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Walla Walla Fire Insurance Company Records, 1902-1912

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Walla Walla Fire Insurance Company
Title
Walla Walla Fire Insurance Company Records
Dates
1902-1912 (inclusive)
Quantity
57 linear feet of shelf space.
Collection Number
Cage 21
Summary
A national fire insurance firm of Walla Walla, Washington, and Chicago, Illinois, whose failure in 1908 brought most of its records together for receivership. Included are correspondence, ledgers, surrendered certificates, loss claims, minutes and account books, and policy and loss ledgers. Also included are some records of the Merchants' Fire Association of Seattle, a mutual fire insurance firm, 1902-1907, a predecessor organization.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

The papers of the Walla Walla Fire Insurance Company, which was in active business during the years 1907 and 1908 and which had its home offices at Walla Walla, Washington and its general offices at Chicago, Illinois, consist of such papers as the receivers were able to collect and preserve when the company failed in late 1908. As the collection consists of the papers used in the liquidation of the company, the collection must properly be regarded as the documentation of the dissolution of the company, rather than of its operation.

Although in business for only 23 months, the Walla Walla Fire Insurance Company had an extremely complex history. Originally conceived as a stock company to succeed the mutual firm operating under the name of the Merchants' Fire Association, portions of whose records are included in this collection, the Walla Walla Fire Insurance Company rapidly became a nationwide writer of fire insurance, operating, in effect, from central offices in Chicago. The history of the company was characterized by several fights over control and policy, as evidenced by considerable shifting of officers and executive personnel. In its last days, the company was to be reorganized as a new corporate entity, a move stalled only by lawsuits and receivership petitions.

The main persons involved with the direction of the company were: (1) Charles H. Spencer, former manager of the Merchants' Fire Association, the first Secretary, General Manager of the company in its early months, and, after having been forced from that position, manager of the Chicago office; (2) Calvin Holloway, President of the company and later attorney for the Chicago office, concurrently with being overall head of the company; (3) Orrin Parker, a financial associate of Holloway's, who provided most of the capital for organization of the company, subject to reservations which lead to the lawsuit ending operations of the company; (4) O.P. Conaway, an insurance executive who replaced Spencer as Secretary and de facto manager of the home office and who later was the head underwriter at Chicago, concurrently with his other positions; (5) J.A. McGhee, Assistant Secretary, who was left in charge when the other officers moved to Chicago, and who was the first receiver of the company; (6) W.D. Church, manager of the Seattle branch office; and (7) Dorsey Hill, an official of Walla Walla County and Whitman College, who became the second receiver of the company and who undertook its liquidation.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]. Cage 21, Guide to the Walla Walla Fire Insurance Company Records. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is broken up into four distinct series, plus a fifth which consists solely of papers added to the collection three years after its initial processing.

Series one (Correspondence, 1904-1912) consists of such correspondence as the receiver of the Walla Walla Fire Insurance Company was able to secure at the time of the failure of the company. It is mainly the files of the branch offices in Spokane, Tacoma and Seattle, with some of the home office correspondence included and occasional items from general agency offices. The general correspondence of the receivers is also included, as are a few personal items of persons connected with the company.

Series two (Claims, 1908-1912) is divided into three subseries. 2.1 is unfiled papers related to claims. 2.2 is reports from agencies and general agencies at the time of failure. 2.3 is policy holder claims, mostly for return premiums on unexpired insurance, with some for fire losses and other reasons. Also surrendered policies.

Series three is ledgers, minute books, checkbooks, journals, account books, agency records, policy registers, policy indexes, loss registers, stock book, and receivers' accounts.

Series four (Merchants' Fire Asssociation Papers, 1902-1907) consists of records of the Merchants Fire Association of Seattle, a mutual insurance firm which was the predecessor of the Walla Walla Fire Insurance Company; its accounts, policy registers, and reports were passed to the Walla Walla Fire Insurance Company.

Series five consists of seven boxes which were added to the collection in 1975

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Finding aid prepared by Lawrence R. Stark
2012

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