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GEORGE W. LATHROP, farmer and stock-dealer, Oxford, Sec. 34; P.O. Oxford Mills; born in Fremont Co., Ohio, in 1838; came to Scott Co., Iowa, in 1840, and moved to Jones Co. in 1857, and, in company with Mr. A. Conright, built the Oxford Mills in 1858. He owns 700 acres at the present time; his farm is one of the finest and kept in the best order, and the improvements of the most substantial kind of any in Jones Co. Mr. Lathrop was a member of the Sixteenth General Assembly of Iowa. He was married in 1860 to Miss Millie Noble, of Clinton Co., N.Y., by the Rev. A. E. Aldrich; they have two children—Frank and James Howard. In politics, Republican, and in religion, liberal.
Source: History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 594
Hon. George W. Lathrop was born at Freemont, Ohio on the 18 of March, 1836, and when four years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to Iowa, the family home being established near Toronto. Two or three years later they took up their abode in Allen's Grove, Scott county.
 In 1853, George W. Lathrop formed a partnership with his half brother, A. Cortright for the conduct of a general mercantile establishment at Toronto, being thus identified with the business interest of the town for three years. On the expiration of that period they sold out the enterprise and in association with their father, purchased the water power at Oxford Mills and erected a grist mill. George W. Lathrop was connected with the mill until 1868 at which time the property was sold to Robert McDonald. Subsequently he again entered mercantile circles establishing a store at Oxford Mills, where he built up an extensive and profitable trade. It was through his influence that the branch line from Davenport was turned from it's course, already surveyed through Lost Nation and Smithtown, to Oxford Mills and Oxford Junction. In 1882, he purchased a farm of four hundred acres south of the Mills, where he was extensively engaged in the raising of thoroughbred stock, including cattle, hogs, and sheep, until the time of his retirement in December, 1903. His remaining days were spent in the well earned ease at Oxford Junction, where he passed away on the 3d of December, 1907.
A stanch republican in his political views, he always took a very active interest in the work of his party and was honored by election to the sixteenth and twenty-second general assemblies of Iowa. He also held many local offices within the gift of the people, ever discharging his official duties in a most efficient and highly satisfactory manner. The following is an extract from an obituary appearing in the Oxford Junction Mirror at the time of his demise: "He was a man of unusually generous impulses, always on the outlook for really helpful acts to be rendered his fellowman and among the first to discover and relieve want and grief where possible. He was the founder of the first mercantile establishment, the first gristmill, the importer of some of the finest breeds of live stock in this part of the country, and the primal cause of the existence of this city. He was an ardent supporter of our public school system and of his chosen political party, a man of the largest circle of acquaintances of any in this section, and a man whose loyalty to his town and state was never doubted." Uniformly loved, respected and honored, his death was the occasion of deep and widespread regret and the community was deprived of one of its most influential and prominent citizens.
When a young man of twenty-four years, Hon. George W. Lathrop was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Amelia Noble, a native of New York and a daughter of Rev. Noble. Unto them were born six children, two of them whom died in infancy. The others are as follows: Frank Noble, a resident of Martelle; James Howard, living in Pierre, South Dakota; Nathan Bundy; and Gladys Marie, the wife of John Stuhr, of Oxford township. The mother of this family was called to her final rest in May, 1901.
Submitted by: Laura Comley
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