Eliphalet Adams Bulkeley
Encyclopedia
Eliphalet Adams Bulkeley (born 1803, died 1872) was the first president of the Aetna Insurance Company.
After graduating from Yale
and practicing law, Eliphalet A. Bulkeley became a banker, a town representative to the state legislature, a state senator
, a state's attorney
and judge of a minor court, all in central Connecticut. Bulkely became the president of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, founded in 1846, the first life insurance company in Connecticut.
In 1847, Bulkeley became director and general counsel of the Aetna (Fire) Insurance Company. In 1850, when a subsidiary Annuity Fund was formed to sell life insurance
, Bulkeley was named its administrative head. Judge Bulkeley's sons Morgan (the future president of the Aetna Life Insurance Company) and Charles (who would die in the Civil War) worked cleaning the office.
When Annuity Fund was reorganized in 1853 as the Aetna Life Insurance Company, Bulkeley became its first president. When the Panic of 1857
caused many Aetna stockholders to talk of dissolving the company, Bulkeley refused; his prudent management, tough underwriting
, and conservative pricing led to Aetna's survival. In 1861, the industry again suffered a downturn; rather than pull back, however, Bulkeley embarked on a more aggressive marketing campaign which proved prescient when interest in life insurance soared during the war, and Aetna became one of America's leading life insurance companies.
Upon Bulkeley's death in 1872, he left to new president Thomas O. Enders a vigorously growing company expanding into new lines of business.
After graduating from Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
and practicing law, Eliphalet A. Bulkeley became a banker, a town representative to the state legislature, a state senator
State Senator
A state senator is a member of a state's Senate, the upper house in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a legislator in Nebraska's one house State Legislature.There are typically fewer state senators than there are members of a state's lower house...
, a state's attorney
State's Attorney
In the United States, the State's Attorney is, most commonly, an elected official who represents the State in criminal prosecutions and is often the chief law enforcement officer of their respective county, circuit...
and judge of a minor court, all in central Connecticut. Bulkely became the president of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, founded in 1846, the first life insurance company in Connecticut.
In 1847, Bulkeley became director and general counsel of the Aetna (Fire) Insurance Company. In 1850, when a subsidiary Annuity Fund was formed to sell life insurance
Life insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...
, Bulkeley was named its administrative head. Judge Bulkeley's sons Morgan (the future president of the Aetna Life Insurance Company) and Charles (who would die in the Civil War) worked cleaning the office.
When Annuity Fund was reorganized in 1853 as the Aetna Life Insurance Company, Bulkeley became its first president. When the Panic of 1857
Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Indeed, because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the time of the 1850s, the financial crisis which began in the autumn of 1857 was...
caused many Aetna stockholders to talk of dissolving the company, Bulkeley refused; his prudent management, tough underwriting
Underwriting
Underwriting refers to the process that a large financial service provider uses to assess the eligibility of a customer to receive their products . The name derives from the Lloyd's of London insurance market...
, and conservative pricing led to Aetna's survival. In 1861, the industry again suffered a downturn; rather than pull back, however, Bulkeley embarked on a more aggressive marketing campaign which proved prescient when interest in life insurance soared during the war, and Aetna became one of America's leading life insurance companies.
Upon Bulkeley's death in 1872, he left to new president Thomas O. Enders a vigorously growing company expanding into new lines of business.