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Our History

Before we go into the history of the Randolph Mutual Insurance Company, we will look back serveral years to see what lead to the formation of this company.

In June, 1865, because of the actions of some light fingered horsemen in the area of Bremen, Illinois the Randolph Horse Thief Detecting Society was organized. With the following gentlement being the first officers of this organization:

John Wilson, President
Wm. Pickett, Vice President
Dr. J. Harris, Secretary
G.W. Lipscomb, Treasurer
C. Welge, Door Keeper

Their by-laws stated that in the event a horse was stolen from one of the members, the members were to ride the roads in the area until the thief was apprehended or the property recovered or until all traces of the thief were lost. Horses belonging to members of the society were to be branded with a star on the left sholder. All of the branding was to be done by Wm. Buckmann. The territory covered by the society was six miles in any direction from their regular meeting place, this being School House No. 4. Membership fees were one dollar and new members would be accepted on a unamious vote of the members present. Members not performing their duties were to be fined not less than three nor more than six dollars, although this was later revised to one dollar. If a good and lawful excuse was made as to their not serving, they would not be fined. In one case, however, several members had excuses, but not being entirely acceptable they were required to bring a keg of beer to the next regular meeting to be drank by the society. Members of the society were not permitted to accept rewards offered by another member of the society. They did receive approximately $8.90 upon capturing a thief and turning him over to the Sheriff of Randolph County at Chester, Illinois. The last records that we have of this society are the minutes of a meeting held on November 2, 1872.

It was during this time that the members of this society decided to organize an insurance company. This they did on March 23, 1867, forming the "Farmers Mutual Insurance Company". Forty of them signed the by-laws and deposited $50.00 each to write only farm property and the hazards to be covered were "Das Feuer, Der Sturm, un Der Blitz" (Fire, Tornado and Lightning). From the beginning of the company it covered all these perils and being the first company in the United States to write a package policy. This was a voluntary organization until they changed to the Randolph Mutual Insurance Company, which was organized under a special act of the legislature at Springfield, Illinois on March 26, 1869.

The original founders of the Randolph Mutual Insurance are as follows:

Dietrich Heitmann, President
John Wilson, Vice-President
Rev. Charles Tegtmeyer, Secretary
F.R. Fricke, Treasurer
August Begemann
John Harris
Henry Meyer
Conrad Welge

The original charter of the Company was for a term of fifty years which would have been until 1919. On June 30, 1913, the charter of the Company was extended for another ninety-nine years, or until 2018.

Policy Number One issued by the Randolph Mutual Insurance Company was written for $1,200 covering the dwelling of Henry Begemann of near Steeleville, Illinois.

The settlement of losses was quite different than it is today, the settlement was as follows: "A loss by fire or lightning would be made on two-thirds of the amount of insurance, and if a wind loss the amount would be one-half of the amount of insurance." This has been revised to were full settlement is made on losses, with the exceptions of theft, collision and overturn where a $25.00 deductible applies.

During the years many additional coverages have been added to the policies to better provide for the policy holders insurance needs. The following are some of the coverages added since 1955; smoke, explosion, vehicle, riot, overturn of machinery, vandalism, theft, accidential shooting, drowning, electrocution, attack by dogs and wild animals, collision and fire department service. Also we have a Broad Form Endorsement which may be applied to our better dwellings that give even broader coverages. Also in 1965 we addded the Home-Guard policy to better afford policy holders living in towns and those not engaged in farming living in the country comparible coverage to that of the Broad Form endorsement. Originally the Companies' policies were printed in both English and German Languages, this has been discontinued for some time.

During this time also our coverages grew, the company also expanded its territory. In 1953 our territory was expanded to include all of Randolph, Jackson and Perry counties. In 1958 a resolution has adopted to insure property within towns also, at present we have insurance in twelve counties throughout the state, with our charter stating that we can write insuranc anywhere in the State of Illinois.

The number of directors on the Board originally has seven, however, in 1909 this was raised to nine where it remains today. In 1953 the offices of Secretary and Treasurer were combined. We have established various committees to help work out any problems that may arise from time to time. These committees are as follows: Executive, Internal Operations, Agency and Inspection and Claims. If we have a problem arise it is referred to the various committee is brought to the Board's attention at their next regular meeting. In 1964 it was decided by the Board of Directors to hold monthly meetings as the volume of business of the company necessitated it.

Below is a graph showing the growth of insurance by volume from 1869 to the present:

1869		No Record
1886	==	1,024,505
1900	===	2,179,435
1910	====	3,933,005
1920	======	5,077,178
1930	=======	6,107,032
1940	======	5,741,590
1950	===========	9,987,885
1960	====================	17,839,505
1968	========================================	34,913,390

During 1957 the Company apparently reached the turning point in its history, as the Company suffered heavy tornado losses on December 18, 1957. Prior to this date the Company had a 25% reinsurance contract on wind with the Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company of Grinnell, Iowa. This was insufficient in the event of such a disaster, but Grinnell loaded our Company $80,000 to enable us to pay these losses without having to make a special assessment. The last payment on this amount was made to Grinnell on December 5, 1963. Since 1957 our company has carried a 100% reinsurance contact on windstorm coverage. Our fire risks are protected with specific reinsurance and also with excess loss reinsurance so that we know how much we will be liable for in losses each year. This has helped to stablize our rates for our policy holders.

The present Directors and the year that they were elected are as follows:

Otto Arbeiter, 1955
John Bryant Jr., 1954
Clarence H. Clasen, 1968
Rudolph Eilers, 1931
Albert Froemling, 1960
Willard Reisinger, 1954
Kermit Rheinecker, 1952
Edward Wiebusch, 1942
Henry F. Wilson, 1933

The present Officers of the year they were elected are as follows:
Edward Wiebusch, President, 1953
Rudolph Eilers, Vice-President, 1953
Kermit Rheinecker, Vice-President, 1965
Ronald E. Wiebusch, Secretary-Treasurer, 1967
Willard Reisinger, Assistant Secretarty-Tresurer, 1967

The Agents that are now writing insurance for the Company and the year they were hired are as follows:

Ralph Bollinger, 1959
John G. Bryant, 1967
John Bryant Jr., 1959
Clarence H. Clasen, 1959
Edwin C. Rathert, 1961
Willard Reisinger, 1969
William B. Timpner, 1959
Ronald E. Wiebusch, 1965