George Taylor Fulford
Encyclopedia
George Taylor Fulford was a Canadian
businessman and politician.
(now Ontario
), to a family of United Empire Loyalist stock, he was the youngest son of Hiram Fulford and Martha Harris.
In 1880, Fulford married Mary Wilder White (1856–1946), a socialite
from Wisconsin
, and had three children. Dorothy (1881–1949), their eldest, married Arthur Charles Hardy
, son of former Ontario Premier Arthur Sturgis Hardy
, in 1901 in a ceremony at Fulford Place, the family estate. Martha (1883–1910) died young, while giving birth. The long-awaited male heir arrived much later and after one near-fatal miscarriage, when Mary Fulford was 46 years of age. George Taylor II (1902–1987) was a politician himself (Member of the Canadian House of Commons
) and owned Fulford Place until his death.
Fulford went to business college in Belleville, Ontario
, and apprenticed with his brother, William, who was a dispensing chemist in Brockville. He took over his brother’s modest apothecary in 1874 and eventually built on it to form a successful patent medicine
company.
He was elected to the town council in 1879 and served as an alderman for 12 terms. He was involved with the Liberal Party of Canada
and became a friend of Sir Wilfrid Laurier
. He was appointed to the Canadian Senate in 1900 representing the senatorial division of Brockville, Ontario. He served until his death in 1905.
George Taylor Fulford is reported to be the first Canadian fatal automobile accident victim on record. He was on a trip in Newton, Massachusetts
with his business associate W. T. Hanson and their wives, when the chauffeur-driven car the men were riding in was sideswiped by a streetcar. Fulford died two days later, on October 15, 1905, at age fifty-three. His widow never remarried.
Fulford was a philanthropist, giving considerable donations to institutions such as the Brockville Rowing Club, the Wall Street Methodist Church, the Brockville General Hospital, and the YMCA
; in his will, he left a large sum of money to establish a home for indigent women.
At the time of his death he was the largest single shareholder in General Electric and was considering buying a company called General Motors. Some of his descendants believe he was actually murdered. His great-grandson, Benjamin Fulford
, former journalist for Forbes magazine in Japan, believes he was murdered in a conspiracy by the Rockefeller family (who made millions with Standard Oil) because he was going to fund Nikola Tesla's
research into Free Energy. The driver, it is alleged who caused the fatal collision (but himself survived) had been given one weeks notice at the time of the crash.
for $53.01. This patent medicine would make him a millionaire.
Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People
were marketed in 87 countries worldwide, including Canada, Britain
, France
, Belgium
, South Africa
, Singapore
, Australia
and China
. Fulford was an innovative advertiser. He relied heavily on testimonials, submitted by customers, of miraculous recoveries. He would have these printed in newspapers in a way that it was difficult to differentiate news articles from the advertisements, so readers would see headlines proclaiming these miraculous recoveries, and read on to learn that they were saved by Pink Pills. By 1900, he was spending £200,000 yearly in Britain alone on advertising.
Dr William’s Pink Pills for Pale People were sold in Canada for fifty cents per box, or $2.50 for six boxes. Essentially, they were an iron supplement, containing mostly sugar, starch and an iron sulphate. While not the cure-all they were marketed to be, in an age where anaemia was common, the pills truly did make people feel better.
After Fulford’s death, G. T. Fulford & Co. was managed by different associates, and only went into receivership
in 1989. He is a telling example of successful entrepreneur
, and illustrates the profitability of patent medicines during that period.
The Fulfords, growing even wealthier, had a mansion built for them in Brockville, Ontario
on the shore of the St. Lawrence River where several other beautiful estates were located, many of which were owned by other successful businesspeople. In 1898, Fulford commissioned their estate, known as Fulford Place
, to be built on the King’s Highway, on the eastern edge of Brockville. Architect A.W. Fuller from Albany, New York
, designed Fulford Place and it was elaborately decorated in the Beaux-Arts style. It was finished in 1901, and had 35 rooms making up 20 000 square feet. Since Fulford was an important figure in both the political world and the business scene, entertaining was one of Fulford Place’s primary functions. The house thus contains a grand hall, a dining room to seat over fifty guests, a spacious verandah
, and a rococo
-style drawing room for the ladies and a Moorish smoking room adjacent to a billiard room for the gentlemen.
Notably, the grounds at Fulford Place were designed by the Olmsted Brothers
, and the recently restored formal Italianate garden is a rare and important example of a privately-owned Olmsted-designed garden.
The property was reduced to three of its original 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) when George Taylor Fulford II was forced to section off prime lots of real estate to sell in order to afford the maintenance of the house. He remained proprietor of Fulford Place until his death, when he bequeathed it to the Ontario Heritage Foundation (now Ontario Heritage Trust
). All of its original contents were later donated by his widow and his son, George Taylor Fulford III. The Trust did extensive restoration on it, and opened it to the public as a house museum in 1993. It has been interpreted to how it looked in the Edwardian era; this was done relatively accurately because of the existence of early photographs of rooms (taken for insurance purposes) and a collection of original artefacts (not reproductions). The opulent and lavishly furnished mansion has been designated a National Historic Site
, and is a major tourist attraction in the Brockville area.
