Fred W. Harris came to my attention while compiling a list of money museums in the UnitedStates. I was not familiar with his extensive collection and its museum.

This story should begin with his birth on May 23, 1872. There is a record for his Christening atFenny Compton, England, on June 30, 1872. The 1880 Census shows his family living inBloomington, Wisconsin, with older siblings born in England and younger sisters born inWisconsin. This would indicate the family moved to America in late 1872 or early 1873. Perhapsas a good Christian, he was born again because the 1920 and 1930 Census gives his place ofbirth as Wisconsin. His obituary gives his place of birth as Bagley, Wisconsin. He retained thesame parents, John Henry Harris (1843-1909) and Sarah Rachel Print Harris (1843-1922).

On August 14, 1889, Fred Harris caught a fourteen-pound blue catfish south of Prairie du Chien.The next morning, he took it into town and sold it to James Harvey for fifteen cents paid with apiece of fifteen cents currency. He saved that piece and built a museum around it.

He graduated from Epworth Seminary in Epworth, Iowa, in 1898. He went on to receive a B.A.degree from Lawrence college in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1902, an S. T. B. degree from BostonUniversity School of Theology and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Illinois Wesleyan.

Harris married Estelle Maude Barrett Harris (1877-1955) on June 24, 1903. They were theparents of Lawrence Barrett Harris (1905-1962), Dorothy E. Harris (1908-1979), Wilfred J.Harris (1910-1998) and Robert Russell Harris (1915-1993).

Harris served as a Methodist pastor in Chippewa Falls from 1909 to 1917. From there he went toPlatteville. In 1925 he was appointed district superintendent for the Madison-Platteville area. Heretired from the ministry in 1937.

Harris joined the A.N.A. on February 1, 1926, as member 2963. He attended the ANAconventions in 1929 and 1936.

In 1932, he joined Gordon Gill to form the Madison Coin Club in Wisconsin. Reports of clubmeetings often mention fewer than ten people in attendance.

In 1936, Harris served on the committee that proposed and promoted the Wisconsincommemorative half dollar. He was designated as for the WisconsinTerritorial Centennial Half Dollar. Issue price was $1.50. He placed a half page ad in TheNumismatist for July 1936. Many orders were taken before the coin was struck and available fordistribution.

On April 26, 1937, Harris exhibited a 1792 Martha Washington half disme at the Madison CoinClub. I did not find this in the Bolender sale of his collection.

He assembled a library of more than 1600 volumes. He collected books on theology, history andnumismatics.

Harris used his connections to write to Methodist missionaries around the world seekingexamples of primitive money. He had an example of every piece of money mentioned in theBible.

He prepared four separate exhibits beginning with with coins dated from5000 B.C. to the present time. His showed countries listedalphabetically. His included barter items from the native tribes, Thefourth exhibit was his with several hundred pieces.

The museum included many small frames that could be shown with smaller or larger exhibits.The format would be different at different locations. As it was described, the entire museumcould fill six rooms of a house.

The Harris portable money museum operated in the shadow of the popular Chase Bank MoneyMuseum in Manhattan. The Harris collection was described as more extensive than the ChaseMuseum. The Chase Museum ended up at the Smithsonian. The Harris collection was broken upand sold at auction.

During the summer of 1938, his travelling museum settled in Wisconsin Dells opposite theRiverview Boat Landing. With more than 35,000 coins, it was described as the world's largestportable money museum.

His claim that the collection covered money back to 10,000 B.C. is a bit of a stretch. He includedcuneiform clay tablets he described as predecessors to paper money.

Harris died in Madison, Wisconsin, on November 28, 1938. He is buried with his wife atRoselawn Memorial Park in Monona, Wisconsin. For his funeral, six methodist ministers fromMadison carried his casket to the grave. In December, the value of his estate was given as$8,500.

His collection was offered at auction in M. H. Bolender's 129th Auction Sale on January 27.1940. Bolender said the collection weighed a ton. The sale had 1792 lots, a nice numismaticnumber. Many lots sold for less than a dollar and few more than $15.

Many lots were exhibit cases with multiple items sold as one lot. Lot 272 included 123 Chinesecash coins listed as realizing one-fourth cent. I assume that was per unit and not for the wholelot. In general, coins were circulated rather than preserved in high quality.

A 30-pound Yap stone (lot 572) brought $31. Another yap stone (lot 573) at 44 pounds brought$35. I searched for the Indian copper piece shown in one photograph. I suspect that was lot 617described as Eskimo Thousand Blanket Money, 17 x 30 inches bringing $35. Like Breen'sGuinea pig, in my opinion these are not Eskimo and not used as money. That would require along explanation.

To read the Bolender catalog on the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
129th auction sale of rare coins, medals, and paper money and odd and curious mediums of exchange. [01/27/1940](https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=18&AuctionId=514761)