USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Hyman's handbook of Indianapolis : an outline history and description of the capital of Indiana, with over three hundred illustrations from photographs made expressly for this work (1907) > Part 14
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The Indiana companies, which do business under the Indiana com- pulsory deposit law of 1899, afford the insured and the company a great- er degree of protection than is furnished by the laws of any other state. This law rigidly forbids the investment otherwise than in certain stipu- lated high-class securities, namely government bonds, state bonds if at or above par, first mortgage loans on real estate worth at least twice as much as the amount loaned thereon, municipal and school bonds. where issued in accordance with the law upon which interest has never been defaulted, in loans on pledges of stocks, bonds or mortgages of par value, if current value of same is at least twenty-five per cent. more than the amount loaned thereon, and loans upon its own policies not exceeding the reserve thereon. If the laws of Indiana provided the same safeguards for its citizens insuring in outside companies in the matter of investments that they do for those insuring in home com-
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HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
panies, not more than four or five foreign companies would be per- mitted to do business in the state. In relation to the custody of the net cash value of all policies each year, the auditor of state is required to ascertain the net cash value of outstanding policies, and the company must deposit in his office such a sum in the before-mentioned securities, together with previous deposits, as shall equal such cash value. A some- what similar provision secures our national bank circulation. The dif- ference between a policy holder in a company depositing the net cash value of ail policies with the state and one that does not is practically the difference between a man holding a national bank note and the depositor in such a bank. The depositor may lose his money, but no holder of a national bank note has ever lost a cent on such a note.
The State Life Insurance Company was organized in 1894 and was the outgrowth of a popular demand in Indiana for a home insurance company that would meet all modern requirements as to the scientific soundness of its basis and the equity of its plans. So well has the company and its plans mer the approval of the most conservative busi- ness and professional men of the state, that they have, in an intelli- gent self-interest and state pride, given it a support unparalleled in the history of life insurance. For its age its record is greater than that ever made by any insurance company in the world measured by the very large premium income, the high character of its business, the low expense ratio and the large reserve accumulated. The State Life Insur- ance Company does business under the Indiana compulsory reserve de- posit law of 1899, which furnishes the insured and the company a greater degree of protection than is furnished by the laws of any other state. Under the provisions of this law the net cash value of each policy must be deposited with the auditor of state, and the company has now ou deposit in his department five million dollars for the protection of its policy-holders, which is an amount in excess of that required by law. The State Life Insurance Company is looked upon not only as the great- est fiduciary institution in Indiana, but in thirty-five other states and Canada its soundness and strength is recognized and it is receiving the patronage of the discriminating insuring publie who are appreciative of the unbounded indorsement the company is receiving at the hands of the people in its home state who have watched its splendid develop- ment.
While the flattering array of figures now speak volumes for the financial strength of the company, sight should not be lost of the man- agement which inspired confidence in the beginning and has since dem- onstrated that it was well merited. The home offices are located in its own building on Washington street, which is one of the most conspicu- ous office structures in the city.
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STATE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY BUILDING.
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HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT STATE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY.
Insurance in Force.
Income.
Admitted Assets.
Admitted Surplus.
1895
$3,548,500
$60,022
$18,000
$2,432
1897
11,885,500
204,983
150,890
62,615
1599
22,208,470
467,225
417,781
161.345
1901
33,615,656
901,728
1,015,072
315,654
1903
49,713,796
1.748,490
2,205,636
390,577
1904
60,148,994
2,244,033
3,160,083
544,585
1905
74,410,588
2,729,911
4,126,682
605,317
1906
· 81,047,860
3,005,629
5,353,741
679,626
The officers of the company are: Henry W. Bennett, president ; Wilbur S. Wynn, first vice-president and secretary; Albert Sahm, treas- urer; Charles F. Coffin, second vice-president ; Walter Howe, auditor; Allison Maxwell, M. D., medical director. The directors are: H. W. Bennett, Wm. C. Bobbs, W. S. Wynn, Charles F. Coffin, R. W. McBride, Albert Sahm, James I. Dissette, Wiu. J. Mooney, Hiram P. Wasson.
