Andreas Betz was born in Bavaria. When he was 26 he came to America and settled in the German colony of New Ulm. It was there he met his wife, Maria Anna Friton. Her brother Augustus Friton was an energetic young man six years his Junior. In the late 1850s he and Andreas partnered to establish what is said to be the first brewery in New Ulm. Selling beer to Germans was a sound business plan and in 1870 they cashed out, selling the firm and accompanying bowling alley to Joseph Schmucker who ran it until 1909. Betz moved west up the Minnesota river to Beaver Falls, Minnesota where he established another brewery in 1874. He ran that brewery until 1888. He died September 11th 1918 at age 92 years.

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