A thumb-nail history of the city of Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1836 to the year 1912 Page: 168
184 p. : illus. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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168 A THUMB-NAIL HISroRY OF
and other things, it becomes apparent that the estimate
of $90,000,000 must be under rather than
above the actual figures.
Not counting the railroads, trust companies and
banks, there are 876 incorporated companies doing
business in Houston, the combined capital of which
is $145,948,900. There are, of course, thousands
of individuals and numerous unincorporated companies
doing business in addition to these, which
shows the magnitude of Houston as a trade center.
In the early days the Houston merchants and
property owners who wished to insure against fire
loss were compelled to send to New Orleans for
their policies, for there were no local insurance
agents here. These conditions prevailed until 1858,
when Mr. John Dickinson established the first
agency in Houston, he representing a New Orleans
firm. Just about the time Mr. Dickinson got
his office working satisfactorily and began doing a
lucrative business, the war broke out and knocked
his business into a cocked hat.
In 1868 the first local insurance company was organized
in Hoston. This was the Planters' Fire
Insurance Company, which did a good business until
1880, when a disastrous cotton fire occurred,
causing such heavy losses to the company that it
went into voluntary quidtion.
In 1895 the Houston Fire and Marine Insurance
Company was organized. This company did a
good usine fr several years, but through the inno
t purchase of a lot of bogus bonds, it was
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Young, Samuel Oliver. A thumb-nail history of the city of Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1836 to the year 1912, book, 1912; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth24649/m1/186/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.