The subject of this sketch, George S. Moulton, was the son of Harvey Moulton and Anna M. Turner, who were married October 29th, 1828. He was born in the town of Mansfield, Tolland county, Conn., on the 13th of September, 1829, and was the eldest of six children. He received a thorough elementary education, and in youth spent several years on a farm. Being, however, ambitious for a wider field of activity than was open to him in the country, he went to Willimantic and entered the Windham Company’s stores, of which (after a few years of service) he became proprietor. In 1853 he married Caroline F., daughter of John S. Hazen of Worthington, Mass.Their three children are: Cora L., now the wife of A. L. Hatheway, Georgianna and Everett Huntington. In the infancy of the Willimantic Linen Company he removed to New York as agent for the sale of their thread. In conjunction with this business he dealt largely in commercial paper and was also interested in other enterprises in that city which, aided by his superior judgment and executive ability, were eminently successful.
In 1869 he was compelled by failing health to abandon active business and retire to his country home at Windham, near the scene of his birth and his earliest experiences in commercial life. A Republican in politics, he was above subterfuges and in all things honest and honorable. He represented the town of Windham in the Connecticut house of representatives in 1871 and again in 1877, and in 1878 was elected to the senate from the 13th Senatorial district, filling both positions with ability. In 1876 he was the nominee of his party for presidential elector.
Mr. Moulton was for several years a director of the Willimantic Linen Company, and .a prominent factor in its development ,and growth. He was also a director of the National Shoe and Leather Bank of New York, of the New York & New England and the Boston & New York Air Line railroads and the Willimantic Savings Institute, and at one time president of the Willimantic Trust Company. He enjoyed the reputation of being an able financier, whose superior tact enabled him to avoid or easily overcome reverses of fortune. Mr. Moulton was held in high esteem, not only by his personal friends but by a large circle of acquaintances. The affectionate regard he inspired in the hearts of all who knew him can best be indicated by a quotation from the editorial columns of a leading journal on the occasion of his death (which occurred on the 8th of June, 1882)
“The man whose life has been a constant bloom, imparting its fragrance to -the sense of all, suddenly blighted from earth leaves a vacancy which cannot be filled: but there remains that sweet perfume of a life well spent. It is with sorrow we are called upon to record the end of a life so honored and honorable as that of George S. Moulton. Few men live whose obituary when truthfully written will contain little else but praise, but the pages of this man’s history are radiant with noble deeds and marred with blemishes few indeed.”