Jaman E. Strong, a prominent citizen and enterprising
business man, senior partner in the well-known firm of Strong & McBride,
shingle manufacturers of Muskegon, Mich., is a native of Cattaraugus County,
N. Y., and was born May 13, 1850. Our subject was the son of Jaman and
Harriet (Winchester) Strong, both of the parents having been born within
the limits of the Empire State, where their ancestors occupied positions
of usefulness and influence. The father had received superior educational
advantages, and was a physician of local note, successful in his chosen
profession and enjoying a wide practice in Cattaraugus County. After many
years of untiring devotion to the cause of suffering humanity, this worthy
physician was so severely injured by the kick of a horse that he soon after
died, in the year 1851, passing away deeply mourned by all who knew him.
The excellent mother, yet surviving, resides in the city of Buffalo, where
she has long made her permanent home. the union of the parents was blessed
by the birth of bright and intelligent children, who were left fatherless
at a very tender age. Jaman E. was the eldest son and second child of the
group which once gathered about the fireside of the old New York State
home so many changing years ago.
Our subject, reared in his birthplace, attended the
schools of the neighborhood during his childhood, and later received more
advanced instruction in an academy at Springville, N. Y., there completing
with honor a course of study. As he attained to a self-reliant manhood,
he ambitiously determined to begin his business career in the farther West,
where he hopefully
looked forward to making his fortune. In 1865, journeying to Michigan,
Mr. Strong came to Muskegon, and not long after his arrival obtained employment
in a mill in Montague, where he remained two years, and later was variously
engaged in the different departments of the lumber business for some length
of time. In 1887 entering upon the manufacture of shingles, our subject
two years later, in 1889, received into partnership Mr. McBride, with whom
he has since profitably conducted business upon the present site of the
shingle mill, which now furnishes an immense product to a large and
rapidly increasing trade. Our subject in serving his apprenticeship to
his present business was engaged for three years in logging in the Upper
Peninsula. In 1888, Mr. Strong established his factory in its present location,
and built a shingle mill and shops. His extensive factory has a capacity
of two hundred thousand shingles per day, and employs a large force of
men regularly.
Jaman E. Strong and Miss Sarah E. Crane were united
in marriage July 1, 1878. the estimable wife of our subject was a resident
of Montague, and a daughter of Curtis C. Crane. One child, a promising
son, Harold C., has blessed the union. The pleasant home is desirably located
at No. 139 Harrison Street. Politically a Republican, our subject is well
posted in the current affairs of the day, and is deeply interested in local
and national issues. Mr. Strong has one brother living the Rev. Leroy Strong,
a Methodist Episcopal minister of Albion, N. Y. His sister, the wife of
Nathan Wilder, resides in Van Buren County, Mich. Our subject, now numbered
among the leading manufacturers of Muskegon County, may with pleasure review
the struggles and triumphs of a life whose manly, earnest efforts have
been so abundantly crowned with well-earned success.
Emanuel M. Duttenhofer
Emanuel M. Duttenhofer,
the energetic and enterprising superintendent of the Eagle Tanning Works
, Whitehall, Muskegon County, Mich., is a native of Ann Arbor and was born
December 16, 1865. His parents Christian and Gertrude (Schuh) Duttenhofer,
were among the early settlers of the Wolverine State. The father was born
in the Province of Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1835, and was the son of Christian
Duttenhofer, a lifetime resident of the Fatherland and a stonemason by
trade. The paternal great-grandfather was an honored Lutheran minister,
and with his sons and daughters spent his entire life in his native land.
The grandfather having but very limited means, his children early fitted
themselves for the battle of life. The father of our subject enjoyed but
the most limited opportunities for an education in the Old Country and
when quite young went into a machine-shop, where he remained until he was
nineteen years of age. Young and ambitious, he finally decided to try his
fortune in America, and with but a small capital crossed the broad Atlantic
and, safely landing in the United States, proceeded directly to the State
of Michigan. Desiring to locate in Ann Arbor, he was obliged to borrow
twenty-five cents with which to pay the expense of the last few miles of
his journey.
Christian Duttenhofer at once received employment
in a tannery, and, learning the trade, worked at it steadily for two years,
then spent the succeeding two years in different places in the West,
but at last returned to Ann Arbor. In this latter city, in 1859, were united
in marriage Christian Duttenhofer and Miss Gertrude Schuh, also a native
of Wurtemberg, Germany, born in 1840. The mother came to this country when
a child with her parents and settled in New York State, where her father
tilled the soil and remained until his death. Previous to this event, however,
the estimable mother of our subject made Michigan her home. Mr. Duttenhofer
owned a small farm near Ann Arbor, and there he and his wife settled and
together side bu side aided each other up the hill of life. For twenty-five
years the father of our subject continued at his trade, and five years
of this time he was proprietor of a tannery, which he built upon his farm.
