Christian Henry Buhl was born in
Zelienople, Pennsylvania on May 9, 1810. He learned the profession of a hatter from his Bavarian-born father, also named Christian, and in 1833 moved to Detroit, where he went into business with his older brother
Frederick Buhl. The two diversified from hats into the fur trade, establishing a large and successful company under the name of the F & C H Buhl Co. In 1855, Christian retired from the fur trade and went into business with Charles Ducharme as a wholesale hardware firm. Buhl was also part owner of the
Sharon Iron Works, the Detroit Locomotive Works (later the Buhl Iron Works). He served as an alderman of the city of Detroit, and was mayor in 1860-1861. In 1842, Buhl married Caroline DeLong of
Utica, New York. ==References==