Shortly after 1876, Oliver Perry Poe, one of Denton’s early mayors, had the vision to see the significance of the insurance industry in the growth and development of a new and promising community, and he opened doors of what must have been one of Denton’s first insurance businesses until around 1909 when he sold the firm to W. F. Bailey and J. W. Carlisle. Sometime around 1910 – 1914 Mr. Bailey, and eventually Mr. Carlisle, sold their interest to Lon A. Speer, who in turn sold a half interest to M. L. Ramey in 1920.
The entry of M. L. Ramey began a new tradition to continue with the Ramey name for better than 75 years. When Mr. Speer died in 1923, Mr. Ramey took on Abney B. Ivey as his partner, and Ramey & Ivey was a well-known duo for the next 22 years. In those days the business operated out of a small upstairs office in the old Craddock Building on the South side of the square. Business must have been good, for in 1926 Ramey & Ivey picked up and moved to the Smoot-Curtis Building – the only building with an elevator. The agency spent the next 36 years in the Smoot – Curtis Building and saw it change to the Johnson Building, the Morris Building and the Texas Building, as it is now today.
A transition of Ramey’s took place in 1946, when M. L. Ramey sold his interest in the firm to his son, Marvin G. Ramey. Soon thereafter Marvin purchased Mr. Ivey’s interest and the business operated as the Ramey Insurance Agency.
Edward A. White became Mr. Ramey’s partner in 1958, and in 1962 Ramey & White moved to the First State Bank Building.
September of 1962 marks the date of a substantial growth of the business by acquisition of another old agency in town and the addition of Terrell W. King, III as a third partner. The name remained the same, however, until 1964 when Marvin Ramey and Terrell King purchased Ed White’s interest and changed the firm to Ramey & King Insurance.
For the next ten years Ramey & King Insurance grew along with Denton. With the expansion of the First State Bank’s office building, the company moved to a considerably expanded office on the 7th floor.
In May of 1975, Ramey & King became Ramey, King and Minnis with the addition of Randall L. Minnis, who had worked for the firm for four years prior to that date. Shortly thereafter, in January of 1976, Marvin Ramey retired from the agency.
Terrell King and Randy Minnis carried on the roughly 100 year tradition of insuring Denton’s business and personal insurance needs as an independent insurance company until the addition of Terrell King sons Jeff and James King.
