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Atkins Insurance celebrates 100 years
It's not every day that a company celebrates 100 years in business, but that's exactly what one local insurance agency is doing this year.
Atkins Insurance Agency, located at 3 E. Wall St., was founded in 1907 by E.G. Atkins, who eventually passed the company on to his sons, Garland and Martin (Marty) Atkins. E.G. Atkins died in 1934. The agency's current offices are in the business' third location in the same building -- the Milrose Building -- since it was founded.
About 50 people, including a group of Atkins' relatives, several Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce members and other local residents, attended a chamber coffee event Thursday to honor the agency for its work during the last century providing automotive insurance options in Fort Scott and surrounding areas.
Atkins' relatives who were present Thursday included two of his grandchildren; Kent Atkins, who is from Lawrence, and Karen Atkins Epps, who lives in Fort Scott.
Epps and Atkins both said some of their fondest memories from childhood involved watching their grandfather operate the insurance agency, which they would visit quite frequently to play with toys and adding machines that Atkins and his staff used.
It was not uncommon at that time for children to be found playing in one of the downtown business buildings, including the insurance agency, Kent Atkins said.
"It was not a place where children were told to stay away," he said. "The children could go right into the office."
The agency was also often used as a gathering place for many local businessmen and other residents at the time, Epps said.
Atkins Insurance Agency was a family-owned business until the 1970s, when Ronald Dodson, who at the time was married to E.G. Atkin's daughter, Nancy, purchased the agency from Garland Atkins. Dodson became ill with cancer in October 1991, and died in late 1992. Dodson's wife, Kristina, became the agency's sole owner at that time.
In April 1993, local residents Leon and Ann Stark, and Terry and Patty West bought the agency from Kristina Dodson and Ron Dodson's estate and have owned and operated the agency since that time. Ann Stark and Patty West both worked for Ron Dodson during his tenure as owner of the company. Stark had worked for Dodson since 1979, and West since 1981.
Some of the biggest changes the agency has gone through in her nearly 30 year career with the company, Stark said, include the addition of automation and computers. Many of the same ideals and principles E.G. Atkins first incorporated when he founded the agency are still in place today, Stark said.
"We believe our service should be better than everyone else," she said. "We pride ourselves on our service."
E.G. Atkins was born in 1867 in Bainbridge, Ohio, and was the first graduate of the Bainbridge High School. At the age of 18, he came to Fort Scott in 1885 on his way to Wichita. He decided to stay in Fort Scott, became an expert painter, and was employed by the Missouri-Pacific Railroad painting Pullman coaches, according to a statement from the agency.
In 1907, he purchased the insurance agency, which was then located on the east side of the Milrose Building, from William T. Seagrave. In 1910, the business moved to 7 E. Wall St., but was still located in the same building. Atkins was also somewhat involved in real estate and worked as a first-class appraiser.
Atkins married Mary T. Heine in 1895 at the Heine Homestead, then located at 120 Scott Ave. They had four children; Ruth Atkins Parks, Marie Atkins Lee, Garland Atkins and Martin Atkins.
Other than Kent Atkins and Karen Epps, two other grandchildren are still alive today; Nancy Atkins Lopez, who lives in Wichita, and Martha Atkins, who lives in Ames, Iowa.
Atkins Insurance Agency was also recently awarded one of two small business of the year awards during the 56th Annual FSACC Business Awards Celebration conducted Oct. 25 in Fort Scott.