Lewis M. Fowler is an enterprising business man who has recently come to the fore in St. Johnsville industrial circles as secretary and general manager of the newly organized Palatine Dyeing Company. Mr. Fowler was one of the men instrumental in forming this concern in 1921 and went into the dyeing and finishing business after a somewhat varied commercial experience. He was born in Hamilton county, New York, September 18, 1884, the son of William E. and Estella (Rudes) Fowler, natives of this state. His father, who was a mechanical engineer by profession, died in 1888, when Lewis M. Fowler was but a little boy. The mother is still living.
After obtaining a general education in the Hamilton county public schools, Lewis M. Fowler prepared for a business life by taking a commercial course in the Gloversville Business College. His first practical experience came as a clerk in the Northville Bank, where he was employed for a period of four years and rose to the position of teller before he resigned to engage in the insurance business. He was interested in insurance work until he joined Richard W. Ritter, George R. Pensel and Harry Underwood in 1921 to form a company for conducting a dyeing and finishing plant at Palatine Bridge. This firm was subsequently reorganized and moved to St. Johnsville in 1924, where Mr. Fowler has made an enviable place for himself in business circles as secretary and general manager of the concern.
On the 1st of July, 1923, Mr. Fowler was united in marriage to Miss Mabel Clara Suits, daughter of Nicholas J. and Hephzibah (Sutton) Suits of Amsterdam, where the wedding took place. The Suits family is one of the old established ones in Amsterdam, and Mrs. Fowler's grandfather, John Suits, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Fowler belongs to the Reformed church, her membership being with the Amsterdam congregation, and she is also a member of the Century Club in Amsterdam, where she has made a wide circle of acquaintances. Her husband attends the St. Johnsville Evangelical church and has joined the Exchange Club, a civic body that numbers among its members most of the progressive business and professional men of the village. Energetic and ambitious, Mr. Fowler has steadily advanced in his business career and since becoming connected with his present business has made valuable contribution to the rapid development and success of the Palatine Dyeing Company.