Document text
(ApproxiMately 5600 words
TITLE:
SOUTH CAROLINA 1RITERS' PROJECT
LIFE HISTORY
HOW GRA)Y LDON CiOE TO IF IN THE
INSURANCE ADJUSTING BU314,33.
Date of First Writing January 20, 1939
Name of rerson Interviewed Anonymous
Fictitious Name Grady 4eldon
Street Address Liberty Life Building
Place Columbia, S. C.
Occupation Insurance Adjuster
Name of Writer Jelin P. Farmer
Name of Reviser State Office
Gradyc._ Weldon is an insurance adjuster. From all parts of the
State, companies representing the many lines of insurance call for
his services in settling claims for losses covered by their policies.
It is a work which exacts the full powers of mental and personal re-
sources; for the adjustments must satisfy both parties to the contradt,
the assured as well as the company, whose notions of fairness are often
at sharp variance. Grady 4eldon likes the work, however, and is happy
that turns of circumstances thrust him into this field.
2
"He is Not at first impressive. He is a little above average height
and weighs around one hundred sixty pounds. His face, thin and pointed
and with a receding chin, is dark; his eyes and hair are brown. Nothing
preposessing until he warmed up to his story. Then hidden magnetism be-
gan to express itself in his eyes, in his low vibrant voice, and in the
persuasive force of his smooth and clear-cut Etglish. Then I got the im-
pression of a man who met issues with self-control, who could take it on
the chin, if need be, and who eould take issue with one and make him like
it.
"Thinking of what has gone into the make-up of my life is rather
like digging up bones of the dead, "he commented musingly. "You might
call it self-made, if persistent fighting to k-,ep afloat and finally
reach a harbor means that. As I see it now, though, Providence has ben
kind in it all. Tor every thrust backward or downward has been followed
by one forward and upward.
"I was the first of three children, my father died when I was about
eight. Be was employed in the Columbia Post Office at the time. About
all that was left for Mother was a small amount of insurance. She paid
the funeral expenses out of this and used the balance to buy a house in
Savannah, where she was reared. Mother had no profession, and her family
was unable to help us financially. 40, as a means of livelihood, he
opened a boarding house.
"I went to school all during this period, but even then I had a job,
a paper route. In the morning before going to school, I delivered the
Savannah Morning News. In the afternoons, I would sell the Savannah
Press. I was quite a business nen in those days. 'Then I was about
twelve, acquired the suo-agency for the 'Grit,' a weekly paper. All
this added to the income of the family.
3
"About the time was thirteen, Mother gave up the boarding house
business and secured work ae a nurse. She could make as much money
nursing as she could running a boarding house, and without the worry and
expense it entailed. Times were bad for us, so far as money counted.
Only the good management on the part of my mother, I think, kept us from
being raised in some orphan home. Thank goodness, we didn't have to re-
sort to that.
"Soon after my mother started nursing, I got my first real job, one
with a regular salary. I went to work for the Seaboard Railroad, ao a
messenger boy. This necessitated my leaving school while in the seventh
grade. BY work was carrying messages and mail from office to office, and
it kept as hopping from eight in the morning until six at nignt- y salary
was forty dollars per modAh, a lot for a kid in those days.
"During my spare time around the offices, I Wa3 allowed to do minor
clerical work for the experience. when I was about sixteen, I was given a
chance to try a clerical job in the superintendent's office, on which I
made good. This paid eighty-five dollars per month. I can still recall
how elated we were when this happened. We could see all our troubles be-
coming a thing of the past.
"In 1916, my mother married again, and that relieved me of the re-
sponsibility of caring for the younger children. I attended business
college at night, and, after completin the course, i secured a higher
paid job with the railroad, a hundred twenty-five per month. Times were
good along then. The war had caused the railroads to have more business
than they could take care of, and my stepfather was making good money in
the ice and coal busneas. #t seemed that Providence had smiled on my
entire family.
