Of all Detroit tobacco entrepreneurs, one stands out — Daniel Scotten. Scotten started in the tobacco business in 1852 as a 33-year-old apprentice to Detroit tobacconist Isaac Miller. Sleeping at the shop and saving his money, Scotten eventually was able to finance his own enterprise which he opened to his eventual good fortune just before the Civil War.
    Scotten moved his enterprise to a large factory on West Fort Street in the latter half of the 19th century, when its name was changed to the Scotten-Dillon Company to reflect the addition of a corporate partner.

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Daniel Scotten

Detroit tobacco mogul Daniel Scotten was born December 11, 1819 in Norfolk, England. In 1836 he immigrated to Palmyra, New York with his family. He came to Detroit in 1853 and began working in the tobacco industry as a partner with Thomas C. Miller & Company. In 1856 he joined forces with Hiram Granger and William C. Lovett, whose brother he had worked for in Palmyra, to form his own company. Scotten, Granger & Lovett operated the Hiawatha Tobacco Factory in Springwells, where the leading brand of plug and fine cut tobacco was made.

Country Store Tobacco Products

Daniel Scotten Company

His company focus was on chewing tobacco, cigars, and flake tobacco. Over the years, business partners came and went, and company names changed, his nephew Oren Scotten eventually becoming a partner. In 1882, the firm became his own, the Daniel Scotten Company. Over two million pounds of tobacco were made in 1883, shipping to ports in England and Hawaii as well as across the U.S. By the 1890s, the Daniel Scotten Company had 1,200 employees and earned $4 million in sales annually.

Continental Tabacco

In 1898, the Scotten Company became a branch of Continental Tobacco, which was mostly owned by American Tobacco. When Daniel Scotten retired, he was worth the equivalent today of $64 million.