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Valley Mutual Insurance Company records
The Valley Mutual Insurance Company was incorporated in 1963 in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, and was formed as the result of the merger of five small farmers’ mutual insurance companies in the Cumberland Valley region: Centennial Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Cumberland Valley Farmer’s Mutual Fire I...
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| Corporate Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Collection: | Valley Mutual Insurance Company Records |
| Collection Number: | 3718 |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects and Genres: | |
| Online Access: | Link to finding aid |
| Tags: | Add Tag |
| LEADER | 09035ntc a2200373 u 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | ead-3718 | ||
| 008 | 210504i18311991xx eng d | ||
| 040 | |e dacs | ||
| 041 | 0 | |a eng | |
| 099 | |a 3718 | ||
| 110 | 2 | |a National Grange Mutual Insurance Company |e creator | |
| 245 | 1 | |a Valley Mutual Insurance Company records |f 1831 - 1991 |g 1900 - 1985 | |
| 300 | |a 25.3 Linear feet |f ; 42 boxes, 82 volumes | ||
| 351 | |b Series I. Valley Mutual Insurance Company Subseries a. Administrative Subseries b. Financial Series II. Centennial Mutual Fire Insurance Company Series III. Cumberland Valley Farmer’s Mutual Fire Insurance Company Series IV. Franklin County Mutual Insurance Company Series V. Friendship Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Franklin County Series VI. Lurgan Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Franklin County Series VII. Unidentified | ||
| 500 | |a Processing Information: Many of the volumes were given "Ledger" numbers by the Cumberland County Historical Society. It does not appear that these numbers bear any relation to their original use. These numbers were maintained in the new titles given to the volumes to facilitate cross-reference with an Excel spread sheet created by the Cumberland County Historical Society. Access to this spreadsheet is available upon request. A number of the volumes and some of the loose material were found to have mold damage during processing, and indicated in the titles of the items. Researchers should exercise caution when handling these materials. Masks and gloves are available upon request. | ||
| 520 | |a The Valley Mutual Insurance Company was incorporated in 1963 in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, and was formed as the result of the merger of five small farmers’ mutual insurance companies in the Cumberland Valley region: Centennial Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Cumberland Valley Farmer’s Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Lurgan Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Franklin County, Franklin County Mutual Insurance Company, and Friendship Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Franklin County. These companies provided property insurance to homeowners, farm owners, and rural communities in Cumberland and Franklin Counties and the surrounding region. The Valley Mutual Insurance Company records consist of the administrative and financial materials of that company as well as those of the five companies out of which it merged. This collection includes extensive information on the administrative activities and governance of the companies as well as some materials on policyholders and their properties. The records document the services provided by rural insurance companies in south-central Pennsylvania farming communities from the mid-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century. | ||
| 520 | |a The Valley Mutual Insurance Company records date from 1831 to 1990, with bulk dates of 1900 to 1985, and consist of the administrative and financial materials of that company as well as those of the five companies which merged to form it in 1963 and 1965. Based out of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, Valley Mutual provided property insurance to homeowners, farmowners, and rural communities in the surrounding areas. This collection extensively documents the administrative activities and governance of the companies through board and committee minutes, correspondence, financial records, and reports of examination from the state insurance department. The collection also contains a smaller amount of information regarding policyholders including policy registers, forms, and account books. The materials in this collection document the activities and services provided by rural insurance companies in south-central Pennsylvania farming communities from the mid-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century. The collection also provides some personal and professional information about board members of several of the companies, many of whom were prominent local landowners and businessmen in Cumberland and Franklin counties. The collection may be useful for researchers interested in the history of American insurance, particularly its early development in Pennsylvania. There is also some material that may be useful to genealogical researchers interested in families from the areas of Shippensburg and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, particularly the research files of former board member William Burkhart. | ||
