George C. Allis

George Cornelius Allis 
1835-1927
Businessman
Shop Owner
Librarian
Travel Agent

George Cornelius Allis is the son of William Allis and Miss Nancy Pierce. He was descended from six generations of the Allis family of Massachusetts. When eight years old his first job, paying 25 cents a year, was as a farm laborer. Three years later he moved to Derby from Bridgeport to work for T. M. Nenson in the office of the Derby Journal, a daily newspaper. Mr. Nenson introduced the boy to Henry Dexter, one of the founders of the American News Company in New York. Mr. Dexter gave Mr. Allis a fifty dollar loan to start a news office in Birmingham Borough. Mr. Allis used the loan to establish a business “in the stone building” at 79 Second (Main) Street. In 1857 Edward Lewis built him a small store on the south side of Main Street.

George C. Allis married Miss Mary Morgan Warriner in New Haven in 1860. In 1866 the couple took up residence and Mr. Allis set up his general store in the building which still stands at 165 Main Street. They had three children: Harriet Pierce “Hattie”, Georgia Genevieve and George Cornelius [lived only six months]. Geneviève became an established artist.

Mr. Allis sold quality watches, diamonds, jewelry, sterling silver and plated ware, clocks, optical goods, artists' materials, engineers' supplies, books and stationery in his store. A unique service of the Allis business, for the time period, was a circulating (lending) library started in 1856. The library contained almost 5,000 volumes.

Mr. Allis also ran a steamship agency for the White Star, Cunard, and North German Lloyd steamship lines and issued drafts on any country in Europe. In addition to accumulating significant wealth, Mr. Allis earned a reputation as one of the more respected citizens in Derby. The Allis General Store closed around 1924. Mr. Allis passed away in 1927 and was buried in Oak Cliff Cemetery.

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