The Hartford Courant extols the virtues of Hartford Fire’s move up the Hill

This editorial is a marker in the history of Hartford as the “insurance capital of the world.”

The editorial stated that the fire in New York City, the one that led Eliphalet Terry and James Bolles to travel there to pay claims directly, had occurred in 1837.  This contradicts the article published in this same edition, which gave the year of the fire as 1835.  This isn’t the only questionable bit of history in the editorial, but it is the most glaring because it shows a lack of coordination among the editors.

The Courant previously published an editorial on the westward expansion of the city’s businesses on May 13, 1919.

The Courant also published an article describing the final design of the new Hartford Fire building today.

1. According to the article, Hartford Fire was doing business before it was formally incorporated, there being a policy, which “still exists,” that was “made out ‘for the Hartford Fire Insurance Co.’” and was dated February 1794.
2. Hartford Fire had paid claims following fires in New York, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco.
3. In all, Hartford Fire had paid “to the insured hundreds of millions of dollars.”

1. “Elsewhere in this morning ‘The Courant’ presents to the public a fine picture of the new building, which the Hartford Fire Insurance Company is putting up on Asylum Hill. It is to be a splendid structure and will be an ornament to a city, already famous for and beautified by its insurance companies and their homes.  It will also prove a useful advertisement for the company itself.”
2. “The ‘Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf & Dumb Persons’ was built on the crest of Lord’s Hill in 1816-17. It gave the name of Asylum to the Hill.  After a while, with the improvement in treatment of such sufferers as were once called deaf and dumb, the name of the institution was changed to ‘American School for the Deaf.’  Now, the school quits its original home and a great insurance company takes its place, while Asylum Hill is still Asylum Hill, though three is no asylum there and none would be there, if the institution remained.”
3. “Fortunately the incorporators selected the name of Hartford for the company and thus the success and reputation of the company contribute to the reputation of the city.”
4. “The Hartford stands among the foremost companies in America. Its managers are men as their predecessors have been from the beginning, of high character and recognized ability, leading citizens of Hartford.”
5. “Anyone looking at the sketch we print will easily imagine what it means for Hartford Fire and for Hartford City.”

1. The American School for the Deaf didn't buy the land on Lord’s Hill until 1818.
2. On its website, The Hartford notes that its first policy was written in 1810, the year the company received its charter from the State Legislature.

Unattributed, “The Hartford Fire’s new home,” Hartford Courant, December 21, 1919, page 10.