businessman, manufacturer, b. Salmunster, Germany. He attended private schools in Germany, learned the locksmith's trade, and in 1872 migrated to the U.S. He was employed in various eastern cities until 1881, when he moved to Milwaukee to become foreman of the milling machine department of the Whitehill Sewing Machine Co. In 1884 he was co-founder with Alonzo Pawling of the Pawling and Harnischfeger Co., which eventually became one of the country's largest manufacturers of electric cranes and power excavators. In 1911 Harnischfeger purchased Pawling's interest in the firm, and in 1924 the company became the Harnischfeger Corporation, with Harnischfeger serving as president until his death. He was active in numerous Milwaukee charitable, business, and cultural organizations. J. G. Gregory, Hist. of Milwaukee (4 vols., Chicago, 1931); W. G. Bruce, ed., Hist. of Milwaukee (3 vols., Chicago, 1922); Milwaukee journal, Nov. 15, 1930; Milwaukee Sentinel, Nov. 16, 1930.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]