First Tennessee

Frank S. Davis sat in his hotel room listening to the sounds outside. He heard the clatter of horse-drawn wagons, the tramp of marching feet, and the shouts of military commands. The time was March 1864 and the city was Memphis.

Davis, understanding these hard times, sensed a real need for an expansion of banking and credit facilities. When the National Banking Act of 1863 was passed, Davis recognized the many advantages offered by a system of national banks chartered and supervised by the Federal government. It was because of this insight that Davis founded the city’s first national bank, which grew into today’s First Horizon National Corp., the parent company of First Tennessee Bank and FTN Financial.

The bank’s charter was received on March 25, 1864. To Davis, that date marked the fulfillment of an earnest ambition; to Memphians, it was the beginning of a new era in banking.  The 150th anniversary of the company was celebrated in 2014, spotlighting the legacy of serving customers that began when Abraham Lincoln was president.  “First Tennessee has served customers through civil war and world war, a yellow fever epidemic, the Great Depression and the Great Recession,” said Bryan Jordan, chairman and CEO of First Horizon. “We’re proud of that legacy, and we’re focused on the future. We’re building for our next 150 years.”