Utah Since Statehood: Historical and Biographical. Volume II.


GEORGE S. WILLOUGHBY Sr.

George S. Willoughby was born at Marine Mills, Minnesota, March 5, 1875, a son of the late Justice Bulkley 
Willoughby, who was a native of Illinois and of Scotch descent. He devoted his life to merchandising as a dealer 
in furniture and also conducted in connection therewith an undertaking business, meeting with substantial 
success through his close application, fair dealing and unremitting energy. He was prominent and active in 
various fraternal organizations, including the Masonic lodge, the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He died in February, 1916, at the age of seventy-one years. 
His wife, who bore the maiden name of Jaca Barnsback, was born in southern Illinois and is of German descent, a 
daughter of Jules Barnsback, who was a Civil war veteran. Mrs. Willoughby still survives and now makes her 
home in Eugene, Oregon. She has a family of three sons, of whom George S. is the eldest, the others being Leon 
Richard and Alfred H., all residents of Ogden and all connected with the Ogden Storage Battery Company.

GEORGE S. WILLOUGHBY Jr.

George S. Willoughby figures in the commercial circles of Ogden as president of the Ogden Storage Battery 
Company, Incorporated, with Alfred H. Willoughby as the vice president and assistant manager of the company 
and Peter V. Christiansen as secretary and treasurer. Their business is that of repairing as well as selling the new 
Willard storage batteries and other automobile electrical supplies. The business was established March 28, 1917, 
and incorporated on the 28th of July, 1918, and already the patronage of the firm is large and gratifying.

George S. Willoughby was a lad of but seven years when his parents removed to the west, settling first at 
Vermilion, South Dakota, where he obtained his primary education in the public schools, while later he became a 
student in the University of South Dakota. When his education was completed he became associated with his 
father in the furniture and undertaking business at Eugene, Oregon, the family removing to that city in 1898. He 
was connected with his father there for about six years, when he turned his attention to inside electrical 
contracting work, which he has since followed. On the 19th of March, 1917, he removed to Ogden, Utah, and has 
since been successfully engaged in his present business, which is the largest in the state outside of Salt Lake. The 
firm not only sells and does all kinds of repairing on the new Willard storage battery and engages in the sale of 
automobile electrical supplies but also handles a complete line of automobile accessories and does all kinds of 
motor repair work. Not only is George S. Willoughby the president of this company but is likewise the secretary 
and treasurer of the Ogden Oil Shale & Development Company, which has properties in Wyoming and is a Utah 
corporation.

At Eugene, Oregon, Mr. Willoughby was married August 16, 1900, to Miss Nettie Stewart, a native of that state, 
where her parents settled in pioneer times, having crossed the plains in 1858. She is a daughter of John and 
Louise (Duncan) Stewart and the Duncan family was also established in Oregon in 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Willoughby 
have become parents of a son, Stewart J., who was born in Oregon in 1905. They reside at No. 2543 Grant 
avenue and have gained many friends during the period of their residence in Ogden.

Mr. Willoughby is a republican in his political views. He belongs to the Elks Lodge No. 357, of Eugene, Oregon, 
and to Helmet Lodge, No. 52, K. P., of Eugene. He is a member of the Weber Club of Ogden and has made for 
himself a place among the representative and substantial citizens of this community. His life illustrates the 
possibilities for successful achievement on the part of those who have to start out emptyhanded, his success 
proving that prosperity is the result of individual effort and not of circumstances.

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Utah Since Statehood, Volumes 1-4 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations 
Inc, 2000. 
Original data: Noble Warrum, ed.. Utah Since Statehood. Vol. 1-4. Chicago, IL, USA and Salt Lake City, UT, USA: 
S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919.
 

About Utah Since Statehood, Volumes 1-4

Utah was settled by Mormon pioneers in 1847, and it became the 45th state in 1896. This database contains a 
four-book series published in 1919. The first volume is a history of the state from before the Mormon settlers 
arrived through about 1920. The last three volumes contain biographical sketches of prominent people 
throughout the state. For those researching early Utah history, this will be a helpful database.