Eugene L. Ellison was born on March 5, 1845, to Margaret Elizabeth Belville and Curtis Bennet Ellison, in Glasgow, New Castle County, Delaware. He was the sixth oldest out of nine children. He received his primary education in Delaware public schools, and attended secondary school at the Newark Academy in New Jersey. After graduating from the academy in 1866, he worked as a bank teller at the New Castle County National Bank, but resigned the next year to move to Philadelphia (DOC 30).
After arriving in Philadelphia, Ellison began working as a clerk, and later a director of the Central National Bank on 400 Walnut Street (DOC 3). Then, he briefly became an assistant manager for the Philadelphia Clearinghouse, a well known company.² A couple of years later in 1869, he entered into the field of insurance, becoming an assistant manager at the Old Enterprise Insurance Company of Philadelphia. He was quickly promoted to general agent, and continued to work for the company until its dissolution in 1871. Ellison wasted no time at all looking for employment. He immediately transitioned to work for another insurance company, the Insurance Company of North America, where he was put in charge of the Harrisburg office.² From there, he gradually worked his way up, moving back to work at the Philadelphia office located on 232 Walnut Street as assistant secretary (DOC 13). In 1897, he succeeded George H. McFadden as vice president, and on November 1, 1909, after thirty eight years of working in the company, at the age of sixty-four, he succeeded Charles Platt to become the eighth president of the Insurance Company of North America(DOC 42). Platt had been president from January 18, 1978 until his death on January 23, 1909 (DOC 42). Ellison was known as one of the best underwriters on the continent, earning his title as one of the ‘Giants of Fire Insurance Businesses,’ and one of the two remaining old school insurance presidents in Philadelphia. During Ellison’s tenure as President, a man named Benjamin Rush served as vice president. Rush would eventually succeed Ellison to become the ninth president of the Insurance Company of North America on March 7, 1906 (DOC 42). Other executive of the company included: John Platt as second vice president, who was elected in January of 1910, Sheldon Catlin as third vice president, T. Houard Wright as secretary and treasurer, and Galloway C. Morris and John Kremer as assistant secretaries (DOC 31). Wright had succeeded Greville E. Fryer, who had been secretary since January 12, 1881 and passed away on July 27, 1898, and had been assigned the roles of treasurer in 1912 (DOC 42). After Ellison’s death, Platt became vice president, and Catlin became second vice president. Despite his old age, Ellison worked tirelessly until his death, working not only to improve his own company, but all insurance companies of Philadelphia. In 1912, he met with various insurance officials on Insurance Row, from 2nd to 6th Street along Walnut Street (DOC 34), to raise the price of fire insurance from fifteen cents to twenty five cents (DOC 23). Aside from his responsibility as the president of the Insurance Company of North America, he was also the president of the Alliance Insurance Company, a director of the Central National Bank (DOC 33), and a member of the executive committee for the Philadelphia Fire Underwriters Association.² He was even invited to be president on the board, to which he politely declined. Additionally, he was inducted to the Union League of Philadelphia on May 16, 1882 (DOC 10). Located on 140 Broad Street, the club was originally formed in 1862 in support of the Union in the Civil War. The club was where a lot of business was conducted, and where many wealthy citizens of Philadelphia went in their spare time. Lastly, Ellison served as vestryman of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Savior on 23 S 38th Street.1 The company for which Ellison worked for almost forty five years of his life, the Insurance Company of North America, was formed on November 19, 1792, at 213 South Front Street, as one of the founders of “Insurance Row” between 2nd and 6th Street along Walnut Street. Within the United States, the Insurance Company of North America was the first stock insurance organization, the first marine insurance company, the first fire insurance company to insure contents of a building from fire, and the first insurance company to appoint a network of representative agents on the US frontier.⁶ The company first started out with U.S. marine underwriting and insuring ships and cargo, but quickly grew to add fire insurance to respond to Jefferson’s trade embargo due to the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.⁶ The Insurance Company of North America continued to prosper after the war, growing to cover inland insurance as well (DOC 25). Some of the company’s early achievements include insuring a total of $650,000 after the Chicago fire in 1871, and paying $4,772,000 for losses after the San Francisco earthquake. Regardless of being titled the Insurance Company of North America, the company expanded to London, Britain; Vienna, Austria; and Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1887, and expanded its business to China in 1897, becoming the first American insurer in that country.