Читать книгу Memoirs of Milwaukee County, Volume 2 - Josiah Seymour Currey - Страница 7

When death called Charles Allis he was serving as chairman of the Milwaukee County Council of Defense, giving practically his entire time and effort to the cause of his country, having been the one man upon whom diverse factions would unite as an acceptable leader in this crisis of world history. A son of one of Milwaukee's honored pioneer business men and manufacturers, he carried to still larger fields the business instituted and directed by his father. He became a forceful factor Jn connection with the successful management of various corporations and financial interests of Milwaukee and the middle west and was equally well known as a patron of art and as a leader in the social life of the city.

A native of Milwaukee, Charles Allis spent his entire life in this city, where he was born May 4, 1853, his parents being Edward Phelps and Margaret M. (Watson) Allis. He was one of a family of eleven children and acquired his early education in the public schools, while later he attended Markham's Academy and subsequently the Little Blue Academy at Farmington, Maine. In the meantime his father had become one of the prominent iron manufacturers of the upper Mississippi valley and Charles Allis became secretary and treasurer of the Edward P. Allis Company following his father's death. In 1901 the business was reorganized as the Allis-Chalmers Company, of which Charles Allis became the first president. He likewise extended the scope of his interests by becoming vice president and one of the directors of the Milwaukee Trust Company, with which he remained until it was merged into the First Savings & Trust Company. He was likewise a director of the First National Bank and a trustee and member of the finance committee of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. He aided in organizing the Chicago Belting Company, of which he became the president.

In October. 1877, Mr. Allis was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Esther Ball, a daughter of Edward Hyde and Sarah E. (Cobb) Ball. Extensive mention of her father is made in the review below. From the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Allis made their home in Milwaukee, residing for many years at No. 400 Royal Place, where Mr. Allis erected a fireproof residence for protection of his valuable art collections. Aside from his home and his business there was no other interest which claimed so much of his time and attention as art and he had membership in a number of the leading art societies of the country. He became one of the organizers of the Milwaukee Art Society, which elected him its first president, and he was also a trustee of the Layton Art Gallery and a member of the American Numismatic Society and of the Circle of Friends of the Medallion as well as of the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York. He was likewise vice president of the Bureau of Municipal Research of Milwaukee and belonged to the State Historical Society. His home contained a notable and valuable collection of rare pictures, bronzes, porcelains and rugs, which he gathered in his travels in all parts of the world. He was well known in club circles in New York and Chicago as well as in Milwaukee, having membership in the Union and Whitehall Clubs of New York, the Chicago Club, the Chicago Athletic Association, the Milwaukee Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Town, Country and Fox Point Golf Clubs of Milwaukee. When he passed away on the 22nd of July, 1918, one of the local papers said: 'The death of Mr. Allis is a great loss not only to the County Council of Defense but to all Milwaukee, said Willits Pollock, secretary of that body. When the council was reorganized recently Mr. Allis was the only man upon whom all the elements could agree as the head. Everyone had the utmost confidence and faith in him, in his judgment and wisdom and absolute fairness. He took up the office of chairman of the council really at the risk of his life and against his doctor's advice, although it is not felt that his death was caused by overwork. His physician urged him to drop all work and attend to the care of his health. This he refused to do. 'I should hate myself all the rest of my life', he said, 'if I were to refuse this call of duty to our country.' "

The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, in a memoir prepared following the death of Mr. Allis, said: 'The executive committee has learned with great sorrow of the sudden death on Monday, July 22nd, 1918, of its valued member, Mr. Charles Allis. Mr. Allis has served continuously as a member of the board of trustees of this company since 1892, and a member of its finance committee since July, 1908, and has freely given his time and counsel to its interests. We record here our appreciation of his service. His long and useful career in business matters in this city, his zeal in the interest of this company and attention to the performance of his duties, and his uniform modesty and courtesy form the framework of his outer life, while his strength of character, his unswerving integrity in purpose and action, his patriotic feeling, his devotion to good works for mankind and his sense of duty to every trust submitted to his care, portray a friend and associate whose memory we cherish and whose loss we mourn."

An excellent characterization of Mr. Allis was written by Judge James G. Jenkins, as follows: "He was an able business man, careful and prudent, a public-spirited citizen, willing to devote his time for the public good, upright and honest in all his dealings. He led a life without reproach. It is seldom that the community loses a man who has so quietly and unostentatiously performed every duty that devolved upon him, seeking neither praise nor public recognition. He was deserving of the highest regard of the public."

The mayor of the city expressed appreciation for the life and work of Charles Allis as follows: "The city of Milwaukee not to speak of the County Council of Defense, suffers a great loss in the untimely death of Charles Allis. He was a bighearted, broad-minded, public-spirited citizen. His sense of Justice and duty knew no bounds. He accepted the chairmanship of the County Council of Defense with the knowledge that he was Jeopardizing his own life, for no other reason than he knew his services were needed and desired by all. In short, Charley Allis loved his fellowmen."