Historical Note
The Newport Insurance Company was established in 1799. The president was Samuel Elam (1750-1813). The Newport Insurance Company most likely became absorbed into the Rhode Island Union Bank (founded in 1804). Samuel Elam was the president of the bank until his death. The Rhode Island Union Bank was reorganized to the Union National Bank in 1881, which eventually became Bank Boston and is currently the modern-day Sovereign Bank. For more information see Newport History, 209 (1987).
Scope and Content
This single-series collection consists of 12 bound volumes of business records from the Newport Insurance Company, and two folders. The volumes include insurance policies and ledger books. The folders contain other company records, including the charter and share certificates.
Insurance policies from the Newport Insurance Company can also be found in the records of individual ships. Those records are duplicates of the insurance policies found in the bound volumes.