Editing Adolphus Busch

{{Short description|German-born co-founder of Anheuser-Busch (1839–1913)}}
{{Other people|Adolphus Busch}}
{{Use British English|date = September 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Adolphus Busch
| image       = Adolphus_busch2.jpg
| image_size  = 
| caption     = 
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1839|7|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Mainz-Kastel|Kastel]], [[Grand Duchy of Hesse]], [[German Confederation]]<br><small>(present-day [[Hesse]], Germany)</small>
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1913|10|10|1839|7|10|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Lindschied]], [[Province of Hesse-Nassau|Hesse-Nassau]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]], [[German Empire]] <br><small>(present-day Hesse, Germany)</small>
| resting_place = [[Bellefontaine Cemetery]]
| occupation  = Brewing executive and founder
| spouse      = {{marriage|Lilly Eberhard Anheuser|1861}} (1844 - 1928)<ref name=":1" />
| children    = 12, incl. [[August Anheuser Busch Sr.|August A. Busch]] 

{{Infobox military person
   |embed        = yes
   |embed_title  = Military Service
   |allegiance   = [[United States]]
   |branch       = [[Union Army]]
   |serviceyears = May - August 1861
   |unit         = [[3rd Missouri US Reserve Corps Infantry Regiment|3rd Missouri Infantry, US Reserve Corps]]
   |rank         = [[Corporal]]
   |battles      = 
[[American Civil War]]
*[[Camp Jackson affair]]
*[[Nathaniel Lyon|Lyon’s Missouri Expeditions]]
  }}
}}

'''Adolphus Busch''' (10 July 1839 – 10 October 1913{{cn|date=September 2023}}) was the German-born co-founder of [[Anheuser-Busch]] with his father-in-law, [[Eberhard Anheuser]]. He introduced numerous innovations, building the success of the company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He became a philanthropist, using some of his wealth for education and humanitarian needs. His great-great-grandson, [[August Busch IV]], is a former CEO of [[Anheuser-Busch]].

==Early life==
Busch was born on 10 July 1839, to Ulrich Busch and Barbara Pfeiffer<ref name="nytobit"/> in [[Mainz-Kastel|Kastel]], then a district of [[Mainz]] in the [[Grand Duchy of Hesse]]. He was the last of 21 brothers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Movers and Shakers, Scalawags and Suffragettes: Tales from Bellefontaine Cemetery|last=Shepley|first=Carol Ferring|publisher=Missouri History Museum|year=2008|location=St. Louis, MO}}</ref> His wealthy family ran a wholesale business of winery and brewery supplies. Busch and his brothers all received quality education, and he graduated from the Collegiate Institute of Belgium in Brussels.<ref name="nytobit"/>

In 1857, at the age of 18, Busch emigrated with three of his older brothers from the [[German Confederation]] to [[St. Louis, Missouri]]<ref name="nytobit"/> which was a major destination for German immigrants in the nineteenth century. Because he had so many siblings, Adolphus did not expect to inherit much of his father's estate and had to make his own way.<ref name=":0" /> Since St. Louis was home to so many German immigrants, the market for beer was large. The city also had two natural resources essential for manufacturing and storing beer in that time, before refrigeration: the river provided an ample water supply; and the city had many caves that would keep beer cool.<ref name=":0" />

His brother Johann established a brewery in [[Washington, Missouri]]. Ulrich Jr. married a daughter of [[Eberhard Anheuser]] in St. Louis, and settled in [[Chicago]]. Anton was a [[hops]] dealer who later returned to Mainz.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

==Career==
Busch's first job in St. Louis was working as a clerk in the commission house. He was also an employee at William Hainrichshofen's wholesale company.

During the [[American Civil War]] Busch served as a [[corporal]] in the [[Union Army]] from May to August, 1861, enlisting in the [[3rd Missouri US Reserve Corps Infantry Regiment (3 months, 1861)|3rd Missouri US Reserve Corps Infantry Regiment]], and fighting in Missouri, including at the [[Camp Jackson Affair]]. During this period, he learned that his father had died and he had inherited a portion of the estate.

