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Our History

A history of Evarts Tremaine, providing insurance solutions since 1844.

Our agency’s history over the past 175+ years begins with manufacturer’s insurance.

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The history of Evarts Tremaine parallels the city’s development from frontier outpost to industrial powerhouse as one of the first independent insurance agencies to offer manufacturers insurance to companies formed during the Industrial Revolution. Today, Evarts Tremaine still provides insurance for business owners along with specialty insurance, personal insurance coverage, and risk management advisory services. Learn more about our colorful history providing insurance for businesses and individuals below.

1832

Completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal connecting the Ohio River with the Great Lakes establishes Cleveland, OH as an important port city and center for world trade.

1836

Cleveland is officially incorporated as a city.

1844

Evarts Tremaine is founded by Henry F. Brayton as the Henry F. Brayton Company.

1846

The agency is one of six founding members of the Insurance Board of Cleveland, now the Insurance Board of Northern Ohio.

1863

The Civil War brings economic prosperity to Cleveland and elevates the city to a manufacturing hub vital to the war efforts. Cleveland’s industrial growth fueled the growth of the agency, previously known as the Evarts Tremaine Flicker Company.

1870

John D. Rockefeller incorporates The Standard Oil Company here and is a resident of the city’s famed Millionaire’s Row on Euclid Avenue.

1903

The Evarts-Tremaine-Flicker Company is incorporated as Cleveland becomes the nation’s sixth largest city and emerges as a major center for American manufacturing.

1906

Agency partner, Burton G. Tremaine, co-founds the National Electric Light Association, funded by the General Electric company, today known as NELA Park.

1906

John W. Hannon, an attorney from Pittsburgh, joins the agency as head of the claims department. He later builds a home on Chapman Avenue, a mile from NELA Park.

1906

The agency receives a telegram from an insurer in London, instructing its agents to continue to sell their products, as they would need the premiums to pay claims arising out of the San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire in April of that year.

1925

Prohibition reigns across the nation. As a founder of NELA Park, Mr. Tremaine hosts salesmen from across the country for conferences during the summer. Legend has it that Mr. Hannon’s sons, John J. and J. Eliot, would row a boat across Lake Erie to meet Canadian bootleggers to pick up whiskey for the events.

1931

John W. Hannon becomes sole owner of the agency and works with his sons John J. (Case Institute of Technology class of 1928) and J. Eliot Hannon (Case Institute of Technology class of 1934, Case Law School class of 1937) serving the insurance needs of Northeast Ohioans until his death in the late 1950’s.

1933

The agency receives a telegram from an English insurance company asking the agency to immediately withdraw all their cash on deposit in the Union Trust Cleveland bank and put it in a safety deposit box. Then-president of the agency, John W. Hannon, put all the money for both the insurance company and the agency, into a safety deposit box that day. The bank crashed shortly thereafter.

1950

John W. Hannon’s son, John J. Hannon, followed as leader and owner of Evarts Tremaine.

1975

J. Thomas Hannon, grandson of John W. Hannon, takes over as owner of Evarts Tremaine.

1986

J. Thomas Hannon’s brother-in-law, Martin G. Striegl, becomes part owner of Evarts Tremaine.

2011

John W. Hannon’s great grandson, John J. Hannon, joins his father, J. Thomas Hannon, as part owner of Evarts Tremaine.

2021

Todd Mazur & Brian Boland join John Hannon as owners of the agency.

Today

Today, agency president John J. Hannon continues to grow Evarts Tremaine to serve businesses and individuals across an array of industries specializing in manufacturing, commercial greenhouses, auto dealerships, automotive aftermarket, operations, private schools, breweries, bars, taverns, and restaurants, as well as high net worth families and individuals.
Client Feedback - Closeup View of a Waiting Room Area with a Mosaic Portrait on the Wall Inside the Evarts Tremaine Office Building

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