GEORGE A. RULAFORD, a carpenter and builder at College Place, a pioneer of the valley of 1875, was born in [Brighton] Clark County Ohio, on December 7, 1848. He remained in his native town until about 18 years old, acquiring his education in the public schools, then learned the trade of a carpenter, serving his apprenticeship at Columbus, Ohio. He afterwards followed his trade in different parts of the state until 1868, in which year he removed to Colorado City, Colorado, where he clerked and worked at his handicraft for a couple of years. Returning to Ohio in 1870, he followed his trade there for five years longer, then enlisted in Company L, First United States Cavalry. He was sent to Fort Walla Walla and remained there three years, going thence to Fort Klamath, Oregon, where he remained during the rest of his enlistment. During the war of 1878 the company to which he belonged fought many battles and sustained heavy losses in killed and wounded, but he was not permitted to participate, having been selected to remain in charge of the company's property at the fort.
Upon being discharged Mr. Rulaford settled in Walla Walla. He worked at his trade there until 1884, then removed to Medical Lake to reap the benefit of the boom. He continued in the pursuit of his handycraft there for seven years, coming thence to College Place, where he has since resided. When he came there were only two houses in the village, and he witnessed its growth from that time to the present day. [note: I don't have the date that this was written, but George A. Rulaford died January 17, 1914.] Nor has he been in any sense a passive spectator of this developement, for by far the greater part of the houses in the town were built by him. He is one of the progressive forces of the place and esteemed as one of its representative citizens.
In Walla Walla, on June 18, 1880, Mr. Rulaford married Miss Martha Ford,
a native of Walla Walla Valley and the first white girl born in it.
They are parents of three children, Cecil C., Burnham S., and Ernest E.,
all students in Walla Walla College. The family own and occupy a
comfortable home in the town.
