Artist: Robert Wadsworth Grafton (1876–1936); original portrait by James R. Stuart
William Arnon Henry
HENRY, WILLIAM ARNON (1850–1932), inducted 1903
The portrait of William Arnon Henry, originally painted by James R. Stuart, was the very first to hang in the Saddle & Sirloin Club in 1903. Born in Norwalk, Ohio, Henry graduated from Cornell University with a degree in agriculture in 1880 and immediately accepted a position as joint professor of botany and agriculture at the University of Wisconsin. He studied Wisconsin’s climate and conditions and affirmed that dairy cattle should figure prominently in the state’s agricultural future. He built some of the earliest silos for experimental purposes, and he set out to find funding for scientific investigations. In 1883, an agricultural experiment station was founded, with Henry leading the program. He developed the first agricultural short course and the first dairy course in America. Henry lured Dr. Stephen Babcock (also an early inductee) to the university and encouraged him to develop a simple test for butterfat. In 1891, the College of Agriculture was established, with Henry as dean. Dean Henry is considered the first great popular teacher of scientific stock feeding. His Feeds and Feeding: A Handbook for the Student and Stockman (1898), co-authored with Frank B. Morrison (later honored with a portrait as well), was a foundational textbook. Dean Henry was awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of Illinois and Vermont, as well as Michigan State College.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 108