Emanuel Hollander was born in Bavaria.  He emigrated to America in 1854, arriving in the port of New York on April 17th.  On August 4th 1856 he and Emilie Melzner were married, and in 1860 he described himself to the census taker as a "Retired Merchant".  He was 27 years old and had four children under ten.

By 1870 he had come out of retirement and had managed to create a brewery worth about $6000.  He ran the firm for at least 10 years.  He died on August 26th of 1887 at age of 56.