At age three, when his family fell on hard times, Paul was moved with a sibling to Vermont to live with his paternal grandparents, Howard and Pamela Harris.

Harris would later write about his parents: "Of all charges which might have been made against George and Cornelia, parsimony would have stood the least chance.

While living in Vermont, he attended Black River Academy in Ludlow, but was expelled after only a short time.

However, for the next five years, he worked odd jobs: for a newspaper as a salesman and a reporter, on fruit farms, as an actor and cowboy, and on cattle ships that traveled to Europe.

In 1896, Harris moved to Chicago, eventually settling in the Morgan Park neighborhood, where he lived the rest of his life (except for spending summers in Michigan and winters in Alabama during his later years).

[2] It was 2 July 1910 in Chicago that Harris married Jean Thomson, a Scotswoman whom he had met at a local nature club.

After establishing his law practice, Harris began to consider the benefits of the formation of a social organization for local professionals.

In 1905, Harris organized the first Rotary Club "in fellowship and friendship" with three clients and local businessmen, Silvester Schele, Gustavus Loehr, and Hiram Shorey.

Harris had great ambitions for Rotary's growth, and very early in the organization's history new clubs were started, first on the west coast, and then all over the US and in Europe.

Eventually, the organization became the International Association of Rotary Clubs, helping to realize Harris's dream worldwide.

[1] While the club provides a venue for both business and social networking, the primary focus is on local and international service projects.

It includes Harris's birthplace in Racine, Wisconsin, and a downtown plaza named after him, as well as the organization's current headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, his home, and his final resting place.

Paul Harris Society members make a commitment to contribute $1,000 each year to the Annual Program Fund.