George Swift Hamburger was born April 4, 1867, the son of Louis and Frances Turner Moore Hamburger. He died March 29, 1935 in Columbus, Georgia. He married Rebecca Epping Flournoy on November 27, 1895. She was born on May 16, 1873 and died December 27, 1963. He had an interest in the Hamburger Mills in Columbus. According to an article by Clason Kyle in the Special Sesquicentennial Supplement IV of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer in 1978, George's father, Louis, was one of the founding partners, along with William A. Swift, G. Mote Williams, George P. Swift and George P. Swift Jr., of the Swift Manufacturing Company, chartered in 1882. The company's first location was the second floor of Temperance Hall, located on the west side of First Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets in downtown Columbus. They started there with a few looms and began to manufacture cotton checks and plaids. The partners called their mill Excelsior. Six years later, William Swift organized another mill called the Paragon . It was bought in 1892 by Major Louis Hamburger. Renamed Hamburger Mills, it had begun an expansion program in 1907, directing its attention and facilities to the manufacturing of cottonades and plaids when Hamburger died. John Mitchell, Hamburger's son-in-law, operated the mill until 1914, when World War I caused a twelve month shutdown. Reorganized in 1916 under the direction of Guy Garrard, looms were removed and production concentrated on colored cotton yarns. The controlling interest of the mill was purchased in 1920 by W. C. Bradley, and the name changed once again, this lime to Bradley Manufacturing Company. After the mill ceased to operate in 1942, the factory saw service as Teen Tavern and later was utilized by Royal Crown Cola Company.