MR. GEORGE ERASTUS MALTBY
(CFH-DFB)
Mr. George E. Maltby was the first President of the Maltby Association, of which he was president when his death occurred July 31, 1909, at the age of 78 years.
He was the second child of Lucius and Sarah J. (Parks) Maltby and was born February 18th, 1830, in Fair Haven (now a part of New Haven) Connecticut. As a boy, Mr. Maltby lived at home, going to school and helping his father with the farm. Later he became clerk in Dr. Parker’s drug store, being at the time eighteen years of age.
Three years later Mr. Maltby went into the drug business for himself. In May, 1852, he married Elizabeth Broughton Maguire. They had two children, Edward Parks, and Mary Louise Maltby. Shortly after the above children were born, the war broke out and Mr. Maltby disposed of his drug business and went South where for sometime he supplied General Grant’s army with provisions. Mr. Maltby established an oyster business in Norfolk, Virginia, and was the first to ship opened oysters in bulk to New York, for a long time averaging five hundred gallons a day.
In 1864, Mr. Maltby lost his wife and for seven years was a widow. In 1871, he married Ruth Atwater Bostwick, and to them were born Margaret Atwater, George Erastus and Lucius Upson Maltby.
In 1878, Mr. Maltby and his family left Virginia and went to New York to live, where the northern branch of the oyster business was supervised by him. Mrs. Maltby died in May, 1898, and soon after Mr. Maltby gave up active business and divided his time between his older daughter, Mrs. Frederick S. Smith of Chester, Conn. and his younger daughter, Mrs. William M. Bernard of New York City, at whose residence he died, in Ardsley, N. Y. The interment was at Trinity Cemetery, New York.
It will be a pleasure to the members of the Maltby Association to know that Mr. Maltby was very proud of his office as our President, and at times during his last illness his near relatives called him “President,” which seemed to please him. Many of us never had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Maltby personally, but it is a source of gratitude that we have his photograph and the fine character which was his cannot fail to endear his memory to us, one and all. Mr. Maltby’s descent was Lucius (5), Rev. Jonathon (4), Benjamin (3), Daniel (2), William (1).