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Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 223 - 224 |
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GEORGE F. WILLIAMS
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The two most strongly marked characteristics of both thee east and the west are combined in the residents of the section of country of which this volume treats. The enthusiastic enterprise which overleaps all obstacles and makes possible almost any undertaking in the comparatively new and vigorous western states is here tempered by the stable and more careful policy that we have borrowed from our eastern neighbors, and the combination is one of peculiar force and power. It has been the means of placing this section of the country on a par with the older east, at the same time producing a certainty and reliability in business affairs which is frequently lacking in the west. This happy combination of characteristics is possessed by the subject of this sketch, George F. Williams, one of the prominent and enterprising business men of Manton, Wexford county, Michigan. Mr. Williams is a native of Canada, having been born on the
22d of August, 1859. He is the son of James and Paulina (Pritchard) Williams,
who were both natives of England, in which country they were reared and were
there married. The father died at Shelby, Michigan, in 1881, at the age of
sixty-one years. The mother, who was born in 1822, is still living and makes her
home with the subject. George F. Williams removed from Canada with his parents
in 184 and located at Aurora, Illinois, and two years later they removed to
Montague, Michigan, where the father engaged in the business of lumbering. There
the subject was given the opportunity of attending school, but his studies were
interrupted in 1871 when the family removed to Shelby, Oceana county, Michigan,
where his father and his brothers, Jeremiah, James H. and Walter S., engaged in
the mercantile, lumbering and saw-mill business. In the new home the subject,
with a younger brother, Albert, was again permitted to attend school, though he
was also employed at odd times in the mill. In the spring of 1881, upon the
death of his father, Mr. Williams assisted his brother Walter in conducting a
planing and saw-mill. His first business venture on his own account was the
purchase of a lot in the village of Shelby, on which he built a brick veneered
block, in conjunction with a Mr. Parmenter, who owned the adjoining lot, the two
jointly building the division wall. In 1881 Mr. Williams was united in marriage
with Miss Emma Graves, of Shelby, and the next year he moved to Manton, where
their only son, Clarence F., was born, October 1, 1883. In 1883 Mr. Williams
engaged in the business of getting out and shipping last blocks and about the
same time entered into partnership with his brother James H. in a general store.
The last named business was sold out, however, soon afterwards and Mr. Williams
devoted his attention solely to the last business, which was not, however, on a
very large scale. At the outset of his career there occurred one of those
incidents which might have easily discouraged a more timid or less resolute man.
When he arrived in Manton he possessed about one thousand dollars and it was
partially invested in the first shipment of last blocks which he made to a
Chicago party. The latter party failed and the subject was unable to realize a
cent on the transaction, which, with other unfortunate transactions, left him
seriously in debt. The outlook was certainly discouraging, but Mr. Williams had
a thorough insight into the last block business and felt that in that line lay
his future success. In Wexford county lay a large quantity of good maple timber
suitable for his purposes and he determined to establish himself at Manton and
secure a few good customers for rough turned last blocks. In 1886 he induced his
brother, Walter S., to go in with him and, renting a ten-horse power engine and
boiler, the two brothers formed a company known as Williams Brothers and started
a factory. The factory was a small one and the two brothers did all the manual
labor connected with the manufacture, George F. acting as engineer and buying
the stock, while Walter S. did the turning. They continued to devote their
undivided attention to their business and were at length rewarded by a
substantial and gratifying increase in their business, which compelled them to
employ others to do the work. At one time they also operated a saw-mill in
conjunction with the last block factory. The business continued to grow rapidly
and in 1897 had reached such proportions that it was deemed advisable to
incorporate a stock company, which was done under the name of the Williams
Brothers Company, with a capital stock of thirty-seven thousand dollars. George
F. Williams was principal stockholder and was chosen secretary, treasurer and
manager, the other stockholders being Walter S. and Albert E. Williams, brothers
of the subject, and William A. Hall, a nephew. In 1894 Mr. Williams was married to Miss Eliza Gaunt, of Manton, a daughter of Austin and Mary (Johnson) Gaunt, and born June 2, 1866. By his courteous manners, genial disposition and genuine worth Mr. Williams has won a warm place in the hearts of all who know him and he and his wife are the center of a large circle of warm and loyal friends. |