George Prior graduated from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. He taught school in McPherson and Rice Counties and was a principal at Conway. For the last two years before leaving Kansas for California, Prior had a lumber business in Windom.
In California, he settled in Hemet in 1899 where he was involved in civic affairs serving as a member of the school board, a director of the YWCA, and superintendent of the Sunday School. He worked for the Hemet Land and Water Company.
In 1901, Prior moved to Riverside where he, again, went to work in the lumber business. He worked for various companies including being a bookkeeper for the Newport Lumber Company at Mulberry and Eighth Streets in 1905. In 1907, he worked at the Russ Lumber and Mill Company at Orange and Ninth. Prior and his brothers, Clarence and Percy, then opened Prior Brothers, selling eggs, poultry, grain, olive oil, seeds, hay, wood, and coal. In 1911, he successfully ran for city clerk in Riverside and, in 1912, was appointed county auditor to succeed C.R. Stibbens, a position he held until 1925. In 1926, he became secretary for the Riverside Mortgage Company.
He was extremely active in the Riverside music community, initially at First Methodist Episcopal Church and later as a member, then director of the choir at Grace Church.
