MSS 0096, Item 0066 - Samuel M. Donnell insurance records for Newark, Delaware

The Samuel M. Donnell Insurance Records for Newark, Delaware, spans the dates of 1888-1914, and provides a wealth of information about property holders and building structures in the town around the turn of the century. The Insurance Records will be particularly useful in conjunction with the Wilbur T. Wilson Map Collection (Ms 377). The collection consists of nine volumes, which were related to Donnell's job as agent for two insurance companies: Fire Association of Philadelphia (407-409 Walnut Street) and Royal Insurance Company of Liverpool, England (306 Walnut Street, Philadelphia). The Fire Association of Philadelphia was incorporated on March 27, 1820. The Royal Insurance Company of Liverpool was founded in the mid-nineteenth century in Liverpool, England.

The nine-volume registers are divided into two series. Series I, spanning the dates 1897-1911, includes three volumes of insurance records (one for the Fire Association of Philadelphia and two for the Royal Insurance Company of Liverpool) that include policies and descriptive information about the people, places, fees, and dates of transactions. Series II, spanning the dates 1888-1914, is a six-volume set of S.M. Donnell's check registers for his insurance business. Each of the nine volumes is housed individually.

The registers were printed for the insurance company's agents to record details of their clients' premiums. Two clients are listed per double-page spread. The Royal Insurance Company's register was printed by Hofstetter Bros. Blank Book Manufacturers of Philadelphia. The second volume of this set has a letter to its agents tipped into the verso of the cover. It is laid on top of the label of the manufacturer of the register.

The two volumes of registers for the Fire Association of Philadelphia include the following information: company logo, policy number, name of assured, commencement of risk, term, expiration of risk, amount insured, old rate, new rate, premium, copy of policy, and remarks. Across the top of the page, beginning on the left side, are the words: Policy Register. On the right side is the company's name.

Donnell filled each register with descriptive materials, receipts, and signed policies that are tipped into the pages along with the line items and monetary notations. The records have the names of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Newark residents; each register has an index. Donnell's clients included local businesses, Delaware College, and the local school district.

The six volumes of check registers, some of which have his initials on the spine, span the dates 1888-1914. The collection consists of volumes two, five, six, eight, nine, and fourteen of an unknown number of the set.