Lewis T. Hussey

LEWIS T. HUSSEY. Within the limits of Kansas there is probably no better informed insurance man than Lewis T. Hussey, who is now filling the responsible position of state fire marshal at Topeka. Mr. Hussey is the only son of Jerry Hussey of Williamsburg, reference to whom is made on other pages. Born in Clermont County, Ohio, November 19, 1866, Lewis T. Hussey came with his parents to Kansas when two years old, and in his early life imbibed the spirit of Kansas prairie. His youth was spent on a farm, where he learned all the duties of a Kansas country place during the '80s, and his education came from the district schools and from the Burlington High School, where he was graduated in 1888.

However, his real life work has been in the field of insurance. While his father was register of deeds of Osage County he served as deputy until 1893, and he then established in Kansas what was known as the Metropolitan Accident Association, which subsequently became the Continental Casualty Company, and Mr. Hussey represented it as state agent. For nearly twenty-five years he has been active in the insurance business, and has also rendered important service as an adjuster of fire losses. In 1908 with others he organized the Osage Fire Insurance Company, of which he was one of the directors, a member of the executive committee and also its general adjuster of fire losses. This company in 1911 was sold to the National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut.

Since early youth Mr. Hussey has been one of the most public spirited workers for the general welfare of any community in which he has lived and for the state at large. Mention has already been made of his service as deputy register of deeds in Osage County. He served as city clerk of Lyndon, and afterwards as mayor of that town. As mayor he led the way in installing a system of city waterworks and sewerage. This was an improvement which made Lyndon progressive and was responsible for much of its subsequent prosperity, but Mayor Hussey encountered bitter opposition in effecting the establishment of these public utilities, and succeeded only after overcoming what seemed unsurmountable obstacles. What was then considered by many as an unwise, illogical and premature measure, is now conceded to be the chief asset of Lyndon.

In 1904 Mr. Hussey was elected State Representative from Osage County, and served during the stormy session of 1905, when the Speaker of the House was W. R. Stubbs, later governor of Kansas. In April, 1905, by appointment from Governor Hoch, he was made state oil inspector, an office he filled until 1909. Because of his intimate knowledge of insurance and fire losses, Governor Capper appointed him state fire marshal in April, 1915, and he has since given his entire time to the duties of that office, with headquarters at Topeka. He is an enthusiastic republican.

Mr. Hussey is a memher of the National Fire Marshals Association, of which he is secretary and treasurer, and ex-officio a member of the executive committee. He belongs to the Methodist Church, to the Masonic Order and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. On December 9, 1901, he married Miss Charlotte E. Darling. Their two sons are Glenn D. and Theodore M.

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