 Gilchrist was a close personal and boyhood friend of Alfred E. Smith.The insurance firm opened division offices in Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia
in August 1929.In July 1931 a suit was initiated by New York State against Consolidated Indemnity to recover $600,000 on a bond guaranteeing the state deposits in the insolvent New York Bank of the United States.