My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE A. HULBERT, of Marathon, has, in his life-time, covered a wide range of experience, and has known much of men and affairs in many fields of progress. He has been directly and indirectly connected with several lines of business, which have called forth the most earnest effort and steady industry. In every one of these interests which have claimed his time and attention, he has manifested the qualities that lead but to victory. At the present writing he is enjoying the results of his own thrift and the rewards of a life well and usefully directed.

Mr. Hulbert was born in the village of Truxton, Cortland County, September 27, 1833, and is a grandson of Timothy Hulbert, who was born at Pittsfield, Mass., August 12, 1758, and who lived out a life of usefulness engaged in farming, dying at his home in Pittsfield at a good old age.

A son of the preceding, and father of the subject of this sketch, was Timothy Hulbert, Jr. He came into life at Pittsfield, October 2, 1789, and was reared in that beautiful eastern home. He came into Central New York about the year 1810, settled in Truxton, and there resided until his death, May 20, 1848. Timothy Hulbert was by trade a carpenter and joiner. In that line he did a wonderful amount of business, and much of his handiwork stands to-day a monument to his careful workmanship and honest efforts. Prospering in his trade, he became the owner of a fine large farm, and attained prominence and high standing in his chosen section of country. His political affiliations were with the Democratic party, of which he was a very ardent supporter. He represented his town for years on the board of supervisors, and was at one time a leading candidate for the nomination of Member of Assembly, his outspoken honesty of purpose alone preventing his selection. During his active years he organized a military company, of which he was made captain. His commission, dated April 8, 1822, was signed by Governor DeWitt Clinton, and his company was assigned to the 124th Regiment, State Militia. In the Methodist denomination he was a moving spirit, being a trustee of the local church. Mr. Hulbert was married when a young man to Mehitable Minor, and to them a family of eight children came, namely: Emily Eliza, born March 24, 1818; William, December 26, 1819; Paulina, March 9, 1822; LaFayette, June 29, 1824; Jerome, February 23, 1829; George A., our subject, September 27, 1833; Marvin M., November 7, 1835; and Edwin Murray, January 2, 1838.

George A. Hulbert attended the local schools, and entered Cortlandville Academy in 1851 with a view of preparing for Yale University. For various reasons, each of considerable weight, his plans were modified, and, upon leaving the academy, he began the study of law in the office of Judge Daniel Hawks, the county judge and surrogate of Cortland County. He afterwards went into the office of H. and A. L. Ballard to prosecute his legal studies, and then read law with Judge Charles Mason at Hamilton, Madison County, N. Y. Advanced studies took him to Ballston Spa, Saratoga County, where he entered the Law School and pursued the course for one year. He then completed his professional education at the Albany Law School, and was formally admitted to the bar in 1854.

Mr. Hulbert located first in Hornellsville, Steuben County, and opened a law office. After fourteen months spent in that city, he removed to Chicago, Ill., where he entered the office of John H. Kedzie, and remained with him about a year. Then he returned to the East, and began a mercantile business in Onondaga County. In 1864 Mr. Hulbert came to Marathon, and, with his brothers, went into a wholesale produce business under the style of William Hulbert & Brothers, with headquarters in New York City. Their business prospered beyond their fondest expectations, and they found themselves the proprietors of the most extensive butter and cheese business of that busy metropolis. Associated with his brothers, William and Jerome, now deceased, for thirty-two years, he purchased from the farmers and marketed products which footed all the way from three hundred to five hundred thousand dollars annually. At his brother Jerome’s death, he abandoned the produce business and returned to the practice of law. Now a man of ready means, he erected the Hulbert Block on the corner of Main and Broome streets. It was built in 1887, and is a four-story brick building of fine architectural appearance, and heavily constructed throughout. The ground floor is devoted to stores, and contains three spacious ones. The second floor is used for office and residence purposes, while the third is given over to a splendid auditorium, fitted up with a stage and other theatrical and operatic appliances. The block fronts sixty-five feet, with a depth of fifty-five feet, and is on the most prominent corner of the village.

Politically, Mr. Hulbert is a Democrat of the Stephen A. Douglas stamp. He was through the Civil War a strong Unionist, and a believer in the rights of freedom for all mankind. He votes from principle, and permits no man to advise him against what he believes to be right. He has never sought office, but yet has been supervisor of the town, and has served as justice of the peace for twenty-three years. He is also a notary public, with seal. His wife was Mary S. Smith, daughter of Richard and Mary W. (Hinkley) Smith. Richard Smith was a native of New Bedford, Mass., and was in his day a well-known sea-captain. Mr. Hulbert is in every respect a man of force and influence. He has a fund of experience to draw upon that is of a superior order. His judgment and foresight have been brought to a keen edge from contact with the shrewdest kind of business men. A man of affairs, he takes a broad and liberal view of all things, and in the busy and jostling world he has proven his capacity to live and thrive with the best of them. As a prominent man in his profession, and as a representative citizen of Cortland County, we present, on a preceding page, Mr. Hulbert’s portrait, executed from a recent photograph.*

*An engraving was included in the original printed volume.