"Boy -like, tho', I resented the idea of a stepfathor, and we never
4
got along so well. There was no good reason for my attitude. He was as
kind and good to all of us as he could be. I suppose it was because I
felt that the obligation, with the importance it gave me, was mine; and
now that he had lifted it from me, i subconsciously resented it, along
with any advice he might give.
"When the United 3tates declared war, in 1917, I was one of the first
to enliet. I was large for my age, but oven then I had to obtain the per-
missioh of my mother, because I was under eighteen. I enlisted in the Navy
in April, 1917, for the duration of the war. I w.s sent immediately to
the Naval Training Station at Charleston, :South Carolina, and stayed there
nearly three months. Like all enlisted youngsters, I vms the source of
lots of amusement for the older men. I was very guliiele, and, being new,
I wanted to learn everything I could. I was sent on numerous special
errands, such as going after the keys to the parade grounds,' getting
red oil for the red lamps,' and things like that. The first initiation
happened the first night after my arrival. had to sleep in hammocks
that were strung up nearly six feet off the barracks' floor. We were in-
structed to swing our hammocks for inspection several eours before we
occupied them. Wel1, every new man experienced 'hitting the desk' by having
his hammock lashings cut to the point where they woald give way just about
the time he would get settled for sleep.
"When we first arrived in truiaing, our waking hours were filled with
military drills of all kinds. This was mainly to attain physical fitness.
After we had been in training some three weeks or so, and had been shot in
the arm with every kind of serum imaginable, we were detailed to various
types of schooling for which we seemed to he fitted. i was detailed to the
signal quartermaster's school. We were taught all typ,s of signaling,
such as semaphore, flag hoists, blinker and searchlight codes, and seamanship.
5
If you passed the examinations given at the end of the term, you were auto-
matically rated as signal quartermaster, third class, then assigned to sea
dutjg.
"MV first sea duty was right in Charleston Harbor. I was assigned to
a converted yacht, the U.S.S. Rep0809 used in patrol service out of
Charleston, where I stayed six weeks. On leaving there, i went to the
League Island Navy Yard Receiving Ship, at Philadelphia, whore I was ass-
igned to foreign service. After about ten days there, I W&J sent to the
U.S.3. Deaver, an old Spanish-American war cruiser that had been re -commis-
sioned for service during the war. Our duty was escorting convoys of
troops to England and France. I made sixteen trips on this ship. The
smallest number of vessels we ever took over wus nine; the largest, one
hundred sixteen. This large convoy was accompanied by sever_l battleships
and destroyers, besides my ship.
"Out of the sixteen trips, we only landed five timea on Vho other
side. we would usually take the convoys to what was known as the 'war zone.'
They were picked up at this point by escorts that were stationed in :auropean
waters. Then we would turn around and come back. This is where our hard-
ships cams in.
"Our ship was so antiquated we didn't have room to carry enough coal
and supplies for the round trip. All sorts of things were piled in every
available space. we would have coal piled in temporary bins on the decks.
No lights were permitted at night because of the danger of attr-cting sub-
marines, and we would have to climb over this coal, going to and from our
various duties. Water was rationed out, one bucket to each man a day. It
was impossible to keen clean. Most of the time it was bitter cold, and I
have had my hands to stay cracked open from the cold and exposure for weeks,
with coal dust so caked in them that it seemed impossible to get it out.
"I was promoted right along. Every time it was possible to stand an
6
examination, I was right there. After being on the Denver about eight
months, I was promoted to Chief Signal Quartermaster, in charge of the sig-
nal department of the ship. This promotion gave me better quarters than
most of the enlisted men, and I fared better in other ways.
"In October, 1918, a severe case of tonsilitis caused me to be removed
to the naval hospital at Brooklyn Navy Yard. After recovering, I was
placed on call there. About that time, a new ba-otleship, the U.S.S. Idaho,
was completed at Camden, N. J., and I was assignei to her as Chief 4ignal
Quartermaster. She was the most modern battleship afloat at the time and
had a crew of over fourteen hundred men.