The Interstate Life Assurance Company was incorporated in 1897, and in January, 1900, was reorganized under the legal reserve law of Indiana. It has on deposit in the state insurance department of Indi- ana over $1,100 000 in securities for the protection of its policy holders- an additional factor of security that must be appreciated. It has its home offices in its own property situated at 430 North Pennsylvania street, a former residence property which has been improved and adapt- ed to the company's uses in a manner resulting in great convenience and economy and safety through the building of large fireproof safety vaults, the purchase of the property being also a most excellent investment.
The board of directors is made up of the following well-known con- servative and successful business and professional men: Thos. H. Spann, William E. Kurtz, Cortland Van Camp, Harry J. Milligan, Dr. E. F. Hodges, M. B. Wilson, Charles E. Coffin. A. A. Barnes, E. I. Fisher, John B. Cockrum, Rear Admiral George Brown, William For- tune, August M. Knhn, Dr. O. S. Rnnnels, John T. Martindale and F. B. Davenport, all of Indianapolis, and James P. Goodrich of Winchester, Ind., Colonel D. N. Foster of Fort Wayne, Ind., and M. L. Finckel of Germantown, Pa. The officers are F. B. Davenport, president ; John T. Martindale, vice-president and superintendent of agencies; M. S. Thayer, secretary ; Charles E. Coffin, treasurer ; Dr. E. F. Hodges, medical di- rector ; Harry J. Milligan, general counsel, with Thos. H. Spann, Cort- land Van Camp and Charles E. Coffin members of the executive com- mittee.
The officers of the company have bad years of practical experience in life insurance, qualifying them as experts in their respective positions. Through its board of directors, officers and committees the company is equipped with the very best of expert ability in all of its branches.
LOT
A398
INTERSTATE LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY BUILDING,
240
HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
The policies issued by the company are most equitable aud at- tractive, including notably limited payment life and endowment policies with return cash value in event of death during the premium paying period, giving increased insurance value for the overpayment necessary to accumulate and maintain the required reserve.
The guaranteed decreasing premium plan of life insurance, original with and peculiar to the Interstate Life, is an ideal insurance contract, under which the average premium is lower and paid-up, extended in- surance and cash values are greater than other forms, and security en- hanced. The guaranteed decreasing premium plan accords with natural requirements of life insurance, guaranteeing as it does the decreasing of the burden of premium payments with advancing years and decreas- ing ability to pay.
With an established business in its home state and in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri, under most con- servative and economical management, the company is developing along lines designed to constantly widen its field of usefulness and to make it an institution of great service and a source of just pride to its city and state.
The American Central Life Insurance Company of · Indianapolis, Ind., its home offices being In its own building, the northeast corner of Market street and Monument place, was organized by Charles E. Dark, who has been its vice-president ever since its organization. The com- pany was incorporated February 23, 1899, and commenced business April 10, 1899, having been organized under the compulsory legal reserve de- posit law of Indiana, which requires the company to at all times have on deposit with the state of Indiana approved non-speculative securities in an amount equal to its entire liability to policy holders. The com- pauy has met with continuous success since its organization. It is now transacting business in and is licensed by the insurance departments of these states : Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Arkansas, Illi- nois, Tennessee, Texas, Kansas and Alabama, and has in contemplation the establishment of a Pacific coast department and entering the states of California, Oregon and Washington. The company has a paid-up capital stock of $137,000, and at the present time has assets of over $1,750,000, of which $350,000 is surplus security to policy holders. The company has 'life insurance in force of over $20,000,000. The last certificate of deposit from the state of Indiana shows the company to have legally prescribed securities amounting to $1,300,000 on deposit with the state, being over $51,000 more than the legal requirement. The company has one of the finest and most centrally located office buildings in the city of Indianapolis, the sixth floor of which is occupied by the company with its home offices, and the balance of the building is leased
ERICAN SENTRALTSURANCE COMER
19977311
THE MARION TRUST GO!
MARION TRUST CO.
LT91
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MAR UN TRUST CO.
INDIANA STATE FIRE INSURANCE CO.
