died in a hospital in England. A total of 104 Gleaner servicemen were known to have died during World War I. Forty years after the war the last Gleaner medal was returned to the Society. In April 1958, medal number 206 was picked up at half tide on the beach at Etretat, a small French village on the English Channel. It was given to Michel Leleu, a correspondent for the French Press News Agency. He in turn sent it to the American Battlefield Monument Commission. The Monument Commission wrote to George Ransford, then president of Gleaner Life, asking for information. In a letter dated Aug. 15, 1958, Ransford replied: “The Society was one of the first to issue such identification medals, but so far as is known, all Gleaner members were accounted for at the end of World War I. Consequently, the register containing identification of the numbers on medals was destroyed many years ago.”
The Gleaner Fire Insurance Company was one of the most successful of the Society’s early ventures. The idea lives on today through the company’s evolution in 1924 into an independent insurance company that is separate from the Society.
Because the register was destroyed we will never know who soldier number 206 was, but the little medal remains a part of Gleaner history.
new one. Joseph England was a director of the Lapeer (County) Farm Mutual, and Grant Slocum was a director of the Tuscola County Mutual Fire Insurance Company. As a matter of fact, their lifelong friendship began because of an interest in low-cost fire insurance.
The Gleaner Cooperative Mutual Fire Insurance Company
The mutuals were usually formed within a county since travel and communication problems made it difficult to organize a larger area. In addition, the success of a mutual company depended on neighborly trust, and insuring strangers was not viewed with favor. Those who joined were protected against fire and all members were assessed for the losses at the end of the year. The plan worked well when everyone paid their assessment, but problems arose when losses were high and some of the members did not pay.
Of all the calamities that happened on farms, fire was the one most feared. Barns housed cows and horses and were filled with hay and straw. It was a volatile mixture that often led to disaster. Barn fires were common, often caused by lightning or just plain carelessness. After tractors, cars and small engines became common, the presence of gasoline made the situation even worse. Not many could afford fire insurance. The problem is illustrated by a Gleaner report listing 60 buildings destroyed by fire.
Grant Slocum was elected president of the new company, Richard Pearson of Sandusky, Michigan, vice president, and George Carr of Detroit, secretary. John Livingston was named treasurer, and L.A. Siple, John O’Dell, Charles Barber and Edwin Stewart the first directors.
The Society’s standing Committee on Cooperation met in January 1916. The problem of adequate fire insurance was discussed and the committee recommended a company be formed to offer protection at reasonable rates. The idea was approved at a second meeting in September. In January 1917, the state issued a charter to The Gleaner Cooperative Mutual Fire Insurance Company Limited, with offices in the Gleaner Temple.
The company struggled for survival from the very beginning. Not enough income was generated to pay the losses on time, and funds had to be borrowed to balance the books. Less than two years after the charter was
The idea of mutual or shared risk insurance was not a 49