The Munger family has been represented in the town of Madison since 1630, the ancestral line being traced back to Nicholas Munger, who came to America when about sixteen years of age. He located in Guilford, where he spent his remaining days, dying in 1668. On the 2d of June, 1639, he married Sarah Hall and they had two children, the elder being John Munger, who was born in Guilford, April 26, 1660, and there passed away November 3, 1732. He wedded Mary Evarts on the 8th of June, 1684. She was born May 1, 1664, and passed away in June, 1734. Their family numbered nine children, including Ebenezer, who was the fifth in order of birth. His natal day was July 4, 1693, and in Guilford he married Anne Scranton, who was born December 27, 1693, and died April 20, 1725. On the 6th of July, 1726, Ebenezer Munger wedded Susanna Hubbard and his death occurred June 29, 1729. He had a family of five children, the youngest being Simeon Munger, who resided in Madison, and on the 3d of July, 1751, married Sarah Scranton, who was born January 23, 1733, and died December 15, 1815, having for only a few months survived her husband, whose death occurred on the 16th of March of the same year. The second of their five children was Josiah Munger, who was born October 16, 1754, in East Guilford and followed farming as a life work in that locality. He served as a private in the Revolutionary war and departed this life on August 14, 1838. His first wife was Anne Lee and his second wife, Hanna Coe, who died January 14, 1837.

  The line of descent comes on down through George Munger, who was born February 17, 1781. He was an artist and also engaged in school-teaching. He passed away in New Haven, June 2, 1825. His wife bore the maiden name of Parnel Kelsey and was born June 21, 1781, while her death occurred October 25, 1860. They were married December 23, 1802, and their first child was George Nicholas Munger, who was born in Madison, September 23, 1803, and spent the greater part of his life in New Haven, where his death occurred August 7, 1882. His life was largely devoted to the manufacture of mathematical instruments for college use. He was married January 2, 1825, to Amy Merwin and his second wife was Mary Merwin. Of his six children George Munger, father of George B. Munger, was the second. He was born in New Haven, November 27, 1827, and on his twenty-first birthday entered into partnership with Samuel C. Chittenden as a member of the firm of Chittenden & Munger for the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds at East River, Connecticut, and continued active in that field of labor for ten years. He then formed a partnership with J. E. P. Dean under the firm style of Dean & Munger. They engaged in the manufacture of slates, globes and school equipment in New Haven and this business was continued until 1865, when the firm dissolved and Mr. Munger became a partner of J. W. Schermerhorn under the firm style of J. M. [cq, not J.W.] Schermerhorn & Company, with offices in New York city. They established a factory in Guilford, Connecticut, for the manufacture of school furniture. This business was very successful for many years, but Mr. Schermerhorn became involved in some outside financial transactions which caused him heavy losses and which eventually embarrassed the firm, so that they retired from business in 1876. Mr. Munger, in March, 1877, built a factory in East River, Connecticut, for the manufacture of a general line of school supplies, including school desks, furniture, etc., and afterward admitted his son, George B., to a partnership under the firm style of Munger & Son. They developed a large factory and secured an extensive business, in which the father continued actively until his death, which occurred April 7, 1903. At the time of his death he was the oldest man in his line of manufacture in the United States. He was the originator of the dovetail method of putting iron and wood together that is now universally used in the manufacture of school furniture. He was also the inventor and patentee of the veneer strawberry basket now in common use. He was also one of the original incorporators of the Guilford Savings Bank and a very prominent and influential business man of the city. Keenly interested in the cause of education, he served for many years on the school board of the town of Madison and at various times was its chairman and its secretary. He was a very liberal man, contributing to all worthy causes and doing many charitable acts, constantly extending a helping hand to the poor and needy. His benevolence, however, was of the most unostentatious character, for he strictly followed the Biblical mandate not to let the left hand know what the right hand doeth. He was a constant attendant of the Congregational church and was one of its liberal supporters. He married Cornelia Lois Jacobs, of New Haven, on the 28th of November, 1850, and she passed away at East River, February 27, 1905. They were the parents of two children: Emma L., who is the widow of William T. Foote, of Guilford, and who was born at East River, April 5, 1852; and George Badger, of this review, who was born in East River, May 18, 1854.

  After acquiring his preliminary education in the public schools of East River, Connecticut, George B. Munger continued his studies in Lee’s Academy at Madison and in a preparatory school at New Haven and in 1876 became a partner of his father in the manufacture of school furniture at East River, at which time the firm style of Munger & Son was assumed. The association was maintained until the father’s death and George B. Munger then continued the business alone from 1903 until 1908, when he sold out to George M. Weld, who is still operating the plant. Since 1908 Mr. Munger has given his attention to his real estate investments and the management of his individual interests. In addition to owning a farm and town properties he has to some extent engaged in operating in real estate along the shore front, where he has developed property but has sold it to the summer colony. He is highly regarded in Madison as a man of keen judgment and marked sagacity, and his counsel and advice are frequently sought by his associates and he has on a number of occasions been called upon to administer estates, for it is recognized that he is a man of the strictest integrity and business reliability.

  On the 23d of November, 1876, Mr. Munger was united in marriage to Miss Cynthia Anne Bushnell, at Madison, who was born in Madison and is a representative of one of its oldest families, her parents being William C. and Cynthia (Griswold) Bushnell, who were likewise natives of Madison. To Mr. and Mrs. Munger have been born three children: George Arthur, who died in infancy; Alice Cornelia, the wife of James A. Pardee, a resident farmer of East River; and Caroline Washburn, the wife of Edward B. Barker, a real estate dealer of Hartford, by whom she has one child, Cynthia Anne.

  While Mr. Munger has maintained an independent attitude in politics he rather leans toward the republican party and he does not hesitate to express his honest convictions upon any vital question. He has served as a member of the town school board and in 1889 represented his district in the state legislature. He has taken an active and helpful interest in all that pertains to community welfare and has made an excellent record for helpful service. He has figured in financial circles as the vice president of the old Guilford National Bank and is now a trustee of the Guilford Savings Bank. He attends the Congregational church and fraternally has membership in Madison Lodge, No. 87, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master, exemplifying in his life the beneficent teachings and purposes of the craft. He occupies the old home which his father purchased more than a half century ago in East River, the house, which was built in 1790, being one of the oldest landmarks of this section of the state. Honored and respected by all, there is no man who occupies a more enviable position in public regard than George B. Munger, not alone by reason of the substantial success which he has achieved, but also owing to the straightforward policy which he has ever followed and by reason likewise of the individuality of a personal character which impresses itself upon the community.