According to the book, History of Cass County, Michigan (Chicago: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1882), Charles Kingsbury, born in Massachusetts in 1812, had a dry goods store in Maine and came to Cassopolis to visit his brother Asa in the fall of 1837. He decided to stay here and went into the dry goods business with his brother that year and continued until 1857. Joseph K. Ritter, born in Berrien County in 1829 and came to Cassopolis in 1851 and work in the dry goods business for the next ten years. From 1851 until approximately 1855 Joshua Lofland, Henly C. Lybrook and G.C. Jones were his partners under the name J.K. Ritter & Co. He worked along from 1855 until 1858 when he was joined with B.F. Beeson for the next three years. Ritter worked in the dry goods business again from 1865 until 1875. Ritter was married in 1856 to Amanda F. Kingsbury, daughter of Asa Kingsbury and niece of Charles.