Theodore Giles Montague

       
       Theodore Giles Montague, son of Theodore Landon Montague and Catherine Stivers Montague, was born Dec.8, 1836, in Chester, Ohio. He was educated at the Pomeroy Academy and was a student there when he was offered a position as teller in the bank of Daniel and Rathburn. From that time his interest in and knowledge of the banking business was keen. He enlisted in the 140th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and served as Adjutant throughout the War Between the States. At the close of the War he accompanied W. P. Rathburn to Chattanooga. They established the First National Bank in November 1865, with W. P. Rathburn, president, and Theodore G. Montague, cashier. It is hard now to realize under what hazardous conditions banking was carried on at that time. The ravages of war were evident in impoverished farms denuded of timber, bridges gone and roads un-worked. The town was full of strangers, some of them merely adventurers. The descendants of the many fine men in the group however can point with pride to the courage and spirit of cooperation that prevailed among them. They believed in the future of Chattanooga and they were generous in the support of her good projects.

Dr. Thomas H. McCallie wrote of Mr. Montague," When he came to Chattanooga he was a young man. I was a young man, pastor of the Presbyterian Church. I remember the promptness and regularity with which he came to our services. He illustrated his fine qualities by sustaining and casting his lot with the good men and women who stood for righteousness. Later he assisted in organizing the Second Presbyterian Church of which he was an officer for many years. Honorable and upright, kind and genial, gentle and modest, Mr. Montague left an ineffaceable record."

Upon the death of William P. Rathburn, Mr. Montague became president of the First National Bank. Concerning his service of forty years as a banker, Capt. A. J. Gahagan said, "No man did more to give encouragement to those in hard lines or to help in a business way the thousands who went to him for advice or financial help."

Mr. Montague served his church as elder and trustee for many years. He was a stockholder and director in many industries, among them the Roane Iron Company, the Cahill Iron Works, the Lookout Water Company, the Chattanooga Gas Company, the Forest Hills Cemetery Company, the Chattanooga Pipe and Foundry Company, the Shelton Mills, the Crystal Springs Bleachery and the Columbian Iron Works. He once accepted a political position, being elected alderman. The city was then in financial difficulty and at Mr. Montague's suggestion the Board, of which he was a member, served without salaries. He was the first president of the Tennessee Bankers' Association.       

In 1905 he retired from active work after forty years of faithful service. He died Sept.2, 1910. He married Mary Thayer, daughter of Norton Thayer and Lucy Wales Thayer, in Boston in 1873. Mrs. Montague survived her husband eleven years, passing away Oct.21,1921.She was a leader in church and civic work during her entire life in Chattanooga. Their children are Lucy Wales, the late Norton Thayer, Theodore Langdon and Mary Montague, who married George M. Guild and makes her home in California.

"The History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga Tennessee, Volume 1." by Zella Armstrong.
 Karen Chastain.

Theodore G. Montague, president of the First National Bank, of Chattanooga, Tenn., was born in Meigs County, Ohio, in 1836. Such advantages of education as were available he improved. His first business venture was to enter, as clerk, the leading store at the county seat, Pomeroy, where in the next two years he acquired some knowledge of goods and the ways of trade. He then taught school one term of four months, after which Mr. Montague spent two years at the Pomeroy Academy. On leaving this school he entered the bank of Daniel & Rathburn, where he put in practice the thorough business education he had acquired. The system of business in the bank was suited to his tastes, and although circumstances seemed to draw him into other lines he returned to this work the first favorable opportunity. For three years he was the bookkeeper of a large coal mining company, and from this office, in 1863, Mr. Montague entered the United States service, as adjutant of the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. When the civil war closed Mr. Montague went to such places in the Southern States as he thought might have advantages for future growth and development. Being favorably impressed with Chattanooga, Tenn., he easily induced the friends with whom he had been associated in the banking business to visit that section, and the result was the organization, in 1865, of the First National Bank, with W. P. Rathburn as president and Mr. Montague as cashier. The organization of this bank was a red-letter day in the young city's history. Mr. Montague was the cashier for nineteen years when, on the death of Mr. Rathburn he was chosen to the presidency. From the beginning the management was judicious in the use of this capital by fostering all worthy local enterprises. The history of the First National Bank for twenty-two years reflects the character of the men in control. Only $10,000 of the capital stock was originally subscribed by citizens of Chattanooga, now a majority of the stock is owned by them. The dividends paid to the stockholders have been larger than that of any bank in East Tennessee, and the capital and earnings now held by the bank and available for the wants of the ever increasing business is larger than that or any other bank in that section. Mr. Montague has not only officially but personally encouraged and assisted in the organization of most of the business enterprises that have contributed to make Chattanooga the most progressive manufacturing city in the South. Among the leading industries with which he has been connected we mention the Roane Iron Company, Lookout Water Company, Chattanooga Gas Company, Brush Electric Light Company, City Fire Insurance Company, Chattanooga Stove Company, Citico Furnace Company, Loraine Tool Company, Whitney (cotton) Mills, etc. Although prominently connected with the varied interests of this section, Mr. Montague has never been an aspirant for public or political honors. The only exception was to serve as alderman or the city one term. At this time the city finances were at a low ebb, and the board of aldermen refused to accept any pay for their services. In schools, churches and charities Mr. Montague is a recognized factor. In 1875 Mr. Montague married Miss Mary Thayer, of Boston, Mass., and by her is the father of four children. Mr. Montague and family are exemplary members of the Presbyterian Church.
"Goodspeed's History of East Tennessee," 1887.