Brookville Township (part 2 of 2)

It was decided to issue no j)olicies until one hundred thousand dollars worth of stock had been subscribed, and when this was done, September 8, 1900, the first policy in the new company was written. The company was incorporated as a mutual fire insurance company to do business within Franklin, Fayette and Union counties. The object in taking in adjoining counties was to accomodate farmers who might hold property in more than one county.

The remarkable success of the company is shown by the fact that it now has over $3,500,000 in fire and cyclone policies. At the annual meeting in September, 1914, there were reported fire policies to the amount of $2,989,221 and cyclone policies to the amount of $596,261. In 1914 the company paid $6,081.45 fire losses and $137.54 cyclone losses. At that time there were 3,826 fire policies and 519 cyclone policies in force. Undoubterlly the success of the company has been due to the low rate which it has been able to maintain, which, in 1914, was $1.50 a thousand on fire policies and ten cents a thousand on cyclone policies. It is safe to say that a large percentage of all the insurance carried on the property of farmers of the county is held by one of the local companies, with the Franklin County Farmers Insurance Company handling by far the largest amount of business.