FARMERS' TRUST CO.
AMERICAN CENTRAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY BUILDING.
242
HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
to high-grade tenants, producing a handsome income for the company on the investment. The company's officers at the present time are:
Milton A. Woollen, president ; Charles E. Dark, vice-president; W. W. Dark, secretary ; George E. Hume, treasurer ; Russell T. Byers, gen- eral counsel ; Carroll B. Carr, actuary ; Edward A. Meyer, comptroller ; D. A. Coulter, Frankfort, Ind., auditor; Frank W. Morrison, director ; Dr. Greene V. Woollen, medical director.
The American Central Life Insurance Company operates on strictly old line legal reserve plans. It has become one of the largest life insur- ance companies of the West and South, and at its present rate of prog- ress will soon become one of the largest financial institutions in the state of Indiana.
Reserve Loan Life Insurance Company-Life insurance is no longer a matter of sentiment. It has hecome a business proposition. Business and professional men to a man surround their business and families with life insurance protection, and every day thousands in other walks of life are following this example. The insecurity of human life ohligates every conscientious man when taking upon himself the care and rearing of a family to so dispose his arrangements that the event of death will not bring want to his dependents. The only question that presents itself is the amount of insurance he can carry and pay for, and the company in which he will place it. Indiana has within recent years placed herself in the lead of other states in the security of her insurance laws. The companies organized under the existing laws of the state present greater security to their policy holders than companies in other states. The limitation of authority of the officers of its insurance com- panies in the investment of funds is a superior requirement to that made by any state in the United States. State loyalty and state pride should lead our people to give their full support and co-operation to the ad- vancement of home life insurance companies, among which is the Re- serve Loan Life Insurance Company of this city. On December 31, 1906, this company's admitted assets amounted to $1,682,566 and its surplus $121,619. With such satisfactory financial conditions and $14,631,621 insurance in force, this company is making rapid strides and is a credit to our state. The officers of the company are as follows: Chalmers Brown, president ; William R. Zulich, vice-president ; William K. Bellis, secretary aud treasurer ; M. M. Crabill, superintendent of agencies; W. A. Ketcham and Guilford A. Deitch, counsel; J. L. Larway, M. D., međ- ical director. The home offices are located in the Ingalls building, south- west corner of Washington and Pennsylvania streets.
The Meridian Life and Trust Company-This successful and healthy young life insurance company is organized and incorporated under the Indiana legal reserve compulsory deposit law of 1899, and has had a marvelous growth from its very start. At the close of its
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HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
first year the insurance in force amounted to $607,800, with assets of $107,452.68, and on December 31, 1906, the insurance in force amounted to $8,296,391 and the assets to $932,189.72. Results up to the present writing show a corresponding increase for 1907. The insurance investi- gations of 1905-06 that wrought such havoc to many of the Gibraltars of life insurance, resulting in a heavy decrease along all lines, seems to have had the opposite effect on the Meridian Life, judging from its heavy increase of new business produced during that period, and the corre- sponding increase in assets and surplus. The funds of the company are invested in the highest possible class of securities, the company confining itself strictly to that class of securities recommended and endorsed by the laws of the state of Indiana. The confidence placed in the Meridian Life by the public has been justified and merited in every sense. Its continued success is an assured fact, as it is built on a solid foundation and is managed in a conservative and strictly businesslike manner. The company issues all forms of life and endowment policies. The officers of the company are: Arthur Jordan, president ; Everett Wagner, vice- president ; T. J. Owens, secretary ; Orlando B. Iles, treasurer, and Wil- mer Christian, medical director. The offices of the company are located on the fifth floor of the Lemcke building.
