Augustus Johan Friton was born in Ellwangen a. d. Jagst, Germany. His family emigrated to the United States in the late 1840s and settled in the nascent German colony of New Ulm, Minnesota. In the late 1850s Friton partnered with his new brother-in-law Andreas Betz to form the first brewery in that village. The business of selling beer to Germans was apparently good, and in 1870 they sold the firm to Joseph Schmucker who ran it for another 39 years. Friton, at age 38, took the proceeds from his brewery and retired. He died on June 20th of 1892 at 60 years of age.

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