⁶ That same year, when Ellison was also elected to be vice president, the company’s 105th annual statement issued on January 1st stated the total assets of the company totaled $9,686,808.08, during which the president’s position was filled by Ellison’s predecessor Charles Platt, along with Gerville Fryer as secretary and treasurer, John Atwood as assistant secretary, and T. Houard Wright as marine secretary (DOC 21). When Ellison took the presidency in 1909, the company had an annual income of approximately eight million dollars, owned thirteen million dollars in assets, and a surplus of over two million dollars.³ The next year in 1910, the same year Ellison had a presidential portrait of himself painted, the company had a capital of 4 million dollars (DOC 26). In 1913, the 121st annual statement of the company stated the company’s total assets at $17,816,188.57, and its surplus to policyholders at $8,844,871.95 (DOC 29). Finally in 1916, Ellison’s term nearing an end, after six and a half years as President, the company’s 124th annual statement released the information of the assets at $20,838,450.21, with a surplus of $6,080,043 (DOC 44). The Insurance Company of North America moved a few times, from 232 Walnut Street, and then to 436 Walnut Street where Ellison finished his term. The company’s final relocation was to 1600 Arch Street in 1922; this building was renamed the Phoenix in 2002, and was listed as a National Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the Insurance Company of North American exists under the name of CIGNA, after it merged with the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, or CG, in 1984.7 Ellison had a very pleasant childhood filled with education opportunities, mainly due to his wealthy father. Curtis B. Ellison was a successful businessman, serving in the state legislature. His success allowed him to send Ellison to the Academy of Newark (DOC 16). An article featuring him in the local newspaper the Middletown Transcript describes Ellison’s father as a man of sterling integrity and of good business capacity, a trait that was clearly inherited by Ellison and contributed to his success as the president of the Insurance Company of North America (DOC 17). In fact, the article states that Ellison’s father was qualified enough to serve as the governor of Delaware (DOC 16). Ellison’s parents were also born in this country, with his father from New Jersey and his mother from Delaware (DOC 32). His parents married on October 17th, 1833 (DOC 1). They would eventually have thirteen children together, but four of them would die young (DOC 16). Viane passed away as a toddler, and Eliza did not make it past her infancy, while Clara and Letitia would pass away before their father. Ellison’s siblings included: Thomas Ellison (1836-1900), Clara W. Ellison Boulden (1837-1875), Mary Frances Ellison Holton (1839-1928), Sarah Ellison (1843-1874), Viane Ellison (1843-1846), Laurena Ellison Fowler (1850-1939), James Veazy Ellison (1852-1934), Letitia B. Ellison (1855-1876), Julia W. Ellison (1856-1940), Anna B. Ellison (1859-1936), and Eliza E. Roberts (1862-1938). Ellison’s first wife was Sarah Ellison, who was from Alabama and five years his junior (DOC 5). She was described as a very kind, gentle Christian woman (DOC 9). They were married from 1880 to 1882, during which they lived in Pittsburgh, while Ellison worked as assistant manager of the Old Enterprise Insurance Company of Philadelphia. Tragically, Ellison’s wife died of a pulmonary infection, which was diagnosed by Dr. J. Musser, on February 28, 1882, at the young age of twenty seven (DOC 7). Her funeral took place on Friday, March 3, 1882 at two o’clock at 217 Mark’s Square, the house of Ellison’s older brother James (DOC 8). She was buried at Woodlands Cemetery, where Ellison and the rest of his family would end up being buried as well. Ellison then married Maud Richmond Johnson,² with whom he had three daughters: Edith, born on January 9, 1886, Miriam, born on July 6, 1896, and Margery, born September 5, 1901. Margery was born when Ellison was fifty six years old, a fairly old age (Doc 14, 20, 22). Ellison’s children were all born in Philadelphia, and his wife Maud was also from Pennsylvania (DOC 24). His oldest daughter, Edith, at the age of twenty-six married Wilson Neil, who was thirty-one, the wedding taking place on Thursday, September 18, 1912 (DOC 28). The clergyman officializing their marriage was Robert Johnson, who presided at the Church of the Savior, the childhood church of the Ellisons and also where Ellison served as vestryman. At the time, the Ellisons lived at 4100 Spruce Street, whereas the Neils lived on 4212 Walnut Street. Ellison grew up living at 756 Pencader Hundred in New Castle County in Delaware, and lived there until he resigned from his first job as bank teller of the New Castle County National Bank in 1867 (DOC 2, 30). When Ellison first arrived in Philadelphia from Delaware, he lived on 520 Vine Street from 1866 to 1869, during which he worked at the Central National Bank and the Philadelphia Clearinghouse (DOC 3). His next job as the assistant manager of the Old Enterprise Company of Philadelphia required him to move to Pittsburgh, where he lived with his first wife, Sarah, on 37 Fifth Avenue (DOC 4). After being hired by the Insurance Company of North America, his first job was at the Harrisburg office, and he lived at the Lochiel Hotel (DOC 6). It was not until Ellison had moved up the company ladder that he stayed in one place. The sequence of promotions started when he was promoted to assistant secretary. He moved back to Philadelphia, living on 3600 Chestnut Street (DOC 11). On June 24, 1885, he purchased a house on 4805 Chester Avenue from Thomas and Delia Robb, and their realtor Mr. Lewis of the Registry Department Bureau of Surveys, Sub-Division 11 (DOC 12). The house was in the 27th ward of Philadelphia(DOC 14). After residing for ten years and having his first daughter, Edith, Ellison sold the house on March 28, 1895, to a man named Charles Mullin, with an agent from the Real Estate Trust Company of Philadelphia, and moved to 4100 Spruce Street(DOC 18). Soon after, Ellison would be elected vice president in 1897, and then president of the Insurance Company of North America.