History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 51

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

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Since the plant was started in 1862 there have been three titles to the brewery- Weyand & Jung, Weyand, Jung & Hellman and the present title, the Jung Brewing. Company, which was taken in 1885, when the plant was incorporated with a capital stock of $500,000, which has since been increased to $1,000,000, all of which has been paid up. Peter Weyand and Daniel Jung are dead. They were estimable citizens, who always had the interests of the Queen City at heart, and the regret at their death was universal. The concern is to-day managed by a board of directors, of which M. Butz is president, and Alvin Carl vice-president and general manager.

John Kauffman Brewing Company .- This company was incorporated under its present title in 1882, with a paid-in capital stock of $700,000. John Kauffman, the founder, is a native of Lorraine, France, where he was born February 10, 1830. He came to this city when not yet fifteen years of age, and immediately obtained employment with his uncle, John Kauffman, who owned the Ohio Brewery at that time. By close application to business, and with economical management, he had amassed a fortune in a few years. When his uncle died in 1856, young John bought the Ohio Brewery, and remodeled it to suit the growing demands. Soon after this transaction he married, becoming the son-in-law of G. T. Eichenlaub, on Walnut Hills. In 1858 Mr. Kauffman, together with G. T. Eichenlaub and Rudolph Rhein- boldt, purchased the Deer Creek Brewery. This firm in 1859 built the establish- ment situated on Vine street, where the business is still in successful operation.

Mr. Kauffman was three times a member of the board of city equalization. He was a member of the city council in 1869 and 1870. He was always an active worker for liberal revenue laws. He generally carried his point with that indomitable per- tinacity for which he is truly remarkable. He soon retired from political life, as he found it required more of his time than he could afford to lend to it. Mr. Eichen- laub retired from the business in 1865, and Mr. Rheinboldt retired ten years later. Mr. Kauffman conducted the business from 1875 to 1882, at which latter period it was incorporated as The John Kauffman Brewing Company. The first year Mr. Kauffman began business the output was about one thousand barrels annually. To-day it reaches the enormous aggregate of seventy thousand barrels.

The company have a malt house with a capacity of 150,000 bushels, and their plant covers nearly five acres of ground. The business is conducted by M. A. Kauff- man. president; M. L. Schmitt, vice-president and treasurer; Charles Rheinboldt, secretary; Charles J. Kauffman, superintendent; John R. Kauffman, brewmaster.

The Buckeye Brewing Company .- About nine years ago Louis Hudepohl and George Kotte formed a partnership to engage in the brewery business, and estab- lished a plant on the site years ago occupied by the Koehler Brewery, Buckeye street, now called Clifton avenue. When they first went into business the building was a comparatively small one, but the sale of their beer increased so rapidly that in a few years they were compelled to erect a much larger one, and to-day it is the handsomest building in that vicinity. It is a pressed brick building, and has front- age of 240 feet and a depth of 120 feet. The capacity of the brewery is 100,000 barrels per year. In 1886 the output was 25,000 barrels; in 1890, 40,000 barrels, and during the last three years the sales have been increased to such an extent that to-day it ranks as one of the largest breweries in the State.

Cincinnati's Oldest Brewery -The Herancourt Brewing Company is the oldest brewery in Cincinnati, having been established in 1840. The plant is located on Harrison avenue, near Brighton Station, having a frontage of 640 feet on Harrison avenue, and an average depth of 350 feet, comprising about six acres in all, and cov-

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ering the original site. The business was originally carried on under the firm name of The G. M. Herancourt Brewery, but assumed its present title in 1881 on the incorporation of the company with a capital of $500,000. The output for the first year was 600 barrels; last year it exceeded 35,000. The executives at present are R. Lutterby, president and treasurer; Casimer Werk, vice-president; Robert H. Herancourt, secretary; Louis A. Herancourt, superintendent, the remaining directors being B. Herancourt, F. Egner, M. Egner, John Hauck and M. Schwartz.

Germania Brewing Company .- This company, whose plant is on Central avenue, was established in 1885. The first year the output was 10,000 barrels; in 1893 it reached 40,000. The company have supplied their brewery with the latest and best machinery that has yet been devised for the manufacture of beer, and a great demand has been the result of their liberality. The nucleus of the plant was first laid by John Wetterer in 1863, by the establishment of the Queen City Malt House, which he successfully carried on for twenty years, when he turned it into the present brewery. The firm consists of John Wetterer, president ; F. J. Wetterer, secretary and treasurer, and Charles Wetterer, collector.

In 1873 Mr. Wetterer was elected a member of the city council from the Twenty- fourth Ward, which office he held two years, after which he retired from politics wholly. F. J. Wetterer was born in the same house as his father. He graduated with high honors from St. Xavier's College in 1879, and shortly thereafter entered his father's employ. It did not take him long to master all the details of the brew- ing business, and to-day he is considered one of the city's most expert maltsters. In 1885,when the brewery began its existence, he was elected to the position which he holds at present. Charles Wetterer graduated from St. Xavier's College in 1891, since which time he has been in his father's employ.

Schmidt Brothers Brewing Company .- The firm of Schmidt Brothers was started in 1870, when they purchased of H. Frohmeyer the old Herancourt Brewery, on Denman street, for $1,500. Here they brewed the so-called common beer, which was at that time the most popular beer. In 1875 Henry Schmidt withdrew from the firm, thus throwing all responsibilities on to Fred Schmidt, who continued with brilliant results. In April, 1875, Fred Schmidt associated himself with Henry Adam, and purchased the entire Bach Brewery on McMicken avenue. In the fall of the same year Mr. Adam disposed of his share in the concern to Louis Prell, and the firm was changed to Schmidt & Prell, until 1876, when Prell died, and his inter- est was purchased by Fred Schmidt. In October, one month after the decease of Prell, Fred took his brother, Henry, with him as partner, running under the name of Schmidt & Brother until April 1, 1891, when the present stock company was formed under the name of the Schmidt Brothers Brewing Company.

Fred Schmidt was chosen by his associates as president, which office he has held until the present day, serving with utmost integrity and ability. Fred Schmidt purchased all the shares of his brothers in August, 1891, and is running the busi- ness with himself at the head of it with great success. Mr. Schmidt is at present one of the best-known German citizens in Cincinnati, being a member of most all leading German societies, and a liberal contributor to all just causes which may bring about good results, either to the public at large or the city. The Schmidt Brothers Brewing Company, of which Fred Schmidt is president and manager, Aug. Forn, vice-president, and Jacob Frey, secretary and treasurer, is one of the most prominent in Cincinnati, having all the latest devices and improvements, and, in fact, is a model plant in every respect, and the product (Crown beer) has reached. a reputation second to none in the city.

The Banner Brewing Company .- Although founded in 1885, this company has built up a reputation second to none in Cincinnati for the excellence of its product. Its plant was built at a cost of half a million dollars, from designs by Frederick Wolf, architect, and has every modern facility for turning out a perfect beer -- as

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may be surmised from the fact that the output for the very first year was nearly twenty thousand barrels, from which rather large send-off there has been a steady and healthful increase year by year, until the brewery is up among the dozen leaders.

Henry Varwig is the president, Conrad Burckhauser, the vice-president, Alexis Darusmont. treasurer and secretary, the remaining directors being William Darus- mont and J. N. Feurstein. These officers need no introduction in Cincinnati. Mr. Varwig became one of the original stockholders in 1885, and was elected president in 1888. He was already widely known to the brewing interests of the country, being the inventor, in 1870, of the self-ventilating beer-faucet, seen everywhere, and known as " Varwig's patent."

The Henry Adam's Brewery .- The Adam Brewery, Camp Washington, occupies about two acres of ground covered with malt, machinery and brew-houses. Henry Adam erected the present plant in 1881, and has so successfully coped with his more pretentious neighbors as to enable him to enlarge his business to almost double its original capacity. Last year a new brew and machine house were erected at a cost of about $75,000. The brewery turns out about fifteen thousand barrels a year, and supplies the majority of the malt for other brewers in the city, aggregating twenty thousand bushels a year. Mr. Adam and his son Fred manage the business themselves, with about twenty brew hands, washers, maltsters and drivers.

The J. Walker Brewing Company .- This plant is also one of the oldest in the city. It was established on the present site-Sycamore street, north of the canal- in 1825, and has remained there to the present time. Improvements have been made each decade, until the capacity is now 60,000 barrels per year. The concern was incorporated May 1, 1885, with a capital of $200,000. J. Walker, the founder, died in 1860. That the present management have manifested great push and enter- prise is shown by the rapid advance in sales each year, the output of 1885 having been 18,600 barrels. Conrad Schultz, the vice-president of the company, has had great experience in the business, is a representative man, and has served in the council and held other city offices. The superintendent and general manager, F. Bartels, has been connected with the brewing business from his youth, and has learned every part of it thoroughly.

The Bruckman Brewery .- The Cumminsville, or J. C. Bruckman Brewery, began its existence in 1865. The founder, Mr. Bruckman, was born in Thieringen. Germany, in 1829, and came to America in 1845. He secured a position with his brother, learned the brewing business, and after a few years formed a partnership with his brother, since which time the business has been conducted under the pres- ent firm name. .

J. C. Bruckman died in 1887, at the age of fifty-eight. After his estate was settled, about three years ago, a brother and sister, who had an interest in the busi- ness, retired, after which a partnership was formed, consisting of William M. Bruck- man, Henry A. Bruckman, and Henry Dreman. The first year the brewery was in operation the output was 1,200 barrels; to-day it is 25,000 barrels. There are 173 acres of ground belonging to the J. C. Bruckman Brewery plant, and its equipment is first-class in every respect.

The Becker Brewing Company .- This is the youngest brewing company in the city, having been established in March, 1892. The Adam Schultz Company plant was purchased at that time, and the present firm, of which Casper Becker is the head, founded. The success of the firm has been remarkable on account of the superior article of beer manufactured. Valentine Becker, son of the head of the firm, is bookkeeper, and Conrad Werner brewmaster.

There are several other breweries contiguous to the city, but they are located outside the limits of Hamilton county, and therefore do not come within the scope of this chapter. Covington, Newport, and other Kentucky towns, have a number also. The foregoing, however, will give the reader a clear idea of the magnitude of the beer industry of Cincinnati and the millions of dollars invested in its manufacture.

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

Manufacture of Barrels .- Where so many millions of barrels and kegs of beer are produced annually, this review would not be complete without some reference to the manufacture of these vessels to contain it. In the village of Riverside, just ~ outside the city limits, is found the vast plant of the Cincinnati Cooperage Com- pany. Its buildings and extensive yards adjoin that of the Fleischmann distillery, and on the south is the broad sweep of the Ohio river and the Kentucky hills. It is a just claim made without boasting that the Cincinnati Cooperage Company is the largest concern of its kind in the world, as statistics will tell.

So great is its business that it owns vast tracts of timber land in a dozen States, from which is derived the stave and heading supply. About one thousand men are kept constantly at work in the lumber camps getting out material ready for ship- ment to the Riverside factory. As the company uses none but thoroughly seasoned wood, an enormous stock is kept year by year in the yards. So enormous is it that at the present time fully fifteen million pieces of staves and headings are stacked up in the Riverside yards. Averaging the length of these pieces at thirty inches each, they would, if placed end to end, reach a distance of over six thousand miles, or a quarter of the earth's circumference.

The company owns its own barges and steamboat for the transportation of mate- rial from the timber districts, which are accessible by water, though a great deal of the wood supply comes by rail. There are eight stave and heading mills located in the various forest districts owned or operated by the Cincinnati Cooperage Company. At the Riverside shops five hundred men are employed, making a total of about fourteen hundred altogether who derive wages from this great company. The full manufacturing capacity of the plant averages six thousand packages a day, an indi- cation of the immense business done by the concern.

Brass and Copper Works .- Another great manufactory, a market for whose wares has been created by the beer industry, is the copper and brass works of F. C. Deckenbach Sons' Company, These works are the oldest as well as largest in this city engaged in this line of work for distilleries and breweries. Sixty men are employed. The firm is constantly increasing its facilities and introducing new machinery. Its specialty is the manufacture of brass and copper work for brewer- ies, and nearly all the great breweries of Cincinnati have received their outfits from this establishment, as well as many others in adjoining States. But the product of the company is not alone confined to the city and a few adjoining States, but finds a market throughout the United States. The head of the firm admits that there are larger factories than in Cincinnati, but comparatively few, since it is claimed that there is more copper consumed here than in any other city on the continent.

CHAPTER XXI.

INDIAN WARFARE-WAR OF 1812.

[BY COL. D. W. McCLUNG.]

THE " MIAMI SLAUGHTER HOUSE "-INDIAN WARFARE AND TREATIES-CINCINNATI A STRATEGIC POINT IN WAR, COMMERCE AND TRADE-FORT WASHINGTON-EXPEDITIONS AGAINST THE INDIANS-FINAL DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIAN CONFEDERACY-CINCINNATI IN THE INDIAN WARS-WAR OF 1812-14-WARLIKE FEELING IN CINCINNATI-RECRUITING-MILITARY SENT TO THE FRONT-CONCLUSION.

C' YINCINNATI owed its beginning to military considerations, and its first history is of garrisons and campaigns. Even before the title to the fertile and beauti- ful hills and valleys lying about her had been transferred to the United States, the region had acquired among the aborigines the designation of the " Miami Slaughter

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House." The Northern tribes whose villages were in the uplands of central Ohio and Indiana and around the lakes, and the Southern tribes, whose abiding place was along the upper waters of the Tennessee and Cumberland, knew nothing of peace, and only enjoyed a truce, when separated by the whole diameter of the " Miami Slaughter House " and the " dark and bloody ground."

After the early settlers had occupied the region about Lexington and Harrodsburg, and immigrants were floating to Louisville and other points on the lower river-for twenty years before Cincinnati was occupied-the " Slaughter House " increased its distinction. Many of the expeditions and raids made into Kentucky followed the Miami and the Licking, others from the Miami passed down the Ohio and up the Kentucky river. The vengeful expeditions of the Kentucky pioneers, in retaliation for the plundering and murders of the Northern marauders, followed the same routes.

Unwittingly the government of the confederation prepared the way for a con- tinuance of the bloody experiences that have given the Slaughter House its sug- gestive name. The Indians of the North and Northwest had, during the struggle for independence, been the cheap and efficient allies of the Mother country. Their murderous forays were a constant menace. Their hostile attitude compelled many of the most intrepid and courageous of the frontiersmen to keep watch over their own homes. In this way the Indians had kept from the Continental forces a large number of men who were the finest material for soldiers. They were compelled to do frontier duty, while others fought the armies of the great enemy. Indeed the war- fare with the Indians continued without cessation after the Mother country had ceased efforts to subdue the rebellious colonists.

The savage allies of the British were not mentioned either in the provisional or definitive treaty that announced a new nation. Their territory was given over to their enemies, and they were abandoned to their fate. Enmity and suspicion, the memory of appalling wrongs, would not allow the storm of war to settle to the calm level of peace. Hatred and jealousy were to do their perfect work. The govern- ment of the confederation, as a means of breaking the Indian power, disregarded the Indian confederacy, and proceeded to make treaties with tribes in detail. At Fort Stanwix (Rome, N. Y.) a treaty was made with the famous Six Nations. At Fort McIntosh (Beaver, Penn. ), and at Fort Harmar (Marietta), separate treaties were made with other tribes. Last of all a treaty was made at Fort Finney, situated less than a mile above the mouth of the great Miami, and about 150 yards from the bank of the Ohio. This treaty was supposed to complete satisfactory arrangements with the last of the Indians that menaced the frontier.

The most sagacious and experienced participants in these negotiations had no expectation that they would result favorably, except as they might be enforced by military power. It soon developed that Gen. Harmar, George Rogers Clarke and their associates were wiser than the committees or the Congress that directed their actions. But as soon as these abortive treaties had been concluded, by which it was supposed that the Indians had forever abandoned all eastern and southern Ohio, the Ohio Company and Symmes and his associates made their purchases, and eagerly pushed forward their colonies. The true condition was soon made manifest. The treaties had been made with irresponsible detachments, whose authority was repudi- ated by the great Confederacy. Gifts, largesses, provisions and blankets had been bestowed in vain. Not for these things, nor by such methods, were the Indians to abandon the most beautiful and inviting region in the world. We can not wonder at their tenacity. Savages though they were, they rebelled against being dispossessed of the heritage of their fathers by bargains made as they believed under the influ- ence of bribes and threats.

Just before the coming of Symmes and his colony, a flood in the Ohio had sub- merged the site of Columbia, and also of Fort Finney. The little garrison at the

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latter place had escaped from the upper story by the only boat left them by the ice, and floated upon the flood to Louisville. The first cry of the defenceless settlers was for protection. Fort Harmar and Fort Steuben (at Jeffersonville, Ind.) were too distant to watch over the infant settlements. Not only were the Indians dis- satisfied and threatening, but the treaty stipulations with Great Britain had not been observed. The Americans had failed to give the promised protection to those who had adhered to the Mother country, and, in retaliation, Great Britain still held the Northwestern posts, within the territory ceded to the United States, and in the midst of the turbulent Indians. There was urgent need for vigorous action.

Maj. Doughty of the regular army of the United States was sent by Gen. Har- mar to select a site for a fort near the mouth of the Great Miami river. The site of Fort Finney and of Columbia had already been condemned by the great flood in the Ohio river. He visited North Bend, examined the river at various points, and in a few days decided that Cincinnati was the most desirable place for his purpose. Selecting fifteen acres of ground, bordering on the section of land which had been sold by Symmes to Mathias Denman, he appropriated it to government uses for the building of a stockade. This site was east of Broadway, extending from the Ohio river northward. There is no reason to suppose that any other than military rea- sons influenced Maj. Doughty in his selection. The situation at that time made Cincinnati a strategic point of great importance, as well as a most convenient base of operations. Doubtless Judge Symmes had expected that the garrison and the city would go to North Bend. For very plausible reasons he had chosen that as the site of the coming city. At that point the Ohio river makes its extreme north bend; the Miami river sweeps southward, until the distance between the two is but little, if any, more than a mile. In the days before railroads or steamboats had been dreamed of, it was reasonable to suppose that this location would be most advantageous. It was natural that the Miami river should be regarded as of com- mercial importance. And it is true now, as it was then, that a city located so as to front upon two rivers, would have many advantages. Doubtless Judge Symmes believed that other than military reasons had influenced the gallant Major. Never- theless, the military reasons are sufficient, and the short time during which Maj. Doughty held the question under advisement, would make it almost incredible that any affair of gallantry could have been involved. His examination began at the Little Miami August 16, 1789, and on the 21st of the same month he dates his report to Gen. Hamar, stating that he had found the place opposite the Licking to be "the most proper position for the purpose."

To the southward, already not less than forty thousand people were living in central Kentucky. The valley of the Licking river furnished easy access to that region, where supplies and soldiers might be found. To the northward the open valley of the Mill creek afforded access to the heart of the Miami valley, more directly and more conveniently than from North Bend. This last feature of the surroundings of Cincinnati explains, not only the military advantages at that time, but also the growth of the city. It has been the open gateway for trade and com- merce, as it was the convenient route for armies. If the range of hills, that so nearly encircle Cincinnati, had been closed across the valley of the Mill creek, it would never have been chosen as a military station, and never would have become an important center of commerce. As so often happens, the highway of armies and the highway of commerce are the same. The strategic points in war become the strategic points in commerce and trade.

Fort Washington was first occupied as headquarters by Gen. Harmar, December 29, 1789. Two companies were left at Fort Harmar, and the remainder of the regi- ment was transferred to Fort Washington. The Indian raids and murders still continued. Immigrants passing down the Ohio river were daily in danger of being attacked from the shore. Settlers upon the Miami Purchase were in hourly danger

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of being shot down by enemies lying in wait for their appearance. The tide of immigration to the West during these years may be estimated from the statement of Gen. Harmar dated Fort Harmar, December 9, 1787. He says he had caused care- ful count to be kept, and from the 1st of June to the day of his report, there had passed to Kentucky 146 boats with 3,196 souls, 1,371 horses, 167 wagons, 191 cattle, 245 sheep and 24 hogs.

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 51

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