The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 634 A portrait of Harry Wise appears in this publication. HARRY WISE. Harry Wise, conducting an auto trimming establishment in Yakima, his business enjoying a most satisfactory growth, was born in East Dubuque, Illinois, on the 25th of December, 1866, a son of Mathias and Pauline (Smith) Wise. The father was connected for a long period with the freight department of the Illinois Central Railroad at East Dubuque and was one of the pioneer residents of that city. Both he and his wife have now passed away. Harry Wise, after his school days were over, took up the carriage trimming trade, which he thoroughly mastered. He followed the trade in the east and won promotion from time to time until he became factory manager in the Tom Conley carriage shop of Dubuque, Iowa. With the introduction of the automobile he took up the work of trimming motor cars and trimmed the first automobile that was shipped into Minneapolis. He thoroughly knows the business from every angle and can trim any kind of a car or vehicle. He was the pioneer in this field in Yakima, removing to the west after having spent nineteen years in the trimming business in Minneapolis. He made his way to North Yakima in 1906 and purchased a ranch in the Selah valley, upon which he resided for a year. He was afterward with Alexander Christie of Seattle as a trimmer and in 1913 he opened a trimming shop in Yakima, where he is enjoying a splendidly growing business. He does plate glass trimming with nickel and in fact is acquainted with every phase of the business. His shop is excellently equipped for all kinds of work of this character and the standard of his workmanship is of the highest. He is the owner of two business lots on First street and expects soon to erect a new shop. The building to be fifty by one hundred and forty feet, two stories in height, situated on First street, South, near Chestnut, and of cement construction. Mr. Wise expects to occupy one-half of the building on the first floor, while John Schwartz will occupy the entire second floor, utilizing it for a modern auto paint shop. Mr. Wise has done trimming for many of the leading automobile manufacturers and his friends justly claim that he is the best carriage and automobile trimmer in the west. He carries an extensive stock of nothing but the very best goods, handling the products of the firm of L. G. Mottey & Son, of Buffalo, New York, manufacturers of the best automobile fabric in the world. It is his purpose always to please his customers and he puts forth every effort in that direction. He possesses marked mechanical skill and ingenuity, is ever ready to follow out the ideas of his patrons or make suggestions which will assist them in getting the very best results in trimming. He employs from three to five people and his work is unsurpassed. In 1894 Mr. Wise was married to Miss Phoebe Weber, of East Dubuque, Illinois, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Weber. They were schoolmates in childhood and their early friendship ripened into a love that was consummated in marriage. They have become the parents of four children: Hermey, the business partner of his father, but at present with the United States army in France, as a member of the Eighth Infantry; and Amy Marie, Walter E. and Percy M., a family of which they have every reason to be proud. They live at 804 North Sixth street, where they have a pleasant home. Fraternally Mr. Wise is connected with Elks Lodge, No. 318, of Yakima, also with the Knights and Ladies of Security, the Travelers' Life Association and the Business Men's Association of Yakima. He has lived an active and useful life, concentrating his efforts and attention upon his business, giving his leisure to his family and holding at all times to the highest standards of manhood and citizenship. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.