. Originally named The Cangarda
, he rechristened it The Magedoma after his family (MAry, GEorge, DOrothy, MArtha). They entertained many guests on this ship, including several Canadian Prime Ministers, and, in 1927, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Kent, and the British Prime Minister. The Fulfords lent the Magedoma to the Canadian Navy during World War II
as a training vessel in the St. Lawrence. It was returned to them in 1947 heavily damaged, and with $13,000 in lieu of repairs. They sold the boat shortly after, and it has changed hands several times since then, and it is now being restored. Magedoma Drive, a street in Brockville, was named after the famous boat.
used Fulford as a model for George Robinson, Sr., a recurring character in his twelve volume The New Age/ Le nouveau siècle series of novels.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
businessman and politician.
Life and Family
Born in Brockville, Upper CanadaUpper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
(now Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
), to a family of United Empire Loyalist stock, he was the youngest son of Hiram Fulford and Martha Harris.
In 1880, Fulford married Mary Wilder White (1856–1946), a socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
from Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, and had three children. Dorothy (1881–1949), their eldest, married Arthur Charles Hardy
Arthur Charles Hardy
Arthur Charles Hardy, was a Canadian politician.Born in Brantford, Ontario, he ran unsuccessfully for the Canadian House of Commons in the Ontario riding of Leeds in the 1917 federal election. In 1922, he was called to the Canadian Senate representing the senatorial division of Leeds, Ontario...
, son of former Ontario Premier Arthur Sturgis Hardy
Arthur Sturgis Hardy
Arthur Sturgis Hardy, QC was a lawyer and Liberal politician who served as the fourth Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1896 to 1899. On January 19, 1870 he married Mary Morrison, daughter of Judge Joseph Curran Morrison.Hardy attended school at the Rockwood Academy in Rockwood, Ontario...
, in 1901 in a ceremony at Fulford Place, the family estate. Martha (1883–1910) died young, while giving birth. The long-awaited male heir arrived much later and after one near-fatal miscarriage, when Mary Fulford was 46 years of age. George Taylor II (1902–1987) was a politician himself (Member of the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
) and owned Fulford Place until his death.
Fulford went to business college in Belleville, Ontario
Belleville, Ontario
Belleville is a city located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in Southern Ontario, Canada, in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is the seat of Hastings County, but is politically independent of it. and the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region...
, and apprenticed with his brother, William, who was a dispensing chemist in Brockville. He took over his brother’s modest apothecary in 1874 and eventually built on it to form a successful patent medicine
Patent medicine
Patent medicine refers to medical compounds of questionable effectiveness sold under a variety of names and labels. The term "patent medicine" is somewhat of a misnomer because, in most cases, although many of the products were trademarked, they were never patented...
company.
He was elected to the town council in 1879 and served as an alderman for 12 terms. He was involved with the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
and became a friend of Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....
. He was appointed to the Canadian Senate in 1900 representing the senatorial division of Brockville, Ontario. He served until his death in 1905.
George Taylor Fulford is reported to be the first Canadian fatal automobile accident victim on record. He was on a trip in Newton, Massachusetts
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
with his business associate W. T. Hanson and their wives, when the chauffeur-driven car the men were riding in was sideswiped by a streetcar. Fulford died two days later, on October 15, 1905, at age fifty-three. His widow never remarried.
Fulford was a philanthropist, giving considerable donations to institutions such as the Brockville Rowing Club, the Wall Street Methodist Church, the Brockville General Hospital, and the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
; in his will, he left a large sum of money to establish a home for indigent women.
At the time of his death he was the largest single shareholder in General Electric and was considering buying a company called General Motors. Some of his descendants believe he was actually murdered. His great-grandson, Benjamin Fulford
Benjamin Fulford
Benjamin Fulford is a journalist living in Japan.He is the great-grandson of George Taylor Fulford.In the early 1980s he went to Japan to study at Sophia University. After receiving a B.A. from the University of British Columbia, he returned to Japan in the mid-1980s to pursue a career in...
, former journalist for Forbes magazine in Japan, believes he was murdered in a conspiracy by the Rockefeller family (who made millions with Standard Oil) because he was going to fund Nikola Tesla's
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
research into Free Energy. The driver, it is alleged who caused the fatal collision (but himself survived) had been given one weeks notice at the time of the crash.
Business
In January 1887, Fulford registered G. T. Fulford & Co. in the Leeds County Registrar, as a vendor and manufacturer of patent medicines. In 1890, a local McGill-trained physician, Dr. William Jackson, sold him the rights to Pink Pills for Pale PeopleDr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People
Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People was a late 19th to early 20th century patent medicine containing iron oxide and magnesium sulfate. It was produced by Dr. Williams Medicine Company, the trading arm of G. T. Fulford & Company. It was claimed to cure chorea, referenced frequently in...
for $53.01. This patent medicine would make him a millionaire.
Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People
Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People
Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People was a late 19th to early 20th century patent medicine containing iron oxide and magnesium sulfate. It was produced by Dr. Williams Medicine Company, the trading arm of G. T. Fulford & Company. It was claimed to cure chorea, referenced frequently in...
were marketed in 87 countries worldwide, including Canada, Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Fulford was an innovative advertiser. He relied heavily on testimonials, submitted by customers, of miraculous recoveries. He would have these printed in newspapers in a way that it was difficult to differentiate news articles from the advertisements, so readers would see headlines proclaiming these miraculous recoveries, and read on to learn that they were saved by Pink Pills. By 1900, he was spending £200,000 yearly in Britain alone on advertising.
Dr William’s Pink Pills for Pale People were sold in Canada for fifty cents per box, or $2.50 for six boxes. Essentially, they were an iron supplement, containing mostly sugar, starch and an iron sulphate. While not the cure-all they were marketed to be, in an age where anaemia was common, the pills truly did make people feel better.
After Fulford’s death, G. T. Fulford & Co. was managed by different associates, and only went into receivership
Receivership
In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...
in 1989. He is a telling example of successful entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, and illustrates the profitability of patent medicines during that period.
Fulford Place
Brockville, Ontario
Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Though it serves as the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Brockville is politically independent and is grouped with Leeds and Grenville for census purposes only.Known as the "City of the 1000...
on the shore of the St. Lawrence River where several other beautiful estates were located, many of which were owned by other successful businesspeople. In 1898, Fulford commissioned their estate, known as Fulford Place
Fulford Place
Fulford Place is the turn-of-the-century mansion home of Senator George Taylor Fulford, a Canadian businessman and politician. The home is now a historic house museum reflecting Edwardian period decorations, and is operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust. It was designated a National Historic Site...
, to be built on the King’s Highway, on the eastern edge of Brockville. Architect A.W. Fuller from Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, designed Fulford Place and it was elaborately decorated in the Beaux-Arts style. It was finished in 1901, and had 35 rooms making up 20 000 square feet. Since Fulford was an important figure in both the political world and the business scene, entertaining was one of Fulford Place’s primary functions. The house thus contains a grand hall, a dining room to seat over fifty guests, a spacious verandah
Verandah
A veranda or verandah is a roofed opened gallery or porch. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure...
, and a rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
-style drawing room for the ladies and a Moorish smoking room adjacent to a billiard room for the gentlemen.
Notably, the grounds at Fulford Place were designed by the Olmsted Brothers
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was an influential landscape design firm in the United States, formed in 1898 by stepbrothers John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. .-History:...
, and the recently restored formal Italianate garden is a rare and important example of a privately-owned Olmsted-designed garden.
Ontario Heritage Trust
The Ontario Heritage Trust is a non-profit agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture, responsible for protecting, preserving and promoting the built, natural and cultural heritage of Canada's most populous province. It was initially known as the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board...
). All of its original contents were later donated by his widow and his son, George Taylor Fulford III. The Trust did extensive restoration on it, and opened it to the public as a house museum in 1993. It has been interpreted to how it looked in the Edwardian era; this was done relatively accurately because of the existence of early photographs of rooms (taken for insurance purposes) and a collection of original artefacts (not reproductions). The opulent and lavishly furnished mansion has been designated a National Historic Site
National Historic Sites (United States)
National Historic Sites are protected areas of national historic significance in the United States. A National Historic Site usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject...
, and is a major tourist attraction in the Brockville area.
Magedoma
In 1904, Fulford bought a 138 feet (42.1 m) long steam-powered yachtYacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
. Originally named The Cangarda
Cangarda
The Cangarda is a long luxury steam yacht built in 1901, at the Pusey and Jones Shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware.In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, huge fortunes were made prior to US income taxation. Opulence in homes and yachting reached a peak; many small private steamships...
, he rechristened it The Magedoma after his family (MAry, GEorge, DOrothy, MArtha). They entertained many guests on this ship, including several Canadian Prime Ministers, and, in 1927, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Kent, and the British Prime Minister. The Fulfords lent the Magedoma to the Canadian Navy during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as a training vessel in the St. Lawrence. It was returned to them in 1947 heavily damaged, and with $13,000 in lieu of repairs. They sold the boat shortly after, and it has changed hands several times since then, and it is now being restored. Magedoma Drive, a street in Brockville, was named after the famous boat.
G. T. Fulford I in Literature
Canadian author Hugh HoodHugh Hood
Hugh John Blagdon Hood, OC was a Canadian novelist, short story writer, essayist and university professor....
used Fulford as a model for George Robinson, Sr., a recurring character in his twelve volume The New Age/ Le nouveau siècle series of novels.