Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Harris, Atkinson 
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Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

Atkinson Harris, a representative of the leather trade and one of the leading 
factors in political circles in Joliet, where for ten years he has figured 
prominently as a republican alderman, was born in Waterloo county, Canada, May 
18, 1853. His father, Atkinson Harris, Sr., was a native of Ireland and died 
in Michigan in 1903. By occupation he was a farmer, thus providing for his 
family. In the public schools of Canada, Atkinson Harris acquired his 
education, putting aside his text-books when eighteen years of age. He then 
learned the tanner's trade and in 1879 came to Joliet, where he entered the 
leather business in connection with the house of Houck & Brown, with which he 
has since been connected. His long identification with this line has made him 
thoroughly conversant with the values of leather and the market for that 
product and his labors have been no unimportant element in the success of the 
house with which he is associated. For the past decade Mr. Harris has been one 
of the aldermen of Joliet, elected on the republican ticket, and he exercises 
his official prerogatives in support of those movements and measures which 
have direct bearing upon the welfare and upbuilding of the city. Prominent in 
Masonic circles, he belongs to Mount Joliet Lodge, No. 42, A. F. and A. M.; to 
Joliet chapter, No. 27, R, A. M.; and Joliet commandery, No. 4, K. T. He 
likewise holds membership in Medinah Temple of the Mystic shrine and in the 
Oriental consistory, both of Chicago, and he is a member of the Union League 
and Commercial clubs. On the 13th of December, 1882, Mr. Harris was united in 
marriage to Miss Emma S. Houck, a daughter of G. Houck, one of the original 
members of the firm of Houck & Brown. They have one son, George Gabriel 
Harris, born September 3, 1883. Mr. Harris' advancement in business circles 
may be attributable in large degree to his persistency of purpose in a line of 
commercial enterprise in which he embarked as a young tradesman. He stands as 
an excellent example of that class of men who secure their own start in life-
the determined, self-reliant men—willing to work for advantages which others 
secure through inheritance and destined by sheer force of character to succeed 
in the face of all opposition and to push to the front in one important branch 
of enterprise or another. As a man his business ability has been constantly 
manifested, not only in relation to his private trade interests, but also in 
his co-operation in the municipal affairs which come under his province as a 
member of the Joliet city council. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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