Alanson Harris Biography: Building the Business Behind Massey-Harris

In 1857, Alanson Harris changed the direction of his working life. After years operating a sawmill, he sold it and bought a small factory in Beamsville, where he began manufacturing farm tools.

The new operation started with only a handful of mechanics. Over the next three decades, it developed into A. Harris, Son & Co., expanded in Brantford, and became one of Canada’s largest agricultural implement manufacturers.

That growth eventually placed the Harris firm alongside another major Canadian competitor, Massey Manufacturing Company. In 1891, the two businesses merged to create Massey-Harris.

A Quick Look at the Life of Alanson Harris

From Sawmill Work to Agricultural Implements

Alanson Harris was born on April 1, 1816, in the Ingersoll area of Upper Canada. His parents were John Harris and Catherine Jane Dygert. His father had moved from New York State to what became southwestern Ontario and served as a Baptist minister.

Harris married Mary Morgan in 1840. Their sons included John Alanson Harris, Elmore Harris, and Thomas Morgan Harris.

Before agricultural machinery defined his business career, Harris operated a sawmill in Brant County for about fifteen years. His son John worked in the mill from an early age.

The decisive shift came in 1857. Harris sold the sawmill and bought a small factory in Beamsville to manufacture farm tools. The business began with roughly five mechanics, giving the later Harris enterprise a modest starting point.

The purchase moved Harris from sawmill operation into agricultural manufacturing, setting the direction that would define the rest of his business career.

John Harris Becomes a Partner

In 1863, Harris brought his eldest son, John, into partnership. The firm operated as A. Harris and Son, and a second son, Thomas, later joined the business.

John became central to the company’s technical development and expansion. He established an association with D. M. Osborne and Company of Auburn, New York, under which the Harris firm manufactured licensed Kirby machines. He also patented improvements connected with self-binding harvesters.

Alanson had established the family enterprise, but the later technical work and much of the expansion leadership were closely associated with John. The distinction is important because the company’s growth was not the work of Alanson alone.

With John in the business, the small Beamsville operation moved into a broader phase of development that would soon require more manufacturing space.

Brantford Brings a New Scale

By the early 1870s, the Beamsville factory had become too small, and the business relocated to Brantford. There it operated as A. Harris, Son & Co.

Expansion followed quickly. Factory capacity had to be doubled by 1877, and the company established western Canadian agencies in Winnipeg, Emerson, and Portage la Prairie in 1879.

A. Harris, Son and Company (Limited) was incorporated in 1881, with John Harris as president. A new plant was built in 1882 as the company continued increasing its manufacturing capacity.

Production had reached a substantial scale by 1883, when the firm made approximately 4,500 mowers, reapers, and binders. Its product line also included self-binding harvesters, harrows, and cultivators.

By 1887, the company employed about 300 men and was probably Canada’s second-largest agricultural implement manufacturer. The contrast with the five-mechanic Beamsville factory shows how far the Harris business had expanded within three decades.

Competing in the Binder Market

Harvesting machinery became an important part of the company’s position during the 1880s. The Brantford binder was one of the firm’s staple products, while the Canadian binder market became heavily concentrated around Harris and Massey.

In Ontario in 1884, Massey sold about 2,500 binders, Harris about 1,700, and Patterson about 500. The figures place the Harris firm among the leading binder manufacturers in that market.

The rivalry between Massey and Harris became costly as both companies built strong binder sales. By the period leading into the merger discussions, the Harris firm’s open-ended binder also held an advantage in an important product segment and in foreign sales.

The company entered the later 1880s as a major competitor in agricultural machinery, but it soon faced a significant change in leadership.

The Loss of John Harris

John Harris died in Brantford on August 25, 1887. His death removed the son who had become the firm’s principal managing and technical figure.

Lyman Melvin Jones became general manager of the Harris company in 1888. Jones would later serve as general manager of Massey-Harris after the merger.

Historian Michael Bliss has written that the loss of John, the managing heir, may have influenced Alanson Harris’s willingness to agree to a merger with Massey in 1891. That remains an interpretation rather than a documented statement of Harris’s motive.

