Benjamin F. Harris (1811-1905)
Benjamin F. Harris is a renowned figure in the Champaign area. He came to settle in Illinois around 1835 as a successful cattle herder. Harris sold cattle from Illinois to Pennsylvania for six years, herding the animals himself. Here in the county, he started a business feeding cattle and selling them for a high price. His stock was known for being very heavy and well-fed, fetching high prices at the market. He even showed stock at the World's Fair at the Crystal Palace in New York in 1853. His most famous herd was weighed on May 23, 1856, with an average weight of 2,378 lbs. This herd held the record weight for several years and attracted numerous people to the Harris farm.
Harris was a savvy businessman. He rented his land to neighboring farmers for 2/5ths of the corn produced, using it to feed his stock. He was also in cattle-raising partnerships, splitting profit evenly amongst his partners. He notes in his autobiography that between 1854 and 1860, 60 different men worked for him on his farm, denoting his successful enterprise.
Around 1863, Harris began to think about banking. In his work in the cattle business, he had several qualms about the practices of private banks. He favored the National Bank Acts of 1863 and 1864, so he applied for a charter, and created the First National Bank in Champaign in 1865. Private banks could set their interest between 12 to 16 per cent at the time with a heavy commission.1 The National Bank Act made their charters hold the interest at 10 per cent. This rate meant profits were slow to come, but eventually, Harris' leadership guided the bank to higher and higher profit margins. Harris even helped the University of Illinois in their time of need, loaning several thousand dollars when the school was in-between state funding. The thank you letter the bank received from the university is in its archives to this day.
Harris grew a prosperous empire in Champaign. He lived for 94 years, voting for 19 presidential candidates during his life. He was the president of the First National Bank until his death. He was recognized in the Illinois Farmers Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois for his contributions to agriculture.
1 Board of Trustees of the Illinois State Historical Library, Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1923, (Illinois State Historical Library and Society, 1923), 100.