The consensus of public opinion accords to Hon. George B. Metcalf a notable position among the business men and representative citizens of Greene county. He has been actively identified with mercantile interests in Greenfield for thirty-five years and has developed a business of large and profitable proportions, yet his efforts have not been confined to lines that have as their objective point only his individual good. He has labored for the general welfare and his efforts have been far-reaching and beneficial. As mayor of the city he made a most creditable record and his name has for many years been inseparably interwoven with the record of the city's progress and substantial improvement. Moreover, he is entitled to distinctive mention in this volume as one of the native sons of the county, his birth having occurred in Greenfield, October 7, 1848.

His father was Richard Metcalf, a native of Kentucky, born in Hopkins county on the 1st of August, 1817. The paternal grandfather, William Metcalf, Sr., was born in North Carolina, December 24, 1774, and was a son of another William Metcalf, who was a native of England and became one of the early settlers of Kentucky, locating in that state in 1786, only three years after the close of the Revolutionary war. William Metcalf, Jr., removed with his family to Illinois in 1835 and located in Macoupin county, where he purchased a tract of wild land and began the development of a farm, spending the last years of his life there. He died November 28, 1858, and the community mourned the loss of one of its leading men, for his success in business, his activity in matters of citizenship and his interest in all that concerns the public and the general good made him a respected resident of Macoupin county. He was very successful in his business pursuits, becoming the owner of twelve hundred acres of land which he divided among his children.

Richard J. Metcalf, father of our subject, was the eighth in order of birth in a family of nine children. He was a young man of seventeen years when he accompanied his parents on their removal from Kentucky to Macoupin county, Illinois, and to his father he gave the benefit of his services until he had attained his majority. Following his marriage he located upon a farm in Barr township, Macoupin county, where he owned a large tract of land which he operated for a number of years, being for a considerable period classed with the leading agriculturists of this part of the state. About 1880 he removed to Greenfield, where he engaged in the banking business, being associated with his son Ralph and Jasper Johnson in this enterprise. After the death of his wife, however, he gave up all active pursuits and lived retired. He had built a neat residence in Greenfield, adjoining the home of his son George B. and there he continued to reside until his death. Politically he was originally a Whig and cast his first presidential ballot for William Henry Harrison in 1840. Later he became identified with the Republican party and continued to follow its banners until he was called to his final rest. It was on the 6th of September, 1838, that he was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. Buchanan, who was born near Paris in Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1819, and was a daughter of Squire Buchanan, who was a native of Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Kentucky and eventually he came to Illinois. Mrs. Metcalf died in Greenfield, October 27, 1886, and Mr. Metcalf departed this life in 1890. They were laid to rest in the North cemetery, where a substantial monument marks their place of burial.

Hon. George B. Metcalf is the eldest son in a family of seven children who grew to mature years. No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for him in his youth. He acquired his primary education in the common schools, supplemented by several terms attendance in the Greenfield seminary, while for two years he was a student in Blackburn College at Carlinville. Later he engaged in teaching in Macoupin county for six months and thus he became an active factor in business life. In 1870 he embarked in the grocery trade in Greenfield and erected a business house in the city. He sold his first building and in 1880 he built his present brick business house. He now carries a complete line of groceries and queensware and has secured a liberal patronage, his trade increasing as the years have gone by. He is one of the oldest merchants in years of continuous connection with the business life of Greenfield and he stands to-day as a worthy representative of mercantile affairs in this city, having the confidence of the business community and the trust of his many patrons. His son, Carson T., is now a partner in the store which is conducted in harmony with modern business methods. Their stock of goods is carefully selected and their reasonable prices and honorable trade relations have been important elements in winning them the gratifying success which they now enjoy. Mr. Metcalf is also the owner of a valuable and well improved farm in Barr township, Macoupin county, covering three hundred acres and also a desirable tract of land of two hundred and forty acres in Cass county, Missouri.

On the 1st of January, 1873, in this county Mr. Metcalf was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Thorpe, a native of Greene county. She was reared here and completed her education in the Jacksonville Female College. Her parents, Martin and Louisa Thorpe, were early settlers of Greene county, the former a native of England. Mr. and Mrs. Metcalf have two children: Carson T., who is married and is a partner in the store; and Edwina B., the wife of Stanley D. McPherron, a merchant and jeweler of Greenfield.

Politically Mr. Metcalf has been a lifelong Republican, his first presidential ballot being cast for General Grant in 1868 and for every nominee of the Republican party since that time, never missing a presidential election. He was chosen by popular, suffrage as president of the village board and after the organization of the city he was elected to serve for two terms, covering four years, as mayor. He has been a member of the village and city board for sixteen years and in 1896 he was elected to the state legislature, where he served for two sessions in the lower house. He was on a number of important committees and actively interested in constructive legislation through the work which he did in the committee rooms. He belongs to the Code of Honor and has served as one of its board of supreme directors since 1898. He is also a member of the Mutual Protective League, which he joined on its organization in 1898, with headquarters in Litchfield. He is now serving on the board of supreme directors. He and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and he contributed generously toward the erection of the new church edifice. In early life he studied law, but although never admitted to the bar he practiced here before the justice courts. He has thus been closely identified with the interests of the county along many lines, being active in business and in promoting the social, intellectual, moral and political progress of his community. His career has indeed been a long, busy and useful one, marked by the utmost fidelity to the duties of public and private life and crowned with honors conferred upon him in recognition of superior merit. His name is inseparably interwoven with the annals of Greene county, with its best development and its stable progress and he may well be numbered among those who have made the world better.