Elias Fairchild Sutton was born in Hardyston, New Jersey in 1831 and received his early schooling in the area. About 1850 he moved to Romeo, Michigan with his sister, Mrs. Joseph Ayres. After serving with the United States Army as first lieutenant in 1862, Sutton eventually moved to Ontonagon county where he became manager of the general store of the Minnesota Mining Company and subsequently opened a store at the Huron Mine in Houghton County, Michigan. Sutton married Mary A. T. Harris, born 1843 in Cornwall, England with whom he had two children, Elizabeth and Walter Harris. Elias Sutton eventually became the manager at the general store of his father-in-law, William Harris. On the death of Harris, Sutton incorporated the business under the name of E. F. Sutton Company and ran the business until his death in 1901. Mary A. T. Sutton survived her husband, serving as vice president of the business and living with her son in Lake Linden until 1924 when she passed away. Walter Harris Sutton served as treasurer and manager of the E. F. Sutton Company.

Charles Briggs was born in Tompkins County, New York in 1837. After receiving an academic education, he moved to Wisconsin at 15 years of age to live with and work for his uncle's business . In 1864 he moved to Rockland in Ontonagon County, Michigan where he worked as a bookkeeper for S. D. North, eventually becoming a partner in the merchant's business. In 1868 he moved to Calumet and opened a branch store under the name North & Briggs, and in 1872 he opened another branch in Lake Linden, also under his management. The firm was dissolved and reestablished as Briggs & Cole. After the death of Elias Sutton, Briggs became president of the E. F. Sutton Company. Briggs was also president of the Merchants & Miners' National Banks, as well as president of the Calumet & Arizona Mining Company.