Risk & Business Magazine F.A. Peabody Insurance Magazine Fall 2017 | Page 6

F.A. Peabody Company Houlton Office Today
F. A. Peabody Company:
A Portrait Of Growth And Diversity
THE EARLY YEARS
In keeping with the entrepreneurial spirit
of the late 1880s, William C. Donnell, the
first cashier of the First National Bank of
Houlton, seized the opportunity afforded
by the increased growth and prosperity of
Houlton to start an insurance agency. On
October 29, 1887, Mr. Donnell opened
his insurance company in a small office
conveniently located in the heart of the
Houlton business and financial district.
Very soon, the young company was granted
a license to sell insurance by a major
national firm: National Fire Insurance
Company. This new business venture
became the cornerstone of today’s F. A.
Peabody Company.
At the turn of the century, a distinguished
New Brunswick native, Frank Allen
Peabody, moved to Houlton and entered
the insurance industry. By 1906, Mr.
Donnell and Mr. Peabody, foreseeing an
optimistic future, merged their interests
into the Donnell & Peabody Company. In this
same year, the Houlton Trust Company
completed a new building on the corner
of Water Street, forming what was then
known as “Market Square.” Donnell &
Peabody Company flourished for the next
twelve years on the second floor of this new
building under the expert guidance of the
two founders. Donnell retired in 1918 and
Peabody became the sole owner.
In the early ’20s following Donnell’s
departure, Peabody joined forces with
another local agent, Alton E. Carter, and
the combined entity was called the Peabody
Carter Company. As additional staff was
added, the partnership became incorporated
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in 1927. Lewis P. Bither became treasurer
in 1928, and by 1931, he had purchased all
of Carter’s interests. Carter relinquished his
name as part of the corporate title, and by
1933, the company became forever known
as The F. A. Peabody Company. In that same
year, Oscar P. Benn joined the agency, and
in 1946, Fred Sylvester became part of the
team and eventually the treasurer. Benn
bought out the insurance interest of F. A.
and Bither in 1947, becoming its president
when F. A. retired in 1949. Frank sadly
passed shortly after in 1950.
Spanish-American War and commissioned
for several years as a captain in the Maine
National Guard of Company L, F. A. was
both president of the Maine Association
of Insurance Agents and chairman of
Houlton’s Board of Selectmen (for fourteen
years) at the same time. He was a charter
member and first president of the Houlton
Rotary Club. He presided over the Houlton
Trust Company until his death and was
the former chairman of the Maine State
Highway Commission. He was one of
Houlton’s most prominent citizens up to
the year of his death in 1950 at the age of
82. It is in honor of this highly respected
community-minded gentleman that the F.A.
Peabody Company holds its name.
The company continued to expand, and
the need for more space to house Benn,
Sylvester, and their four secretaries was
urgent. So, after forty-six years on the
second floor of the Houlton Trust Company,
F. A. Peabody Company relocated to 1
Market Square.
Caricature of Frank Allen Peabody
Frank A. Peabody’s illustrious career in
the insurance business lasted over fifty
years, during which he was active in both
industry and civic affairs. A veteran of the
Oscar Benn had a natural affinity for
promoting the professional development of
quality people. It was Oscar that created the
first branch office by asking Vera and Bink
Mitchell to sell insurance for FAPCO in
Sherman. Vera took the lead and worked out
of her house with an additional employee
until FAPCO could afford an office location.
FAPCO eventually built one in 1981,
strategically situated by the intersection of
I-95 and Route 11 where it remains to this
day.
Oscar Benn served as president of the F. A.
Peabody Company until his retirement in