Biography: Winnebago County, Wisconsin: George F. Stroud ************************************************************************ Submitted by Kathy Grace, December 2004 © All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************************************ History of northern Wisconsin: containing an account of its settlement, growth, development, and resources, an extensive sketch of its counties, cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories, biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers, views of county seats, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Co., 1881 p. 1164 George F. Stroud. One of the most public-spirited and enterprising business men of the city is George F. Stroud. He was born Dec. 10, 1836, in Willsboro, Essex Co., N.Y. His father, William D. Stroud, is a native of New Hampshire, and his mother, whose maiden name was Laura A. Lee, was born in Vermont. Two of Mr. Stroud's ancestors on his mother's side were signers of the Declaration of Independence. In 1851, Mr. Stroud's family emigrated to Wisconsin and located at Oshkosh the 15th day of April in that year. For some time, George F. Stroud attended a select school, and afterward assisted his father in the management of his farm, and also in getting out building stone from the stone quarry now known as the Lutz quarry, which was managed at that time by William D. Stroud. He next engaged as a traveling salesman for a Rochester nursery until the fall of 1867. In that year he engaged in the paint and oil trade, and, in the spring of 1868, opened the first store in the state devoted exclusively to this specialty. The business proved a success from the start. Commencing in a small way, with limited capital, it gradually increased, until it now requires two large stores and two warehouses, and Stroud's traveling salesmen visit every town and village in Northern Wisconsin. Mr. Stroud was married Dec. 29, 1859, to Miss Angeline F. Reed, sister of Maj. L.B. Reed, and has three children. Mr. Stroud is always read to encourage and promote any enterprise which promises to benefit the city, and is ever foremost in all public works. He is an active member of the Business Men's Association, and, in connection with Mayor Beckwith and Ossian Cook, worked up the subscription which secured to the city the carriage works of Parsons & Goodfellow, which now employ upward of 150 men. During the political campaign of 1880, Mr. Stroud was President of the Garfield and Arthur Club, and performed his arduous duties in the same energetic and whole-souled manner which characterizes all his business transactions. Mr. Stroud is emphatically a self-made man, and one who deserves great credit for the success which has marked his efforts.