George Clayton Foulk, born in Marietta, Pennsylvania in 1856, was graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1876 and served for two years in the Far East. Following a trip across Siberia in 1882, he accepted a post at the Naval Library in Washington, D.C. In 1884 he was appointed as Naval Attache to the American Legation in Korea, and with the resignation of the minister in 1885 he became chief United States representative at the court of the Korean king. Although he was invited to become the personal advisor to that monarch, Foulk resigned his commission in 1887 and with his Japanese wife took up residence at Kyoto. The two years, 1888-1890 were spent in the employ of the American Trading Company at Yokohama, following which he accepted a position as professor of mathematics at Doshisha College, Kyoto, where he remained until his death, in 1893.
From the description of George Clayton Foulke papers, [ca. 1876-1889]. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 27041950
