busy with planting preparations, and could not possibly raise that amount of money, nor refinance at another bank, given such short Notice.

NOTE: Clarence was a farmer, not a lawyer. The Bank never made him aware of the fact that all of the German-American State Bank Notes that he signed were "Confessed Judgment Notes". By signing each of those Notes, Clarence unknowingly authorized the Bank to appear before any Winnebago County Judge, without Notice or Process, and simply ask that judge to sign a Judgment against him in the amount of the Note and "the judgment shall include an attorney fee of 25%, together with all costs". Illinois made the use of "Confessed Judgment Notes" unlawful in 1979.

As threatened by "Sam", but unknown to Clarence, the Bank did obtain a Judgment against him, without Notice or Process, on that very same Monday, May 6, 1974, in Winnebago County Circuit Court Case No. 74-1549 in the amount of $27,307.75. That judgment was filed with the Winnebago County Recorder's Office, in Rockford, Illinois, at 2:15 P.M. on May 6, 1974 as Document No. 1337168 and Micro File No. 74-08-1240. See MEMORANDUM OF JUDGMENT

(D) "If you do not elect to do the above then we shall expect to be paid as stated in the letter from our attorney by next Wednesday, June 26, 1974. If you do not choose either of the above then our attorney was instructed by the Board of Directors to proceed with court action."

The German-American Bank tried to obtain a secured claim against the farm for $51,307.75 even though it had a fair market value as a farm, at that time, of approximately $175.000.00 or more. "Sam" did not, and would not, entertain any discussions about future operating money if needed by Clarence. Effectively, "Sam" and the Bank were asking Clarence to "voluntarily" commit financial suicide.

Based on the Bank's proposal, Clarence was to figure out how to personally finance his operation, how to try and help provide for his family, and also how to pay back the money the Bank had previously made it impossible for him to repay. All of which was to be accomplished with only the money realized from the sale of the crops and livestock then on hand. Unfortunately, the money needed to pay seasonal farming expenses and the availability of money from sales of livestock and crops to pay those expenses very rarely, if ever, occur at the same time so as to not need borrowed funds from time to time.

With the help of family members, Clarence was able to obtain the necessary funds to pay the German-American State Bank in full. On the morning of August 2, 1974, Clarence and a family member went to the Bank and told "Sam" that they were there to pay Clarence's indebtedness to the Bank in full. Clarence pushed 2 cashier's checks, in the correct total amount, across the desk to "Sam". His face dropped, his complexion changed and he became momentarily speechless.

After his ordeal with the German-American State Bank ended, Clarence operated his farming business, until December, 1980, on the limited amount of money made available to him from time to time by family members and his earnings as a part-time truck driver, which, at times, made things very difficult. Because of an increase in the costs of buying feeder cattle, Clarence went to the State Bank of Davis in Davis, Illinois, and entered into an agreement whereby the State Bank of Davis began financing his farming operation in December 1980. which is the subject of the STATE BANK OF DAVIS FRAUD page.

On June 26, 1985, Officers of the German American State Bank, the State Bank of Davis, at Davis, Illinois, and the Northwest Banks in Rockford, Illinois, created and became a part of Foresight Financial Group, Inc., a bank holding company that is traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange as FGFH. James A. Schneiderman has been a Director of Foresight Financial Group, Inc., since it was created in 1985, and has served as an Officer of Foresight during many of those years. Foresight Financial Group, Inc. now includes each of those banks as well as the State Bank in Freeport, Illinois, and the Lena State Bank in Lena, Illinois.