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Cage 234
D. F. Mordhorst Insurance Agency
Records, 1904-1933

The records of the D. F. Mordhorst Insurance Agency (77-12) of Wilson Creek, Washington, were received from E. Roy Mundy of Ephrata in 1975 as part of the business records of the Wilson Creek State Bank. (75-12) The records were processed by Stephen E. Balzarini in February, 1978.

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

The existing records of the D. F. Mordhorst Insurance Agency give a less than complete picture of the firm. Detlev Friederich Mordhorst (b.1888) was a prominent business man in Wilson Creek, Washington, involved in banking, an automobile dealership, a grain business and an insurance agency at various times during his career. The earliest record of his association with the. insurance business dates from 1919 and his partnership with a Mr. Green, who apparently took no active part in the insurance agency. The records of the agency indicated that after 1929, Mordhorst ran the business alone. The records of the D. F. Mordhorst Insurance Agency cease after 1933. Included with the records of the Mordhorst agency are those of a predecessor organization, J. W. Emmert and Company, which apparently operated from approximately 1904 through 1912.

Further information on D. F. Mordhorst can be found in the records of the Wilson Creek State Bank, the records of the legal practice of T. B. Southard and the business records of the Mordhorst Auto Agency.

ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION

The bulk of the collection consists of insurance records -- primarily in the form of agent's copies of policies -- from various insurance companies, such as Aetna Insurance Company, Northern Insurance Company, Ltd., Sun Life of Canada, American Insurance Company, Glens Falls Insurance Company and Home Insurance Company. The policies were written during the period from 1904 through 1933 by the D. F. Mordhorst Insurance Agency and its predecessors, J. W. Emmert and Company, and Mordhorst and Green. The policies were issued for fire and damage to property (private, commercial and public), crop and hail insurance, and automobile insurance. In addition to the policies there are monthly reports concerning the amount of insurance sold and some correspondence dealing with cancellations, premiums, claims and general business between the agents and the parent insurance companies.

There are four rate books recommended by the Washington Insurance Surveyor for the Wilson Creek area for the years 1909, 1911, 1913 and 1914. There are also two books of fire insurance rates to be used as guides for the insurance agents of Washington for the years 1910 and 1914. In addition, there is an insurance ledger listing policies, insured and dates of expiration for the period 1915 through 1926.

The insurance policies and general correspondence have been arranged chronologically within subgroups and the subgroups are arranged chronologically by the earliest entry. The rate books and policy ledger have been placed at the end of the collection.

CONTAINER LIST

Box	Folder	Description	Number of Items
Series 1: General Correspondence, 1904-1923
1	1	J. W. Emmert and Co., correspondence, 1904	110
	2	J. W. Emmert and Co., policies, 1909-1912	30
	3	Central National Policies (page from ledger), 1911-1913	1
	4	Real Estate transactions, Mordhorst & Green, 1919	7
	5	Policies of Mrs. R. Kirchner (American Central and Fireman's Fund), 1919-1924 (Mordhorst & Green)	3
	6	Correspondence: J.J. Phillips of Centra, California with Mordhorst, 1922-1923	45
Series 2: Insurance Policies and Monthly Reports, 1922-1933
		Aetna Insurance Co. Agent's Record, Mordhorst & Green
	7	1922-1926	51
	8	1922-1926	60
	9	1922-1926	76
	10	1925-1928	70
		Northern Assurance Co., Ltd. Agent's Copy, Mordhorst & Green
	11	1923-1926	100
	12	1923-1926	70
2	13	1924-1927	55
	14	1924-1928	50
	15	1926-1929	95
	16	1927-1930	70
	17	Sun Life Assurance of Canada, correspondence, 1928-1929	5
		American Insurance Co. Agent's Record, Mordhorst
	18	1928-1931	50
	19	1929-1930	60
	20	1929-1930	30
	21	1929-1930	55
		Glenn Falls Insurance Company and Home Insurance Company Agent's copy, correspondence, monthly statements
3	22	1928-1932	55
	23	1928-1932	70
	24	1928-1932	70
	25	1928-1932	45
	26	1928-1932	50
	27	1928-1932	65
	28	1928-1932	60
	29	1928-1932	45
	30	1929-1932	55
4	31	1930-1932	55
	32	1931-1932	60
	33	1931-1933	40
	34	1931-1933	40
	35	Union Assurance Society, Ltd., 1930-1932	90
	36	Aetna Hail Insurance information	20
Series 3: Insurance Rate Books and Ledger
		Special rates recommended by Washington Insurance Surveyor for Wilson Creek
	37	1909	1
	38	1911	1
	39	1913	1
	40	1914	1
		Book of rates, No. 4, recommended for the use and guidance of Fire Insurance Agents in the State of Washington
	41	1910	1
	42	1914	1
5	43	Insurance Ledger, 1915-1926	1