Whiteside County IL Archives Biographies.....Terwilliger, George 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 January 31, 2008, 1:25 am

Author: Portrait/Bio Album, Whiteside County IL 1885

George Terwilliger, attorney at law, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public and 
insurance agent, at Fulton, was born in the town of New Scotland, Albany Co., 
N. Y., and is the son of John and Margaret (Reid) Terwilliger, his father 
being of Holland descent and his mother of Scotch. At the age of nine years he 
moved with his parents to De Witt, Onondaga Co., N. Y., and remained with his 
father on the farm, receiving the ordinary common-school education, until he 
entered the Onondaga Academy, located at Onondaga Hollow, where he took a four 
years' course and graduated in the class of 1850. He then commenced the study 
of the law with Forbes & Sheldon, in the city of Syracuse, and was admitted to 
practice in all the Courts of New York State on the 5th of July, 1852. During 
the time he was studying law he frequently assisted in editing the Syracuse 
Daily Journal, one of the leading newspapers in the interior of New York 
State, and after his admission to the Bar became editor-in-chief of that 
paper. He remained in this position for about two years, when he resigned on 
account of a change in the proprietorship, he being Free-Soil in his 
proclivities, while the new proprietors were pro-slavery in their views. 
Shortly after his resigning he was elected City Attorney of the city of 
Syracuse, receiving the highest vote cast for any one on his ticket except the 
candidate for City Treasurer. In 1857 he removed to New York city, where he 
practiced law, and was also honored with positions in the Custom House, and in 
the Tax Commissioner's office. While a resident of New York he was admitted to 
practice in the United States District and Circuit Courts. In the summer of 
1870 he came West in accordance with a long considered intention, and 
purchased the Sterling Gazette, which paper he conducted with ability and 
success until March, 1872, when he sold out and moved to Fulton, purchasing 
the Fulton Journal. In the fall of 1872 he sold a one-half interest in the 
Journal to Dr. W. C. Snyder, now State Senator, he taking the editorial 
department, and Dr. Snyder the business department. In 1876 he sold his 
interest in the Journal, and virtually laid aside the editorial quill. When 
the Legislature of 1877 convened, his reputation was such that he easily 
secured a clerkship in the House of Representatives, and served during the 
session. In the spring of that year he was elected Justice of the Peace of 
Fulton and on his return from Springfield entered upon the duties of his 
office. In June, 1877, he was employed in editing and compiling Bent's History 
of Whiteside County, and completed the work in the following January. At the 
session of the Legislature in 1879 he was elected First Assistant Secretary of 
the Senate, and was. re-elected at the session of 1881, the Senators being so 
well pleased with his services that at this session they presented him with an 
elegant gold watch. At the special session of 1881 he was elected Secretary of 
the Senate. During the years 1874, 1875 and 1876, he was City Clerk of the 
city of Fulton. He has been Justice of the Peace of the town of Fulton for 
eight years, and at the late spring election was again elected, without 
opposition, for four years more. Mr. Terwilliger has been a member of the 
Masonic Order since 1862, having been made a Mason in New York city. He was 
married while editing the Syracuse Daily Journal, to Miss Matilda B. Fowler, 
daughter of John and Eliza Fowler, Mrs. Terwilliger being a native of New York 
city. They have two children, both girls: Lillian, wife of Henry H. Denton, of 
Newtown, Queens Co., N. Y., and Georgiana, unmarried. Mr. T. is Republican in 
politics, and has been an active member of the party since its organization. 
He is a popular Justice, his thorough knowledge of law and judicial turn of 
mind enabling him to make his rulings and decisions in accordance with law and 
evidence, so that his judgments are seldom reversed. As a writer Mr. 
Terwilliger is favorably known throughout Northern and Western Illinois by his 
connection with the press, and his able compilation of the History of 
Whiteside County in 1877.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Whiteside County, Illinois, Containing Full-
page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative 
Citizens of the County. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1885.

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