Businessman. Founder of Allis Chalmers. Entrepreneur and manufacturing innovator of steam engines, agricultural equipment, and heavy machinery. Graduating from Union College in Schenectady, New York, he moved to Wisconsin in 1846 and married Margaret Watson, eventually having twelve children. He first started in the leather tannery business in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and by 1854 had confined his business operations to banking and real estate. He purchased Milwaukee‚s Reliance Works in 1860 and began producing steam engines and other mill equipment at the same time that many sawmills and flour mills were converting to steam power. As part of the Greenback party he ran unsuccessful campaigns for governor in 1877 and 1881. By the late 1880s, Allis Company was Milwaukee‚s largest industrial employer with over 1,200 workers building heavy machinery for factories, mines, power plants, and public utilities. In 1901 the Allis Company merged with the Fraser and Chalmers Company. The Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company continued to build machinery for most of the twentieth century.
Businessman. Founder of Allis Chalmers. Entrepreneur and manufacturing innovator of steam engines, agricultural equipment, and heavy machinery. Graduating from Union College in Schenectady, New York, he moved to Wisconsin in 1846 and married Margaret Watson, eventually having twelve children. He first started in the leather tannery business in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and by 1854 had confined his business operations to banking and real estate. He purchased Milwaukee‚s Reliance Works in 1860 and began producing steam engines and other mill equipment at the same time that many sawmills and flour mills were converting to steam power. As part of the Greenback party he ran unsuccessful campaigns for governor in 1877 and 1881. By the late 1880s, Allis Company was Milwaukee‚s largest industrial employer with over 1,200 workers building heavy machinery for factories, mines, power plants, and public utilities. In 1901 the Allis Company merged with the Fraser and Chalmers Company. The Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company continued to build machinery for most of the twentieth century.
Bio by: Curt Orth
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