George W. Munson

Great Great-Grandfather

1. George W. Munson (1859-1943)
+ Eleanor A. Parsons (1853-1923)
2. Joseph Willard Munson (1885-1961)
+ Ida E. Hotchkiss (1885-1861)
3. George Willard Munson (1915-1993)
+ Ruth Marie Koerner (1917-2003)
5. Edward (Ned) Deck Munson
+ Debra Florence Dahlquist
6. Scott Edward Munson


This is a picture of George W. Munson, the grandfather of my Grampa, George Willard Munson, sitting in a rocking chair.  On his lap is my aunt, Barbara (Munson) Herrick, his great-grandchild.

George W. Munson was born on November 10, 1859 to John and Mary J (Warner) Munson in Sheffield, Massachusetts, a town which borders Litchfield County Connecticut. His birth is registered in the town record of Sheffield as George Munson - no middle name. His father, John, was a farmer in Sheffield and George grew up there with his parents and three sisters: Julia, Nellie and Minnie. 

1939 Print from Sheffield, MA

In the 1880 Census, George was living with his parents and sister, Nellie, in Sheffield,  He was a young man of twenty and working as a farm laborer, probably on his father's farm.

Sometime before 1885, George moved to Norfolk, Connecticut and was married to Eleanor A. Parsons, the daughter of a shoemaker in Norfolk.  Their first child, Joseph Willard, my great-grandfather, was born on May 13, 1885 in Norfolk.  They later had a son, Frank Warner, who died shortly after birth.  Ruth Warner, Aunt Ruth as she was known to my grandfather and father, was born a year later in 1892. 

In the 1900 Census, George and Eleanor and their two children were still living in Norfolk.  George's occupation was listed as Teamster.  This occupation was listed again in the 1910 Census. Since the Internation Brotherhood of Teamsters union was not founded until 1904, this probably means that he drove a team of horses.  Remember, automobiles were still very rare at this time so products and people would be transported from town to town by train or wagon.  He would have been the modern truck driver of his day!

Eleanor Passed away in 1923 and some time after that George moved in with is son and daughter-in-law, Joseph and Ida (Hotchkiss).  George was living with them in Winsted, CT during the 1930 Census.  The household included a 14 year old George Willard Munson and his younger sisters, Ada and Eleanor. 

George W Munson died in 1943 and is buried at the Center Cemetery with his wife Eleanor and all of his children. George, Eleanor, Frank and Ruth's names are all listed on one side of the stone.  Joseph and Ida's names are on the other side.

Now, you may have noticed that I have only identified George's middle initial throughout this post.  We know that Joseph was named Joseph Willard and my grandfather was George Willard but I have not found a record of Joseph's father's middle name - only the initial W.  I suspect that it is NOT Willard.  I believe the name Willard came from Eleanor's side of the family and will explain this further in a future post.  My best guess for George W's middle name is that it was Warner - his mothers maiden name.  This is reinforced by the fact that he gave both a son and a daughter that for a middle name. Two other possibilities are William or Wells since his mother's father was William Wells Warner.  If you know the answer to this mystery, please comment otherwise I will continue to search for the answer.