About Us...

C. T. Lowndes & Company was founded in Charleston, South Carolina, by Charles Tidyman Lowndes in 1850 and is the oldest fire insurance agency in the Southeast.

Since the agency first offered fire insurance for South Carolina National Bank mortgages in the mid 19th Century, we have grown to a full-service agency with six locations throughout the Lowcountry and two in the mid-state area..

C. T. Lowndes & Company is a family owned and operated agency and has always been owned by a member of the Lowndes family. Henry H. Lowndes, Jr. serves as President, and he is the fifth generation of Lowndes to be associated with the agency. The sixth generation of the family has recently been employed by the agency. Other owners are W. A. "Billy" Silcox, Jr., Treasurer and W. A. "Bill" Silcox, III, Vice President.
 

C. T. Lowndes & Company was founded by Charles Tidyman Lowndes in 1850. Mr. Lowndes was born in Charleston on June 28, 1808. Little is known of his early life although he entered merchant life at an early age with the firm of Herkenwrath and Lowndes, Commission Merchants. He preferred the life of a planter, however, and spent most of his time on the Lowndes plantation on the Cumbee River. Mr. Lowndes was described as an unusually successful planter. When in Charleston, he resided at 51 East Bay Street.

For many years Mr. Lowndes was a director of the South Carolina National Bank, with offices at 10 Broad Street. Here, in 1850, he established C. T. Lowndes & Company to handle the fire insurance on mortgages for the bank. For more than 80 years, the agency maintained an association with the bank. In 1952, the agency moved its office to 12 ½ Exchange Street and, in 1981, to its present location at 749 St. Andrews Blvd.

Mr. Lowndes was widely renowned for his excellent executive abilities and sound judgment upon financial questions. During the banking panic of 1857, Mr. Lowndes was made temporary president of the Bank of Charleston. He maintained the bank's reputation for sound fiscal practices and the bank emerged as the top discounter among the state's 20 banks. Following the War Between the States, he was made president and kept the bank solvent - the only one in the state to survive the incredibly reckless fiscal policies of the Reconstruction Government. Mr. Lowndes died November 13, 1884 and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery.

C. T. Lowndes & Company is the oldest fire insurance agency in the South. It is the only local agency that, in years past, wrote what was known as perpetual fire insurance policies. One such policy, on display in the West Ashley office, was on the books for 82 years. Written in 1869 for $5,000 insurance on St. Philips Church, a single deposit premium of $375 was paid by the insured. No other premium was ever charged and upon cancellation of the policy, the deposit premium less 10% was returned to the policyholder.

C. T. Lowndes & Company has always been in the Lowndes family. Upon the death of Charles Lowndes, his son, Rawlins Lowndes (1838-1919) assumed ownership of the agency. In 1920, Charles Lowndes Mullally (1896-1984), a grandson of Rawlins, took over. Henry H. Lowndes (1909-1998) joined the firm on June 1, 1931 and assumed ownership in 1952. His sons later joined the firm, Edward F. Lowndes, II (1942-2006) in 1965 and Henry H. Lowndes, Jr. in 1972. These three men operated the business as a partnership until 1985 when the agency was incorporated with Henry H. Lowndes, Jr. as president and Edward F. Lowndes as vice-president.

During the 1950-1960 era, the agency acquired other smaller agencies, such as the Wehman Agency, the Schweers Agency and the Stoney Agency. Willard A. (Billy) Silcox, Jr. began working for the firm in 1980 and Larry E. Watson in 1981. A new office in Summerville was opened in 1982 followed by an office in Mount Pleasant in 1983. In 1984, the E. L. Jagar Agency merged with C. T. Lowndes & Company. Willard A. (Bill) Silcox, III joined the agency as a producer. Wally Shaffer joined the agency in 1987 as a commercial lines producer and established an insurance program for commercial shrimping fleets. Also in 1987, the Leddy Smith Agency in Walterboro was acquired. In 1988, the agency established a Life & Health Insurance Department and added Bill Towles as the leading producer.

Hurricane Hugo struck Charleston on September 21, 1989 and devastated the Lowcountry as never before. C. T. Lowndes & Company was able to process thousands of claims in as expeditious manner as possible, mainly due to the dedication of its employees. The agency suffered a dramatic loss of business in the aftermath of Hugo and the ensuing pullout of insurance companies. Through careful management, however, the agency responded well.

The Zorn Insurance Agency was purchased in 1991. Henry H. Lowndes retired from the agency at the age of 83 on September 1, 1993 and passed away on July 28, 1998. Larry Watson resigned in 1995 and moved to Montana. Willard A. (Bill) Silcox, III became a shareholder in 1996. In October 1996, C. T. Lowndes & Company purchased the Patricia S. Drake Agency in Moncks Corner and established its fifth location in the Lowcountry. Charles R. Drake became affiliated with the agency serving as a commercial lines producer until his death on January 13, 2008.

In January 1997, Jason Besse was hired as a commercial lines producer. Don Robbins joined in January 1998, Chris Silcox in November 1998, Mike Sottile in January 1999, and Paul Pye in October 2001, all being producers. In November 2001, the agency hired Lee Besse from Florida as the agency's Operations Manager. In March 2002, Wood Cleveland joined the firm as an account executive.

In the late 1990's, the agency purchased two more small agencies, Read & Read and The Storen Agency.

A grand celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the agency was held in June of 2000. Approximately 100 guests - employees, clients, insurance company representatives - were invited to a reception at the South Carolina Society Hall on Meeting Street. Prior to the reception, Edward Lowndes entertained the employees with a slide show on the history of the agency.

In 2001, the agency upgraded its agency management system by purchasing the AMS computer system. In January 2003, The Holcombe Jenkins Agency was purchased. Later that year, the Life & Health Department was energized by the addition of Carl Allen and Marty Boren as producers. Terrence Jenkins joined the agency as a property and casualty salesperson in October.

On March 1, 2004, C. T. Lowndes & Company purchased the Guaranty-Caldwell Agency which had offices in Sumter and Hartsville, SC. For the first time, the agency had moved beyond the South Carolina Low Country and crossed to the inland side of Interstate 95 to serve residents of Sumter, Lee, and Darlington counties.

In 2007, the Hartsville office was closed and consolidated within the Sumter office.

Another important event occurred in 2003 and again in 2004 as Rawlins C. Lowndes, Elizabeth B. Lowndes, and Edward F. Lowndes, III, children of Edward F. Lowndes, II, began working for C. T. Lowndes & Company on a full time basis.

In May 2004, Mel Rodriquez was hired as the agency’s first Hispanic account executive. Later in 2004, Walter Cuthbert joined the agency’s sales department as an account executive.

On January 1, 2005, C. T. Lowndes & Company purchased Tri-County Insurance Agency in Goose Creek and began operating out of this town.

A great sadness struck the agency in late December 2005 as the agency’s longtime vice president, Edward F. Lowndes, II, was diagnosed with cancer. Edward passed away on March 22, 2006. He had spent 40 years working with the family business and his untimely passing was a blow to the entire staff.

To further improve staff operations, in February of 2006, James Turner, III was hired to head up the newly formed IT (Information Technology) department of the agency.

In January 2007, the Edisto Island office was opened under the direction of William "Bill" Hackett.

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