Loans baby. We love loans.
Private banks didn't have a central bank in the 1800s. That came later as the private banks were often failing and taking the USA into depressions too often. Rollercoaster.
Loans are moving the economy for sure and banks keep on failing even with a central bank being established.
With the central bank often bailing troubled banks out (not considering whether it's good in the long term on the economy scale). And in many countries money in the deposits of individuals is often insured to some extent too. Obviously, the situation is much better now than it was in the 19th century...