ADOLPH J. RUHL

ADOLPH J. RUHL, founder of the Lake Superior Produce & Cold Storage Company and the Peninsula Wholesale Grocery, of Houghton, Houghton County, Michigan, was born at Hancock, Michigan, in 1869, and is a son of Adolph and Katarina (Hoffenbacher) Ruhl, both of whom were born in Germany, and now reside at Hancock, Michigan.

Adolph Ruhl was born in the Dukedom of Nassau, in the southern part of Germany, in 1830, and came to the United States in 1851, locating at the Cliff mine, at Eagle River, Michigan, where he continued to live for two years. He then worked on a farm for four years, and then went back to mining and continued in this employment until 1859, when he removed to Hancock, where he built one of the first residences. He located in Hancock to work for a steamship company with which he remained three years and for a like length of time for the firm of Condon & Holland. He then entered into business for himself, continuing until 1883, when he retired. In 1856 he married Katarina Hoffenbacher and they have seven children, namely: Henrietta, wife of Benjamin Weider, a harnessmaker of Hancock, Michigan; Amelia, wife of Herman Zetzscher, of Hancock, Michigan; Sophia, wife of Joseph Weisniller, of Hancock, Michigan; Katherine; Adolph; John W., a member of the Lake Superior Produce & Cold Storage Company; and Matilda. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ruhl are members of the Lutheran Church and assisted in the building of the first edifice in the city.

Mr. Ruhl joined the Germania Aid society in 186o and he is also a Mason and an Odd Fellow. After completing the common school course at Hancock, our subject entered the University of Michigan and studied pharmacy for two years. In 1889 he went into the drug business, the firm being Ruhl & Barry, of H10ughton, and continued until 1893, when he began a produce commission business at Houghton which he continued until 1899, when he organized the Lake Superior Produce & Cold Storage Company, starting in with a capital of $65,000, the object of the concern being to supply the trade of Houghton, Baraga and Ontonagon counties. This enterprise met with such surprising success that in the following spring the capital was increased to $100,000, and the operations were extended into a wider field. The company then bought the Hutchinson Produce Company in Minnesota, which is being used as a supply station, and there they buy eggs, poultry and milk, and manufacture themselves a grade of butter which has been placed upon the market and has gained reputation as the "Premium Brand Pasteurized Creamery Butter." It is shipped directly from Hutchinson, Minnesota, and is distributed all over the country. In 1903 the company increased its capital stock to $5oo,ooo and went into the wholesale grocery business, under the name of The Peninsula Wholesale Grocery, the stock of which is held exclusively by business men of Houghton County, the officers being: John P. Peterman, president; J. Vivian, vice-president; John W. Ruhl, secretary and treasurer; A. J. Ruhl, general manager, and the original founder of a business which has been developed through his ability from a small commission enterprise into a business of $1,000,000. In 1892 Mr. Ruhl was married to Fanny Harris, who is a daughter of William and Mary Ann (Hutchins) Harris, and" a native of Houghton County. They have three children, viz: Jack Harris; William Adolph; and Margaret Jeannette.

Source: Biographical Record, Houghton, Baraga and Marquette Counties.  Chicago: Biographical Publishing Company, 1903.