What is clear is that the business entered the 1890s after losing a central member of its leadership while remaining one of Canada’s largest agricultural implement manufacturers.

The Merger That Created Massey-Harris

Merger negotiations between the Harris and Massey businesses were under way by late January 1891. In February, the Harris board accepted the Massey proposal.

The combination was a corporate process rather than a simple personal agreement between Alanson Harris and Hart Massey. The Massey-Harris Company was established on May 6, 1891, and formally incorporated on July 22.

The merger joined A. Harris, Son & Co. and Massey Manufacturing Company, two businesses that had competed directly in agricultural machinery during the 1880s.

For the Harris enterprise, the merger marked the end of its development as an independent family-rooted manufacturer. The small Beamsville works Harris had purchased in 1857 had become part of Massey-Harris.

Alanson Harris’s Industrial Legacy

Alanson Harris died on October 3, 1894. His place in Canadian manufacturing history is tied to the business he established and developed before the Massey-Harris merger.

The company’s growth was a family and organizational effort rather than a story of one inventor. John Harris played a major role in technical development, management, and expansion, while later managers also contributed to the firm’s progress.

Alanson Harris’s own contribution began with the shift from sawmill operation into agricultural implements. From that change came the Beamsville works, the family partnership, the expansion in Brantford, and ultimately one of the two businesses that formed Massey-Harris.

Timeline

This timeline highlights major milestones in Alanson Harris’s life and the development of the business he founded.

April 1, 1816

Alanson Harris is born in the Ingersoll area of Upper Canada.

1840

Harris marries Mary Morgan.

Before 1857

Harris operates a sawmill in Brant County.

1857

Harris sells the sawmill, buys a small factory in Beamsville, and begins manufacturing farm tools and implements.

1863

John Harris joins his father as a partner in A. Harris and Son.

Early 1870s

The business relocates from Beamsville to Brantford and operates as A. Harris, Son & Co.

1877

The company’s factory capacity has to be doubled.

1879

Western Canadian agencies are established in Winnipeg, Emerson, and Portage la Prairie.

1881–1882

A. Harris, Son and Company (Limited) is incorporated with John Harris as president, and a new plant is built the following year.

1883

The firm produces approximately 4,500 mowers, reapers, and binders.

1887

The company employs about 300 men. John Harris dies on August 25.

1888

Lyman Melvin Jones becomes general manager of the Harris firm.

1891

Merger negotiations with Massey are under way by late January. The Harris board accepts the proposal in February, the Massey-Harris Company is established on May 6, and it is formally incorporated on July 22.

October 3, 1894

Alanson Harris dies.

FAQs

Question: Did Alanson Harris found Massey-Harris?

Answer: Not by himself. Harris founded the business that became A. Harris, Son & Co. That company merged with Massey Manufacturing Company in 1891, creating Massey-Harris through negotiations and decisions involving the companies and their boards.

Question: When did the Harris company move to Brantford?

Answer: The move took place in the early 1870s. Brantford Public Library dates the relocation to 1871, while the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, the Canadian Industrial Heritage Centre, and a University of Guelph archival history place it in 1872.

Question: What role did John Harris play in the company?

Answer: John Harris joined his father as a partner in 1863 and became central to the company’s technical development and expansion. He established a licensing relationship with D. M. Osborne and Company, patented improvements, and contributed important work on self-binding harvesters.

Question: Was Alanson Harris the inventor of the Brantford binder?

Answer: Alanson Harris should not be given sole credit for the company’s binder technology. Major design and patent work was associated with his son John Harris, while Lyman Melvin Jones later contributed work connected with the open-ended binder.

Sources

• Dictionary of Canadian Biography, University of Toronto/Université Laval: John Harris (1841–87), Hart Almerrin Massey, Sir Lyman Melvin Jones
• Canadian Industrial Heritage Centre: Brantford Industrialists: Biographies
• University of Guelph, McLaughlin Library / Archival Collections: Massey-Harris Historical Overview
• Interment.net: Greenwood Cemetery, Surnames H-I