George Edwin Hull is widely known in connection with the automobile trade, having the agency at Guilford for the Dodge and Chalmers cars, in connection with which he conducts an extensive garage. He was born in Guilford, August 15, 1851, but his interests have never been of a purely local nature, for he has seen much of the country and gained that broad knowledge and experience which travel brings. His parents were Henry and Lydia Lindsley (Bishop) Hull. The father was born in Killingworth, Middlesex county, Connecticut, and as a young man removed to  Guilford, where he secured work with Philo Bishop as seed gardener. Later he engaged in farming on his own account in Guilford and spent his remaining days here. His wife was born, lived and died in Guilford and both were representatives of old Connecticut families. They became parents of five children, one of whom, Samuel Hull, enlisted from Guilford for service in the Civil war as a member of the Fifth Connecticut Heavy Artillery. He was severely wounded and returned to Guilford, where he died from the effects of his injuries, and his name is carved on the Soldiers’ monument on the Green in Guilford.

     George Edwin Hull acquired his education in the schools of Guilford and worked upon the home farm to the age of seventeen years, when he decided to abandon agricultural pursuits and engage in some other line of activity. He secured a clerkship in a store in Guilford and afterward became a clerk in the Bee Hive, one of the commercial establishments of Hartford, Connecticut. Later he went to Chicago, where for three years he was employed in the establishment of Marshall Field. He afterward engaged in business on his own account, opening a clothing and men’s furnishing goods store in Chicago, where he conducted business for twenty-two years and then sold at a good profit. It was at that time that he heard and heeded the call of the west, removing to Whittier, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, hoping thereby to benefit his wife’s health. His father-in-law was one of the original settlers of Whittier, which is a Quaker settlement. Mr. Hull there resided for eleven years, during which time he became interested in orange growing and was one of the eight men who organized the first citrous[cq] fruit growers’ exchange, which was originally known as the Southern California Fruit Exchange, which developed into the present California Fruit Growers’ Exchange of Los Angeles. He served for four years as the vice president of the original exchange and was one of its directors, taking a most active and helpful part in bringing about a desired condition among the fruit growers whereby they were rid of the extortions of the commission men, who deprived the growers of their profits. He organized a systematic bookkeeping and collection department and traveled all over the United States in connection with the business.

     In Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Hull was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Pickering, who was born in Iowa but reared in Chicago and died in Whittier, California. They became the parents of four children: Aquilla Henry, who is with the Guilford Trust Company; Herbert Pickering and Sherman Bishop, who are partners of their father in the garage; and Ruth Elizabeth. All were born in Chicago, and in 1905 Mr. Hull with his four children returned to Guilford, where he purchased a corner lot on the Boston post road in the town of Guilford and built a modern auto garage, organizing the firm of S. B. Hull & Company, his partners being his two sons. His garage has become known all over the state for the quality of auto repair work and service there rendered. Residents of Bridgeport and other distant towns send their cars to him for repairs because of the excellent reputation of the establishment, which always turns out the highest class of work. Their patronage has become so extensive that their work is more than eight skilled machinists can do. The garage is equipped for all kinds of machine work, vulcanizing and charging batteries, and a full line of automobile accessories is carried. The firm are agents for the Dodge Brothers and Chalmers cars and maintain a service station for the Hupp and Studebaker cars. Mr. Hull is possessed of marked ability as an executive and manager, being a man of broad experience. He knows what the people want and gives it to them and by his splendid service he has built up an extensive business. His sons are expert machinists and the Hull garage is today known throughout the state.

     In religious faith Mr. Hull is a Baptist and his aid and influence are always given on the side of progress and improvement. After broad experience in various fields and in connection with many lines of business Mr. Hull returned to Guilford, his native city, where he is now recognized as a most prominent business man. Alert and energetic, he seems ready for any emergency or for any opportunity. Life has been to him purposeful and his activities have been most resultant.