The G.H. Kaufmann Hotel in Sebastopol, Ontario, was the location of the organizational meeting of The Mutual Fire Insurance Company of the Township of South Easthope. It took place on October 6, 1871. Proprietor George Henry Kaufmann served as recording secretary for the election of the first Board of Directors,..Read More

The minutes of the October 6, 1871 organizing meeting were originally written in German. They were translated in the 1940s by Rev. O.T. Stockman, who served as minister of Trinity Lutheran Church in Sebastopol.

The Mutual Fire Insurance Company of the Township of South Easthope was organized on October 6, 1871 at the G.H. Kaufmann Hotel in Sebastopol, Ontario. South Easthope Mutual is the 7th oldest farmers’ mutual still in business. The minutes from the meeting that elected the first Board of Directors were written..Read More

The Townships of South Easthope and North Easthope were named in honour of Sir John Easthope (1784-1865), who served as a director of the Canada Company, the British land company that settled the Huron Tract beginning in 1828. Easthope Township was divided in 1843. John Easthope was a British MP..Read More

Mutual insurance started in Canada as a grassroots movement driven by citizens. The “Mutual Insurance Act” was passed in 1836. It was the first Act passed in Upper Canada without Crown approval.  The Act permitted one mutual in each of the 6 “districts”. Gore Mutual was founded in 1839 and..Read More