Busch partnered with Ernst Battenberg in St. Louis to found the first of his businesses, a brewing supply company that sold to the three dozen breweries in the city. Eberhard Anheuser was one of Adolphus' customers. Anheuser was a soap manufacturer that lent money to the Bavarian Brewery. When the small brewery went bankrupt, Anheuser bought out the other creditors and renamed the company Anheuser. Adolphus married Eberhard's daughter Lilly in 1861.<ref name=":0" />

Returning to St. Louis after the Civil War, Busch entered his wife's family's brewery business. He bought out Eberhard's partner, William D'Oench. In 1879, the company was renamed Anheuser-Busch.<ref name=":0" />

At the death of Eberhard Anheuser in 1880, Busch became president of the business, and became wealthy due to the success of the brewery. He envisioned a national beer with universal appeal. His work was distinguished by his "timely adoption of important scientific and technological innovations, an expansive sales strategy geared largely toward external domestic and international population centers, and a pioneering integrated marketing plan that focused on a single core brand, Budweiser, making it the most successful nationally-distributed beer of the pre-Prohibition era."<ref name="holian" />
[[File:Adolphus01.jpg|thumb|right|The Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, Texas]]
To build Budweiser as a national beer, Busch created a network of rail-side ice-houses and launched the industry's first fleet of refrigerated freight cars.<ref name="nytobit"/> However, throughout his life, he jokingly referred to his beer as "dot schlop" and preferred wine to drink.<ref>{{cite web |last=McClelland |first=Edward |title=The rise and fall of an American beer |url=http://www.salon.com/life/food/eat_drink/2008/07/17/budweiser |work=Salon.com |date=July 17, 2008|access-date=September 19, 2011}}</ref> Later [[budweiser]] from Budějovice has been named "the beer of kings" since the 16th century. Adolphus Busch adapted the slogan to "the Kings Of Beers." The trademarks of these slogans owned by Anheuser Busch in the United States.

When Busch implemented pasteurization (1878) as a way to keep the beer fresh for longer, his company was able to profit from shipping beer across the country.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Geography of Beer: Regions, Environment, and Societies | author1=Patterson, Mark W.|author2=Pullen, Nancy Hoalst | publisher=Springer | year=2014 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zY7FBAAAQBAJ| page=49| isbn=9789400777873}}</ref> Busch soon acquired breweries in Texas which allowed his operation to distribute to Mexico and California.<ref>{{cite book | title=The City in Texas: A History | author=McComb, David G. | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6vxtBgAAQBAJ | publisher=University of Texas Press | year=2015| page=70| isbn=9780292767485 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BuzNzm-x0l8C | author1=Blocker, Jack S.|author2=Fahey, David M.|author3=Tyrrell, Ian R. | publisher=ABC-CLIO | year=2003 | page=125|isbn = 9781576078334}}</ref> Busch was an early adopter of bottled beer and founded the Busch Glass Company to make bottles for his product.<ref name="nytobit"/> In 1901 sales surpassed the one million barrels of beer benchmark.

In addition to pasteurization and refrigeration, Busch was an early adopter of vertical integration, or buying all components of a business.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} He bought bottling factories, ice-manufacturing plants, stave makers, timberland, coal mines, and a refrigeration company. He also bought railways and bought the rights from [[Rudolf Diesel]] to assemble diesel engines in America,<ref name=":0" /> establishing the [[Busch-Sulzer|Diesel Motor Company]] (later ''American Diesel Engine Company'' and ''Busch-Sulzer Bros. Diesel Engine Company''). The Busch family also acquired hop farms in the area near [[Cooperstown, New York]].<ref>[http://countryfolks.com/its-back-to-the-future-for-hager-hops-farm-family/ Country Folks Magazine: It is back to the future for Hager Hops farm family, Louis Busch Hager]</ref>

