They say that some companies are “too big to fail,” but there are apparently some companies that are too small to continue to operate, at least by government standards. By those standards, the old way isn’t necessarily the best way. If you don’t modernize, too bad.

In 1989, the state’s insurance department declined to renew the charter of the Lyndeborough Mutual Fire Insurance Co., because it was “too small and antiquated,” and it still used hand-written forms.

Given several options, the remaining members chose to close the company, keep the charter in town, and divide their remaining assets between the library and the fire department.

The final policy expired in 1993, and the company formally disbanded.

The company was formed in 1862 by a group of residents who felt that insurance rates were too high, and decided to use self-insuring as a means of keeping rates down. There were 27 original members with a limit of $2,000.

The coverage rules were updated in 1917 to allow automobiles to be stored in buildings, except for barns in which hay was stored. They also added strict rules about the storage of gasoline and other inflammables.

The company records, beginning in 1917, were found recently during an inventory of documents held by the Historical Society. Among them is a large ledger with its handwritten entries. The charter itself was not among the documents. According to a letter from the state, it was to be returned to the town “if it was found.” Perhaps it never was.

A newspaper article in 1989, when the company was denied renewal and voted to disband, then-secretary Helen VanHam said a number of insurance companies had been trying for years to buy the charter because of the founding date of 1862.

“That way they could claim to have been in business in the state since then,” she said.

The members said no, they did not want to become a part of, or associated with, a larger company and that the charter was to stay in town.

According to a ledger, the assets in 1989 were about $13,000. When the books were closed, the assets were placed in a trust fund to be divided between the town library and the fire department.

At the end, the members of the company stayed with Lyndeborough Mutual for sentimental reasons, and all of them had regular insurance policies. Policies were for three years, and the last six expired in 1991.

It is sad when a company can’t be kept for those sentimental reasons, that government can’t accommodate the past a little more, that old-fashioned methods have to be discarded. The company certainly did not impact the insurance industry in any way, only, perhaps, inconvenienced a clerk who only knew computers.