"The armistice had been signed by then, and our maiden cruise was to
Central and South America. After the completion of this cruise, we returned
to New York. In July, 1919, we went to the West Coast, along with over a
hundred ships of the Atlantic Fleet. This was the most enjoyable trip I
made the whole time I was in the Navy. Our first stop, after leaving New
York, was Colon Panama, the Atlantic entrance to the Canal. stayed there
about a week. Of course, shore leave wk3 permitted, and we took trips to
the surrounding places. Inland, a distance of five or six miles, is Catun
Lake, one of the most beautlful places imaginable. It wai a mecca for the
sailors on leave.
"One very interesting thing was called to our attention while going
through the Canal to balboa, the Pacific entrance. The only time many ships
ever sailed in fresh water was when they passed throuJI the Canal, where
some of the locks are supplied with fresh water from Gatun hake.
"Balboa is the port of Panama City, and there were many places of
interest to visit. The old Spanish quarters seemed as 'Old .4orld' as
Spain itself. The contrast of the modern buildings of the Cnul Zone set
the colorful beauty of old Spain into a picture that seemed beyond'
7
description.
"After leaving Balboa, we leisurely made our way up the west coast
of Contrl America, stepping in Coati Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduraua,
then on to San Francisco. After anchoring in the harbor there for several
days, we vent on up to the Bare island Navy Yard ,at Vallejo, Ualifornia,
a distance -0B thirty miles above San Francisco.
"I was dischargdd from the Navy out there with my transportation paid
back to Savannah, where I enlisted.
would have enlisted all over again
if it had been possible to retain the rating of Chief Signal Quartermaster.
Since it had been a war time rating, it was necessary for me to re -enlist
at a lower rate and work up to it again. Several times during the next
few years, I regretted not staying right there in the Navy.
"All of the travel while in the Navy WEI3 an education within itself.
I have always been thankful for the experience.
"After the discharge, I visited all the points of interest in
California. From Los Angeles, L went buck up through the Yellowstone
National Park, and then on back to Savannah, by way of Chicago. All
were places I had never been before.
"Everything was in terrible shape when i got home. My old job with
the railroad had been filled, of course, by someeody else. Times were hard
with the railroads, and there were no prospects of anything opening up
soon. Not knowing anything but railroad work and work at :ea, t started
looking for a job on a ship. I didn't want to re -enlist in the Navy,
tying myself up for four long years. So I secured a job on a Straughan
dhipping Company boat, the Floridian, out of Savannah. My lh,val dis-
charge gave me a decided advantage in securing this type of work. My job
was quartermaster, whihh consisted of steerin the ship, a.sisting the
navigator, and, in port, acting as clerk in checking cargo. .40 had a
8
regular schedule. We would load nav411 stores and citrous fruit in Jackson-
ville, taking the citrous fruit direct to London. All this citrous fruit
was under refrigeration and had to be carried on schedule. A small part
of our naval stores was unloaded at London, but the major portion was taken
to Rotterdam and Hamburg. We would take on ballast at Antwerp for our re-
turn trip. This was a regular thing. je rnaie a round trip every forty-
five days. 1. stayed on this ship for over a year.
"My application had been in the office of the company for some sort of
clerical work. Upon leaving the ship, t securA a job in their office as
billing clerk. In 1923, I secured a better job with the Ocean Steamship
Company, a job as statistician. All during the time I was in the Navy,
and working for Straughan, I vrIA taking correspondence courses, trying to
complete my education. One of the courses was accountancy. This fitted me
for the job with the Wcean Steamship Company.
"After about two ye.trs of 'figures,' I decided I had enough of them.
The urge to travel was so great I became dissatIsfiod. I Wa.3 tired of going
to the same office every morning, seein,]: the same pople !-,rad e same row
of figares. I heeded the 'nderlust epirit,' heading for Florida to in-
vestigate the marvel -us money -making opportunities we were hearing about
daily.
"Every one knows what Florida was during the 'boom.' Everybody was
makiug money. The very first day I arrived in Miami, I got a job selling
real estate. It was really funny. Thera I was, without a day's experience
selling anything, and making more money than I ever dreamed of making. All
in the world I had was a snail map, blocked off ii lots, and a price list.