His focus on the business extended to the flavor of the beer itself. Carl Conrad held the trademark for the name [[Budweiser]] and had Anheuser-Busch manufacture it for him. Conrad was an importer of wines and champagnes. Busch studied the pilsner process in Europe, which was used for brewing Budweiser. Adolphus bought the rights to Budweiser from Conrad in October 1882 when Conrad went bankrupt.<ref name=":0" />

In 1895, Busch joined [[Washington University in St. Louis|Washington University in St. Louis's]] Board of Directors. He would continue to serve on the Board until his death in 1913, at which point his son, [[August Anheuser Busch Sr.|August Busch, Sr.]] took over his seat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.studlife.com/scene/2019/02/06/bears-and-beer-a-history-of-wus-connection-to-anheuser-busch/|title=Bears and beer: A history of WU's connection to Anheuser-Busch|website=Student Life|date=February 7, 2019|access-date=August 4, 2019}}</ref> Busch also served as the president of the South Side Bank and the [[Manufacturers Railway (St. Louis)|Manufacturers Railway]].<ref name="nytobit"/><ref name="buschtotunnel">{{cite news|title=Busch to Tunnel Under the River. Manufacturers' Railway Plans $3,000,000 Route Through the Mississippi for New Terminal System. New Gulf Road for City. Kansas City Southern to Enter St. Louis--Bush Making War on Iron Mountain--St. Paul's Activity |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/14710236/?terms=%22William%2BD.%2BOrthwein%22 |newspaper=Alton Evening Telegraph |location= [[Alton, Illinois]] |date=January 20, 1906 |page=3 |via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = October 8, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref> He had helped organize the latter as a short-line rail serving local industry. Likewise, he was a director of the Louisiana Purchase Company.<ref name="nytobit"/> Like other business leaders, he served as a director of the [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition|1904 World's Fair]] in [[St. Louis]], contributing to civic efforts.<ref name="holian"/> In 1909, Busch was the leading investor when a consortium of St. Louis capitalists purchased [[Laclede Gas]] from [[North American]], a public utilities conglomerate, which also owned [[Union Electric]] and United Railways, the consolidated streetcar company in St. Louis, which operated as St. Louis Traction Company.<ref>St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 11, 1909</ref>

Busch invested in new buildings and businesses in [[Dallas, Texas]], which was growing rapidly in the early 20th century as an industrial city. In 1912, Busch constructed the [[Adolphus Hotel]] there as the tallest building in the state. Another was the Busch Building, which has been adapted as the [[Kirby Building|Kirby Residences]], and is located at 1509 Main St. It is a [[National Historic Landmark]].

==Philanthropy==
From his early years, Busch contributed generously to charitable and education needs. With a lifelong interest in his homeland, he assisted in repairing devastation from the 1882 flooding of Mainz-Kastel by the Rhine River. He donated $100,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|0.1|1906|r=1}} million today) to [[San Francisco]] after the 1906 earthquake - $50,000 personally and $50,000 from his company.<ref name="holian">[http://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=152 Holian, Timothy J. "Adolphus Busch"], In ''Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present,'' vol. 3, edited by Giles R. Hoyt. German Historical Institute. Last modified August 9, 2013</ref>

Busch contributed a total of $350,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|0.35|1906|r=1}} million today) to Harvard to endow a Germanic museum, named [[Adolphus Busch Hall]].<ref name="nytobit"/>

==Personal life==
[[File:Mrs. Adolphus Busch.jpg|thumb|Busch's wife, the former Lily Anheuser]]
Busch married Elise "Lilly" Eberhard Anheuser, the third daughter of [[Eberhard Anheuser]], on 7 March 1861, at a Lutheran church<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780380718474/page/26/mode/2up?q=lutheran|title = Under the influence : The unauthorized story of the Anheuser-Busch dynasty|year = 1991}}</ref> in [[St. Louis, Missouri]].<ref name="nytobit"/> They had thirteen children:<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Ancestry.com: Busch Family|url=https://www.ancestry.de/boards/surnames.busch/373|access-date=2020-07-20}}</ref>

