More than 40 years ago a curious local Alberta Treasury Branch (ATB) banker was watching his workplace at the corner of Main Street and 50th Avenue being torn down for new quarters.
Always observant, and proudly able to see things most people would miss, he saw an odd slip of paper between the old worn and soon to be demolished wooden walls. Unable to just let this mysterious item be tossed out, he immediately decided to investigate.
It turned out to be an ancient cheque of $3.10 that was written in 1906 by the long forgotten Union Bank of Canada to a local business called Stewart Brothers.
“I don't know how it ever got there. It may have fell through something and got into the wall,” said Ken Johnston, who worked at the local ATB from 1969 to 1973 before moving to Edmonton. “I went and checked it out and it was this cheque, and nobody wanted it and I kept it myself. I have had it for 40 years or so.”
Johnston worked for ATB for 12 years and then moved on to work for the provincial government's labour department. He has been living in Penticton, B.C. since 1995 and is now retired at the age of 70.
“I am getting older now and you realize that nobody is going to want this stuff and I am trying to clean things up,” said Johnston. “I've got pennies from 1900 and I am going to sell my penny collection from 1900 to 2014. I am just getting rid of all this old stuff.”
That old stuff includes the rare cheque from the Union Bank of Canada (UBC), which had its origins as the Union Bank of Lower Canada in Quebec City in 1865, and then developed a strong presence in the Prairie provinces for almost six decades. The UBC ultimately merged with the Royal Bank of Canada in 1925.
After his discovery of the cheque, Johnston had it carefully secured for many years in his safety deposit box. But every once in a while he would proudly show it off.
“When the staff at the bank took me to see my safety deposit box I usually showed it to them and said ‘Hey, this is 100 years old,” said Johnston.
He has recently made inquiries to the banking industry to see if there is any interest in the old cheque, and he was directed to one potentially curious Edmonton contact.
But he concedes that it would probably be more appropriate if the artifact returns to its old home of Innisfail.
And Debbie Becker Matthie, manager of the Innisfail and District Historical Village, is thrilled with the prospect of acquiring the intriguing relic.
“This would be an amazing find because it really pertains to Innisfail and its early history,” said Becker Matthie. “We could do some more research and see if we could find more information on them, and who Mr. Stewart is or the Stewart Brothers.”
In the meantime, Johnston is planning on coming to Alberta this month. He wants to visit the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame where he is applying to have his late father Ralph Johnston inducted into the Hall of Fame. Ralph was an accomplished offensive football player – an outstanding runner, receiver punter and drop-kicker -- for the Calgary Tigers in 1920 and 1930, a team that was a forerunner to today's Stampeders squad and won three consecutive Canadian Rugby Championship of Alberta (CRCA) titles.
But his Alberta mission may also take him to Innisfail, where his prized relic of the past would be welcomed with open arms by dedicated history buffs.
“My kids don't want anything I have got that is 150 years old, so I figured I might as well start getting rid of it,” said Johnston of all his old artifacts, including the Innisfail cheque. “This (Innisfail) is probably where it will end up.”
