Submitted Photo Silver Creek Village Historian Lou Pelletter holds a poster presented to him by village employees, detailing old Silver Creek currency.

SILVER CREEK — Silver Creek village Historian Lou Pelleter recently received a donation courtesy of office employees Jeanne Ebersole and Ron Raczka. It was a poster displaying old-style currency issued by Silver Creek’s old banks, Silver Creek National Bank and the First National Bank of Silver Creek.

Before putting it in the Silver Creek Historical room, Pelletter wanted to show the Village Board first. “Most people have never seen anything like this. I was thrilled to death to get this,” he said. “You don’t see this kind of stuff anymore.”

While Pelletter said he doesn’t have any of the actual bills himself, due to how rare they are, he expressed again how rare even the poster he received is.

“When these banks deposit their money, they circulated this money,” said Pelletter. “These are very difficult to find. You see a few on Ebay but they’re very rare because the program was canceled.”

Pelletter also gave a detailed write up about Silver Creek’s banking history. According to Pelleter, banking in the early 1800s in Chautauqua County was still a barter and pawnbroker style system of loaning money. While the area was being settled, there weren’t banks in the county prior to 1830. In 1831, the Chautauqua County Bank became the first organized bank in the county, with Silver Creek’s Oliver Lee serving as vice president of the bank. In 1838, Lee organized the Silver Creek Bank.

Following the closure of Lee’s Bank, Carlos Ewell and Theodore Stewart operated as the private bankers for the Silver Creek Banking Co. On March 16, 1912, this state bank was converted into a national bank known as The First National Bank of Silver Creek, “The Bank with the Chime Clock.” Stewart and Ewell are also responsible for the bank building at 10 S. Main St., which is now M&T Bank. In January 1930, this bank became a community bank through local stock ownership. Lee F. Dickinson was chosen chairman of the board and Herbert J. Crandall as vice president.

Meanwhile, the Silver Creek National Bank, commonly known as the “White Bank on the Corner” opened on Oct. 1, 1912 and was organized by J. D. Denny. Helen Denny, his wife, was the granddaughter of Silver Creek’s First developer and owner of the earlier mentioned Silver Creek Bank, Oliver Lee.

The Silver Creek National currency on the poster board was signed in 1912 by President Jesse Denny and in 1929 by President Frank Clement. This bank operated until the early 1970s when it was purchased by Citibank. Later it became Norstar Bank, Fleet Bank and currently is Community Bank. This bank, like the First National Bank of Silver Creek, were both owned and managed by community residents.