The early life of George C. Wetherbee was without special Interest. He attended the district school, and being of an active, restless disposition, engaged in various employments in his native village. At the age of eighteen he went to Boston, and entered a provision store, where he remained about a year and a half, when an injury to his knee obliged him to stop work and return home, where he remained until the breaking out of the War with the South. Almost at the beginning of the strife, he enlisted as a private in Company H, Twenty-third Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, for a period of three years, or until the close of the war. His regiment formed a part of General Burnside's command, and was stationed for a few mouths at Annapolis, Maryland, then at Hatleras Inlet, and participated in the capture of Roanoke Island and Newburn. North Carolina. At the latter place Mr. Wetherbee was detailed as commissary of the company. After about eighteen months' service, during which he participated in all the campaigns and engagements of his regiment, he was promoted to a First Lieutenancy by Governor John J. Andrew, of Massachusetts, and was shortly after assigned to duty as acting Assistant Commissary of Subsistence, on the staff of General Foster, and ordered to Roanoke Island. Here his services again commanded approval, and on August 19. 1863. he received a commission from President Lincoln, as Captain and Assistant Commissary of Substance of United Stales Volunteers. Subsequently, when General B. F. Butler came to Fortress Monroe, and began the formation of the Army of the James, Captain Wetherbee was ordered to report to him. and was there attached to the staff of General Devens. He served with the Army of the James during the memorable campaign which included the capture of City Points, the especially severe fighting at Cold Harbor, and the capture of Richmond by the combined armies of the James and the Potomac. In the advance on and capture of the hitter city. Captain Wetherbee acted as volunteer aid in General Devon's division, and while there, in July, 1865. he resigned and was honorably discharged. His military career was recognized by the award, on June 24, 1865. of the brevet rank of Major for meritorious services.

After a visit of two months at home, in the fall of 1865 he came to Detroit, and with the small sum of money saved from his pay in the service, he engaged in the produce business, but it proved a disastrous investment and he lost nearly all his savings. He then embarked in the grocery business on Woodward Avenue, where The Godfrey Block now stands, with S. S. Farquhar, under the firm name of Farquhar & Wetherbee. Continuing the business with success for nearly two years, he then sold out and purchased C. M. Garrison's interest in the wooden and willow ware store of William Saxby and Company, then located nearly opposite the Hoard of Trade building, on Woodbridgc Street. In 1873 he purchased Mr. Saxby's interest in the business, at which time the late Governor John J. Hagley became a special partner, and the firm name of George C. Wetherbee & Company was adopted. In 1876 Mr. Wetherbee purchased Mr. Hagley's interest, and continued the business alone until 1882, when it was incorporated, since which time he has been President and general manager. Their manufacturing plant, located on Vine wood Avenue, is one of the largest and most complete of its kind in the West. In 1873 Mr. Wetherbee began the manufacture of brooms at the State Prison, at Jackson, and this branch of his business has grown to be the most extensive broom factory in the State, more than 30,000 brooms being turned out every month. In 1883 he was chiefly instrumental in the organization of the United States Truck Company, of which he is President. The success of this enterprise has been great and rapid. He is also President of the Novelty Brush Company, organized in 1887. Over one hundred and twenty-five men find employment in these enterprises, including six traveling salesmen. Their wooden and willow ware trade is confined principally to Michigan and portions of Indiana and Ohio, while the market for their trucks and brushes extends throughout the United States.

He is the President and principal owner of the Michigan Elevator and Engine Company, and is also a director in the Manufacturers and Mutual Insurance Company, of Detroit, and in the Thomas Ink and Bluing Company, of Canada, also a director and treasurer of Detroit Vise Company, he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Post No. 348, a number of the Loyal Legion, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. The success Mr. Wetherbee has achieved in a line of manufacture requiring untiring and close application to innumerable details, is the best evidence of his excellent business capacity. He has been the main factor in the development of several enterprise, which have not only priced him among the successful manufacturers of Detroit, but have materially added to the prosperity of his adopted city.

He is a regular attendant, and for many years has been a Trustee, of the Unitarian Church. His untiring industry, power of close and continued application, broad business views, and a reputation for unquestioned honor and honesty, have been the secret of his success. He possesses decided convictions, and is nut afraid to express them, but has also a warm and social nature, and wins and retains the regard and friendship of business associates. He was married January 32, 1867, to Mary E. Phelps, of Springfield, Massachusetts. They have two children, a son and a daughter.

History of Detroit and Wayne County and early Michigan - by Silas Farmer 1890