Читать книгу Memoirs of Milwaukee County, Volume 2 - Josiah Seymour Currey - Страница 5

Louis Allis, who is the active representative of the Allis family in connection with the great industrial enterprise established and developed by his father, Edward P. Allis, was born in Milwaukee, December 30, 1866. While the family has been represented on this side of the Atlantic since the earliest period in the colonization of Massachusetts, there are many references to the Allis family in the old Doomsday book of England. The family had many representatives in London until the great plague of 1665, at which time it was nearly exterminated. More extended reference is made to the ancestral line in the historical sketch of Edward P. Allis, from the arrival of the American progenitor, William Allis. down to the present time.

At an early age Louis Allis displayed keen interest in manufacturing, a considerable part of his childhood having been spent in his father's shops, where he was a great favorite with the men. He was educated at Markham Academy in Milwaukee and in the Pennsylvania Military College, winning the Civil Engineer degree in June, 1888. Following his graduation he entered the employ of the Edward P. Allis Company in the capacity of storeroom clerk. His advancement in the business world since that time has been continuous, but the attainment of wealth has never been the sole end and aim of his life. Other interests have been outstanding features in his career, making his record one which might well serve as an example to employers throughout the country. About 1889 he was responsible for the installation of first aid and hospital facilities at the Edward P. Allis Company, and from this nucleus in connection with the then established Allis Mutual Aid Society, developed one of the first complete welfare organizations of any consequence in this country. His advance to receiving clerk and purchasing agent was rapid, and although he nominally retained that title, he expanded his activities until he was virtually general manager. He left the employ of the Edward P. Allis Company, due to illness, in July, 1901. From then until March, 1906, Mr. Allis was interested in the control of eighty thousand acres of timber land and various mining properties.

In 1903 Mr. Allis was elected president of the Mechanical Appliance Company, his manufacturing and executive talent making it natural that he should get back Into the manufacturing business. There was another and more important motive which actuated Mr. Allis in assuming the presidency, and that was a broad and sympathetic comprehension of and a desire to aid in the improvement of conditions surrounding employees. Those who have been closely associated with him have good reason to remember numerous instances in which, through advice and in a much more substantial manner, he has enabled them to improve their condition and character. Under his guidance the Mechanical Appliance Company has grown from a comparatively small and Insignificant beginning to a position of very considerable importance in the electrical industry. His policy has been one of consistent integrity as regards the quality of apparatus, and under his encouragement a very considerable amount of specialized development has taken place, which has resulted in placing the Mechanical Appliance Company in a unique position among the American electrical manufacturers. Under his guidance the condition of the company has shown a steady improvement to the point that today it has become a real institution. Mr. Allis is or has been a director and president of the Cazenovia Land Company, Battery Light & Power Company, the Edward P. Allis Company, Elizabeth Mining Company and the Mechanical Appliance Company; director, vice president and treasurer of the Milwaukee Boiler Company; director and general manager of the Gogebic Lumber Company; director and treasurer of the Geneva Land &Mining Company; director and vice president of the Central Improvement Company; general manager of the Horseshoe Mining Company, all of Milwaukee; and director of the National Wrapping Machine Company, now of Springfield, Massachusetts.

Mr. Allis has been married twice. On the 17th of September, 1890, he wedded Carol Yates and on the 1st of May, 1911, Louise Hegen became his wife. The son of his first marriage is Edward Phelps (III) and of the second . marriage there are three sons: Louis, Jr., John Watson and William White. Louis Allis, Jr., was born April 14, 1916. Edward Phelps Allis (III) was born August 1, 1892, was graduated from Harvard University at Cambridge. Massachusetts, in 1915 and had previously completed a preparatory course at Milton School in Milton, Massachusetts. Since his college days he has been identified with the manufacturing interests of Milwaukee in connection with his father and bids fair, like his father and grandfather, to become a notable figure in the industrial and financial circles of the city. At the age of five he was playing a notable game of golf and as the years passed he won championships in state and college contests. His father, Louis Allis, has largely found his recreation on the links and is a prominent figure in club circles, having membership in the Milwaukee Club, Milwaukee Country Club, University Club, Blue Mound Country Club, Milwaukee Athletic (Hub, Town Club of Milwaukee, Rotary Club of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Association of Commerce and the Electrical Association of Milwaukee, all of Milwaukee; the Electric Power Club, Electrical Manufacturers Club; the Travelers Club of Paris, France; and the Société de la Boulie, Golf de Paris, near Versailles. Mr. Allis is also particularly interested in the American Constitutional League of Wisconsin and in the hospitals of the city, which largely claim his active cooperation along philanthropic lines. He resembles his illustrious father in his notable powers of organization, his ability to foresee and foretell coming events and conditions and to plan accordingly.