Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1929-10-05

tingmShed FrSlnlan cOIseAleu W ie-
linguish an office in the service of
the State. which he had built up from
nothing to one OF the
first ranking insurance bureaus in
this country.
That confidence which had been
instilled in the policyholders of the
concern by the former President,
John N. Lawler, who died recently,
will be more than trebled by this re-
markable move, which has brought
forward to manage and direct it one
J of the foremost insurance experts in
the United States of America. That
Col. Button sees great future for
the concern and for himself hardly
admits of a question.
The policies of the company now
in operation have been regarded as
novel and satisfactory. This great
leader will not be satisfied with con-
fining himself to this line of insur-
ance endeavor, but will enter into the
field under his own banner, so to
sneak, not to tear down or to de-
stroy what is already there, but to
add to the same, organizing if need
be, individual units of insurance OF
his own creation, brought about by
twenty-three years of critical expert
ence in the service as Commissioner
of Insurance for Virginia.
1t seems to US that the mere &C
ceptance of this office by Col. But
ton will have great advertising
value. Our reason for this. is due to
a brief glance at the record of this
wonderful Virginian. Let US see: He
was elected by the unanimous vote
of the General Assembly of Virginia
as Commissioner of Insurance in
1906, when the office was created for
four years and has been five times
unanimously reelected to that posi-
ton. He has had practically absolute
control of this department, so adj
mirably has he discharged the duties
and ruled upon all questions sub
mitted to him.
On March /, 1928, the Insurance
and Banking Departments were con-
solidated and he won out, being APP
pointed Commissioner of Insurance
and Banking by the State Corpora
ton Commission, which recognized
not only his peculiar qualification for
the position, but also his popularity
among all classes in this State. Col.
Button was at one time President o.
the National Convention of Insurance
Commissioners, an honor, which is
only accorded to officials of outstand-
ing prominence.
He was subsequently Chairman OF
the Executive Committee and has
been since 1917 its Secretary-Treas-
urer, being Dean of the Convention
and the oldest Insurance Commits
sioner in point of service in the
United States. One of the most glow
ing tributes appearing in public
print will be found in the Richmond,
Va, News Leader, of October /,
1929, under the caption, Leaves a
Hole on the HIP:
What will the bureau of banking
and insurance be without Joseph
Button? And what will old-timers
think when they wander, from deep
set habit, into his office, and find
that Virginia's first insurance COM
missioner has resigned after twenty
three years, and is president of the
Union Life Insurance Company? Joe
Button was clerk of the senate when
the bureau of insurance was estab-
lished in 1906. To make sure that
he was named to head the bureau,
and that he would be continued there
no matter who was governor, the act
provided that the general assembly
itself should fill the office. AS long
as that remained the law, Colonel
Buttons reelection was almost auto
matte. And now he is to leave!
Very few are left who were in the
employ of the State when he opened
the bureau of insurance in the base
ment of the capitol. Lee Moore re- !
mains; so does Major Carter at the
court of appeals; so do one or two
members of the capitol police and
one or two of the clerks in the de-
partments. Davis Bottom is still
there; Ennion Williams, who came
two years after the bureau of insur-
ance was opened, continues his |
notable work as head of the health |
DR.. McIlwaine has been |
almost as long in the States service. |
The veteran of all the veterans is, Of
course, George W. Koiner, commits
;ioner of agriculture, who has been
On Capitol hill since 1899 and has
veathered all the storms of politics.
John w. Williams has been there
even longer, but he did not become
:itular clerk of the house of dele
gates until the famous 'long parlia-
ment" of 1901-04, the legislative ses-
sion that lasted three years.
Col. Joseph Button is the picture
If health. So far as his physical :
powers are concerned, he is in his
prime. He is evidently preparing to
'ound out his career as an insurance
'fficial by making a great insurance
so much greater as to cause