Hannaford family makes homegrown business a success
Staff reporter
Keeping business in the family is taken to heart by the Hannaford family.
For the past 135 years, a Hannaford family member has been an owner of the local abstract and title company.
Current owners are father and son, Roger "Bud" Hannaford and Roger Hannaford III.
Matriarch Norma Hannaford remained active in the company until her retirement in 2005 at the age of 100.
It all began in 1871 when E.R. Trenner founded the business. A short time later, E.S. Hannaford joined the company, starting the longevity of Hannaford ownership.
Trenner died in 1912, and John W. Gardner joined the firm. The name of the company was changed to Hannaford and Gardner.
When E.S. "Ed" Hannaford decided to retire at the age of 82, he turned over his share of the business to his nephew, Roger W. Hannaford, Bud Hannaford's father. It made sense because Ed had raised Roger since childhood.
Roger Hannaford became active in the business in 1927, continuing the Hannaford tradition until his death in 1949, which changed his wife's involvement in the abstract world.
"I didn't know anything about the business," Norma Hannaford said about her husband's livelihood. Her duties were at home, raising the couple's three children.
In time, she did learn the ropes and she purchased Gardner's interest in 1951. At that time, the name of the business was changed to Hannaford Abstract Company.
"There were some women working out of the home," Norma recalled, but there weren't too many who were in supervisory or ownership positions.
During that time, the business was located in an upstairs office above the current Marion County Record office.
Retired attorney Dean Batt became a partner in 1952 to assist in the continued success of the business.
Loyal, long-term employees also have contributed to the company's success.
Norma appreciated the assistance she received from her employees, like Edward Good.
"He was a big help," she recalled. "I'd have given up if he hadn't been there."
During the oil boom, Norma said the business had 10-15 employees.
"A lot of things were done by hand," she said. A camera and microfilm were used in the county register of deeds office to make copies of all of the documents.
To this day, the abstract company continues to have identical records to the deed's office.
"At that time, we even had an employee in the deed's office," Norma said, to record information just as the deed's office did.
In the meantime, Roger "Bud" Hannaford had earned a master's degree from Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia, and taught and coached at El Dorado High School for five years before returning to Marion in 1962, and becoming a partner in the family business.
In 1970, the company moved from the second floor office to a new building on Main Street, the current location of the office.
Roger Hannaford III joined Hannaford Abstract and Title Company in 1980 and purchased his grandmother's share in 1986. Prior to taking his place in the family business, he earned a degree in journalism from Kansas State University, worked at a radio station in Colorado, and was director of Marion County Weed Department.
What is title insurance?
When property is purchased, a title search is conducted to assure the buyer that the title to the property is clear — that is, there aren't any unknown mortgages or liens, or additional owners.
"Most mortgage companies require title insurance before lending money," Roger said.
The company is part of the real estate transaction — the middle man to help make it happen.
"We're responsible for checking title information on properties to make sure all debts and bills (pertaining to that property) are paid," Bud said. "If we miss something, we're held responsible."
Title insurance these days is condensed to a few pages of information. In the past, abstracts were numerous pages of handwritten and typed history of the property from the beginning to the present.
"The function remains the same," Bud said. "We still research the history of the property but we don't type it up and put it in a booklet form."
Norma liked the historical significance of properties.
"It was interesting to do actual abstracts," she said, "because of the stories with the properties."
All agreed it is a roller coaster business — dependent on others to provide the work load.
"There's kind of a down side with some down time," Roger said. To prepare for leaner times, the family has learned to save up when business is good.
For Bud, it's more than just title searches.
"Having lived here all of my life, doing title searches can be personal," Bud said, knowing individuals and properties.
The end product for property owners is the assurance that when they purchase property and title insurance has been issued, the property is theirs.
"We work very hard to make sure it's accurate," Roger said. "We have to be 100 right. If we do make a mistake, we always try to make it right."
An underwriter stands behind Hannaford Abstract and Title Company to insure the title commitments.
Licensing and continuing education also are requirements for the business.
So, what about these online title companies?
"We're hands on," Roger said. "We still go to the courthouse and physically copy information directly from documents."
Online or out-of-town title companies do not provide those services. The computer age has affected the local company.
"We're about as up-to-date as we can be," Roger said, and the owners are willing to take their company into the next century of service.
For them, this business is personal and they sincerely want to assure safe ownership of property.
"We've been here a long time and want to continue to take care of property owners," Roger said.