* Nellie Busch (1863 - 1934)
* Edward Busch (1864 - 1879)
* [[August Anheuser Busch Sr.]] (1865 - 1934)
* [[Adolphus Busch, Jr.]] (1868 - 1898)
* Alexis Busch (1869 - 1869)
* Edmee Busch (1871 - 1955)
* Emilee Busch (1870 - 1870)
* Peter Busch (1872 - 1905)
* Martha Busch (1873 - 1873)
* Anna "Tolie" Louise Busch (1875 - 1936)
* Clara Busch (1876 -1959)
* Carl Busch (1882 - 1915)
* Wilhelmina "Minnie" Busch (1884 -1952)

The Busches often traveled to Germany where they built their mansion. They named it the Villa Lilly for Mrs Busch. It is located in [[Lindschied]] near [[Bad Schwalbach|Langenschwalbach]], in present-day [[Bad Schwalbach]].<ref name="nytobit"/>

==Death and legacy==
[[Image:Busch Mausoleum 2013.jpg|thumb|left|The Busch Mausoleum at [[Bellefontaine Cemetery]], designed by [[Barnett, Haynes & Barnett]]]]

Busch died in [[Lindschied]] in 1913 while on vacation. He had been suffering from [[dropsy]] since 1906.<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/10/11/100651720.pdf |title=Adolphus Busch Dies in Prussia |work= New York Times |date= October 11, 1913 |access-date=April 23, 2013 }}</ref> He was survived by his widow, five daughters and two sons, [[August Anheuser Busch Sr.|August A.]] and Carl Busch, both of St. Louis.<ref name="nytobit"/> His body was brought back to the United States in 1915 by ship, and transported by train to St. Louis.

Almost thirty thousand people paid their respects to Adolphus Busch when his body lay in state in the family mansion in St. Louis. Notable guests included the U.S. secretary of agriculture, the president of Harvard University, and the president of the University of California. The procession consisted of twenty-five trucks that were needed to transport all the flower arrangements to the cemetery as well as a 250 piece band that led the funeral procession. The procession spanned twenty miles, from No. 1 Busch Place to [[Bellefontaine Cemetery]], Adolphus' final resting place. As many as 100,000 mourners lined the streets for the procession. Five minutes of silence were observed at the request of Mayor Henry W. Kiel and the lights were turned off at the Jefferson and Planter's House hotels. Streetcars were also halted.<ref name=":0" />

Lilly Anheuser's parents had built a mausoleum at Bellefontaine Cemetery, but she felt that Adolphus needed something grander. She tore down the original structure, and had the other family members reinterred outside. She had Thomas Barnett design a new mausoleum in the Bavarian Gothic style. Constructed of stone quarried in Missouri, and completed in 1921, the new building cost $250,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|0.1|1906|r=1}} million today). It features grapevines representing both Adolphus' birthplace in German wine country, and his favorite beverage. Julius Caesar's words, "Veni, Vidi, Vici," or "I came, I saw, I conquered" are inscribed on the lintel.<ref name=":0" />

Lilly died of a [[heart attack]] and [[pneumonia]] on 17 February 1928, in Pasadena, California. Her body was brought back to St. Louis, and was buried beside her husband.<ref name=":0" />
{{-}}

==See also==
* [[Eberhard Anheuser]]
* [[Jacob Best]]
* [[Valentin Blatz]]
* [[Adolph Coors]]
* [[Gottlieb Heileman]]
* [[Frederick Miller]]
* [[Frederick Pabst]]
* [[Joseph Schlitz]]
* [[August Uihlein]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Anheuser-Busch Companies}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Busch, Adolphus}}
[[Category:1839 births]]
[[Category:1913 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Wiesbaden]]
[[Category:Busch family|Adolphus]]
[[Category:Hessian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:American drink industry businesspeople]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from St. Louis]]
[[Category:People from the Grand Duchy of Hesse]]
[[Category:Deaths from edema]]
[[Category:Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery]]
[[Category:American brewers]]
[[Category:Washington University in St. Louis trustees]]