Early Life

Louis Allis was an industrialist born in Milwaukee in 1866. He attended Markham Academy, Milwaukee, and received a degree in civil engineering from Pennsylvania Military College in 1888.

Early Career

Louis Allis was the son of Edward Phelps Allis, so Louis Allis began his business career as a clerk in his father's firm. He left the Edward P. Allis Company in 1901, shortly before it became part of the newly formed Allis-Chalmers Company, and for several years was engaged in supervision of the large timber and mining holdings of his father's estate.

Achievements

In 1901 he invested in a small Milwaukee manufacturer of direct-current motors-- the recently formed Mechanical Appliance Company. In 1903 he was made president of the firm, which  was renamed the Louis Allis Company in 1922, with Allis continuing as president until his retirement in 1945. The company was one of the pioneering companies in the development of individual motorization of factory machines which, by eliminating line shafts and drive belts, contributed to industry safety and efficiency. The company expanded rapidly until its sales had reached $20,000,000 in 1945.

Allis was active in civic affairs. He served as honorary director of the Milwaukee Country Day School and contributed the oxygen rooms of the Columbia and Milwaukee Children's hospitals. 

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]