Article from the 1930 Year Book of the American Clan Gregor Society: "George Mitchell Magruder", by Mabel Magruder Parmenter:

"George Mitchell was born on a farm seven miles from Quitman, Georgia, on October 22, 1863.

"His father was Joseph Alva Magruder who married, first, Ann Edwards by whom he had two children: John Archibald who died in Texas, and Emma who married William Hunter who died at Oviedo, Florida, in 1878.

"Joseph Alva Magruder's second wife, Laura Estelle (Hunter) Gaulden, to whom he was married October 20, 1862, was a widow with two children, Eugene Scriven Gaulden, who died at Eugene, Fla., June, 1927, and Julia Gaulden who married George Brown and lived at Oviedo, FL. By his second marriage, Joseph Alva Magruder had two boys, George Mitchell, my father, and Edward Lee Magruder who lives at Bainbridge, Georgia.

"It was in 1873 that the family came to Florida to live and took up a homestead at Oviedo, in Orange County, where they planted an orange grove. They were among the pioneer orange growers in the famous Indian River section. Joseph Alva Magruder and his wife, Laura Estelle, are both buried in Hunter Cemetery in Quitman, Georgia.

"George Mitchell was ten years old when his family left Georgia. At the age of seventeen, with his mother's consent, he left home and lived with a widow and her son in an adjoining county. This first winter the boys contracted with a saw mill to furnish them with logs.

"While at this work, he met a surveyor with whom he became great friends. I wish I knew that man's name but the only record that I have of him is a small picture taken in a buggy with one of his race horses, of which he was very fond. I know that he was interested in some way with the famous race horse, "Maude S." Recognizing in George Mitchell a desire to be independent and develop himself, he brought him to Jacksonville where he soon found work at Merrill-Stevens machinery shop, which was at that time a small blacksmith and machine shop on the banks of the river. There he served his apprenticeship of four years and learned to love machinery. At the age of twenty-one he got his engineer's license.

"For a few years he was on boat up and down the St. Johns River. His first boat was the "Twilight," then the "Mermaid", running between Jacksonville and Mayport, and later a boat belonging to the Beach & Miller Line, running between Jacksonville and Sanford. At about the age of twenty-seven years, after hard study, he received his mariner's license and left the river boats for a position with the Plant Line. He was chief engineer on the S. S. Margaret, and then on the S. S. Tarpon, running between Tampa and Mobile.

"In 1896 the Plant Steamship Line built the S. S. La Grande Duchess, which was at that time, the largest and finest coastwise steamer in the world, and my father, George Mitchell, Was transferred to her as first assistant engineer. After the first trip between Savannah and New York, Mr. Devlin, the chief engineer, was taken sick and, after an illness of several months, died. During that period my father was acting chief. At Mr. Devlin's death he was appointed chief engineer which position he held until the death of Henry E. Plant in 1899.

"At this time he went with the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company to become chief engineer of the S. S. Nebraskan, but after a conversation with the chief engineer of the Line, Mr. Lasso, he was made assistant superintendent engineer for the Line.

"During the Spanish-American War, he was temporarily transferred to a transport running between Charleston and Havana, Cuba, and was in Havana when the Battleship Maine was blown up.

"In October of 1906 he was sent to San Francisco, CA, to superintend repairs of the S. S. Nevadan, and the building of three of their largest freighters at the Union Iron Works, later taken over by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The new ships were the S. S. Mexican, the S. S. Columbian, and the S. S. Hawaiian. After they were complete and sent to sea, the Company retained him as their superintending engineer of the Pacific Coast, which position he held until the Panama Canal was opened and they moved their offices back to New York when he resigned.

"He then took a position as superintending engineer for W. B. Grace Steamship Company with whom he remained until 1922, when he resigned on account of poor health. In 1925 he took over the Keddie Inn Resort in the Feather River Canyon where he remained until his death. He was also interested in mining.

