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.