George George

Fellow Minnesota traveler of the Ingalls family in 1874, when both were heading west towards New Ulm.

“Beer gardens do a lively business…” – New Ulm Review, January 9, 1878.

     
In her handwritten Pioneer Girl memoir, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote that in 1874, when the Ingallses were east of New Ulm, Minnesota, heading west, they traveled for several days in the company of a man named George George, and his little dog, who “rode all day on the wagon seat with him.” When they were near New Ulm, Mr. George stopped at a beer garden and bought a pail of beer. Both Mary and Laura must have been offered a sip, because Wilder wrote that neither like it even though it was foamy and looked “cool and good,” because it was bitter. As an adult, however, Wilder was known to enjoy a beer now and then.

It has been suggested that the wagons must have stopped at the well-known August Schell brewery in New Ulm, but there’s no way to know for sure. There were small breweries and beer gardens in many towns in the area and in Nicollet County to the east. There’s also no way to know for sure who Mr. George was, but there’s one likely candidate: George George, who – at the time – lived near the now-defunct Dodge City Post Office in Merton Township in northeast Steele County, Minnesota. His farm was between where the Ingallses had parted ways with Peter & Eliza Ingalls and family in Wabasha County, and New Ulm. The distance between Merton and New Ulm “as the crow flies” is about 80 miles. Mr. George may have been on a business or pleasure trip, or he may have been on his way to see what claims were available at the New Ulm land office, as was Charles Ingalls.

August Schell Brewery, New Ulm, Minnesota

George George was born February 1, 1824, in Tenterden, Kent, England, to Richard & Charlotte George. By the early 1850s he was married to Sophia Angell and living in Ontario, Canada, where they had three daughters: Charlotte (1852), Sarah (1856), and Mary Ann (1859). Around 1862, the family moved to a farm in Merton Township, Steele County, Minnesota (the SW-NW & NW-SW 10-108N-19W), where daughter Elizabeth was born in 1865, and Alice in 1871. As a father of five daughters himself, Mr. George would have been at east interacting with young Mary, Laura, and Carrie Ingalls.

George George filed on a tree claim in Lyon County near Marshall in 1875, later converting it to a homestead when the first filing proved invalid, and he spent the rest of his life in Lyon County. The claim was the SE 24-111N-43W in Island Lake Township, about 8 miles southeast of Marshall. Mr. George was elected as a Supervisor of Island Lake Township in 1881, and he made final proof in March 1884. A farmer, Mr. George often was awarded prizes at the county fair for his cattle and horses. He purchased multiple town properties in Marshall, including a lumber yard lot and a home on the Cottonwood River. George & Sophia George and daughter Alice moved to Marshall permanently in the the spring of 1892.

George George died Wednesday, October 21, 1896, in Marshall. The following obituary appeared in the Lyon County News Messenger on October 23rd:

Died Without Warning. “In the midst of life we are in death” was never better illustrated than on Wednesday evening, when a large number of people had gathered in front of Chittenden’s hall and the adjacent stores, and were listening to the playing of the band before going to the hall to listen to Hon. Cyrus Wellington discuss political issues, and as the band finished and the people crowded up stairs, but very few knew that the life of a fellow citizen had flown from the body. Uncle George George, an old and well known resident of Marshall, was standing with others in front of Bonnallie & Tyler’s store, discussing politics with those of opposite faith, when suddenly and without warning he sank to his knees and fell over onto the sidewalk. Within a very few moments he was lifted into a carriage standing nearby, and taken home, but the old gentleman was probably dead before he was lifted into the carriage. He was stricken while speaking, and uttered no word or exclamation, and though engaged in political conversation, he did not appear unusually excited, though always positive in his arguments upon political questions. Mr. George has been a familiar figure in Marshall for several years, and his pleasing peculiarities, and jovial greetings will be missed. He was born near Cromwell, England, and came to Wisconsin in 1862 and to Minnesota, Island Lake Township, this county, in 1875. For the past four years he has resided in Marshall. He was 72 years old, and is survived by his wife, who was Sophia Angell, and five daughters, Mrs. Jeffrey, of Medford, Minn., Mrs. Wunderlich and Mrs. E.H. Barnes, of Island Lake, Mrs. W.W. Russell, of Marshall, and an unmarried daughter, Alice. The funeral services were held this afternoon, at 2 o’clock, at the Methodist church, of which the deceased was a devoted member, conducted by Rev. J.A. Sutton, the pastor.

Sophia (Angell) George was born January 30, 1832, in Lambourn, Berkshire, England, to William & Elizabeth Angell. Sophia died November 20, 1905, in Lynd (Lyon County). Her obituary reads:

Mrs. Sophia George, widow of the late George George, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. S. Wunderlich, in Lynd, November 20th, aged 78 years. She has been in failing health for a long time. Five daughters survive her, Mrs. C. Jeffrey of Medford, Mrs. Wunderlich of Lynd, Mrs. E.H. Barnes of Lynd, Mrs. W. Russell and Mrs. A. Hawes of Marshall.

George and Sophia George are buried in the Marshall Cemetery. The death year on Mr. George’s headstone is incorrect.

     

George George (PG)