A Brief Biography of Eugene George
by Jill Davidson
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A brief biography of Eugene George by Jill Davidson, based on documents found on Ancestry.com and records of the Bible Fellowship Church.
Eugene George was born on 2 August 1899 in Effort, Monroe County, Pennsylvania to Emanuel and Lydiann (Zacharias) George. He was the youngest of ten children born to that couple. Eugene’s father was a farmer; Eugene probably helped out on the farm. Sadly, in 1914 when Eugene was a young teen, his mother died. Sometime in the next few years his father married again. In the 1920 census his father appears in Chestnuthill, Monroe County with his second wife with no children in the household. I have not found Eugene in the 1920 census.
On 12 September 1918 Eugene registered for the draft. It seems he did not serve in the military; no other documents appear on ancestry.com that would indicate that. He was working as a silk weaver at the Monroe Silk Company in Stroudsburg. At that time (and still true in 2023), the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church (now called the Bible Fellowship Church) had a congregation there. That is probably how Eugene heard about the Gospel Herald Society in which he served as a minister for a time.
The 1930 census shows Eugene living in Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania at 721 West 7th Street with his assistant in the ministry Clyde Bonnet. Eugene’s occupation is listed as minister in the Gospel Herald Society. As a matter of interest, they had a radio (this was one of the questions on the 1930 census).
On 19 June 1936 Eugene married Catharine Kramer, the daughter of George and Emma (Brubaker) Kramer. Catharine was living in Harrisburg at the time and Eugene was living in Richardson Park, Delaware. Their marriage license is filed in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania but they were married in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, by Rev. W. G. Gehman, the head of the Gospel Herald Society. Eugene appears in 1937 and 1938 photos of the Gospel Herald Society, so he was still ministering in that capacity after marrying.
In the 1940 Wilmington, Delaware city directory, Eugene is listed as the pastor of the Gospel Herald Church. However, between the time of the information being submitted for the directory and the 1940 federal census being taken, Eugene left the ministry to work as a salesman for a tea company. By 1950 he is working as a salesman for a retail house cleaner. His obituary states that he was a salesman for Electrolux Vacuum cleaner for 30 years by the time he retired in 1976, meaning he began that career in 1946. Also as a matter of interest, the 1940 census indicates that Eugene had 8 years of formal education and Catharine had 4 years of high school.
Eugene died on 15 April 1984 in Wilmington, Delaware. In his obituary he is credited with starting the Wallingford Bible Fellowship Church in 1926. This church was originally located in Chester, Pennsylvania and later moved to Wallingford. The family suggested instead of sending them flowers, that donations be made to the Wallingford Church.
Eugene’s remains are buried in the Towamensing Cemetery in Palmerton, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Catharine died in 1990 and is buried next to him. They had two children: a son, Eugene, and a daughter Shirley Ann.
More Resources:
Brother George – recollections from Richard Taylor