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thought, and dependent on no one but his own judg-
ment, seeking no
help or support. Casting precedent
to the winds, he
reaches his goal and there stands
alone upon the height
of attainmenta splendid ex-
ample of a man concentrating
his high qualities of
mind and character
upon one purpose. The others
travel in groups,
pushed along by each other in the
general forward movement
on a beaten path to a com-
fortable, little,
made-to-order niche in that vast hall
filled with those
who content themselves with medio-
crity, and there
rest in placid self-satisfaction. Not of
tlie latter but of
the first mentioned is G. W. Waller,
town builder and
prosperity promoter, but above all a
real man, never satisfied
with his achievements but
filled with that insatiable hunger to
conquer new
worldsG. W. Waller,
who wins victory wherever he
strives.
Mr. Waller
typifies the "new spirit" of Florida, the
spirit to will and
to do, the spirit of enterprise. A
wholesale produce
merchant of Philadelphia, he saw
all sections of this
broad land of plenty on his ex-
tensive business
trips and an accidental visit to the
Hastings country,
Florida; in 1907, opened his eyes to
the immense possibilities
of the soil here and convinced
him that the greatest
opportunities awaited one who
would grasp them. A picture of rich lands and fertile
acres to be developed never left his mind and as his
enthusiasm grew in retrospect it led him back to the
land of promise and he settled in Hastings in 1909,
becoming, in a few years, a man leading in its most
important industry, the potato culture, and now he
stands at the head
of or is connected with all of the
enterprises that make Hastings what it is todaya
thriving, fast-growing community, making aggressive
strides to become -an important center of the south-
land. There is conceived
no measure of importance
in connection with the town on which he is not con-
sulted, and his name is connected with practically all
of them and in most of them he is a moving force.
Promotion enterprises of a commercial nature and of
vital importance to the life and expansion of the town
are guided by his able. mind, and the Board of Trade,
that body of men who work foremost for growth, has
him for president, while as the head of the council lie
directs the governmental affairs of the city. Immense
concerns owe their inception to his enterprise and their
development to his progressive spirit and indomitable
perseverance.
G. W. Waller was
born near Salisbury, Wicomico
county, Maryland, December 8, 1865, a son of E. M.
and Sallie A. (Bradley) Waller, natives of the same
county. There the
father successfully followed agri-
cultural pursuits until 1883, in which year he removed
to Laurel, Delaware, where he engaged in the mer-
cantile business, in which he gained success
until called to his final rest in 1893, at
the age
of sixty-seven years.
He was a man highly thought of in the communities
where he resided and always gave his support to those
measures which made for advancement and progress.
A democrat in his political affiliations, he was active in
the affairs of his party during all his life and held
such important public offices as that of county com-
missioner, sheriff and legislator, discharging his duties
in these various connections to the satisfaction of his
constituents and greatly to his own credit. The Waller
family is among the early Maryland families coming
from the mother country to that state during colonial
days. The mother,
Mrs. Sallie A. (Bradley) Waller,
was born in 1832 and passed away at Wilmington,
Delaware, in 1911, at the age of about seventy-nine
years. In their family
were three daughters and five
sons: Elizabeth,
the wife of Alonzo W. Philips, of
Delmar, Delaware; Sallie W., who married William
R. Philips, who resides near Delmar, Delaware and is
a brother of Alonzo W. Philips; Manson, who was
engaged in the clothing business in Laurel, Delaware,
and there passed away at the age of forty-five years;
Josephine, who married J. F. Thomas, a merchant of
Wilmington; T. J., .a clothing merchant of Laurel; G.
W., of this review; Lionel S., formerly a telegraph
operator who passed away in New London, Connecti-
cut, at the age of thirty-four years; and Dr. L. 0.
Waller, of Philadelphia, who is a dentist by profession
and prominent in political circles of that city, having
served as select councilman from the ninth ward, of
which he is the leader, and having declined the honor
of nomination to congress on the Keystone ticket.
