History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 138

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

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Mr. Hauck's position in the business world of Cincinnati is both, enviable and prominent, and inasmuch as his success was solely due to his indefatigable efforts and his efficiency in his peculiar branch of trade, the German population of Cincin- nati has just cause to take great pride in counting him among their number. Honorable political positions have frequently been offered him, but he has always refused, giving his exertions solely to his own business. He only accepted the presi- dency of the German National Bank, and the brilliant success of that institution during his connection with it showed the confidence which the business world reposed in him. Mr. Hauck has always stood ready to support all enterprises of public interest, and indeed during his entire business career there has been no pub- lic enterprise of any consequence in which he did not take a prominent part. When, after the death of Mr. Andrew Erkenbrecher, the founder of the "Zoological Garden," this enterprise seemed likely to founder, it was Mr. Hauck who, for the good of his fellow citizens and the city of Cincinnati, intervened and saved this great and worthy institution. Not only did he pay all debts of the garden, but he also bought the ground in which it was established, paying the considerable amount of $135,000 out of his own means. In a most generous manner he then leased that property to the "Zoological Garden Company" for the term of ninety-nine years, with the privilege for this company of buying it at any time. Without Mr. Hauck's timely aid the Zoological Garden, now a permanent resort of which the city is justly proud, would be a thing of the past, and this deed alone should suffice- to keep his memory ever fresh in the hearts of a grateful and admiring public.

Mr. Hauck has two children: Amelia L., who married Mr. Charles H. Heine, one of the leading wholesale grocers of Cincinnati; and Louis J., who has succeeded his father as president of the John Hauck Brewing Company. Mr. Hauck is a member of the F. & A. M., and the I. O. O. F., and worships at St. John's Protestant Epis- copal Church.

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

FREDERICK J. WERNER was born September 14, 1830, in Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger- many, whence he came to this country as a refugee on account of his too pronounced Republicanism, landing in New York July 4, 1849. Two years later he came to Cincin- Dati, and was for a time in the office of County Clerk Charles Cist. For several years thereafter he was associated with the Marmet Coal Company, and was then for six or seven years identified with the Western German Bank, for the last four years of which period he was cashier of that institution. He then became connected with the John Hauck Brewing Company, of which since 1880 he has been 'secretary and treasurer. He was one of the organizers of the Cincinnati Turnverein, and one of the organizers of the Republican party in this county. At the breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted, being mustered in as first lieutenant of Company A, One Hundred and Sixth O. V. I., and was the first officer mustered into the service in this regiment. He served throughout as regimental quartermaster. He was com- pelled to resign on account of disability sustained while in the service. Mr. Wer- ner is a Mason, being a member of Hanselman Lodge, of which he was Master for nine years; he is also a member of the Loyal Legion. He served several years as a member of the board of education from the old Tenth Ward.

Mr. Werner was married February 19, 1854, to Lena, daughter of the late Christian Meyer, of Cincinnati, by whom he has eight surviving children, namely: Louisa M. Werner; Anna, wife of Theodore Kempf, of Cincinnati; Frederick H. Werner, bookkeeper; Gustav R. Werner, attorney at law, a biographical sketch of whom is contained in this volume; Paul William Werner, an employe of the John Hauck Brewing Company; Emily C., wife of Edward Doerler, secretary of the Jones Electric Light Company, of Cincinnati; Martha, wife of Julius Beushausen, and Walter G. Werner, musician. The family reside on Addison street; they are mem- bers of the Roman Catholic Church.

GEORGE WIEDEMANN, SR., one of the most prominent and highly respected citi- zens of Newport, Ky., died at his residence May 25, 1890. He was born and edu- cated in Saxony, Germany, and in 1853, at the age of nineteen years, emigrated to the United States, first locating in Williamsburg, N. Y., where he found employment in the brewing business, of which he had obtained a thorough knowledge in his na- tive country. He remained there but three months, and after six months spent in the same business in Louisville, Ky., came to Cincinnati, where he soon entered the employ of Mr. Frank Eichenlaub, who was then conducting a brewery on Walnut Hills. In 1860 Mr. John Kaufmann became a member of the firm, and they built the Vine street brewery in Cincinnati, of which Mr. Wiedemann was made foreman, occupying this position until 1870, when he united in business with the late John Butcher, then operating a small brewery of fifteen barrels per day in Newport. The business tact of Mr. Wiedemann, and the fact that he understood his business prac- tically, having learned it in the Fatherland, soon made itself felt, and the small brewery began to feel the effects. The increase in trade brought about by his skill made the little brewery a large business concern. The quality of the brew, and the promptness with which the increasing demands were met, without the slightest dim- inution in the quality of the goods, compelled the respect of their competitors, and the name of Wiedemann was recognized as a synonym of fair dealing, promptness and the finest and purest products of the West.

