Moritz Bien was born in Naumburg, Hesse, Germany, the eldest of 10 children. He emigrated to America in 1854 with his brothers Hermann, Joseph, and Leo. They were processed as immigrants in New York. Moritz listed his occupation as a saddler with a destination of Baltimore. Over the next decade Moritz made his way to Virginia City, Nevada. He married Johanna Maria van Boehl there in 1864. Three years later the young family was in Deer Lodge, Montana. In 1870 he purchased a minority partnership in the Pacific brewery owned by David Wattelet. The brewery closed down a few years later. Wattlett moved south to New Mexico. Bien turned his attention to the upholstery business, and after that, undertaking. Moritz Bien died in 1909 at 78 years of age.