Frederick Ferris Thompson

Frederick Ferris Thompson (June 14, 1836 – April 10, 1899) was a prominent American banker and railroad president who co-founded the First National Bank and what is now Citibank. He was also an early amateur photographer and a noted philanthropist.

Thompson was born in New York City. He was the son of Electa Ferris and John Thompson, a banker and publisher of Thompson's Bank Note Reporter.

Thompson attended Peacham Academy in Peacham, Vermont. Next, he went to Columbia College where he joined the Fraternity of Delta Psi (St. Anthony Hall).

He then attended Williams College from 1852 to 1854. While there, he founded the Lambda chapter of the Fraternity of Delta Psi. He left Williams after his sophomore year to go to Europe on business at his father's request in 1854. However, he did return to college, but did not graduate. He wrote, "I was only a quondam member of ’56, of two years’ presence in college, and a thorn in the side of the faculty of that day. Good old President Mark Hopkins gave me a special graduation certificate afterward, just to show that I was not kicked out of college..."

Thompson, his father, and his older brother Samuel C. Thompson founded their first bank called Thompson Brothers in 1857. In 1863, the trio opened their third bank, called the First National Bank of the City of New York—this was the first national bank under a new federal system. Thompson served as its vice-president and the bank grew to be the second largest in New York City. This bank survives as Citibank.

In 1873, John and Samuel Thompson left the First National Bank to form the Chase National Bank, named after their friend and the US Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase. As a result, Thompson became president of First National Bank.

In May 1884, First National Bank was drawn into a financial scandal, causing the Marine National Bank to fail. Grant, Ward & Co., who owed $77,000 to the Marine Bank, wrote three checks totaling $210,000 on a non-existent account from First National; the Clearing House for processing checks had cleared the checks, leaving Thompson with a $210,000 shortfall. This is nearly $6.2 million in today's money. First National went to court for a resolution as the check were processed the day the Marine Bank closed.

Thompson also founded and was president of the National Currency Bank of New York and started the First National Bank of Detroit, and the Columbia Bank in Chatham, New York.