Life Insurance Company of Virginia

Two dozen Petersburg investors established the Life Insurance Company of Virginia in 1871. It was housed in the Mechanics Building in that city.

“The first African American customer purchased a policy in mid-1872 and thereafter African Americans and women appear with some regularity as policy holders. Most policies range between $500 and $1,000, but by the first decade of the twentieth century the bulk are $1,000 with larger amounts at $2,000 and $5,000 appearing with more regularity.”
“A Guide to the Life Insurance Company of Virginia Records, 1871-1920” Virginia Museum of History and Culture ( virginiahistory.org )

Petersburg, Virginia, Directory, 1917. Petersburg: Hill Directory Co., Inc., 1917, pp. 298, 299.

A Comparative Statement Showing the Growth of the Life Insurance Company of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, for the past 26 Years, 1907 Through 1932. Richmond: Davenport and Company, Brokers, 1933.

James K. Sanford and Robert Bolling Lancaster. Century One: One Hundred Years of the Life Insurance Company of Virginia (1871-1971). Richmond: n.p., 1971.