George A. Pauly has made steady progress in every field of activity into which,, he has directed his labors and has become well known in commercial, professional and financial circles. He now resides in St. Louis, his native city, his birth having here occurred May 30, 1881, his parents being Gerhard A. and Lina (Heckmann) Pauly, both of whom were natives of Germany but came to America when about ten years of age. They were married in St. Louis in 1878 and here reared their family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, of whom George A. Pauly is the eldest son and second child. The father is still living, but the mother passed away in 1918. The father became, in 1888, the founder of the G. A. Pauly Hardware Company, which now operates several stores, having become one of the extensive firms conducting business of this kind in Missouri. Mr. Pauly, Sr., is prominently known to the trade and was president of the State Hardware Dealers Association and also treasurer of the National Hardware Dealers Association.
Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, George A. Pauly of this review attended the Divoll school of St. Louis, also the Central high school and later became a student in the Benton Collegeof Law and in the St. Louis University Institute of Law. He started out in the business world as a clerk in the employ of the G. A. Pauly Hardware Company and afterward was elected to the vice presidency. That he possesses marked attributes of leadership is indicated in the fact that he was chosen for the presidency of his class in the Benton College of Law and was vice president of his class in the St. Louis Institute of Law. Moreover, he became one of the promoters and the vice president of the Hodiamont Bank, of which he was elected president in 1913, having at that time the honor and distinction of being the youngest bank president in the State of Missouri. He is also very successful in real estate operations, having the faculty of anticipating increase in values.
On the 15th of January, 1920. in St. Louis, Mr. Paulo was married to Miss Georgia Richards, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John E. Richards, of Troy, Missouri. They have one son, George A., born February 16, 1921. Mrs. Pauly is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She is a descendant of Malcom Henry, Sr., one of the signers of Missouri’s first constitution, his name being placed upon the bronze tablet erected by the United States Daughters of 1812 at the Jefferson Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri, in memory of the famous pioneers of the state. She is also a descendant of Captain Thomas Carter, of English origin, who settled at Barford, Lancaster county, Virginia, at an early date and whose genealogy has been compiled by Dr. Joseph Lyon Miller of that state.
Mr. Pauly was formerly a member of Battery A of the Light Artillery of the National Guard of Missouri. Has political endorsement is given to the republican party and fraternally he is connected with Rose Hill Lodge, No. 550, A. F. & A. M.; St. Louis Chapter, No. 8, R. A. M.; St. Aldemar Commandery, No. 18, K. T.; Missouri Consistory, and Moolah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is also a member of the Sunset Hill Country Club and attends the Christian Science church.