Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Do not serve original. Use digital images available on the Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia.

Preferred Citation

Mutual Assurance Society Against Fire on Buildings Subscription Book, 1795. Local government records collection, Arlington County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

Digital images were generated by Backstage Library Works through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program.

Historical Information

The Mutual Assurance Society against Fire on Buildings, of the State of Virginia, was incorporated by the General Assembly on 22 December 1794. The plan of the society was suggested by William Frederick Ast, a Prussian then residing in Richmond, and is alleged to have been modeled after a system of mutual guarantee introduced by Frederick the Great. Insurance offered by the society was against all losses and damages occasioned accidentally by fire.

Scope and Content

Mutual Assurance Society Against Fire on Buildings Subscription Book, 1795, consists of a copy of a subscription list of insurance policy holders in Alexandria and surrounding area kept by the Mutual Assurance Society Against Fire on Buildings for June 1795. It records the name of policyholder, place of residence, name of county, number of buildings insured, and value of buildings. A few entries include types of buildings insured.

Related Material

Mutual Assurance Society Against Fire on Buildings Subscription Book, 1795 was used as an exhibit in the Arlington County Chancery Cause Thomas Swann and others versus Mutual Assurance Society and Mutual Assurance Society versus William Hodgson and others. The index number is 1828-016.

The Chancery Records Index and images for Arlington County Chancery Cause Thomas Swann and others versus Mutual Assurance Society and Mutual Assurance Society versus William Hodgson and others are available electronically at the web site of the Library of Virginia.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Mutual Assurance Society Against Fire on Buildings (Arlington County, Va.)

Subjects:

• Insurance companies -- Virginia -- Arlington County.
• Insurance, Property -- Virginia -- Arlington County.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Business records -- Virginia -- Arlington County.
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Arlington County.
• Subscription -- Virginia -- Arlington County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data