To become a leader, you have to understand the goals of many, and set a course to reach those goals.

In 1865, Edwin A. Van Trump emerged as such a leader by opening a new insurance business in Wilmington, Delaware. A business built on delivering consistent results to each and every customer.

Within a few years, two other prominent Wilmington business leaders, Ferdinand Gilpin and John A. Montgomery, entered the insurance business with the same dedication to their customers.

Business was good. And the competition made each of them better. The company grew.

In 1909 a new corporation was registered in Delaware:

Three leaders with one focus. They had now created new opportunities for their entrepreneurial spirit. And they had provided their growing number of associates with new resources for delivering the ultimate service to their customers: RESULTS. A combination that powered the company's growth.

In the 1920's, to service the insurance needs of the DuPont companies, who had supplied black gun powder for World War I, J.A. Montgomery, now Commerce National Insurance Services, Inc. was spun off as a separate company and today is the largest insurance agency in Delaware.

In 1941, the company started its mortgage department. To assist servicemen returning from World War II, Gilpin was the first mortgage company in the State of Delaware to be approved to originate loans for the FHA and later was approved to write loans for the VA.

Gilpin, Van Trump & Montgomery, Inc. grew to become Delaware's specialist in home financing, real estate sales, management and development throughout the 1940's and '50's.

In 1995, Gilpin teamed with Northern Delaware's #1 Best Seller in real estate, Patterson-Schwartz. These two excellence-driven companies have created a powerful partnership which prides itself in finding the perfect home and obtaining the proper financing quickly and correctly for our most valuable asset -- homebuyers.

Today, Gilpin finances more homes in Delaware and the surrounding area than any other locally based Mortgage Banker.