Fire has always been a concern for farmers across the region. Whether it was a cow accidentally kicking over a kerosene lantern, or an unwelcome visit from the notorious terrorist Loomis Gang in the early 1800s, farmers had to be careful around the house and barn.

By the late 1890s, the Loomis Gang had been rounded up and put away, but the worries of fire, or lightning, still remained a concern for a group of 27 farmers and area businesspeople around Edmeston. Together, they chartered today’s New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Co. in April 1899.

The company’s founder and first secretary, Van Ness D. Robinson, began writing fire and lightning insurance in Otsego, Chenango and Madison counties. New York Central Mutual’s first offices were housed in the center of Edmeston in the Opera House Building. During its first year of operation, it wrote $2,912 in direct written premiums and incurred no losses.

The first few decades for NYCM were of moderate growth and concentration on building a strong local presence. The territory it covered expanded in 1904 into Broome, Cortland, Cayuga, and Onondaga counties.

Product expansion began in the 1920s, with the additional perils of windstorm, tornado and earthquake being offered. Direct premiums rose to $81,360 that year.

During the 1920s, NYCM grew by assuming the assets of three upstate New York insurance companies. By then, the facilities in the Opera House had grown too small, so the company moved its offices down the street to the second floor of the newly completed First National Bank Building. Today, it is the Edmeston Town Hall and Edmeston Museum. Unfortunately, the old Opera House was lost to fire in 1958.

From a period between 1925 to 1949, NYCM continued to grow in its territory, including all of New York state, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Growing demand for more office space prompted the construction of the third floor in 1941. The company employed 35 by 1943. A first branch office was opened in Buffalo in 1946.

In the post-World War II era, NYCM saw an amazing growth spurt. Direct written polices skyrocketed from $1.1 million in 1950 to $14.3 million by 1975. New business lines were also being offered, including homeowner policies for the first time in 1956. At its peak in 1964, NYCM was in 26 states.

All these expansions resulted in the move from the bank building in 1962, to a newly constructed building on 100 scenic acres at the edge of Edmeston. The company employed 38, but was growing quickly. A first addition was constructed in 1969.

Another milestone was reached when NYCM entered the automobile market in 1974. Despite continued growth, the company began limiting its business to New York state only, which was more profitable.

The 1980s saw a period of double-digit growth. More than 400 employees worked in the home office, and the company was represented by 750 agents.

Today, the company employs around 1,100. NYCM is the sixth largest writer of homeowner and automobile insurance in New York state.

NYCM’s logo is a steam engine. The railroad was chosen as a symbol of strength and progress in 1899, as a rail line passed through Edmeston. Today on the front lawn of the growing business campus, is an attractive Bushville Grove Steam Engine, purchased in 1990.

Since Day 1, NYCM has been under the leadership of the Robinson family, beginning with Van Ness, and succeeded by Ward, Douglas, D. Theodore, and today by V. Daniel Robinson.

Daniel Robinson quipped how some think Edmeston is "in the middle of nowhere," but from a business standpoint, he believes "they are in the middle of everywhere." That’s why he and the generations of the Robinson family have kept the home office in Edmeston.

On Monday: Hartwick College opened a new library and museum in 1967.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.