Wallis, H. M.

The following data is extracted from Racine, Belle City of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement.

The rapid and steady growth of the business of the J. I. Case Plow Works and the enviable standing of the Company's products are due in large measure to the personal force, the executive ability and the high business standards of H. M. Wallis, who for twenty-four years has been president of the corporation. He was born in White Pigeon, Michigan, on the 24th of June, 1861, a son of T. O. and Eliza A. (Mitchell) Wallis, born respectively in Culpeper Courthouse, Virginia, and in Kenosha, then Southport, Wisconsin. The father engaged in the real estate business in Detroit, Michigan, for many years and met with gratifying success in that connection.

When a child, H. M. Wallis lost his father and at six years old, accompanied his mother to Racine, Wisconsin. After completing the course offered in the public schools he entered McMynn Academy, from which he was graduated. When sixteen years of age he went to work in the office of the Mitchell-Lewis Wagon Company and six years later was made receiver of the Fish Brothers Wagon Company. He gave evidence of so much administrative ability and possessed such a thorough grasp of the implement business that he was made general manager of the J. Case Plow Works, becoming at that time a member of the company. In 1892 he was elected president of the concern and has since filled that responsible position. He keeps in close touch with the various departments, requires the greatest possible efficiency and insists that the Case watch words, quality and service, be lived up to in all the work done. Moreover, he possesses to a marked degree the power to quickly and surely recognize the essential points of a situation, to decide promptly and wisely, and is seldom at fault in his judgment of men. He is also president and treasurer of the Wallis Tractor Company, which was organized in 1912, and which manufactures a full line of tractors. William Quarles is vice president and H. M. Wallis, Jr., is secretary of the corporation.

In April, 1883, at the old home of J. I. Case-now the residence of Mrs. Percival Fuller, Mr. Wallis was united in marriage to Miss Jessie Fremont Case, a daughter of J. I. Case, and they have two children: Lydia E., at home; and H. M. Jr.

Mr. Wallis takes a helpful interest in public affairs but has not been active in politics. He has given his entire time and attention to his duties as head of the J. I. Case Plow Works and through his foresight, his constructive ability and his business acumen has gained a foremost place in manufacturing circles of the middle west.

Source: Racine, Belle City of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement

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