Retained Business Correspondence of a Boston Insurance Firm

Folio.  325 x 210 mm., [13 ¼ x 8 ½ inches].  Manuscript in ink. 373 pp.  Full contemporary calf, raised bands, tilt spine and borders.  Very legible in a very sound binding.

 This ledger contains a remarkably complete record of correspondence relating to the insurance firm of Thatcher and Fearing. Recorded upon its pages are hundreds of letters copied from originals written by and addressed to members of the firm. The firm appears to have insured a number of small businesses from Maine to Ohio. The firm, which consisted of David Thatcher, Peter Thatcher, and Andrew Fearing, was based in Boston, and is cited in the Boston city directories printed in the 1850s. The firm appears to have dealt heavily in risk insurance, evidenced by a number of letters written to small business owners indicating that the firm would reimburse various financial losses.

 Many letters, written to the most prominent men in Boston society,  also deal with cases in which the firm had difficulty collecting money owed them from settlements. However, without contextual records it is difficult to discern the details of each case;  comprehensive research on the hundreds of letters in the book would likely yield a multitude of details. There also seem to be several cases dealing with title insurance claims, though title insurance did not become commonplace until the founding of the Law and Property Assurance Company in Pennsylvania in 1853. If Thatcher and Fearing did in fact deal with title insurance claims, they would have been one of the earliest firms to do so.

 Beginning in the 19th century it was common practice to consult a lawyer and obtain his legal opinion as to the status of title to real estate whenever one sought a form of assurance about a purchase of, or loan secured by, real estate. There are a number of court decisions beginning in the mid-19th century which hold in essence that a lawyer is liable for an erroneous title opinion only if he is negligent in preparing and giving the opinion and that even if he is so liable, damages are limited in many cases to the amount paid for the opinion. In many states, there are similar opinions concerning abstractor's liability and certainly both lawyers and abstractors continually seek to limit their liability whenever possible. Title insurance was created in response to the unmet need for reliable assurance of title and indemnification of loss caused by errors in reporting the status of title. Title insurance has the unique distinction of being the only form of insurance invented in the United States. Not only did it insure against defective titles but also it guaranteed the repayment of loans and mortgages.  (893)