In 1905 our company founder, William Herman Stufflebeam, decided that Bingham County, Idaho was in need of an abstract business in order to keep more accurate land records; he couldn’t have imagined it would grow to be one of the largest regional title companies in the Northwest.
Born in White Hall, New York, Herman Stufflebeam came West with his family to the Springfield area of Bingham County, Idaho to start a cattle ranching operation in 1884.
As a young adult, Herman moved to Washington, D.C. to take a job with the U.S. Treasury Department. Years later, while still working for the U.S. Treasury, he came back West to close a bank in Rexburg, Idaho and ended up settling in Blackfoot, where he saw the need for a business that performed title abstracts of the county’s land records. He started a new company, Bingham Abstract Company, indexing each parcel of land by hand. Later the company became The Bingham Title & Trust Company and started to offer title insurance and escrow closings.
Herman married Ruth Hilliard in 1929 and had one son, Dwain Hilliard Stufflebeam.
Herman owned and operated the business for 37 years until his death in 1942, at which time his wife Ruth took over the business. She was an anomaly in a time and town where few women worked outside the home. She successfully ran the business throughout World War II and the Korean War, serving as the company president until she retired in 1969. Upon her retirement their son, Dwain H. Stufflebeam, took over the business. Dwain had taken an early interest in the family business coming to work in the office while still a teenager.
Dwain attended the University of Utah in 1950 and later transferred to the University of Montana where he earned his law degree in 1956. During this time Dwain courted his high school sweetheart, Joyce Lambert. They married in 1954 and eventually had four children; Scott, Eric, Sue and Quinn. Dwain served in the United States Air Force from 1956 to 1958 as Assistant Staff Judge Advocate. After his service, he returned home to take his position in the family business working at the title company.
Upon being named President, Dwain immediately began an aggressive project to expand the company’s footprint outside of Bingham County and into Southeastern Idaho and later Montana and Washington.
First American Title Holding Co. was formed in 2003 as a vehicle to create accounting efficiencies, consolidate numerous entities and resources which allowed further expansion.
In 2012, Dwain retired as Chief Executive Officer but remains actively involved as the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Quinn Stufflebeam began working in the family business at a young age. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Management from the University of Utah and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Arizona, Quinn returned to manage a county office in Twin Falls Idaho. He went on to become the Idaho State President and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer.
Quinn has continued to follow the expansion plan and in 2012 the company broadened its footprint into Wyoming.
The company that started with four employees grew into a regional company and went through another reorganization to become Title Financial Corporation.
For many years Title Financial Corporation was an exclusive agent for First American Title Insurance Company, but in recent years, insurance underwriters have moved away from exclusive contracts. As an independent title agent we have strengthened our ability to write title insurance for multiple underwriters including Old Republic National Title Insurance, Commonwealth Land Title Insurance, First American Title Insurance Company, Fidelity National Title Insurance Company and Chicago Title Insurance Company.
Today, Title Financial Corporation consists of five wholly owned subsidiaries: First American Title Company, Inc., First American Title Company of Montana, Inc., Insured Titles, Title Financial Corporation of Wyoming, and Title Financial Specialty Services.
Thank you for choosing First American, we value your business and look forward to serving you.
