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The Once and Future C&F - Captain Whiley’s Enterprise
fire hydrants and hoses. It took three days for volunteer fire departments to put out the blaze (blowing up buildings in the fire’s path to stop wind from spreading it further). Seven hundred buildings were destroyed causing $18 million of damage ($640 million today) — only $8 million of which was insured. Of the 26 insurance companies doing business in New York — nearly triple the number from 1822 — 23 of them were wiped out. The North River Insurance company not only survived but thrived, with the fire clearing out most of the competition. Convinced that his model worked, Whiley opposed moving closer to competitors on Wall Street and the resulting flow of business from walk-in customers. He wanted to maintain the unique character of the company and avoid any temptation to follow the crowd. This contrarian model would help North River ride out the Panic of 1837 (recession, depression, inflation) and another New York City conflagration in 1845. Whiley was happy managing a small, sound company that stuck with what they knew best. W hile Captain Whiley understood the underwriting and operational side of the business, he also understood that a great insurance company starts with great people. Consequently, when Whiley died on the job in 1847, his apprentice Peter Warner was well-prepared to take over as president. Warner had come a long way since his time as office boy and he knew the peril of fire. He came from a family of firefighters and was foreman of Engine Company No. 23. Warner was known to be an upright, kindly workaholic micromanager — described in company documents as a man of “strong personality and convictions and determined will, was ever open to argument, and ever courteous and kindly in his business as well as social relations.” During an astounding 63-year career with North River (uninterrupted by vacations), Warner carried on with Whiley’s conservative
Peter Warner.
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