The life of an anarchist shoemaker from Freethought in Northamptonshire, England to the burgeoning anarchist movement in Philadelphia. As described by another anarchist, George’s “whole soul is in the cause. He is a most genial companion, with a warm, human heart, but rigidly uncompromising in his devotion to anarchist principles”.
George was born in Raunds in 1858, one of 17 children! Around 1881 he got work in a boot factory in Cawnpore, India. Here he noted the resistance of the Indian population to capitalism and factory regimentation. He started thinking about this.
He moved on to Chicago
and was caught up in the events that led to the deaths of the Chicago
Anarchist Martyrs. He was one of those that the police fired on on
May 4th 1886. George already had formed his own opinions
like the anarchism he now had come in to contact with and he became
an enthusiastic supporter of the movement.
He settled in
Philadelphia by 1892 or early 1893. A vigorous anarchist movement had
been in existence here since 1883 and George became one of its most
respected and persistent standard-bearers.
He was active as an anarchist for 28 years until his death, and often spoke at public meetings in Philadelphia.
Like many members of the anarchist movement, George was almost entirely self-educated. The Jewish anarchist Joseph L. Cohen describes him as a “very important and active member … a highly educated man and a powerful speaker on the platform, like an erudite professor with a fine sense of humour … his imposing appearance made a very fine impression on the audience”.
As the author notes: “... when Emma or Voltairine, or Peter Kropotkin, or some other respected anarchist writer of the time arrived to give a lecture, they were not alone on a street talking to strangers … When a squad of policemen lumbered onto the scene, scores of people would feel the truncheon crash down on their heads. It’s these smaller, local anarchist figures that make the fabric of the story, whereas the star characters make for wonderful embroidery.”
George was one of those important, ‘local’ figures, and his life and times are portrayed vividly in this fascinating pamphlet.