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. |