In 1878 he removed to Ypsilanti, where he operated a tannery for a time,
and in 1882 came to Whitehall, where he is engaged in the duties as foreman
of the yards of the Eagle Tanning Works, of which his son, Emanuel M. has
the full charge.
The father is a devout member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church and a man of high principle, is a staunch Prohibitionist.
His brother William was a soldier in the German army and later, emigrating
to America, journeyed to California and was lost sight of by the other
members of the family. Of the brothers and sisters who gathered in the
home of the parents, Julia, the eldest, married August Coors, a Methodist
preacher at Clare, Mich. Henrietta married Uriah Tower, who is a merchant
and the Postmaster at New Duluth, Minn. Nellie, a graduate of the High
School, and Gustavus Adolph, a bright student, are both with their parents.
Emanuel M., our subject, was educated in the High School of Ann Arbor,
and assisted his father on the farm, later learning all the details of
his present line of business in the tannery at Ypsilanti. In 1882, he made
Whitehall his permanent location and for four years was employed in the
tanning works of which he is now the valued superintendent, and in which
responsible position he has given faithful service for the past seven years.
Mr. Duttenhofer is justly numbered among the rising young business men
of Whitehall. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and active
in religious work and enterprise. Fraternally, our subject is connected
with the Ancient and Free & Accepted Masons and politically is a Prohibitionist.
for four years he has been a member of the Board of Equalization and possessing
executive ability, has in this official work given great satisfaction to
the general public. Our subject is yet unmarried and makes his home with
the other members of his father's family, all of whom occupy positions
of usefulness and command the high regard of many friends.
John J. Bither
John J. Bither, a leading
business man and enterprising proprietor of the Union Tea Company of Muskegon,
Mich., carries a complete line of the choicest teas handled in the United
States. He also deals largely in the best grades of coffee, likewise offering
a handsome stock of queensware. Catering to the demands of a large city
trade, our subject enjoys an extended custom, reaching out into the surrounding
country. Mr. Bither, from his childhood intimately associated with the
growth and upward progress of the Wolverine State, is a native of Columbia
County, N. Y., and was born January 30, 1857. His father, John Bither,
a native of Germany, reared and educated in the Old Country, had arrived
at mature age before, bidding adieu to the familiar scenes of youth, he
emigrated to the United States. He made his home in New York until about
thirty years of age, and, a man of industrious thrift and enterprise, ws
numbered among the substantial residents of Columbia County. The mother,
Frances (Spath) Bither, born in Germany, was the descendant of a
long line of self-reliant usefulness, was well fitted when she arrived
at womanhood to assume the cares and responsibilities of married life.
Children blessed the
pleasant home of the parents, and in Columbia County Mr. Bither received
his first schooling in his home district. John J. completed his studies
in the public schools of his new home, and in 1877, beginning life for
himself, located permanently in Muskegon. He received a training in the
handling of merchandise in the store of Albert Towel, and continued in
his employ for two years, making a wide acquaintance and gaining a knowledge
of business methods. For a twelvemonth after he worked for Frank Alberts,
and then received a position in the grocery house of W. H. Fletcher. In
1866, Mr. Bither ambitiously embarked in business for himself, then opening
a fruit bazaar at No. 12 Jefferson Street. During the latter part of 1886,
our subject engaged in his present business in partnership with Mangold
& Hess, the firm name being Mangold, Hess & Bither. the partnership
profitably endured until 1889, when the present firm of Mangold & Bither
bought out Mr. Hess, and have since been prosperously conducted a tea and
coffee business, one of the best in its line in the county.
In 1887, John J. Bither
and Miss Dema Lampman, of Allegan, Mich., were united in marriage. the
estimable wife of our subject, an attractive and accomplished lady of worth
and
high intelligence, posses the confidence and esteem of a wide circle of
friends. the pleasant home on Western Avenue has been cheered by the presence
of a bright little son, Lyman. Financially discharges the duties of Treasurer
for one year and for eight years served to the satisfaction of the entire
community as Justice of the Peace. Although Supervisor but for a short
time, he has ably demonstrated his fitness for the responsible position
and thoroughly commands the esteem and confidence of a host of friends.
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Copyright © 2001 by Patti Norton. All rights reserved.