How Green Tree insurance came to be

It split off from Ben Franklin’s original insurance company in Philadelphia

After 1781, a tree in the front yard would have disqualified this house from getting insurance from The Philadelphia Contributionship started by Ben Franklin. The Mutual Assurance Company, which used a symbol of a green tree on its policies and fire marks, began covering homes with trees in 1784. Photo by Jim Murphy, author of Real Philly History, Real Fast.

For years, I heard and saw ads for Green Tree insurance in the Philadelphia area.

Little did I know that a tree actually played a huge role in the decision to start this company.

In 1781, directors of The Philadelphia Contributionship, started by Ben Franklin in 1752, voted to stop insuring properties with shade trees. Why? They feared the potential of trees to fuel fire, the difficulty of getting hoses around trees, and “the inability of fire equipment to reach more than one story.”

A number of policyholders disagreed with the decision. Three years later, they started a new enterprise — The Mutual Assurance Company for Insuring Houses from Loss by Fire — to serve citizens who wished to have trees in their front yards.

Commonly known as the Green Tree because its symbol on policies and fire marks was a green tree, this fledgling company lasted 220 years!

Interesting Oddities

In its first seven years of operation, the Green Tree suffered no losses.
The company showed its first surplus, $86, in 1791.
The Green Tree’s unique contribution to American Insurance underwriting practices was starting the perpetual policy, says the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
Until 1801, it wrote term policies. But, to save administrative costs and avoid payment of the stamp tax of 1799, Green Tree began writing perpetual policies, a mainstay of its business, until the company closed in 2004.
From 1912 until 1988, Green Tree had offices at 238 and 240 S. 4th Street, adjoining historic houses just steps away from The Philadelphia Contributionship at 210 S. 4th Street.

Insurance companies promoted their brands with fire marks placed on members’ homes. To see these fire marks, visit the wonderful Fireman’s Hall Museum at 147 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia. Located in a 1902 firehouse, it’s well worth a visit and is marvelous for children.

Check visiting hours at: https://www.firemanshallmuseum.org/hours-admission/. Reservations are required. Phone: 215–923–1438. Email: pfdhc@firemanshallmuseum.org