The Indianapolis Life Insurance Company was chartered by the state of Indiana and began issuing policies November 20, 1905. It was organized under the legal reserve compulsory deposit law of Indiana. This law requires the company to deposit with the state in high class interest bearing securities the full net cash value of each policy in force, thus furnishing the best possible security for the policy holders. The company was organized primarily to furnish its members safe Legal Re- serve Life and Endowment insurance at cost. This means a material reduction in premiums as compared with those charged by most other companies. It is not making auy experiments. It is adhering strictly to the course tested and followed by all of the companies during their time of greatest good to their membership-before the coming of the mad, wild scramble for mere bigness, with the resulting twin evils-graft and waste. The officers and incorporators are men of high character, experienced and successful in business. At the close of 1905 the books showed $325,000 of business written. During 1906 applications were re- ceived for $1,268,250, with annual premiums aggregating $39,384.08. De- ducting rejections, not placed and lapsed policies there was in force De- cember 31, 1906, $1,280,067, with annual premiums aggregating $40,498. The company issues only annual dividend policies, and never issued any deferred dividend, dated back or special contract policies. The company will not enter any race for size. It is essentially a policy holders' com- pany. Anything that does not make for their benefit is condemned. The company believes that heavy expenditures merely for increasing
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HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
business are wasteful, and a normal, healthy growth is all that the In- dianapolis Life Insurance Company desires. The officers of the com- pany are: Albert Goslee, president; Frank P. Manly, vice-president and general manager ; Joseph R. Raub, secretary ; Dr. Frank A. Morrison, medical director ; Edward B. Raub, counsel.
Indiana National Life Insurance Company-This company was or- ganized under the legal reserve deposit law of Indiana, and was incor- porated June 28, 1006, and commenced business in November, 1906. The company has on deposit with the state insurance department of In- diana for the protection of all its policy holders the sum of $110,000, an amount far in excess of the law's requirement, and as an extra factor of safety should be appreciated, as it makes the company impregnable from every point of view. The company has its home offices in the In- diana Pythian building, and it includes among its directors many of the foremost business men of Indiana. The officers of the company are: M. D. Butler, president ; J. E. Killen, vice-president and general man- ager; U. Z. Wiley, second vice-president and general counsel ; Frank W. Killen, secretary and superintendeut of agents; Asher B. Evans, treas- urer, and S. P. Woodard, medical director. The company is capitalized at $200,000, $150,000 of which has been paid in in cash, and the stock is scattered over the state of Indiana among the most prominent bankers and merchants. The company is now doing business in four states and has written five millions of insurance. The company is one of the most conservatively managed companies doing business in the state, and its management has had years of experience in the insurance field. The company issues all forms of life and endowment policies, all of which provide for guaranteed annual dividends, and judging from the com- pany's success its policy forms are meeting with the entire approval of the insuring public.
The Indianapolis Fire Insurance Company was organized in 1899 and began doing business September 1st of that year. The capital stock is $200,000, fully paid up. The assets on January 1, 1907, were $536,- 369.89 and the surplus to policy holders $247,679.36. The company transacts a general fire insurance business, having agents in all the principal cities and towns in Indiana, and also is doing business in fif- teen other states. The company is conservatively managed, seeking quality rather than quantity, adequate rates on risks well scattered rather than rapid growth at the expense of security. Therefore, while its growth has not been rapid, it has been of that substantial character which commends itself to the most particular insurer. Its assets are kept safely invested in interest bearing securities, and its premium in- come for 1907 will approximate a half million dollars. Its loss by the San Francisco conflagration, through reinsurance for another company, was near $60,000. These losses were all promptly paid without dis-
245
HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
count. Its officers are as follows: Daniel A. Rudy, president; Sol Meyer, first vice-president and treasurer ; Winfield Miller, second vice- president ; John T. Hinderks, secretary; John R. Engle, superintendent of agencies.
The German Fire Insurance Company of Indiana is the outgrowth of the German Mutual Insurance Company, organized April 1, 1854, and which, during the long period it operated as such, gained a fore- most position among the leading mutnal fire associations of the coun- try. After conducting business for over forty years on the mutual sys- tem, it was decided to incorporate as a joint stock company, and this
GERNAY
GERMAN FIRE INSURANCE CO. GERMAN TELEGRAPH.
