Founded in October, 1900, The Tattnall Bank was the first bank in Tattnall County and is one of the twenty-five oldest banks in the state of Georgia. The Bank has survived two World Wars, the Great Depression of the 1930’s and more recently the severe economic recession of the 1980’s. The Bank is locally owned and operated and is a subsidiary of Tattnall Bancshares, Inc. and is located in Reidsville and Collins.

The Tattnall Bank was the first to “go on computer” and the first bank in the County to own its own in-house computer system. It was the first bank to provide government guaranteed loans for higher education.  It provided credit card services for consumers and for merchants by acting as an agent for an out-of-town bank.  In 1993, it became the first bank to provide consumers and merchants its own MasterCard and Visa card services.

For over 100 years, The Tattnall Bank has contributed to the financial, economic, educational, civic, municipal, and religious needs and growth of Tattnall County. 

The Tattnall Bank has financed countless homes, commercial buildings, farms, and churches over the years.  Businesses continue to obtain all types of financing at the bank.

It is generally believed by Reidsville businessmen and leaders that it was The Tattnall Bank’s leadership that created a local business climate that led to additional financial and insurance institutions and many new retail businesses locating in Reidsville.

Today, The Tattnall Bank is proud of its record, proud of its new facilities, proud of its motto –“Safe Since 1900”- and is poised to continue rendering the services it has always provided and meet all the complexities that are ahead in the 21st century.

E.B. Register passed away on March 10, 2005. Years ago, you’d see him walking to the bank in the mornings and afternoons, weather permitting.  Perhaps doctors told him exercise would help control his weight, but some who knew E.B. Register, suspected that he simply enjoyed taking the time to review the landscape and features of his beloved Reidsville.  Indeed, it was normal to see him and his wife, DeWeese, in their car cruising slowly through the neighborhoods late in the afternoons, on weekends and during the week. It was as if he could not see enough of the community for which he was a living icon for so many years.

Mr. Register came to Reidsville in the mid-1930’s in the midst of the Great Depression as a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). There must have been something that drew him to this small rural town, because although he worked in neighboring communities briefly, and as far away as North Carolina, he put down roots in The Tattnall Bank and in Reidsville. He was elected Executive Vice President, CEO and Director in 1946, and became President and Chairman of the Board in 1973.  His duties allowed him to know virtually everyone in the community on a first name basis.

He was an avid gun collector.  He once asked someone to bring his or her newly acquired shotgun to the Bank so that he could see it.  The Tattnall Bank must have been the only bank where a person could walk in with a shotgun or rifle in hand without causing general panic.

The turnover rate for employees at The Tattnall Bank was almost nonexistent during his long tenure.  People stayed because they liked him and the working conditions at the Bank.  Mary Sue Scott, who has been at the bank over 50 years, mentioned that he never fired anyone.  “In some cases, people were allowed to resign if there was a problem,” she said.  “You came to work, you knew what was expected, and you got it done.”

Mr. Register “made loans with a handshake,’ said Barbara Cowart who has worked at the bank for over 40 years.  “He believed that when a person said that they would repay the loan, they would do exactly that.  It hurt him when things began to change.  He didn’t enjoy making personal loans that required lots of paperwork and collateral.”

To a person, his bank employees mentioned the fact that it was easy to tell if Mr. Register was at work.  He always left his hat on the table by the switchboard.  A glance at that table would immediately allow any employee to tell a visitor or caller if he was in. On Monday, March 14, 2005, that table was conspicuously bare.

(Excerpt from The Tattnall Journal, March 17, 2005)