It wasn't a matter of having to look for prospects. The trouble was not
having time to fool with all of them.
9
"To give you an idea of how anxious people were to buy, I have known
people, when tracts of land were advertised to put on the mrket, to
stand in line forty-eight hours in order to buy the most desirable lots.
"everybody believed the good times would last. And I could picture
myself becoming a roesus over night. MO t started investing everytiing
I made into real estate. It is still tnere.
'After everything hit the bottom, I ran down a job in a local insurance
office there in Miami. At last I had hit my vocation. The company I was
with represented several larp:e insurance co,npanies, and it wae juet a mat.
ter of time qatil 1 met their several representatives. I got to huddling
small louses that would originate in our office. 'hen the hurricane cane
along in 1926, everybody that had any idea of adjusting losses was pres ed
into service. My work proved satisfactory in adjusting these claims. So I
had no trouble in making a connection with an independent adjusting service
in Miami. Things seemed to be on the upegrade again. i W,43
lg well.
"Then along came a small depression, in 1926, that cartAaild our income.
But that didn't worry me. I took a leave of aoeence from the company and
went to Now York, with the idea of making a more fa °male C011110CtiQA, a
direct one with some large company. I was unable to get on adjueting, but
I did secure a position in the underwriting department of one of the larger
companies.
"In 1930, times were getting terrible in New York. Though I believed
I could hold my job, I started geting uneasy and decided to get back into
the adjusting end of the business. I had secured a very eroad experience,
se I decided that I was well fitted to handle any situation that might
come up.
"I returned to Savannah. It looked as though the further South I came,
the worse conditions were. Finally I secured a position as manager of the
10
insurance department of a local bank in Asheville,
lasted exactly four months. I think every bank in
closed in the fall of 1930. 4(311, there I was, on
footing as when I came out of the Navy, except for
particularly worried,though, I had several hundred
North Uarolina. This
Western North Carolina
practicelly the same
experience. I wasn't
dollars saved and felt
sure it would only be a matter of a few weeks before would make another
connection. But it was over a year.
This was the worst period of my life, I In3lieve. I felt the incli-
nation to give up. 4ith each former move, there had come improved :ctendards
of livin;, intellectual as well as material. I had taken correspondence
courses and had done my 'asst to mast:r the mat-1,or and mo-ods of now
work. It all seemed wasted. The more I tried to find an opening in my
field, the harder it seemed to find one.
"I went back to avannah to visit -ny Te)T-le. My sitaapfather hf d fail-
ed in business, and they were in worse shae than I
WZ13• After failing
to get anything regular to do, t started working at anythin4 extra I could
get. Some insurance offices wcpad neA extra iei at the ends of the
month to get out statements. It was work any office boy or etenographer
could do, but I wus glad to ;et it. I even clerkod in grocery stores on
Saturday, anything to keep busy.
"In order to have somothing dufini e to depend on, I securod a job
once more on one of Straughan jhipping Company's boats, making two ripo
to Europe. But I had applications everywhere with insurance connections,
and, after the second trip, I had word from a friend of mine, stating there
was an opening in the insurance department of tee National Loan and &change
Bank here in Columbia. I was fortunate enough to secure this connection
and stayed with the bank until the ban!:. holiday in March, 1933. The old
11
bank never re -opened, and there I was, out of work again.
"After the bank holiday, the Federal Government entered the banking
picture with 'bank deposit insurance' on all accounts up to five thousand
dollars. Before this, most of the larger banks had a bond and insurance
department. The insurance department was used both as a profit -making
proposition and a service to the trust
held in trust. Duo to some Government
were eliminated from all banks covered
departmenttoinsuring all properties
regulation, tttese two departments
by this deposit insurance, and
the bank's customers were serviced by outsile bond
sumacs agencies. i knew all the customers of the
the bank. So with the permission of the insurance
companies
insurance
companies
and local in
department of
and the re-
ceiver of the old bank, I went into the local insurance agency business
for myself, without any capita*.
