Howard-Madison County IN Archives Biographies.....Harris, Thomas 1870 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 5, 2006, 11:44 pm Author: Jackson Morrow THOMAS HARRIS. It is by no means an easy task to describe within the limits of this review a man who has led an active and eminently useful life and by his own exertions reached a position of honor and trust in the line of industries with which his interests are allied. But biography finds justification, nevertheless, in tracing and recording of such a life history, as the public claims a certain property interest in the career of every individual and the time invariably arrives when it becomes advisable to give the right publicity. It is then with a certain degree of satisfaction that the chronicler essays the task of touching briefly upon such a record as has been of the subject who now comes under this review. Mr. Thomas Harris, superintendent of the Steel & Wire Company of Kokomo, is a man of high standing and influence in the industrial circles with which he has long been identified. Mr. Harris is an American by adoption, being a native of Wellington, England, where his birth occurred on the 18th day of January, 1870. After receiving an elementary education in the schools of his native place, he entered at the early age of thirteen a rod and wire mill, where in due time he became proficient as a rod roller besides gaining a practical knowledge of other branches of work connected with the establishment. After devoting the ensuing four years to his trade he decided to go to America, where he was led to believe better opportunities and more favorable openings for advancement were to be found. Accordingly in 1887 he bade farewell to his native land and shortly after arriving at his destination, secured remunerative employment in a mill at Howard, Pennsylvania, where he remained one year. Resigning his position at the expiration of the time indicated he went to Joliet, Illinois, thence after a brief period to Anderson, Indiana, where he became head roller in a rod mill, which position he held to the satisfaction of all concerned until accepting the higher and more responsible post of superintendent of the rod and wire mill in Kokomo in the year 1901. Mr. Harris brought to his position in this city a mind thoroughly disciplined by technical training and practical experience and it was not long until he infused new life into the plant by enlarging its capacity and greatly increasing its efficiency for effective work. He also became a stock holder in the concern as well as a member of the board of directors and in these different capacities the establishment entered upon a new era, and soon was on the high road to prosperity. All of his time is required to look after the interests of the mill, the business of which has steadily grown in magnitude and importance until it is now one of the leading industries of. the kind not only in this city but in the West, its continued advancement and prosperity being largely due to the technical ability, wise discretion and well balanced judgment of the enterprising and gentlemanly superintendent, who has made every other consideration subordinate to the one idea of placing the plant upon a solid financial basis and making it meet the high expectations of the promoters and stockholders. Mr. Harris is a thorough mechanic, a master of the trade to which his life and energies have been so conscientiously devoted, and it is but natural that success should crown his efforts and fortune reward him with her choicest and most glittering favors, for such a man as he knows not the meaning of the word fail, while the term discouragement is not found in his vocabulary. His commanding position in the industrial world has been fairly and honorably earned and though still a young man he has achieved success such as few in a much larger life attain, and in the broad sunlight of prosperity with every inducement to still greater effort, he is not content with laurels already won, but looks forward to a future in which a wider sphere of usefulness and greater distinction await him. Mr. Harris is a married man and the father of an interesting family of three children whose names are Thomas, Robert and Ralph, their mother, whom he married in Joliet, Illinois, having formerly been Edith B. Chesnut, of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Harris live in a beautiful home in the suburbs of Kokomo, known as the Grange Hall Farm, where a spirit of true hospitality reigns and where they enjoy the companionship of the many warm friends who have learned to prize them for their estimable qualities of mind and heart, their popularity being limited only by their acquaintance. Mr. Harris is a Mason of high standing and is also identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, being an active worker in both organizations and at different times has held important official positions in each. Additional Comments: From: HISTORY OF HOWARD COUNTY INDIANA BY JACKSON MORROW, B. A. ILLUSTRATED VOL. II B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (circa 1909) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/howard/bios/harris152bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/infiles/ File size: 5.5 Kb