From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, 
publ. 1912, Page 1426-1427
 
GEORGE W. WYLIE.  Human lives are like the waves of the sea.  They flash a few 
brief moments in the sunlight, marvels of power and beauty, and then are 
dashed upon the remorseless shores of death and disappear forever.  As the 
mighty deep has rolled for ages past and chanted its sublime requiem and will 
continue to roll during the coming ages until time shall be no more, so will 
the waves of human life follow each other in countless succession until they 
mingle at last with the billows of eternity's boundless sea.  The passing of 
any human life however humble and unknown, is sure to give rise to a pang of 
anguish to some heart, but when the fell destroyer knocks audibly at the door 
of the useful and prominent and removes from earthly scenes the man of honor 
and influence and the benefactor of his kind, it not only means bereavement to 
kindred and friends, but a public calamity as well.
 
In the largest and best sense of the term the late George W. WYLIE, soldier, 
ex-sheriff of the county and formerly marshal of the Walworth county fair, was 
one of the representative and notable citizens of his day and generation in 
this locality, and as such is entitled to a conspicuous place in the annals of 
the county.
 
Mr. WYLIE was born in Westmoreland, Oneida county, New York, April 5, 1826.  
He was the son of Robert and Susan (HEMSTED) WYLIE, a sterling old family of 
the Empire state.  He grew to manhood in the East and received such education 
as the common schools of those early times afforded, and he also attended 
Kirtland Academy in Ohio two years.  In 1842 he came with his parents to 
Walworth county, Wisconsin, and located in Lafayette township when the country 
was wild and neighbors were few and there he assisted his father develop the 
home farm.
 
Mr. WYLIE took an active interest in public affairs and in 1860 he was elected 
sheriff of Walworth county for two years, during which time he made his home 
at Elkhorn, Wisconsin.  He was incumbent of this office until in September 
1862, having discharged its affairs in a most praiseworthy manner; but he 
resigned to become quartermaster of the Twenty-eighth Wisconsin Volunteer 
Infantry and he served faithfully for two years in the Civil war, when 
physical disability compelled him to resign his commission and return home.  
In 1864 he was again elected sheriff, serving a term of two years, after which 
he returned to his farm in Lafayette township, where he had two hundred and 
seventy-six acres of finely improved and valuable land, and he became one of 
the substantial and progressive general farmers and stock men of this part of 
the county.
 
In 1880 Mr. WYLIE was again elected sheriff of Walworth county and he moved to 
Elkhorn in January 1881, and there made his home the rest of his life.  For a 
period of twenty years he had served as assessor of Layette township and was 
township clerk for five years and for over fifty years was marshal of the 
Walworth county fair at Elkhorn.  In all these capacities he discharged his 
duties most conscientiously and ably to the eminent satisfaction of all 
concerned, irrespective of party alignment.  He was regarded as  a leader in 
public affairs and was one of the best known men in the county for a half 
century.
 
Mr. WYLIE was married on June 7, 1846 to Jane BRISTOL, daughter of Henry 
BRISTOL and wife.  She was a native of Schoharie county, New York and was a 
representative of an old an highly respected family.  Four children were born 
to Mr. and Mrs. WYLIE, namely Susan, who married George FAIRCHILD and moved to 
Everett, Washington, where her death occurred in August 1911; Elizabeth, 
usually known as Libby, married Charles KNAPP, and they live in Lafayette 
township, this county; Nettie died in 1892; Halbert E., the only son, is told 
of in a separate sketch in this volume.
 
The mother of these children was called to her rest in December 1890, and the 
father, George W. WYLIE, was summoned to close his earthly accounts on March 
26, 1893, after a long, useful and honorable career, his loss being distinctly 
felt by the entire county, for as a citizen he was public-spirited and 
enterprising, and as a friend and neighbor he combined the qualities of head 
and heart that won confidence and commanded respect, a genial obliging, 
genteel gentleman in every sense of the terms.
 
Submitted by Carol