Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 204 - 205

 GEORGE E. HARRIS, a real-estate dealer, and one of the leading citizens of Wichita, and conspicuous in the management of public affairs, having held the office of Mayor, also Alderman for four terms, is the present President of the City Council.  He came here in 1871, when the city was in its infancy, and can now take pride when reviewing the past to think of the prominent part he has taken in developing its resources and bringing it to its present high rank among the flourishing cities of Kansas.  Mr. Harris' solid attainments and his wide experience as a man of the world, well fit him for the part he is taking as a citizen and a business man.

      Our subject is a native of England, and was born in 1832.  His parents were George and Emma (Boyer) Harris; the former was extensively engaged in farming on his native isle, and there accumulated considerable property.  Our subject spent his boyhood mostly in a private boarding-school.  After graduating from that institution of learning, he was apprenticed to a large merchant tailor's establishment, and served there for five years.  After that he established himself in Alton, Hampshire, England, and was engaged in business there the succeeding three years.  In July, 1862, he was united in marriage to Miss Emma E. Lee, of Wateringbury, Kent, England.

      Immediately after marriage Mr. Harris closed out his business in England and started with his young wife for this Western World, and landed on English soil in the Dominion of Canada.  He remained a short time in Hamilton, and then went to Woodstock, where his services were secured by the firm of Parker, Hood & Co., as cutter and manager for their extensive house.  He remained with them for two years, and then came to the United States.  After staying a short time in Chicago, Ill., he went to Aurora.  This was the last year of the great Civil War, and with characteristic ardor he determined to enlist in the service of his newly adopted country, and became a member of the 72d Illinois Infantry, and served in the Army of the Cumberland until the end of the war.

      Our subject then returned to Illinois, and at Pana took the position of cutter and manager of the house of William Elgin, afterward Elgin, Hobart & Co., he being the junior member.  At the end of three years he sold out his interest in that firm and went to Vandalia, Ill.  He there established himself as a merchant tailor, also carrying a stock of dry-goods and cloth, and conducted that business until 1869.  At that time he disposed of his stock in trade and closed his establishment, having determined to try his fortunes in "sunny Kansas."  In this State, at Chetopa, he established himself in his old business, and continued there until 1871.  He then saw in Wichita a land of promise, where he thought he could better expend his money and energies.  After coming here he conducted the manufacture of soda water, the first venture of the kind in the city.  He finally sold out, having been very successful in that enterprise.  He was also the first manufacturer of ice, and is now known and often called the "Ice King of Wichita."  In 1873 he started the first merchant tailor's establishment in the city, employing from three to five men.  Since 1880 he has confined his attention mostly to the real-estate business, having an office at No. 111 West Douglas avenue.  He has done much toward building up the city, and has expended several thousand dollars in the erection of model English tenement houses.  He has accumulated much wealth since coming to Kansas; he is one of the stockholders in the Wichita Valley Motor Line.

      Mr. Harris is a Republican in every sense of the word, and heartily endorses the measures of that party.  He is connected with the Masons, Knights of Pythias, the G. A. R., and the Old Settlers' Association.   He and his family have a beautiful residence at No. 333 Riverview avenue, which he erected at a cost of $8,000; it is the center of much culture, and is rendered bright and attractive to their numerous friends.  The home circle of Mr. and Mrs. Harris is completed by two sons--Ernest W. and Cecil H.  Our subject has also an adopted daughter by the name of Nettie Hilton.

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