GERMANIA HALL.
change was effected March 11, 1896, under the title of the German Fire Insurance Company of Indiana, with a paid-up capital stock of $100,000. The last statement submitted by the company to the anditor of state showed actual resources of $587,449.70, and a surplus to policy holders of $243,990.08, thus making it the largest and strongest fire insurance company in the state. The management comprises Theodore Stein, president ; Wm. F. Knhn, first vice-president ; Ferd A. Mueller, second vice-president ; Lorenz Schmidt, secretary, and Theodore Reyer, treas- urer. These five gentlemen, together with Messrs. Frederick Schrader and Win. Kohlstaedt, compose the directory, and are among the best known business men in Indianapolis.
246
HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
The Indiana State Fire Insurance Company was organized and be- gan business in May, 1907, as a mutual company designated especially for the benefit of manufacturers. Its officers and directors are: Presi- dent, Jos. L. Ebner, Vincennes, Ind., president of the Ebner Ice and Cold Storage Company, a syndicate owning and operating numerous ice and cold storage plants; vice-president, John E. Fredericks, Kokomo, Ind., secretary of the Kokomo Steel and Wire Company, owning and operat- ing three separate plants for the manufacture of wire, nails, wire fences and fence materials, etc .; treasurer, John H. Furnas, Indianapolis, Ind., president of the Furnas Office and Bank Furniture Company, a plant which is having a constant and marked growth; secretary, Alvin T. Coate, Indianapolis, Ind., formerly president of the Insurance Audit Company, and a man of long insurance experience. The company has already taken its place among recognized factory mutual companies, has at this time more than $130,000 in assets, has a dividend ratio of 25 per cent. and more than 325 policy holders. Its offices are on the fifth floor of the American Central Life building.
Indiana Millers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company is a purely mutual company established in 1889 and organized and conducted under the mill mutual plan, affording the most economical and safest fire in- surance- system given to the public. The management is vested in a board of directors chosen from its members and elected annually by the policy holders of the company. No agency business is done, and no commissions are paid for obtaining business as all transactions are made directly with its members. The company writes no general, mer- cantile or promiscuons business, but is confined to a selected class of isolated risks. The result of conducting the business of insurance upon the well-established principles of this company has reduced the cost of operation from 40 per cent. to 15 per cent. over the stock company plan and a reduction of the loss ratio from 58 per cent. to 30 per cent. of the premium income. The company has paid claims for loss aggregating nearly $900,000 and has never resorted to the courts in a single settle- ment, and has never had a law suit of any kind for or against it. The officers of the company are M. S. Blish, president, and E. E. Perry, sec- retary and treasurer ; F. E. C. Hawks, vice-president.
Newton Todd, investment broker, fire insurance and rental agent, whose offices are in the Fletcher National Bank building, is the lead- ing broker and dealer in local securities in the city, buying and selling bank, trust company, Belt railroad and other high-class securities. Mr. Todd does bond and mortgage loan business for local individuals and eastern corporations. He is the sole Indianapolis representative of the Fire Association of Philadelphia, one of the leading fire insurance com- panies in the United States. Mr. Todd also does a rental business, hav- ing charge of some of the largest buildings in the city.
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HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
VIEW OF GREGORY & APPEL'S OFFICE.
Gregory & Appel, insurance, real estate, rental and loan agents, 121 East Market street, have been engaged in business since 1884, and rank among the most important in their line in the city. The firm rep- resents several of the best known and most reliable fire insurance com- panies. The members of the firm are Fred A. Gregory and John J. Appel.
Joseph T. Elliott & Sons, stock and bond dealers, Nos. 222 and 223 American National Bank Building-This firm was organized in 1904. The individual members of the firm are Joseph T. Elliott, formerly president of the Marion Trust Company, and his two sons, George B. Elliott, formerly clerk of Marion county, and C. Edgar Elliott. The firm makes a specialty of dealing iu municipal and corporation bonds.
W. E. Stevenson & Company-This business was established in 1887 by W. E. Stevenson, who is recognized as one of the most pro- gressive and energetic men in the real estate business in the state. Indianapolis owes much to his enterprise. He personally promoted tlic erection of the first great office building that was built on Washington street, formerly known as the Stevenson building, now the State Life building ; the Indianapolis Cold Storage Company plant, and was promi- nently associated with the work of building the Indianapolis Southern
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