Prior to 1873 John G. Emery worked for the sawmill machinery and engine maker Industrial Works in Bay City, where he was superintendent as well as a stockholder. The business suffered greatly from the Financial Panic of 1873. Meanwhile, Michael Garland had been manufacturing chains plus sawdust feeders and carriers as part of the firm of Garland, Ingraham & Co. In 1874 the two men joined forces as Emery & Garland to manufacture and sell sawmill machinery. For the first couple of years the partners operated out of the Industrial Works before they found premises of their own. At some point—possibly from the beginning—the business incorporated as the Emery & Garland Co.
Besides his involvement with Emery & Garland, Michael Garland was also president of Standard Machinery Co. of Bay City, makers of circular ripsaws. In addition it appears that the above-mentioned Ingraham & Co. continued to operated as well. Sometime after 1884 Emery & Garland disappeared and by the late 1880s the M. Garland Co. had been established, likely combining Ingraham & Co. plus Standard Machinery Co., but not including Emery & Garland Co. A biography of Michael Garland, written about 1910, goes into some detail about the Ingraham and Standard companies but completely fails to mention Emery & Graham, which suggests that there may have been some hard feelings.
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