D. E. St. Amour

15 Jan 2022, last revised 20 Jun 2026

With only two bottles, both being extremely rare, D. E. St. Amour's soda business was probably short-lived. Both bottles have a date code for 1909, which pinpoints to when he was in business.

St. Amour as Proprietor

Deno E. St. Amour was born in Michigan in about 1872 (2). His various occupations throughout life reveal that being a bottler was a transitory endeavor. He was an engineer at the time of his marriage, 23 Sep 1902, in Chassell (4). The 1907 directory listed him in Houghton as a teamster for A. Haas Brewing Co. (5).

In Aug 1908, D. E. St. Amour resigned his position with the A. Haas Brewing Co., with one report saying, "having purchased a pop factory in Lake Linden" (6) and another saying, "will engage in the pop business in Lake Linden" (15). By early Nov 1908, he had moved his pop factory to the corner of Calumet and Mill streets (16). He stated that business was very good and the local people have patronized his business as well as could be expected (16). In Oct 1909, however, St. Amour sold his pop factory to Joseph LePage and Alex Hardy (7). LePage & Hardy purchased the entire stock of bottles, machinery, liquids, and boxes and had sufficient stock to enter the business immediately (18).

Deno moved to Montana in Dec 1909 (19). His family resided in Chassell during the 1910 U.S. Federal Census (1), and then his wife left for Idaho in Jul 1910 (20). Deno was in Tacoma, WA where he was listed as a scaler in 1910-11 (8,9) and as a chauffeur in 1912-15 (10-13). In 1918, he was a machinist for the Tinker Axle Co. in Detroit when he registered for the World War I draft (14). The 1920 census recorded him and his family in Detroit where he was a machine operator for the automobile industry (2). We could not find him on the 1930 census. He was 66 years old and a truck driver in Detroit for the 1940 census (3). We could not find when he died.

The Legacy

There are still lingering questions about St. Amour's pop business. If St. Amour purchased a pop factory, who previously owned it? The only earlier pop factory in Lake Linden was the Lake Linden Bottling Works. We do not know the name St. Amour used for his bottling works, but when LePage became sole proprietor in Dec 1909, his bottling works was called "Lake Linden Bottling Works" (17). Was St. Amour's bottling works a continuation of the Lake Linden Bottling Works?

Another question involves the bottles. It seems apparent that LePage & Hardy continued to use St. Amour's bottles, especially when no bottles have been found to bear their names. But what bottles did St. Amour use when he started? His two known bottles date to 1909, but he started operating in 1908. Are there more bottles still to be found, or was he able to use left-over bottles from the pop company that he purchased?

Citations

1. U.S. Census Bureau. 1910 United States Federal Census. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
2. U.S. Census Bureau. 1920 United States Federal Census. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
3. U.S. Census Bureau. 1940 United States Federal Census. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
4. Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
5. R. L. Polk & Co. (1907). Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1907-1908. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
6. Houghton brevities. (1908, Aug 04). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 8.
7. New pop manufacturers. (1909, Oct 27). The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 4.
8. R. L. Polk & Co. (1910). Tacoma City Directory 1910. R. L. Polk & Co. Publishers. Tacoma, WA.
9. R. L. Polk & Co. (1911). Tacoma City Directory 1911. R. L. Polk & Co. Publishers. Tacoma, WA.
10. R. L. Polk & Co. (1912). Tacoma City Directory 1912. R. L. Polk & Co. Publishers. Tacoma, WA.
11. R. L. Polk & Co. (1913). Tacoma City Directory 1913. R. L. Polk & Co. Publishers. Tacoma, WA.
12. R. L. Polk & Co. (1914). Tacoma City Directory 1914. R. L. Polk & Co. Publishers. Tacoma, WA.
13. R. L. Polk & Co. (1915). Tacoma City Directory 1915. R. L. Polk & Co. Publishers. Tacoma, WA.
14. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
15. Houghton briefs. (1908, Aug 04). The Evening Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 5.
16. Lake Linden brevities. (1908, Nov 03). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 11.
17. [Untitled]. (1909, Dec 14). The Native Copper Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 1.
18. New pop manufacturers. (1909, Oct 28). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 12.
19. Houghton brevities. (1909, Dec 12). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 8.
20. Houghton briefs. (1910, Jul 26). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 5.