The Weisgerber Brothers papers
Content Description
The papers of the Weisgerber brothers of Lewiston, owners of Idaho's first brewery are contained in one large archival file box.
Included in the materials are legal documents, financial journals, and photographs. The legal documents include over fifty deeds dating from 1863 to 1906, the naturalization papers of Ernst Weisgerber, the last will and testament of John Weisgerber, and abstracts of title for property purchased by Christ Weisgerber. There are seven financial journals, a collection of photographs of the C. Weisgerber Brewery and early Lewiston, several newspaper clippings, and a map of the Park Addition to the City of Lewiston.
Dates
- Creation: 1863-1918
Creator
- Weisgerber, Ernst, 1835-? (Person)
- Weisgerber, John, 1844-1890 (Person)
- Weisgerber, Christ, 1848-1914 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Biographical / Historical
Philip and Sara (Hemel) Weisgerber of Wachtersbach, Germany (located east of Frankfurt on the Main River) were the parents of nine children, three of whom were later engaged in the brewery business in Lewiston, Idaho. These sons were Ernst (parish records at the church in Wachterebach list Heinrich Ernst, born August 21, 1835), John (Johannes, born December 5, 1844), and Christ (Christian, born September 11, 1848). Because Philip did not approve of the German conscription laws he and one or two of his older sons immigrated to the United States in the 1840's. They settled in Wheeling, West Virginia where he went into business as a cheese ager. As the other sons in Germany reached conscription age they were sent to join their father. In 1862 Christ and his mother left Germany to join the rest of the family.
In Wheeling, John worked as a wagon maker while Christ was employed in both the brewery and butcher trades. Meanwhile, sometime prior to 1862 Ernst moved to Spokane, Washington, where he worked in a brewery. He arrived in Lewiston in 1862 and leased a portion of the Newell Estate containing the California Brewery. On October 16, 1863, he purchased this brewery, located on First Street, from Charles Brown for $2,600. Within a few years he had purchased much of the surrounding property.
In 1867 Christ and John went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where they established a meat market. They sold this business in 1869 and moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where they worked in a brewery for a brief time. On May 11, 1869, they were again on the road, this time by rail, to join their brother, Ernst, in Lewiston. Ernst was, at this time, operating the brewery in partnership with Godfried Gamble. Christ thought it would be more profitable to again enter the butcher's trade and he soon formed a partnership with C.P. Coburn which lasted until 1871.
In 1870 John joined Ernst in the brewery business. Christ joined them in 1871. In September 1875 Ernst sold the business to his brothers and moved east where he died a few years later. In 1877 when the brewery was enlarged the brothers built the first brick building in Lewiston. Although there was a saloon attached to the brewery most of the beer was sold to other saloons in Lewiston.
After John's death on February 3, 1890, Christ continued to operate the business, now called C. Weisgerber Brewery, until Idaho passed the Prohibition Act in 1913. The building was leased to the Mason-Ehrman Company who used it as a warehouse. On February 7, 1936 a fire destroyed this structure.
Christ Weisgerber served on the Lewiston City Council for 19 years and as mayor of the city for two (1898-1899). In 1905 he built what is known as the Weisgerber Block on the corner of 5th and Main in Lewiston. His first wife, Belle Grant, by whom he had two children, died in 1880. He then married Mary Jacobs by whom he had nine children; only five of his eleven children survived him. On February 15, 1914 he suffered a stroke which kept him bedridden until his death on November 21.
Extent
1 linear feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Legal documents, financial journals, and other items related to the Weisgerber Brewery in Lewiston, Idaho.
Arrangement
The material in this archival group was organized by type of material. The deeds had been numbered in ink by the Weisgerber family and were left in this numerical order; this is, with a few exceptions, a chronological order. Since each financial journal contains a different type of information these were placed in roughly chronological order. Although it was decided to remove the photographs from the archival group and interfile them with the Special Collections photographs, they are listed in this inventory.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers of the Weisgerber brothers of Lewiston, owners of Idaho's first brewery, were given to the University of Idaho Library by Philip 0. Weisgerber and his two sisters, Mrs. Edith C. Taylor and Mrs. Marie E. White, grandchildren of Christ Weisgerber.
Bibliography
History of Idaho Territory. San Francisco, W.W. Elliott, 1884. p. 281.
Lewiston Morning Tribune. November 22, 1914.
Lewiston Morning Tribune. February 8, 1936.
Taylor, Edith C. (Weisgerber), Philip 0. Weisgerber, and Marie E. (Weisgerber) White. A Man, His Family, and His City. cl982 by Edith C. Taylor.
- Title
- Guide to The Weisgerber Brothers papers
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen; updated by Sara Szobody in 2022.
- Date
- 1982
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository