GEORGE M. WARRICK, senior member of the firm of George M. Warrick & Sons, dealers in general groceries, Washington, is a native of the county, born in Amwell township February 28, 1831. His grandfather moved, in 1795, from New Jersey to Beaver county, Penn., where he died. Jonathan T. Warrick, father of George M., was ten years old when he first came to Washington county, and seventeen when he finally returned to it, after a residence for a time in Beaver county. In this county he taught school until he was twenty-six years old, when he commenced carpentering and cabinet making, but finally abandoned those trades for farming, first in Amwell township till 1835, afterward in East Finley township, where he died in 1846, at the age of sixty-two years. He was a surveyor in the county. About the year 1820 he was married to Miss Mary Slack, a native of Washington county, whose parents were of English descent, and came here from New Jersey. To Mr. and Mrs. Warrick were born nine children, as follows: Sarah, wife of Jackson Harshman, in South Strabane township; James, married to a Miss Wilson, died in Davenport, Iowa, at the age of sixty-six years; Matilda, an invalid from the age of eighteen years, died in 1890; Mary, deceased wife of George Ely (one of her sons, Dr. Ely, lives in Washington, Penn. ); Charlotte, wife of Elijah Coulson, of Buffalo township; William W., married in 1855 to a Miss Wylie, who died in 1891 (he was a contractor for ten years in company with his brother George M., later went into the grocery business with him, but in 1873 he withdrew from the firm; he now resides in Washington); George M. is the subject of this sketch; Elizabeth is the wife of W. K. Long, of Washington, and Hannah C. is living in Washington. The mother of this family passed from earth in 1847, in East Finley township.
George M. Warrick was educated in the schools of his native township, and worked on his father's farm until sixteen years of age, when, his parents being now dead, he came to Washington, and passed one summer on a farm adjoining the town. He then commenced learning the trade of carpenter, and two years later began the business for his own account. When about twenty years of age he went to Chicago, then a growing city of 30,000 inhabitants. Returning to Washington, he for some years followed contracting, after which, in 1858, he embarked in mercantile business at his present stand, forming a partnership with his brother William W., the style of the firm being G. M. & W. W. Warrick. About 1866 they bought the Washington flouring mills, in partnership with John M. Wilson, carrying on both it and the grocery business. Some seven years later William W. Warrick retired from both concerns, and our subject and Wilson continued together till 1887, when they sold out the mill to Zelt Bros, Wilson also retiring from the grocery. Mr. Warrick then associated his two sons with him in the grocery business, in which they still continue.
In 1855 Mr. Warrick was united in marriage with Miss Mary Wilson, of Taylorstown, daughter of William Wilson, and five children have been born to them, viz.: Matilda Belle, wife of Rev. McCarroll, a Presbyterian minister at Waynesboro, Penn.; William J., married to Anna Polen, and then removed to Plattsmouth, Neb., where he carried on a drug business seven years, then sold, returned to Washington, and is now with his father in the store; John W., with his father; Rachel and Jennie, both at home with their parents. Mr. Warrick has been a member of the M. E. Church since eighteen years of age. When he united with the First M. E. Church of Washington there were 300 members. Politically he was a Democrat up to the Buchanan election, when he enlisted in the Republican ranks. Our subject is a typical self-made man, having had nothing but his own efforts, industry and enterprise to aid him, and when he went into business he possessed but a few hundred dollars. He never speculated, and never incurred a debt that he could not pay inside of six days.
Text taken from page 275 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed June 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project.
Published June 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]