John Solomon Malbone was a farmer, a stone mason and a merchant; owner and operator of the Malbone Hardware and Furniture business in South Haven, MI
As written by Florence Malbone, niece of John Solomon Malbone:
In 1894, Uncle John and family moved to town where he and his sons went into the hardware business. They had a sign which said, "The Sign of the Padlock." The building was three stories with a basement. The first floor was made into three rooms for the business. The family lived on the second floor, and the entire third floor was a dance hall. There was an elevator in the building. On the first floor one entered from a small room in back of the middle store at 515 Phoenix.
In 1907, Uncle John sold the hardware store to Mr. Ender and went to Virginia to live. He returned to South Haven two years later and bought the store back and continued in the hardware business until his death in 1940. ...
Elizabethtown, NY
POST AND GAZETTE
Title: History of the Malbone Family by Dr. M. E. Bishop.
South Haven, July 20.
Excerpt
They own one of the finest blocks in town, 75 feet front, and three stories high. It is divided into three parts. The middle part for general hardware, one part for stoves, tin and hollow ware, and one part on the other side for furniture and house furnishing. ...