"He possessed an inventive genius. I remember holding wire for him to make an electric light that would turn dim as well as bright. He completed it and had it in use long before we ever had, or heard of any others. His friends wanted him to patent it but he never would. The satisfaction of having made it was the only compensation he cared for.

"While he was with the Hawaiian Line in New York, he and Mr. Lasso, chief engineer for the Line, completed an oil burner for use in steamships which was known as the Texas Burner, and was one of the first of its kind. I remember reading about it in some engineering book. The American-Hawaiian people thought so much of it that they had it installed in all their ships. The light and the oil burner were the most important of his inventions, but there were a number of minor things that I cannot recall.

"My father looked and acted the gentleman that he was. Fond of beautiful things, he liked nothing better than to buy furnishings, bric-a-brac, etc., with unerring good taste, for his home. He was always busy and made many lovely things. His home was fitted with hammered brass electric fixtures, a set for the fire place, and a smoking stand, all his own work. The andirons had an ingenious secret compartment where he kept a little bag of jewels.

"He loved his home and took great pleasure in having his many friends in for meals and a drink of wine or Scotch whiskey which he always had on hand.

"He had a kind and tender heart and was always ready to help those in need. He was sincere in word. If he ever made a promise, it was as well as done. Independence of spirit, resourcefulness and rigidity of purpose were always outstanding traits of his character.

"We children always looked forward to his being in port for he played and romped with us, and taught the boys to make boats and toys with which they took great delight. It was never necessary for him to punish one of us, as he had a way of looking at us that was more effective than any chastisement that he could have administered. We always knew what he meant and obeyed him.

"He was not a religious man. He never went to church and, as far as I know, did not belong to one, but he was very scrupulous in regard to the dictates of his conscience. He was honorable and upright in every respect, and was loved and respected by his business associates and fellowmen.

"He was a member of the San Francisco Transportation Club, San Francisco Southern Club, the Sequoia Country Club and a Fishing Club at Oakland, CA. He was also a member of The Society of Naval Architect and Marine Engineers. He was a Mason and belonged to the Middleburg Lodge No. 107.

"He was very fond of hunting and fishing, and after he retired from active life, spent much time in the mountains. He took great pride in his guns, of which he owned a very valuable collection. He especially loved the duck season and always brought home his quota. He loved his dog, and always owned one and sometimes several. They were well trained and seemed to understand every word he said. It was a delight to us children to see him train a bird dog. I remember one little dog that jumped overboard to follow him, after the ship had pushed off from the dock. Of course, the dog was drowned which grieved us all very much. One of his last dogs was Wong, a very smart and beautiful Chinese Chow, that slept by his bed, and was a strict guard over his car or anything that belonged to his master.

"My father was married first on March 17, 1885, at Jacksonville, FL, to Leila Mabel Bouchillon (born Nov. 13, 1869), the oldest daughter of Benjamin Franklin Bouchillon, of a prominent old Huguenot family of South Carolina. By this marriage there were five children, four of whom are living: Mrs. Mabel A. Permenter, Jacksonville, FL, George Archibald Magruder, Berkeley, CA, Frank Lester Magruder, Brooklyn, NY, and Herbert Randolph Magruder, United States Navy, on U.S.S. Richmond. One son, Joseph Eugene Magruder, died in infancy.

"He was married the second time to Cora C. Isbel, of Seattle , WA, an artist of English and Scotch parentage. The great-grandfather on her mother's side was Sir Richard Wade of England, and her father's ancestors were pioneers with the Pilgrims.

"On November 16, 1929, after a short illness, he passed away. He was conscious almost to the end. Realizing that death was near, he was at peace and died with a smile on his face. Dr. Frank Mitchell Silsby of the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, CA, read the services for him in the beautiful Chapel of the Chimes. He also read Tennyson's beautiful poem, "Crossing the Bar". At his request, his body was cremated and is entombed in a niche procured by himself a number of years ago at the California Crematorium and Columbarium at Oakland, CA, where he now rests in an environment of peace and quiet, bright with flowers and the cheer of singing birds that he loved so well."