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.
1106
GEORGE
FARLEY. From the study of the life
history of the honored subject of this review one may learn many valuable
lessons. The spirit of self-respect
and self-help is the source of all genuine worth in the individual, and is the
means of bringing success to a man who has been denied the advantages of wealth
and fortuitous influence. This
spirit as exemplified illustrates in no uncertain manner what it is possible to
accomplish when perseverance and determination form the keynote to a man’s
life record. Depending upon his own
resources from his boyhood days, looking for no extraneous aid or support, Mr.
Farley has risen through his own efforts to a position as one of the
representative business men and honored citizens of Putnam, Windham county, and
it is but consistent that he accorded consideration in a work of this kind.
It is left to specific biography to perpetuate the record of those
law-abiding citizens who in the midst of the active affairs of this work-a-day
world stand forth in integrity of purpose, loyalty to the institutions of the
land, and in that enterprise and industry which make for the well-being of their
respective communities. Of this
class is the subject of this brief sketch, to whose personal career we now
direct attention, his ancestral history having been adequately outlined in the
foregoing article, which has to do with the life history of his brother, Simon
Farley, who is likewise a representative citizen of Putnam.
George
Farley is a native of the parish of St. Norbert, County of Berthier, Province of
Quebec, Canada, a distinctively French section of the Dominion, and one in which
the French language is commonly used, so that our subject was unfamiliar with
the English at the time when he came to the United States, on which score he had
an added burden placed upon him in acquiring the prevailing vernacular while
laboring assiduously to make his way toward the goal of material success and
prosperity. That he proved equal to
meeting all exigencies is shown in the position which he holds to-day.
He was born Feb. 18, 1850, and his early educational discipline was
confined to about two years’ attendance in the parochial schools of his native
county, while as a boy he contributed his quota to the work of the homestead
farm. In the autumn of 1859, before
he was ten years of age, Mr. Farley left the parental home and went to St.
Culbert, Canada, where he entered upon a four years’ apprenticeship at the
shoemaker’s trade. After
completing his term of apprenticeship and becoming an expert and discriminating
workman at his trade, he went to the town of Sorel, Quebec, where he was
employed for a period of six months, at the expiration of which he proceeded to
the town of Joliet, in the same Province, where he entered the employ of the
firm of Michaux & Gilbeault, for whom he worked as a journeyman for about
six months. He then, in the spring
of 1866, left Canada and came to the United States, first locating in Webster,
Mass., where he worked at his trade for a fortnight, and then came to Putnam,
Conn., where he made his advent June 15, 1866.
He entered the employ of the firm of Corbin & Tourtellotte as a
contracting shoemaker, and under these conditions he continued operations for a
period of six years, within which time he had not only acquired valuable
business experience, but had also, through association and personal application,
become familiar with the English language, and otherwise supplemented his
somewhat limited education. At the
expiration of the period noted Mr. Farley accepted a clerical position in the
shoe store of Leonard Brothers, of Putnam, with whom he remained for nine
months, when he resigned to enter upon an independent business career whose
outcome was to be a definite and worthy success.
He opened a grocery store on the site of his present establishment,
beginning operations on a modest scale, but conducting his affairs with such
distinctive discrimination, enterprise and fairness that the business steadily
expanded in scope and importance. He
began business March 21, 1873, and Dec. 23, 1885, to his now large and well
equipped establishment, he added a complete stock of drugs, and this department
of his business enterprise has been pushed forward to a point of tantamount
success, while in March, 1899, Mr. Farley still further extended the field of
his business operations by adding a stock of shoes and men’s furnishings
goods, dry goods, etc., so that he has now a well equipped department store, and
one which caters to a large and discriminating patronage, the establishment
representing one of the leading mercantile enterprises in the county.
He is known as one of the progressive and successful business men of this
section of the State, and as a citizen whose life has been dominated by high
principles and a determination to achieve a success worthy of the name, so that
he has not been denied the fullest measure of confidence and esteem.
Mr.
Farley has ever shown a deep interest in all that tends to conserve the progress
and general prosperity of the community, and his influence has ever been cast in
favor of all worthy enterprises. His
political proclivities are shown in the unwavering support which he accords to
the principles and policies of the Democratic party, and he has served in
various offices of local trust and responsibility, his tenure of the same
indicating the confidence and respect in which he is held in the community.
He has thus served as a member of the board of review and as assessor,
while at the time of the incorporation of Putnam under a city charter, in 1897,
he was elected as the first representative of the Third ward on the board of
aldermen, in which capacity his fidelity and earnest efforts in the promotion of
municipal interests have caused his successive re-election, so that he has
continuously held the office to the present time.
His religious faith is that of the Catholic church, in which he was
reared, and he is identified with various fraternal and social organizations in
his home city. That he has been the
architect of his own fortunes is shown unmistakably when we revert to the fact
that when he left Canada to become a resident of the United States his entire
capitalistic reinforcement was represented in the sum of fifteen dollars.
Energy, determination, consecutive application and inflexible integrity
of purpose have, however, proved adequate in enabling him to surmount obstacles
and to win a position of independence and prosperity, together with the
confidence and good will of all with whom he has come in contact in the various
relations of life.
On
Oct. 14, 1867, Mr. Farley was united in marriage to Miss Maria Bibeau, daughter
of Antoine and Marie Louise (Anger) Bibeau, of Putnam, and of the children of
this union we enter the following record: Marie
Louise, died at the age of six months. Georgiana
is the wife of Frank Foisy. George
William, was born in Putnam, where he is now successfully engaged in the bakery
business, and where was solemnized his marriage to Donalda, daughter of P.M.
Leclair; they have two children: Mabel
and Henry. Delphine, who was born in
Putnam, is the wife of G. Le Maitre, of that town.
Alexina and Armand are at the parental home.
Reproduced by:
Linda
D. Pingel – great-great granddaughter of Cyrus White of Rockville, Ct.
This page was created by Linda Pingel on
April 7, 2008
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