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Windham County Connecticut
CTGenweb Project
WINDHAM COUNTY RECORDS |
GEORGE M. PAULK BIOGRAPHY AS RECORDED IN: COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES CONNECTICUT. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES. PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 860 GEORGE M. PAULK (deceased), one of the most esteemed residents of Rockville, Tolland Co., Conn., was one of the pioneer citizens who watched the wonderful but healthy growth of that place, and materially contributed to its advancement. Mr. Paulk was identified with the leading business interests of Rockville as president of the People's Savings Bank for his last twenty-five years, a director in the First National Bank, and as president of the Rockville Hotel Co., which was incorporated in 1901 with a capital of $40,000. John Paulk, the great-grandfather of George M. Paulk, was an early settler in Tolland county, and there married Kesiah Benton, Dec. 22, 1736. Their children were: Dinah, John, Lydia, Kesiah, Puhamah, David, Ephraim, Amri, and Jemima. The father of George M. Paulk, Eliakim by name, was a son of Ephraim, of the above family, born in December, 1787. In 1816 he married Sally Craw, the children of this union being: (1) Laura, born in 1818, married Charles Curtiss, of Meriden, later a Mr. Dresser, lived in Meriden until 1853, returned then to Tolland, dying in Troy, N.Y., leaving one son, George A. (2) George M. (3) Julius, deceased. (4) James, born in 1825, resides in Chicago. (5) Sarah, born in 1827, deceased. (6) Julius A., born in 1828, lived a time in California, but returned to Connecticut and died in Tolland county. (7) Edwin. The death of George M. Paulk's father occurred in 1865. He was one of the pioneers in the business of framing by squaring, instead of fitting together, as was the old custom, and built frames for many of the factories put up in Rockville in his day. In politics he was formerly a Whig, later a Republican, and held many of the town offices. The mother of George M. Paulk, Sally (Craw) Paulk, was a native of East Windsor, Conn., and she with three sisters remained in the old home when the rest of the family removed to New Connecticut, as northern Ohio was then called. Her death occurred in her sixty-sixth year and with her husband she was laid to rest in the old South cemetery. Our immediate subject, the well-known
George M. Paulk, was born Feb. 8, 1820, in the old Paulk homestead,
in the town of Tolland, where his In early days Mr. Paulk was a Whig, but later identified himself with the Republican party and in 1869 was elected sheriff of Tolland county, being re-elected in 1872 and again in 1875. For five years previously he had acted as deputy-sheriff under Col. Amos Pease, of Somers, Conn., and also held various town offices, being selectman for a number of terms. On Jan. 5, 1848, Mr. Paulk married Miss Abby Smith, of Ellington, a daughter of Chester and Betsey (Holton) Smith, who was connected by intermarriages with the Holton and Walcott families, old and prominent people of Ellington. No children came to this home to perpetuate an honored parentage, but Mr. And Mrs. Paulk had a life of peace and happiness together for fifty-four years. In 1863 Mr. Paulk built his elegant home on Prospect street where he resided until his death, July 29, 1902. When a Lodge of the I.O.O.F. was started in Rockville, Mr. Paulk joined it, but later it was abandoned. When the Rockville Hotel was not a very attractive hostelry, Mr. Paulk was one of a quartet and the prime mover in the project, to provide a creditable place of entertainment, from which enterprise has arisen the Rockville Hotel Company. Although nominally retired from business Mr. Paulk's temperament would not permit him to break all business connection, and he continued for many years to give his personal attention to large property interests. Identified for over sixty years with the business life of Rockville, Mr. Paulk's name stands before the public as a synonym for probity and uprightness. Reproduced by:
Linda D. Pingel - great-great granddaughter of Cyrus White of Rockville, Ct. |
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