Did you ever wonder why Hartford, Connecticut became known as the “Insurance Capital of the World”?
Many credit James Goodwin Batterson, founder of the Travelers Insurance Co. in 1864 as the father of the insurance institution in Hartford. Mr. Batterson sold a two cent travel accident policy to James E. Bolter in the event Mr. Bolter should meet with an unfortuitous event while walking four blocks to his home for lunch.
Although Batterson’s policy is thought by some to be the very first Insuring Agreement ever consummated in Hartford, underwriting certain perils dates back to pre-Revolution days when private businessmen began insuring merchant vessels sailing out of Hartford down the Connecticut River to the sea.
The first, and oldest, property and casualty insurer in the nation authorized by their State General Assembly to do business was The Hartford Insurance Group. Formed in 1810, The Hartford insured vessels laden with molasses, spices, coffee and rum out of warehouses located in the merchant district of Hartford and bound for England, the West Indies and the Far East. Perils insured against included fire, storms, accidents and piracy.
Soon to follow the Hartford were Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co. (1846), the first life insurer in the United States; Aetna Insurance Co. (1850), initially marketing annuity funds; American Temperance Life Insurance Co (1851), later to become The Phoenix; National Union Life and Limb Insurance Co. (1863), later to become MetLife; Travelers (1864); Connecticut General Life Insurance Co (1865); and Hartford Steam Boiler and Inspection Co. (1866).
Many of these institutions have, through the last two centuries, been purchased, merged or otherwise dismantled by or with other insurance carriers, but their legacy lives on as the cornerstones of the world-wide insurance industry and the reason why Hartford remains, “The Insurance Capital of the World”.
Many credit James Goodwin Batterson, founder of the Travelers Insurance Co. in 1864 as the father of the insurance institution in Hartford. Mr. Batterson sold a two cent travel accident policy to James E. Bolter in the event Mr. Bolter should meet with an unfortuitous event while walking four blocks to his home for lunch.
Although Batterson’s policy is thought by some to be the very first Insuring Agreement ever consummated in Hartford, underwriting certain perils dates back to pre-Revolution days when private businessmen began insuring merchant vessels sailing out of Hartford down the Connecticut River to the sea.
The first, and oldest, property and casualty insurer in the nation authorized by their State General Assembly to do business was The Hartford Insurance Group. Formed in 1810, The Hartford insured vessels laden with molasses, spices, coffee and rum out of warehouses located in the merchant district of Hartford and bound for England, the West Indies and the Far East. Perils insured against included fire, storms, accidents and piracy.
Soon to follow the Hartford were Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co. (1846), the first life insurer in the United States; Aetna Insurance Co. (1850), initially marketing annuity funds; American Temperance Life Insurance Co (1851), later to become The Phoenix; National Union Life and Limb Insurance Co. (1863), later to become MetLife; Travelers (1864); Connecticut General Life Insurance Co (1865); and Hartford Steam Boiler and Inspection Co. (1866).
Many of these institutions have, through the last two centuries, been purchased, merged or otherwise dismantled by or with other insurance carriers, but their legacy lives on as the cornerstones of the world-wide insurance industry and the reason why Hartford remains, “The Insurance Capital of the World”.
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