Celebrating a local captain of industry

Born in 1864 on a farm near Melbourne, Ont., George L. Griffith took an interest in harness and began to experiment in its manufacturing. Because he suffered from arthritis, he found farm work difficult, which led him increasingly in the direction of harness-making.

In 1901-02, he patented a halter made from rope and leather, and started to make them in his spare time. Demand for the Griffith halter was high and, in 1905, it became his full-time occupation. By 1912, he was looking for a real manufacturing plant, which is what brought him to Stratford.

For the first 16 years of its existence in Stratford, the Griffith firm was involved solely in the........

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