George Mills Cooley, the eldest of fourteen living children, nine sons and five daughters of George and Ellen Tolputt Cooley, was born in Utah in 1856, and crossed the plains an infant in his mother’s arms, drawn by ox teams, to California. His parents are both natives of the county of Kent, England, and were married on shipboard while crossing the Atlantic to the United States. They settled in the San Bernardino valley, south of the city, and the subject of this memoir grew up to man-hood on the beautiful ranch where they now reside, and where he mastered the arts of agriculture. Deciding to enter mercantile life, he educated himself therefore in Heald’s Business College, San Francisco, and began his hardware business in 1874, as clerk in the store which he now owns, for Ruffen & Biays, whom he bought out in 1885, and has since been sole proprietor. This is the oldest hardware house in the county, having been established by John Ruffen nearly twenty-five years ago. Since coming in possession of the business, Mr. Cooley has increased it several fold by his energy and the close application of his thorough knowledge of the hardware trade. He is not only master of the business but also personally superintends every department, and herein lies his phenomenal success. His stock embraces everything in the line of shelf and general hardware, stoves, piping and plumbers’ goods, all of which he buys from manufacturers direct and in large quantities, thus reducing the cost to the minimum, and giving his customers the benefit in low prices. Among the special departments developed in his extensive and steadily growing business is scientific plumbing, for which he has created an enviable reputation throughout San Bernardino County. He makes all his own estimates and supervises the work in this branch, in which he employs from four to twelve skilled mechanics, and does the bulk of the work in this line in this portion of Southern California. Roofing and all kinds of job work also receives special attention, and form a prominent feature of the business.
Within the past two or three years Mr. Cooley has given considerable attention to building on his own account, and has erected and owns six dwellings on Sixth and D streets, where he has two acres of land in that popular quarter of the city. He entered into competition with twenty-nine other pipe dealers to sell to the city of San Bernardino pipe for its new water-works, which will be put into the streets this coming summer. Mr. Cooley was successful, and secured the contract for the entire city system, defeating all competitors by from $4,000 to $14,000.
Mr. Cooley married Miss Bessant, a native Californian, and daughter of a pioneer who crossed the plains in the same train with his parents. Their family consists of a daughter and two sons.
