George  W.  F.  Kirk

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THE  SHELBY  DEMOCRAT
February 13, 1879
VOL. 1; No. 37
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from the article, SMILING  SHELBYVILLE!

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George  W.  F.  Kirk

Insurance agent, is located on the Public Square, in the front room, second story, over Dunn's shoe store.  He was born in the year 1837 in Shelbyville.  When but eleven years old he began to learn the printer's trade in the office of the Indiana Gazette.  The obituary of that paper was written in a short time after his introduction into the office.  The establishment then passed into the hands of  Elliott, Robertson & Co., who again started the paper under the title of "The Hawkeye and Shelby Farmer."  In the year 1851 he entered the employ of  Watkins, Springer & Co., furniture dealers.  He remained with them for two years when they quit business after which he clerked for  J. Levinson & Co., who also, in about two years' time, quit business.  He then entered upon the duties of clerk in  Josiah Gorgas' hardware store, and in the year 1858 connected himself with  John M. Blair, dealer in boots and shoes.  This position he held until the war broke out.  Mr. Blair organized a company and went to help "vanquish the naughty Rebs," and Mr. Kirk remained in charge of the store until September, 1861, when he accepted an appointment as clerk in the Quartermaster's department under Captain  H. H. Boggess.  In 1864, he opened a boot, shoe, hat and cap store in  "Kirk's Corner,"  which business he carried on until May, 1875, when he sold out and went into the insurance business.  He was one of the founders of the Shelbyville Gas Light Company, and now fills the office of Secretary of that corporation.  In the insurance line he has a good list of companies, all of which are old, reliable, and founded on a sound basis.  He represents the AEtna, of Hartford, assets $6,863,522; the Hartford, of Hartford, assets $3,358,746; the Phoenix, of Hartford, assets $2,624,082; the German American, of New York, assets $2,471,780; the Franklin, of Philadelphia, assets $3,363,218; the National, of Hartford, assets $1,104,000; the Scottish Commercial of Glasgow, Scotland, assets $680,000; all fire insurance companies.  Also, the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company of Newark, New Jersey, assets $33,181,828.     Next biography in the "Smiling Shelbyville" newspaper article, Conrey, Wallar & Deprez.
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