THE HARTFORD OF HARTFORD - AN INSURANCE COMPANY’S PART IN A CENTURY AND A HALF OF AMERICAN HISTORY.

Daniel, Hawthorne. Random House, 1960. Beige and Blue Cloth hardcover First Edition. The story of Hartford Insurance Company and also the beginnings of the insurance industry from 1660s and the role it played in American History from 1810 to 1960, with many photographs. 312 Pages with Appendixes, Index, Illustrated endpapers and 9 full-page b/w portraits. Book is in good condition with some sun fading on the spine and some rust spots on the back. This is a rare find and would make an excellent addition to any insurance collection.

A group of local merchants gathered in a Hartford Connecticut inn in 1810 and with a working capital of just $15,000 founded the now famous Hartford Fire Insurance Comapny. This book is the story of that Company from uncertain beginning to one of the strongest and most respected business organizations in the world. It is the story told against a back-drop of the American history with which it so dramatically intertwined throughout a century and a half. More than once the Hartford has paid losses in excess of its total worth, with Company Directors pledging their personal funds as security for loans. Other companies failed during these difficult times, but the Hartford hung on stubbornly. Contents:

1. The United States before 1810

2. The Beginnings of Insurance in America

3. The Founding of a Company in Hartford

4. War, Depression, and the Company’s Greatest Asset

5. Progress, Difficulties, and a Stockholder’s Revolt

6. "Calamity by Fire" in New York

7. Depression, Recovery, and Growth

8. The Coming of the Civil War

9. A Divided Nation

10. Competition, Legislation, and a Supreme Court Decision

11. The Great Chicago Fire

12. A Co-operative Beginning

13. Economic Strength and Economic Weakness

14. Great Losses and Great Gains

15. Disaster in San Francisco

16. The Broadening Field of Insurance

17. The Field Grows Broader Still

18. The Expansive Nineteen-Twenties

19. World-wide Depression and World War II

20. Departments, Agents, and Executives

21. Consolidation and Building for the Future