In 1878 the firm was dissolved by mutual consent, Mr. Butcher selling his entire interest to Mr. Wiedemann, who carried on the constantly growing business himself, never permitting the slightest retrograde movement in his brew. In 1882 Mr. Wiedemann came into possession of the Constans brewery, and operated it in con- nection with the old plant for some years. In 1885 the business had grown to pro- portions so great as to require very much more space, and the present malthouse and storage elevator, with a malting capacity of 200,000 bushels and a storage capacity of 160,000 bushels, were erected on the site of the old Constans brewery. The capacity of the brewery being found at thattime altogether inadequate to supply

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the trade, he began in 1888 the erection of the present immense and magnificent works, which were equipped with every known and improved appliance, without re- gard to cost, the supply of the trade and the quality of their output being alone regarded. In 1893 the large bottling house, with a capacity of one hundred barrels, or 15,000 bottles, per day, was built; the capacity of the brewery is over 100,000 barrels per annum. Two gentlemen are in charge of the immense business; both young, energetic, skilled, and determined to keep up the name and the fame of the founder of the enterprise, George Wiedemann, Sr. They are Charles Wiedemann and George Wiedemann, Jr. The former is the general business manager, the latter being in charge of the brewing, and admirably does each fulfill the earnest of the training they received from their father and their studies in Germany. The institu- tion was founded when its present president was a handsome lad in knickerbockers going to school, and its present superintendent was a little fellow in kilt skirts, both being now among the solid and respected business men of the city.

The brands of beer produced are "The Standard," "Bohemian " and " Muen- chener Lager," the bottled beers being the "Bohemian" and the "Muenchener Ex- port"-and well do they merit their high and even unapproachable standard. Mr. George Wiedemann, Sr., died full of years, enjoying the unbounded respect of his fellow citizens of Newport among whom he had lived for so many years, and who so well knew his sterling qualities. With rare business tact, he had incorporated the George Wiedemann Brewing Company a short time before his death, so that the immense interests he had built up by his integrity and business capabilities were carried on without interruption and without the cessation which otherwise might have come from the settlement of his estate by law. The stockholders were mem- bers of his family only. After his death his two sons took active charge of the busi- ness for which their strict training and education most thoroughly fitted them. Charles Wiedemann became president and general manager of the concern, and George Wiedemann, Jr., the superintendent. There are perhaps no younger men than the Wiedemann brothers in charge of a business so vast; there are few, if any, who could so thoroughly justify the confidence reposed in them by their father, or by the business and social community in general, as they do. Charles Wiedemann is but thirty-seven, and George Wiedemann but twenty-eight years of age. They have not only inherited the sterling qualities of their father, but have kept abreast with the times, as he would have had them do. They are accomplished gentlemen, possessed of the soundest business principles, and have the confidence of the busi- ness community, for the very best of reasons-they deserve it. The high standing of the company in the financial world is due in the main to the business capacity of Charles Wiedemann; the superior and incontestable qualities of the product of the brewery is due to the skill of George Wiedemann, who took a course in the famous college in Munich, Bavaria. But the brothers Wiedemann work together; and the harmony and accord is not the least of the reasons for their high standing.

Mr. Wiedemann was married in 1856 to Miss Agnes Rohnan, of Cincinnati, also a native of Germany. The issue of this marriage is six children: Charles, Bertha (Mrs. Albert Will, of Rochester, N. Y.), Victoria (Mrs. Harry Legg, of Minneapolis, Minn. ), George, Louisa and Matilda, all of whom with their mother still survive. The family worship at the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which they are generous supporters. Mr. Wiedemann was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Good Fellows and the Druids. He was never a seeker of public office, and

was independent in his political views.

CHARLES WIEDEMANN, president of the George Wiedemann Brewing Company, was born in Cincinnati June 16, 1857, and is a son of George Wiedemann, founder of the institution of which he is now executive and business manager. He was edu- cated in the public schools of Cincinnati, St. Xavier College, and Nelson's Business College, graduating from the last named in 1874. He was then employed in learn-

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

ing the brewing trade in his father's brewery till 1876, when he went to Munich and took a course in chemistry and the science and art of brewing in the Royal College of Bavaria, which has its seat in Weihenstephan; a small town eighty miles from Munich. After his return to America in 1877, he spent one year in the employ of the Ph. Best Brewing Co., of Milwaukee, and on his return home his father made him superintendent of the brewery, in which capacity he continued until 1890, when upon the incorporation of the company he became vice-president, and soon after the death of his father succeeded him as president. As the head of this gigantic con- cern, though young in years, he has displayed a knowledge of the business in all its workings, and a soundness of judgment and purity of purpose in the management of affairs which assure his patrons that the high standard of the George Wiedemann Brewing Company is to be maintained. Mr. Wiedemann was married March 18, 1884, to Miss Elizabeth Wagner, daughter of Adam Wagner, of Newport, and this happy union has been blessed with two children: Irma and Carl Frederick. Mr. and Mrs. Wiedemann worship at St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, Newport. He is a 32° Mason, a Knight Templar, a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; he is a director of the First National Bank of Newport, Ky., and of the Evergreen Cemetery Association.

GEORGE WIEDEMANN, vice-president and superintendent of the George Wiedemann Brewing Company, was born in Cincinnati February 6, 1866, and is a son of George Wiedemann, whose biography and portrait appear in this work. He received his early education in the public schools of Cincinnati, and was graduated from the Chickering Institute in 1886. He then spent one year in the employ of the Bar- tholomew Brewing Company, of Rochester, N. Y., for the purpose of enlarging the practical knowledge of brewing which he had already acquired in his father's brew- ery. Desiring to make himself complete master of the science, he then went to Europe and took a course in the Munich Practical Brewing Academy, spending sev- eral months there; then in a large brewery, in order to make himself familiar with their methods. In the autumn of 1888 he returned to Newport, and when the pres- ent new plant of the company was occupied in the spring of 1889, he became fore- man. After the death of his father in 1890, he succeeded his brother Charles as vice-president of the company and superintendent of the brewing, positions he is well qualified to fill, on account of his thorough training at home and abroad in the science and art of brewing. Mr. Wiedemann was married September 24, 1890, to Miss Naomi V. Boal, daughter of W. K. Boal, president of the Favorite Stove and Range Company, formerly of Newport, now of Piqua, Ohio. They have one child, George Stanliope. Mr. and Mrs. Wiedemann worship at St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church, Newport. He is a 32° Mason, and a member of all the differ- ent orders of speculative Masonry.

HENRY Foss was born in Germany, June 23, 1817, and died in Cincinnati August 13, 1879. After attending the common schools until he was between thirteen and fourteen years of age he was given to understand that from that time he would be expected to "paddle his own canoe," so he at once commenced the life of a farm laborer, and, to the credit of his industrious habits, it is said that he followed this kind of work faithfully until he was nearly twenty years old. But at that time he somehow or other began to get dissatisfied with the result of his six years' hard work, so he thought he would " take stock " to see how much he had made, and cal- culated how much he would be worth in forty years, if he continued at the same business at the same wages-about twelve or fourteen dollars a year. He had noth- ing at the start; he had wasted no money; had only kept himself clothed, and still he had nothing to show for all his labor but a few dollars, barely sufficient to take him over the sea to the New World. Yet, nevertheless, he was determined to go with a party that was about to leave the village for America. Leaving home on the tenth day of May, 1837, the party, consisting of himself and three others, traveled

George Wiedemann

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

by wagon to Bremen, where they took passage on the ship " Richmond " bound for Richmond, Va. After paying his passage money he had but five cents left, so that it was no trouble for him to conclude to rely solely upon his efforts in the New World of the West-in fact, there was no choice in the matter. After being at sea for several days they encountered a storm of great severity, during which they lost their mainmast and much of their rigging, and were driven back so far that the dis- tance lost was not regained for fourteen days. Besides the above disasters the cook's galley, with all the cooking apparatus, was swept clean overboard, so that it was three days after before they had a particle of anything warm to eat or drink. At last, however, after twenty-two days, they landed safely at Richmond, Va., our sub- ject having, we suspect, had enough of "life on the ocean wave " to satisfy him, as he never recrossed it.

After looking around for a day or two, Mr. Foss went to work on the James River canal, at seventeen dollars per month and board. At this he continued for about seven months, when, having saved something like one hundred dollars, he thought he was rich at once, and would soon buy all the land he wanted. Like thousands of his countrymen he judged that the West was the place for him; so he joined a party of twenty-two possessed of the same idea. Clubbing together, the party procured a large team, and started over the mountains to the Kanawha canal, by which they arrived at Wheeling, where they took steamer for Pittsburgh, and at once proceeded down the river to Cincinnati. On landing here Mr. Foss found things so dull that he determined to proceed to St. Louis. Finding matters much the same there, he began to think he had made a mistake in coming west; but he passed over into Illinois with the expectation of going to work on a turnpike at Belleville. It was so swampy there, however, that almost every one who worked there was seized with fever and ague. In this emergency he returned to St. Louis, and from there again came to Cincinnati, where he was advised by his friends to go to work on the Whitewater canal, at Brookville, some forty miles from the city. He walked this distance with his knapsack on his back, and at once began to work at seventeen dol- lars per month and board. At the end of three months he went to Cincinnati, and sent fifty dollars home to his parents to help smooth the path of life for them. After working on the canal two months longer he was made foreman of a squad of quarry men; while at this work he conceived the idea of learning the stone-cutting trade, and after instructing another in his duties, he went to the yard to learn the trade. In nine months the locks of the canal were completed, at the end of which time Mr. Foss came to the city, and was employed at dressing stone until he saw an opening at the locks of the Licking canal, Kentucky. After working there about six months he commenced as a stone mason, and having a good eye for mechanics he soon proved an efficient workman, and thereafter could either cut or lay stone. After continuing in this way two years, during which he had sent $400 home to bring out the whole family, and saved $500 besides, on the arrival of his parents and his brothers and sisters they found that Henry had rented and furnished a house com- plete for them to go into.

With the $500 in hand he commenced business for himself on a small scale, which he gradually increased from year to year until he employed from fifty to sixty jour- neymen, and nearly as many laborers. In 1848-49, in connection with Henry Atle- meier, he built the House of Refuge; and while thus engaged the cholera was rag- ing so fearfully that the funerals moving from the city to the cemetery formed a constant procession. The architect of their job, Henry Walters, and many of their workmen fell victims to the epidemic. In 1851 he built the foundations of the Hamilton and Dayton depot, which consumed some 5,000 perches of stone, and com- pleted the job in about three months. He built the church on the corner of Mound and Barr, and adjoining gymnasium in 1857-58, also the foundations of St. Philo- mena church on Congress and Butler streets; St. Joseph's, on Linn; Holy Trinity,

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on Fifth; likewise that of the large block on the corner of Ninth and Walnut; and the church of the Holy Angels (all of stone), Fulton; and the south wing of Bishop Purcell's seminary, besides a vast number of dwelling houses. He continued this business until 1856, when he sold off his teams and building apparatus generally, and built a distillery on the Plank road, now Gest street, for himself and his part- ner, with a capacity of 900 bushels per day. After its completion his partner was somewhat alarmed at their great undertaking, so, to make the matter lighter, sold a quarter interest to two other gentlemen, retaining a quarter himself. After con- ducting the business together for about three months, hard times came upon them, and Mr. Foss' original partner again became alarmed for fear all would be lost; but not so Mr. Foss, who at once bought the interest of that gentleman, and continued the business with the owner of the fourth interest. The scale soon turned in their favor, and, after eight years of success, having considerable surplus money, Mr. Foss bought the interest of his partners, and carried on the business alone for about two years, then sold out to Mr. John Pfeffer, concluding that he would work a little in his garden, and take things easy the rest of his life. But to his surprise he did not know what to do with himself, and, after laying off about two months, he came to the conclusion that doing nothing was the hardest work in the world. He then formed a partnership with Adam Heitbrink for the purpose of building the founda- tion of the city Work House. After this was finished he formed a partnership with William P. Snyder and John Brenner, and went into the manufacture of lager beer, the capacity of their works at the commencement being about sixty-five barrels per day. This was in December, 1867; in the spring of 1868 it became necessary to enlarge their works, and their business continued to increase. The further connec- tion of Mr. Foss with the great brewing establishment, now known as the Foss- Schneider Brewing Company, is contained in the personal history of his son and successor, John H. Foss, president of that company, and which is contained in this volume.