² This forty by 109 foot house (DOC 43) in the 24th ward of the city (DOC 20) would eventually be sold after Ellison’s death, by his wife Maud and her agent Mr. Steir, on September 11, 1920, to a man named John McCallin (DOC 43). Disease, especially heart disease, ran in Ellison’s family. His father, Curtis, passed away on July 10, 1886 at the age of seventy-seven (DOC 15). Dr. Leo Wilson and Dr. Middletown signed his death certificate on July 30, 1886, diagnosing him with heart issues. In fact, Ellison’s father had been sick for a number of years, and could not even leave his room for the last two months before his passing (DOC 16). Ellison’s older sister, Mary Frances Ellison Holten, five years senior to Ellison, died of chronic colitis, an inflammation of the colon (DOC 45). She died at the age of eighty eight on October 5, 1928, in New Castle Delaware, where Ellison and his siblings had grown up. Disease was not only genetic for Ellison, but had a way of causing tragedy in Ellison’s life, even taking the life of his first wife in the form of pulmonary infection. Ellison was no exception from this curse of disease. After complaining about not feeling well for a few couple days, his physician recommended a short vacation, to take a break from his hard work as the president of the Insurance Company of North America.¹ He complied, spending the weekend over at Atlantic City with his family. On Tuesday, February 8, 1916, Ellison was at his desk the morning after returning to Philadelphia when one of his clerks found him collapsed on his desk, who, upon receiving no response, summoned a physician from Jefferson Hospital. However, Ellison died before the doctor could arrive. He passed away due from angina pectoris, a type of chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart (DOC 32). His funeral was held on Friday, February 11, at three o’clock at the Church of the Saviour on 37th and Chestnut Streets (DOC 35), where he served as vestryman (DOC 36). He was buried by Wilford H. Shurtliff at the Woodlands Cemetery three days later, at lot ½-26-28, joining his first wife (DOC 40). His death certificate was filled out by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOC 32). Being a prominent and well known figure, his death and funeral were reported in quite a few mediums, including a Delaware newspaper called the Morning News (DOC 37), a Harrisburg newspaper titled the Harrisburg Telegraph, a weekly newspaper that only reported insurance news called the Western Underwriter (DOC 39), the Insurance News, Volume 38 (DOC 41), and even the New York Times (DOC 38). In fact, he was a bit of a local celebrity in Harrisburg, being featured in the Harrisburg Telegraph on October 1, 1910, when he and his family took an automobile trip to Harrisburg and stayed at the Commonwealth Hotel (DOC 27). From Delaware to Philadelphia, local newspapers were eager to write articles on such a successful and influential person. Eugene Ellison was a very devoted, hard-working person, who contributed a lot to both Philadelphia and New Castle. Ellison had a deep connection with the Insurance Company of North America, devoting over forty-five years of his life to it. He worked his way up from the bottom to make it to the top and forge his own legacy. Although Ellison committed a lot to his work, he never forgot about his family, religion, and the finer things in life. His death was mourned by the hearts of many throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware. Ellison was an inspirational figure, representing that success could only be achieved through hard work and integrity. ¹ “Ancestry Family Tree.” Ancestry, 2019,
www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/11634631/family?fpid=26445188999&usePUBJs=true. ² “The National Underwriter: The National Newspaper of Fire and Casualty Insurance, Volume 20, Part 1.” Google Books, The National Underwriter, 1916. ³ "The Spectator: An American Review Weekly Review of Insurance, Volume 82-83.” Google Books, The Spectator, 1909. ⁴ “Overview.” The Union League of Philadelphia, www.unionleague.org/about.php. ⁵ “Chubb's Oldest Active Subsidiary Honored with Historical Marker on Philadelphia's Insurance Row.” Chubb Corporate Newsroom, Chubb, 2017. ⁶ “Insurance Company of North America Building.” Clio, National Endowment for the Humanities, 14 Sept. 2017. ⁷ “CIGNA Company History.” Tunisia Health Insurance, Pacific Prime Blog. ⁸ “Insurance Company of North America Building.” Clio, National Endowment for the Humanities, 14 Sept. 2017. ⁹ “Ancestry Family Tree.” Ancestry, 2019, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/11634631/family?fpid=26445188999&usePUBJs=true. ¹⁰ Ellison was likely looking for a home where he could expand his family, as he would have two more daughters after moving to 4100 Spruce Street. |