George W. Harrison
George W. Harrison, district manager of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the Lima field, has been in charge here since September 1904. Mr. Harrison was born in Defiance County, Ohio, in 1867, and is a son of David Harrison.
The father of Mr. Harrison was born in Virginia, and he followed farming there for some years, but later went into railroad work and subsequently became a superintendent of Wabash Railroad, having removed to Ohio.
Mr. Harrison was reared and educated in Paulding County, Ohio, and at Goshen, Indiana. In young manhood he went to Northfield, Minnesota, and entered into newspaper work, becoming associated with Mr. Heatwole, formerly a member of Congress, in the management of the Northfield News. Mr. Harrison remained here four years and then went to Austin, Minnesota, where he started the Daily Register, conducting it one year. Then he accepted a position on the staff of the Minneapolis Tribune, as political editor, and was sent in this capacity into North Dakota, during the first Republican campaign, in the interests of the late President Benjamin Harrison, and that his ability was recognized was shown by an offer immediately made of the position of city editor of the Morning Argus, the leading Republican newspaper of North Dakota. During the session of the Legislature following, he was the representative of the paper at Bismarck and, through his ability and fair representation of passing events, made many friends both in and outside his own party.
After the close of the Legislature Mr. Harrison bought the Free Press, at Lisbon, North Dakota, which he ably conducted for 10 years. In 1897 he was elected by a large majority, State commissioner of insurance, the duties of which office he discharged with efficiency until the end of his term, when he went to Chicago and resumed journalistic work, remaining in that city for 18 months. In the meantime he had been in consultation with capitalists at Faribault, Minnesota, which culminated in the incorporation of the Faribault Printing Company, Mr. Harrison becoming president and manager of the organization, the object of which was the publication of a daily and weekly newspaper. His work as insurance commissioner had been of such a character that it brought him many flattering offers from the various old-line companies, but he declined official connection with them and did not really take up insurance work until, through the death of the Northwestern Mutual's agent at Lima, was left vacant an attractive field in his native State. A reorganization of the company having taken place, the main agency of the Ohio business being taken to Dayton, Mr. Harrison accepted the desirable position of district agent, sold out his newspaper and came to Lima. His field is a very large one, covering Allen, Putnam, Auglaize, Paulding and Van Wert counties. In Allen County, alone, this company has written over $2,000,000 worth of business.
In 1888 Mr. Harrison was married to Myrta E. Allen, of Northfield, Minnesota, who is a daughter of Edwin Allen, a raiser of fancy stock. They have four children, viz: Loraine, George, Jr., Fay and Elsie. Mr. Harrison is a Knight Templar Mason and a Knight of Pythias. He belongs to Christ Protestant Episcopal Church.
From History of Allen County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, Edited by Charles C. Miller. Richmond & Arnold, Publishers, Chicago, 1906