Quick Facts
Biography
George Willis Pack (born 1831, Peterboro, New York; d. August 31, 1906, Southampton, Long Island, New York) was a second-generation timberman on Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Building on his father's legacy, over the course of several decades, Pack successfully developed his timber businesses, becoming one of Michigan's first millionaires. His son, Charles Lathrop Pack; and grandson, Randolph Greene Pack, carried on the family tradition.
Life and career
His father, George Pack, Jr. had established two sawmills outside of Lexington, Michigan, in a place known as Pack's Mills.
After years of working with the elder Pack, in 1860 George Willis Pack, together with John L. Woods, established Carrington, Pack & Company, in Sand Beach, Michigan.
In 1864, with Woods and Jeremiah Jenks, George Willis Pack established a second sawmill, Pack, Jenks & Company, also near Sand Beach.
A third firm, Woods & Company, in Port Crescent, Michigan, was formed in 1870.
In 1876, Pack, Woods & Company was formed in Oscoda, Michigan, on the Au Sable River.
George Willis Pack grew to be a wealthy man. He "would be remembered as one of the few millionaires who had lived in Huron County.
Firms, places, and dates
- Carrington, Pack & Company, Sand Beach, Michigan, 1860–70
- Pack, Jenks & Company, Sand Beach, Michigan, 1864–70
- Woods & Company, Port Crescent, Michigan, 1870–78
- Pack, Woods & Company, Oscoda, Michigan, 1878–1901
Landholdings
- Huron County, Michigan - 5,000 acres (20 km2) of timber
- Pinnebog River, Michigan - 25,000 acres (100 km2) of pine lands