| 524 | 8 | |a Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Valley Mutual Insurance Company records (Collection 3718), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. | |
| 541 | 1 | |a Gift of the Cumberland County Historical Society, 2013. Accession number 2013.085. | |
| 544 | |a At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Mutual Assurance Company (Green Tree) records, 1784-1995 (Collection 2189) | ||
| 545 | |a The Valley Mutual Insurance Company was incorporated in 1963 in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. The company formed as the result of the consolidation and merger of five small farmers’ mutual insurance companies in the Cumberland Valley region: Centennial Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Cumberland Valley Farmer’s Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Lurgan Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Franklin County, Franklin County Mutual Insurance Company, and Friendship Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Franklin County. The companies were all founded in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, at a time when Cumberland and Franklin Counties were sparsely populated with small, mostly agrarian communities. Damage to property by fire was a concern at the time when open flame and gas were commonly used for lighting and heating homes and other buildings. Rural farmers often did not have access to public water systems or any type of early firefighting equipment compared to urban dwellers. The result was that farmers, business owners, and homeowners in these communities and others like them banded together to form mutual insurance companies in which policyholders paid into and owned a portion of the company, sharing in the risk. The earliest of the five companies that formed Valley Mutual, Franklin County Mutual, was incorporated in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1850. In the following year, Cumberland Valley Farmer’s Mutual was incorporated in Shippensburg, PA with Samuel Wherry, John Cressler, Charles White, Jr., John Tritt, and William Linn as founding Board members. Lurgan Mutual Fire Insurance Company was organized in Mowersville, PA, in 1859 and incorporated in 1866. The company later moved to Shippensburg, PA, where it was based out of a building at 20 West King Street, which would later become the Valley Mutual offices. Founding directors of the company were: Joseph Mower, John Maclay, John Newcomer, Daniel Snoke, Adam Shoemaker, David Hayes, Henry Clippenger, John Zook, and John Hensil. The next company, Centennial Mutual Fire Insurance, was organized in 1876 and incorporated in 1877 in Shippensburg, PA. Founding members were: George W. Thrush, Josiah Fickes, John Maclay, John Hensel, David Fogelsanger, Robert Preston, William Clark, John H. McCullock, C.H. Maclay, and C.L. Shade. Lastly, the Friendship Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Franklin County was incorporated in 1899 in Shippensburg, PA. Founding members were: Joseph Middour, J. Frank Hoover, Abraham Lesher, J.S. Ernst, John H. Blair, George Bollinger, Levi Horst, Jere Lesher, Strock Byers, and Levi S. Keller. In 1963, Lurgan, Centennial, and Cumberland Valley Farmers’ Mutual consolidated to form the Valley Mutual Insurance Company. Two years later, Franklin County Mutual and Friendship Mutual merged with the company to form its final incarnation. In 1986, Valley moved its offices to a larger facility at 418 West King Street in Shippensburg. In 1988 The Mutual Assurance Company of Philadelphia (Green Tree) purchased Valley Mutual. In 1990, The Mutual Assurance Company closed the former Valley Mutualoffice in Shippensburg and moved the insurance operations to the Philadelphia office. Valley Mutual fully merged into Mutual Assurance in 1992. | ||
| 555 | |a Finding Aid Available Online: | ||
| 561 | 1 | |a The records of Valley Mutual and those companies which merged to form it were given by The Mutual Assurance Company to the Cumberland County Historical Society, but in 2013 the materials were transferred to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Fire insurance--History. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Pennsylvania. Insurance Department--Auditing. | |
| 651 | 0 | |a Chambersburg (Pa.) | |
| 651 | 0 | |a Cumberland County (Pa.)--History--Anecdotes. | |
| 651 | 0 | |a Cumberland County (Pa.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865. | |
| 651 | 0 | |a Franklin County (Pa.)--History. | |
| 651 | 0 | |a Shippensburg (Pa.)--Buildings, structures, etc. | |
| 651 | 0 | |a Shippensburg (Pa.)--History. | |
| 710 | 2 | |a Cumberland County Historical Society (Pa.) |e source | |
| 852 | |a The Historical Society of Pennsylvania |b Valley Mutual Insurance Company Records |l 3718 | ||
| 856 | 4 | 2 | |y Link to finding aid |u http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/v/ValleyMutual3718.html |