Friday, March 28, 2025

An Answer for Yesterday's Query

N. B. & M. Ins. Co. is the North British & Mercantile Insurance Company.  It even has its own Wikipedia page.


Thursday, March 27, 2025

Insurance Company Cancels: What is the N. B. & M Insurance Company?

Please help me identify this company!  It was clearly a major firm on both sides of the Atlantic.  Based on the U. K. document fragment is it possible that its businesss was entirely reinsurance?

N. B. & M. INS. CO.
JAN 8 1901
NEW YORK

Looks like N.B.&M. used printed precancels in the UK.

 

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Insurance Agent Cancels: L. J. Van Anden & Company of Erie, Pennsylvania

from The Spectator Insurance Yearbook, 1899

CANCELLED
OCT
17
1900
L. J. Van Anden & Co.


Sunday, March 23, 2025

Insurance Agent Cancels: Field & Cowles of Boston

FIELD & COWLES
MAY 11 1900

 Field & Cowles matchbook cover:


from the 1925 Boston Directory

Thursday, March 20, 2025

Insurance Agent Cancels: James L. De Long of McKeesport, Pennsylvania

JAMES L. DE LONG
MAY
8
1899

JAMES L. DE LONG
APR
29
1899

JAMES L. DE LONG
MAR
17
1901

 

from Insurance World, April 1, 1888


from Industrial and Commercial Resources of Pennsylvania, 1887

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Insurance Agent Cancels: Ozment & Phelan of Palestine, Texas

Ozment & Phelan
OCT ??  1898
Palestine, Texas.

from the Palestine City Directory of 1898-99, listing them as tenants of the Lavo Building.
Miss Mollie Ozment lived at 19 Giraud in Palestine.  Was she the inspiration for Good Golly Miss Mollie?  And was she the Ozment of Ozment and Phelan?

A recent photo of the Lavo Building in Palestine, Texas.

Sunday, March 16, 2025

Insurance Agent Cancels: Fletcher & Beggs of Columbus, Ohio

FLETCHER & BEGGS.
APR
11
1901

 
from the Columbus City Directory of 1899

Saturday, March 15, 2025

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Sunday, March 9, 2025

Insurance Company Cancels: Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Germantown, Philadelphia

M. F. I. CO.
JAN 6 1899
GERMANTOWN


M. F. I. CO.
JAN 6 1899
GERMANTOWN

M. F. I. CO.
JAN 6 1899
GERMANTOWN


 

Former Germantown Mutual Fire HQ at the corner of Germantown Ave & School House Lane in Philadelphia

It is a shame that the stamps were removed from the original policy document.  All three likely came from the same policy.

Saturday, March 8, 2025

Thursday, March 6, 2025

Insurance Agent Cancels: Daniel J. Dunphy of Passaic, New Jersey

DAN'L J. DUNPHY,
MAR
14
1900
Passaic, N. J.


Passaic Daily Herald, November 22, 1913

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Insurance Agent Cancels: Covert & Company of Austin, Texas

COVERT & CO.
FEB
15
1899
AUSTIN, TEX

from The Austin Daily Statesman, January 31, 1907

Saturday, March 1, 2025

Insurance Company Documents: American Surety Company Bonds

American Surety Company first appeared here June 6, 2023.  Today is presented two performance bonds.

They are both courtesy of David Thompson who sent them to me awhile back.  The first is a Motorman's bond: 



And a Conductor's bond:  


Each of these bonds were used to bond the operators of street railroad cars in Chicago; each put money up front to help guarantee their safe operation of the cars since the conductor and motorman had their money at risk.  It is likely that the City of Chicago or the Chicago Union Tracation Company required operators to hold these bonds in order to be allowed to work.