G. W. Waller was
reared under the parental roof
and grew to manhood on his father's farm, acquiring
his education in the schools of the neighborhood. In
1883 he removed with his parents to Delaware, where
he assisted his father in the mercantile business, be-
coming acquainted with the details of procedure of
such an enterprise and with general commercial prin-
ciples. Upon the
death of the father in 1893, G. W.
Waller removed to Philadelphia to seek the wider
fields of the larger city and engaged in the wholesale
fruit and produce business.
He became eminently
successful along this line and in the course of business
traveled extensively not only over the United States
but also making trips to England, Ireland and Scot-
land, buying and soliciting for produce. The trip to
the British isles was made for the purpose of import-
ing potatoes from there and he also acted as business
agent and handled the tomato output of Hazelhurst,
Mississippi, watermelons and canteloupes from Lumber
Bridge, North Carolina, and grapes from Hector, New
York. Besides acting
as broker and agent for these
large interests he also bought independently. In 1907,
during one of his business trips, made for the purpose
of buying potatoes, he came to Hastings, Florida,
and
perceiving the pronounced progress which was made
here and appreciating the opportunities of the future,
bought a farm in the spring of 1909, when he decided
to definitely settle here, arriving at his destination in
the fall of the same year.
At this time he gave up all
of his interests in Philadelphia and henceforth devoted
his whole attention to his local enterprise. That he
has not been mistaken in his judgment is evident by
the wonderful progress that has been made here and
by which he has benefited.
Not only, however, has
he been a witness of the changes that have occurred
but he has been the most active factor in bringing them
about. He is firmly
convinced of the great future in
store for Hastings and can conceive no greater oppor-
tunity for any man in any walk of life than to settle
here, which place he considers of the greatest promise
of all he has ever visited.
His only regret is that his
attention was not called sooner to the dormant riches
which awaited but development.
Mr. Waller owns
and operates-a tract of about one hundred acres near.
Hastings entirely devoted to potato culture and the
important position which he occupies among the men
engaged in this industry is evident in the office he
holds in connection with the Hastings-Elkton Potato
Exchange as secretary, treasurer and general manager,
his services being largely devoted to the marketing of
the local output and obtaining of the highest prices
possible. Mr. Waller's
abilities have carried him into a
number of other important relations and he serves at
present as the president of the Hastings Water Com-
pany, treasurer of the Hastings Development Com-
pany and is also chairman of the board of directors of
the East Hastings Terminal Company, of which he
is one of the five owners.
As president of the Board
of Trade he has been foremost among the men who
have made possible the rapid development of the town
and have brought about the commercial expansion
which the city now enjoys.
Another line along which.
lie lias been prominent is that of the good roads move-
ment and he is acting at this writing as chairman of
the good roads committee of Hastings, doing work
that highly redounds to his credit. Public-spirited in
the truest sense of the word, he has never held back in
offering his services, wherever they would be of benefit,
and as the president of the Hastings city council has
instituted a number of measures and has seen them
enacted, that have brought about improvements of
great benefit.
Mr. Waller was united
in marriage to Miss Fannie
E. Benney, a native of Talbot county, Maryland, and
a daughter of Dr. Frank Benney.
Mr. and Mrs. Wal-
ler have two children: Marie,
the wife of John B.
Westenhaver, of Hastings,and the mother of one daughter,
Frances; and William Manson, who is
eighteen years of age and resides with his parents.
Mr. Waller has always
led a busy life in which in-
dolence and idleness have had no part and while he is
attaining his own success he is largely instrumental in
the development of Hastings, glad to do his share of
the work of making this section what he believes it
will one day become, one of the most prosperous in
the world. He is
always in the front ranks with those
who lead the way and by his activities has demonstrated
the success which it is possible to attain here. In all
that he undertakes he is actuated by a spirit of con-
tagious enthusiasm that is an inspiration to others,
and acting according to the dictates of his faith and
judgment the wisdom of his opinion has been proven.
His activities have been a serviceable factor in the
growth and upbuilding of Hastings and there is no
more loyal advocate of the town which he calls his
home. | 