"During the time I was working for the hank, f met the youn.,1. lady who
is now my wife. After going tog,ther for a little over a year, we were
married in 1932.
"The situation I was in was almost impossible. Obmpetition was bad,
and, with no capital, it wss next to impossible to do any good with the
business. Business conditions necessitated credit being extended to malty
of my customers. Because couldn't finance the accounts, I lost them.
I tried to make all sorts of arrangements in an effort to make a go of the
insurance business. I had an arrangement with the Receivership of the
old bank whereby I got a commission on the collection of the old accounts
receivable due them. At the same time,
was out trying to drum up enou,„;h
new business to get by on. At night, I would k,lep my books and do what
office work was necessary.
12
"Things became too tough for me to stay in business without capital.
I started looking around for something to do, where I could make some
money without worrying myself to death. Sometimes I would barely make
house rent.
"/n the fall of 1932, I was offered a job with the General Exchange
Insurance Corporation, the insurance company of General Motors, as an
adjuster. I was sent to Raleigh, North Carolina.
"Adjusting losses for this company is different from that of any
other insurance company. This is because they only insure products made
and sold by General Motors and financed through General Motors Acceptance
Corporation. It is entirely a service organization Practically all the
adjustments are on automobile losses, and, because of this, it is a high-
ly specialized field, special trvIning being required.
"After being in Raleigh for about a month, doing nothing but review-
ing files, I was sent to Pontiac and Detroit, Michigan. There was given
special instructions in the as-iembling of all General Motors cars. It was
quite a school. Ve had the actual experience of having to don overalls
and do the work ourselves. After a month of this, we had examinations to
stand. Fortunately, I was able to pass the rAuired tests. I was termed
a 'qualified automobile adjuster' and sent back to Raleigh.
"After working out of Raleigh for several months, I was assigned to the
Eastern North Carolina territory, with headquarters in Kinston, North
Carolina. Here I was in charge of all territory east of Goldsboro. 3ecause
of the great amount of territory and a very heavy clai burden, I was kept
busy twelve and fourteen hours a day.
have often wondered what the company had against me, to stick me
13.
down in that section. After learning the inner details of the organi-
fatten, 1 found that Eastern North Carolina was the place all adjusters
avoided like the plague. It was rscoenized, alone with the coast of Mary-
land, as the greatest fire problem on automobiles in the United States.
A very high percentage of all losses reported was fire losses, and a great
many of them were arson. I suppose they put me down there because of my
former experience, but, at tines, it was mighty dishearterin;.,
"A year there produced a nice curtailment record of fires for me.
I was transferred to Bristol, Virginia. Alen I was notified of this trans
fez, I was tickled to death. This condition existed until we arrived in
Bristol. An adjuster judges the place he lives by the type people he
cones in contact with and the roads he has to travel on, also by thc type
elates that are prevalent. All the territory around Bristol is mountain-
ous, and in the winter months a great eany of the r3ads are nractically
impassable. I hit there when the weather was at its worst, and I never
did get to where I liked the section of the country.
"1 finally got a good break. Just about the time I thouFht I wouldn't
be able to stand Bristol any longer, I was transferred to Louisville,
Kentucky. We liked it there very mich„ but, as it is with all big, companies,
just about the time I met a few people, I was transferred aeain. Both my
wife and I were getting 'fed up' with the idea of not knowing where we were
going to live from one day to the next. It was ni-hty hard on her with a
snail. Child, havine to move e-ery time we 7ot settled good. I had several
offers from other companfes while working with the General Exchange Ineer-
ance Corporation, and, in 1935, when this transfer waS to be effective from
Louisville, 1 accepted a connection with the rife Conpan-ts Adj-Istnent Bureau,
in Charlotte, North Carolina. There were several reasons for this chance.
14.
I vented to get back to handlinr all lines of adjustmente. It paid more
money, and there wasn't so much =ovine about. Being located in Charlotte
was another indueement. It was so near Columbia.
