- GEORGE B. HARRIS. Waukesha is a name associated in the minds
of many thousands of
- people outside the boundaries of Wisconsin with some very
fine products that enhance the pleasure and comfort of living.
Not least among these is the famed Waukesha cheese, and it is
for his connection with this product that the name of George
B. HARRIS is best known, though locally his enterprise and public
spirit are of hardly less value in relation to the improvements
and general welfare of this beautiful city. It has been said
that any work carried on with perfect care and with the highest
possible ideals may be considered an art; so interesting is the
history of the homely art of cheese-making in the HARRIS family
that it is raised notably above the level of ordinary manufacturing.
Cheese-making has been an industry in the HARRIS family for many
years, and the father of George B. HARRIS was for many years
one of the foremost American authorities in this business.
- George B. HARRIS was born in Rossie township, St. Lawrence
county, New York, February
- 10, 1861. His parents were James B. and Rachel Cheney (EMMONS)
HARRIS. A native of Scotland and a resident of the Empire State,
James Bowie HARRIS, was throughout his active career a cheese
manufacturer. He and the partner with whom he was associated
operated eight cheese factories in Jefferson county, New York,
and such was the quality of their products that James B. HARRIS
became widely known as an authority in cheese and butter making.
Many years ago the Canadian government, recognizing his skill,
engaged his services as official inspector and instructor to
the dairymen of Canada. In that work he was engaged from 1878
until 1882, and the subsequent raising in the standards of dairy
products, in the province of Ontario, was largely credited to
his instruction. His success in Canada, led to a similar request
for his services from the dairymen of Scotland. He first returned
to his native land as an authority on cheese making in March
1883, returning to America in December of the same year.
- The following February he again went to Scotland in the same
capacity, instructing and lecturing to
- the dairymen of Scotland in the art of making cheese, until
November, 1884, and upon leaving Scotland for America he was
presented with a valuable watch and chain, bearing the following
inscription:
-
- "Presented to
- J. B. HARRIS
- by the
- Dairymen of Scotland
- in appreciation of his
- valuable services
- 20th November, 1884"
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-
- This watch and chain are now in the prized possession of
his son, George B. HARRIS.
- Mr. George B. HARRIS as a boy attended the district schools
of Jefferson county, and also the
- Ives Seminary at Antwerp, New York. At the age of sixteen
during the vacation period he took up the regular routine in
one of his father's factories at Antwerp. Two years later he
assumed the management of one of the factories conducted by BENT
and HARRIS, his father's firm. For two years his time was divided
between superintending of a branch factory and clerking in a
hardware store at Antwerp. In 1881 Mr. HARRIS left his native
state, and his independent work as a manufacturer has been performed
chiefly in Wisconsin.
- At Clinton, in Rock county, he took the management of a cheese
factory and after one season
- went to Iowa, where he bought and operated for one year a
creamery in Grundy county. When it was well established, he leased
the property and returned to Wisconsin. Here he and his brother
John H. HARRIS established a number of plants for the manufacture
of dairy products. This business was begun in Walworth county.
There and in Waukesha county, they soon had no less than fifteen
creameries. This joint business continued until 1890. In March
of that year, the enterprise was incorporated under the name
of The Wisconsin Butter & Cheese Company. Mr. HARRIS since
the incorporation has been secretary of the concern. In 1890
also the company erected a Cold Storage Plant at Waukesha, and
the business has been developed and improved along all lines
since that time. Among those who are familiar with the source
of some of the finest cheese made in America, the name Wisconsin
Butter & Cheese Company is a familiar title. All the popular
brands of high-grade cheese are produced in the factory. There
is every facility for producing the best grades of this kind
of food, and also for the making of the finest butter. The grassy
valleys and hillsides, the splendid woods and the clear streams
that give Waukesha its landscape charms, are of themselves a
very valuable asset to the dairy concern. Milk and cream produced
in such surroundings and when manufactured by methods of international
fame must almost necessarily result in the finest of products.
The cheese manufactured by the Wisconsin Butter & Cheese
Company include many varieties, among them are the famous Arrow
Brand Waukesha Cream of which Jeanne Boule, the French connoisseur,
so quaintly said, "It is so perfect that one might almost
call it musical."
- Besides Mr. George B. HARRIS as secretary, the other officials
of the company are: J. H.
- HARRIS, president; W. A. WEST, vice president, and G. D.
PUFFER, treasurer.
- Mr. HARRIS is well known in Masonic circles, being a member
of the Wisconsin Consistory and
- other branches. All that pertains to the greater welfare
of his city and state has his cordial support and cooperation.
The work he has performed toward securing for Waukesha good streets
and sidewalks must stand as a monument to his civic loyalty.
For several years as a trustee for the village of Waukesha, he
advocated the permanent improvement of the then village thoroughfares,
and the present condition was brought about only after many repeated
efforts. In those efforts he was always one of the leaders among
the public spirited citizens of Waukesha. Before it became possible
to procure an adequate plan and the proper authority for proceeding
with such improvement, a new charter was obtained for Waukesha,
and after this charter was once defeated, the local citizenship
was eventually educated to the point where it accepted and approved
the new organic law. At the present time it is said that no city
in Wisconsin of Waukesha's population can boast so great an extent
of macadamized streets and of good sidewalks. For the past nine
years, Mr. HARRIS has served as a member of the Board of Education,
and at the present time is president of the board, which position
he has credibly filled for the past three years. In national
politics his support is given to the Republican party.
- On October 5, 1887, Mr. HARRIS married Miss Alma Atwood COMAN,
of Walworth county,
- Wisconsin. They are the parents of four sons and one daughter,
namely: John C. HARRIS; Hugh M. HARRIS; George B. HARRIS; Robert
J. HARRIS; and Helen M. HARRIS. Both in his own personality and
in the importance of his business George B. HARRIS is highly
esteemed in Waukesha. The thriving condition of the enterprise
which he presents is sufficient testimony to his ability and
the regard of his fellow townsmen is an unspoken tribute to his
character.
-
- From "Wisconsin: It's Story and Biography, 1848-1913,
Vol. 4" by Ellis Baker Usher. Lewis Publishing Company,
(c)1914, pp. 774-777.
-
- Courtesy of a transcriber.
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