About Us
On August 1st, 1870, the private banking firm of Petefish, Skiles & Co. opened its' doors for business in Virginia, Illinois. Samuel H Petefish, Ignatius Skiles & Jacob Epler, all prominent local businessmen, started the firm with Richard Elliott as cashier. The private bank prospered for thirty-two years before selling shares and incorporating in 1902. The bank acquired the assets of the Farmers National Bank in 1918, the Centennial National Bank in 1930 and the Peoples Bank in 1938(all in Virginia) and branch offices of the Illini Bank in Tallula, Petersburg and Greenview in 2000. From the humble beginning in a second story office on the town square in 1870 to dynamic company with $100,000,000 in assets 135 years later, the bank has prospered by serving the financial needs in Cass and Menard counties of Illinois.
The current Directors include Herbert C Snow, Bernard Devlin, Donald Newell, Thomas Prather, Nancy Cowen, Donald Gillmore and Stephen Bradley. Much of the stock in the bank is still controlled by descendants of the early owners and President Thomas J. Prather is a great grandson of Samuel Petefish.