Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company

The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company was founded on June 30, 1866. The company was conceived at a time when catastrophic boiler explosions were common events, occurring about once every four days.

Steam Power and the Industrial Revolution

Up until the 1850s in the United States, a great deal of manufacturing was carried on by small plants located in rural areas. Water from streams and rivers was the source of power for equipment. However, water power had reached the limits of its industrial capacity. Manufacturers turned to steam boilers and engines. The industrial revolution was underway.

The advent of steam power created a new industrial hazard – disastrous boiler explosions. These tragedies occurred with increasing frequency with loss of life and property. Though the potential of steam power seemed infinite, controlling the power and safely harnessing it was crudely developed. As applications for steam power became more complex, the dangers became more acute.

In the fall of 1857, a group of young men interested in science and mechanics formed the Polytechnic Club of Hartford. Its original members were E.K. Root (Colt Foreman), E.M. Reed, H. Lord, C.B. Richards, C.F Howard, J.M. Allen, F.A. Pratt, A. Whitney, J.L. Blanchard, and J.A. Ayres. They discussed articles on Science and Mechanics. They proposed the "Guaranteed Steam Boiler Inspection," and with it, offered a guarantee against loss and property damage. The club was disbanded because of the Civil War and lack of interest. The idea was resurrected in 1866 under the direction of R.W. Jarvis (Colt Manager), C.M. Beach, G. Crompton, and H.H. Hayden Esq. The State of Connecticut granted a charter for Corporation in May 1866, and the Corporation was organized in November 1866 with E.C. Roberts as its first president. Soon after, Roberts stepped down, and J.M. Allen became its second president.

In 1919, the Hartford Steam Boiler Insurance and Inspection Company got tired of paying the claims on all those broken boilers, so they came up with the idea of this special piping configuration and mandated it for anyone who wanted insurance on their steam boiler. Before long, everyone was calling it the Hartford (or Underwriters) Loop. The Loop had a very positive impact on the industry, according to the records of boiler failures before and after 1919.

Polytechnic Club Addresses Issue of Boiler Explosions

During this time, a group of industrialists and business leaders in Hartford, Connecticut, formed a group to discuss technical and scientific issues of the day. This group, the Polytechnic Club, included Francis A. Pratt and Amos Whitney the founders of the Pratt & Whitney, and Elisha Root, president of Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Co., among others.

One of the founders of the Polytechnic Club was Jeremiah M. Allen, who would become president of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company and the principal American figure to develop and apply the principle of combining boiler inspections with insurance.