"I worked in Charlotte until the first of 1937, when I was sent back
to Louisville for emergency work during the bie flood out there. And after
things became normal, they vented to transfer me there permanently. I then
decided to go in business for myself, rather than move my family that far
from hone again. I opened an office in Greenville, after securing several
nice finance company accounts, which I am still servicing. I have been Gate
ting slang fine since I made the decision to go on ny own.
*On January 1, 1933, I moved my office to Colwlibia, in order to be more
centrally located. I service all sections of the State for the companies
I represent, and living in Columbia allows me to rot hone more at night.
*To me, adjusting losses is a very fascinatinr job. Every loss has
a different angle. Each person you contact has a different point of view.
I hove always taken the attitude that every loss reported to me 'was an
boost one, until proven otherwise. Of course, there are lots of tines
lion people are honest in their convictions and think they have suffered
a legitimate loss, and after you make the investieation you find they have
me meverare. It is the job of the adjuster to exolain tliin:s in such a
leg thet he won't think he's taken advantev;e of by the insurance company.
It's really a job to do this at times, and, of course, it's impossible in
441110 0110011.
many people don't realize that any legitimate insurance company
Imes to pay every penny of any just claim. If losses did not occur, there
gmest be no need to carry insurance, vvery loss payment handled diplomat
MW SA a A advertisement for the company.
15
"I have handled quite a few fraudulent claims in my time, all types.
Some of them have
One of the tricks
juster, after his
plain that he has
been quite serious, and others have been quite amusing.
in crooked claims is to report a loss, and, when the ad
investigation, makes the contact with the assured to ex
no coverage, the assured usually becomes very abusive in
an effort to get the adjuster to resent it efore witnes.,es, wo are usually
some of his friends there for that .Lirpose. If you fall for it, the next
thing you know, you are in court, being sued for some um -hoard -of damage.
I have Jeen pretty lucky; I've hewer been caught like that.
"One of the most amusing things haiTened in Greenville, Aort# Qarolina,
while I was with General Motors. One day while adjusting a wrecked car in
the service department
running into the back,
hand. He rushed up to
of one of the local automobile dealers, a man came
all out of breath, with his insurance policy in his
the service mana;-r and went into detail about how
his car caught afire on his way to town and how he just managed to get out
in time to keep from being burned to death. He didn't know who I was, and,
after I learned his name, I immediately checked, by telephone, his account
with the finance company. I learned that he was way behind on his payments
and that they were going to take his car away from him in a day or two if
the account wasn't brought up to date. This only took a few m:ments. when
iinent beck to the service department, he wt3 still there, talking his
head off. The more he talked, the more suspicious I became. Although I
was in the middle of another loss case, I dropped everything to make an
investigation of this one. I introduced myself as the adjuster for his
loss and suggested that the assured, along with the dealer, go out to the
scene of the fire. All the way out, this man kept telling me what a fine
16
car he had and what repairs had just been completed, trying of course to
establish a high value.
"The &sewed lived a distance of about nine miles from town, off the
main highway about a mile. The road leading to his home divided his field,
and it was on this rod that the loss was alleged to have occured. By the
time we turned off the pavement, we started lookih; for the smoke. .every
turn we made in the road we expected to seh some sign of fire, but nothing
showed up. All at once the assured got terribly excited. By that time, we
saw a house in the distance.. A matter of a couple of hundred yhrds towards
us from the house, ri4bt off the side of the reed hi a haystack, sat the cur.
There wasn't a sign of a fire at all. 4hat had hhppened was that thie man
had taken everything removable off the car and pushed it up aghinet the
haystack. He had fired the haystack and left immediately for town. The
haystack went out and didn't even scorch the car. You should have seen the
expression on his face. Naturally, his insurance wn3 cancelled immediately.
"There is no reason why I sho Id ever have to go through another de—
pression period in my business. I think I have leurned from the past how
to *surd against the same mistakee. I certainly hope so. No more
goose chases from now on. The responsibility of n family and my obligations
to my friends seem to have cured the 'wanderlust apirit,' which reared
its head at times.