Mr. Henry Foss was married in 1842, to Miss Elizabeth Rumpeing, a German lady, who was every way worthy to be his wife. Of this union five children were born, all of whom, together with their mother, have died, the latter in 1854. Mr. Foss was married again, during the same year, to Miss Adelaide Te Veluwe, of Zutfen Lechtenforde, Holland, and by her eight children were born to him, seven of whom-John H., William, Edward, Philomena, Lizzy, Rosey and Bernidena-are still living, as is also Mrs. Foss.

JOHN H. Foss, president of the Foss-Schneider Brewing Company, is the eldest son of the late John Henry and Adelaide (Té Veluwe) Foss. He was born in Cin- cinnati, November 30, 1859, received his education at St. Xavier College, and became the junior partner of the firm of Foss & Schneider in 1879. In 1883 he made an extensive tour, inspecting many of the greatest breweries of Europe, and obtaining ideas therefrom that have proved of incalculable benefit in his management of the business of his company. Upon his return from Europe, and the incorporation of the business in 1884, he was elected its secretary and treasurer, in 1890 becoming its president. On November 4, 1885, Mr. Foss was married to Katherine Marie, daughter of B. H. Moorman, a retired merchant and capitalist of Cincinnati. She died May 15, 1893, leaving two children, Adele and Robert.

The foundation of the Foss-Schneider Brewing Company was laid in 1849 when Louis Schneider transformed his little cooper shop on Augusta street into a brewery. The new industry thrived, and became known as the Queen City Brewery. Soon a removal to more commodious quarters was necessitated. In 1863 new buildings were erected on the site of the present plant on Fillmore street. Four years later Mr. Schneider, on account of ill-health, sold out to Foss, Schneider and Brenner, the son, Peter W. Schneider, taking up the burden of active interest in the business laid down by the father. In 1877 Mr. Foss purchased the interest of Mr. Brenner.

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The business was then continued under the name of Foss & Schneider until the death of John Henry Foss, August 13, 1879, when his interest became the property of his widow and her eldest son, John H. Foss, P. W. Schneider still retaining his interest. In 1884 it was incorporated under the name of The Foss-Schneider Brew- ing Company. The year 1884 was one of annoyance and disaster to the young cor- poration. The flood which devastated the city that year undermined and caused the collapse of the malt house burdened with over sixty thousand bushels of malt. This calamity, however, caused no cessation of work, and, in spite of the disaster, the business of that year showed an advance over the preceding year. It was deter- mined at this time, too, to erect an entirely new plant, and in less than one year the Foss-Schneider Company was installed in one of the finest and most completely equipped brewery structures in the country. The product of this great establish- ment is celebrated, and finds a ready market throughout the United States and in many foreign lands, the annual output being 80,000 barrels.

LOUIS HUDEPOHL was born in Cincinnati, July 20, 1842, and was educated in Cincinnati. At an early age he had manifested a predilection for finance, and in 1860 began to assist in the office of his father, who was well known to the citizens of the Queen City as a member of the wholesale liquor house of Hudepohl & Kotte, No. 372 Main street, where it was established in 1861. In the course of years young Hudepohl was admitted into partnership, and in 1885, with George H. Kotte, established the Buckeye Brewery, one of the ablest managed breweries in the United States. Its growth, its executive possessing tremendous push and enterprise, has been phenomenal, and no brewery has ever deserved more favorable encomiums. The Buckeye brewery is situated at Nos. 77-97 Clifton avenue, formerly Buckeye street. This site was formerly known as the Koehler brewery. The premises have a frontage of 240 feet and a depth of 120 feet, extending back to a wide alley, affording exceptional facilities for shipping and receiving. This plant is modern, and Frederick Wolff, one of the leading architects in this country, was its designer. No expense has been spared to obtain all the most modern ideas. There are two ice machines, an eighty-five ton Frick, placed in 1887, and a one-hundred-and-fifty-ton Frick, placed in 1894, their joint capacity being 235 tons. The business was estab- lished in 1885. There has been but one location and one title. The output of 1886 was 25,000 barrels, that of 1890, 40,000 barrels, and that of 1893, 60,000 barrels. This phenomenal increase has awakened admiration and respect for the push and enterprise of the gentlemen constituting the executive. Louis Hudepohl has mani- fested during his whole business career talent of a high order. His large acquaint- ance and popularity has proved invaluable in the pushing of this business, and his strict integrity has been recognized. He has long since been known to the citizens of Cincinnati as a lover of music, and a strong advocate of voice culture. He is a member of numerous musical societies, and founded, in 1861, the Maennerchor which bears his name, "The Hudepohl Combination."

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 138

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592