During the era after the Civil War to the dawn of the 20th century, magnitudes of European immigrants came to America to find a better life. With them they brought their traditions and heritage and started a new carefree and confident lifestyle. Among the European immigrants, many strong German ancestry communities have settled in the United States. Here they enjoyed the days when breweries were at their peak production and Prohibition was something no one would ever dreamed of. As part of their German heritage everyone shared the brewmaster's reputation, the product he brews, and the city could be proud to call it their very own.
Quincy, Illinois has always been a strong German community. Like many other towns in the Midwest, Quincy had its share of local breweries to quench the thirst for good beer. Some of Quincy's fine breweries of the past were the F.X. Schill Brewery, Ruff Brewing Company, Wahl Brewing Company and the Washington Brewery. Earlier there were other breweries, but one brewery stands out as one of the city's most leading business and industry. The Dick and Brothers Quincy Brewery.
The Dick and Brothers Quincy Brewery, was founded in 1857 by Matthew, John and Jacob Dick. These three founded one of the largest breweries in the United States, and in the early part of the 20th century, Dick & Bros brewery was once larger than Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, Missouri. When the Dick brothers built their original brewery, it had an annual capacity of about 1,500 barrels of lager beer; within the next 15 years, it would produce about 70,000 barrels.
All three Dick brothers where born in Ruppertsburg, Rheinpfalz Bavaria of Johann and Anna Maria Dick. They have shared a home with six other brothers and sisters. The Dick family were dynamic winemakers and were strong supporters to their community.
In 1854, Matthew, John and Jacob had come to America to commence their own business. The three brothers located first in St. Louis, moving to Belleville in 1855, and then to Quincy in 1857. All three were engaged in their own businesses until Matthew saw a future in making beer and convinced them to move to Iowa where barley was easy to acquire. While they were on their way, the three Dick brothers, stumbled across a clear, cold bubbling spring at Ninth and York Streets in Quincy. John, Jacob and Matthew knew the water's qualities were excellent for making beer and purchased the property from William Shanahanm for $5,000 on June 19, 1857.
After the purchase of the spring at Ninth and York Streets, the Dick brothers constructed a small building and installed their brewery. This was the origin of the Dick & Brothers Brewing Company.
Matthew Dick
Matthew Dick was born on July 8, 1819. Matthew was the first to come to America where he married his first wife Lisette Kohl in 1852 in Belleville, Illinois. Matthew and Lisette had one child, Herman. Tragically, Lisette died in 1854 during a second child birth. Matthew remarried in 1861 to Eleanor Deidesheimer and had four children.
Matthew Dick was a singularly but quiet man, and engaged in many businesses during his life. When he arrived in American, he acquired a small capital to invest in a saloon in Belleville, Illinois. In 1857, he removed to Quincy to start their brewery.
Jacob Dick
Jacob Dick was born on October 9, 1834. Jacob was the one who had the most brewing experience which he acquired in his native Germany. Jacob heard of Matthew's success in America and decided to join him overseas. Jacob's first job in America was as a bookkeeper for a hardware store in Belleville, Illinois. Since Jacob spoke English better than his two brothers, he was placed in charge of the brewing business management, while the others looked after the mechanical operation of the brewery and handing of the product.
In 1861, Jacob Dick married Margaret Redmond. Both Jacob and Margaret had six children. He also served as a guard in the American Civil War. He rode the newly formed Republican party during the greater part of his life and took an active interest in politics. Here he was a leader in helping the city of Quincy's development and upbuilding. He was very charitable the Quincy citizens and always generous in his assistance.
One of Jacob's prized possessions was a light green stein that had a skull and crossbones carved into the top lid. The lid also had his signature with the saying "wishing one good health" engraved in it.
John Dick
John Dick was born on October 9, 1827 and came to America with Matthew in 1853. John received his apprenticeship in the baker's trade and became very proficient in the culinary art. John married Louisa Steigmeier in 1854 and had nine children. After building the brewery with his two brothers, he became a large stock breeder, and much of his times was spent on his farm on North 24th Street. John Dick was the first to venture in the importation of Swiss cattle in Western Illinois.
Just like his brother, Jacob, John Dick was an active, enterprising man, and a leader in public improvements in Quincy. He was a large influence to the community, because of his many positions in commercial life. He was a director of the Belt Railroad, and was later the President of the Dick's Milling Company.
The Dick & Brothers Brewing Company
The Dick & Brothers Brewing Company started as a small enterprise. Even though it was a primitive business, little did they know that the brewery would be a foundation stone of the immense business Quincy would enjoy. As the German residents in Quincy demanded more of Dick's lager beers, the brewery grew at a rapid pace.
Matthew and John Dick built a homestead next to the brewery. The homestead was a "Double House" construction. Matthew occupied one half of it, John lived in the other half. Jacob briefly lived with John until he built a large home at 1020 Kentucky. Matthew and John lived in the Double House until 1874 when the homestead was converted into a storage building.
The Brewery Underground
Known only to a few Quincy people, the Dick & Brothers Brewing Company had storage cellars underground. The cellars formed a network of tunnels or caverns of a total length of two blocks. The tunnel network spread beneath a portion of the brewery located south of York Street.
The need of deep cool storage cellars arose from the difficulties of refrigeration in 1856, when the Dick brewery was originated. Brewing at Dick & Brothers had to be done in the cool or cold months and the lager beer was stored against summer demand. The deep tunnels were dug far below the normal basement level of the brewery and were designed to accommodate huge wooden vats for the beer brewed during the winter and was stored for summer use.
The tunnels consisted of three laterals nearly a half-block each in length, which extended southward from a parent tunnel. The tunnels ran east and west along York Street, partly beneath the side walk. The main tunnel, extended from the eastern line of the bottling house building west to almost Ninth Street where it ended in the large ice-storage cellar. The cellar had stone masonry walls and an arched masonry ceiling. East of where the main east-west tunnel was, a more modern tunnel angled beneath York Street from the north side of the street originated from the old stock house that was built in 1876.
Steep wooden steps lead down into the fermenting cellar. In the old fermenting cellar was a small well-like opening in the southwest corner which gave access to the storage caverns another level down.
The tunnel was topped with huge flagstones and was ten feet wide and high. Its arched ceiling was bricked with old fashioned brick masonry of the lime mortar era. The mortar continued to be in excellent state of preservation when they were rediscovered in 1939.
This cellar once housed the big wooden beer vats in endless rows. Into these vats aged a mellow lager beer in a constant temperature of 48 degrees of the caverns. When summer came, the brewery workers, by the dim light of lanterns, drew off the beer into quarter barrels. The barrels were then hoisted on a crude chain hoist through the well-like openings into the tunnel cellar.
John H. Breitrstadt, superintendent of the Dick Brothers Brewing Company in 1939 recalled that as a boy, when his father was brew master, he used to go into the damp cellars to dig for fishing worms. He said the caverns were used up through 1885. He also recalled that the beer used to be drawn from the vats into small quarter barrels through "Schlundts," hose made of the intestines of cattle.
Jake Kraft, worked for the Dick brothers since 1879. He remembered going to work as a boy during the winter and about 18 men were employed at the brewery when the beer was being made, and about 10 men and boys during the summer. The brewery workers virtually lived in the brewery taking their meals one week in half of the Dick brother's homestead occupied by Matthew Dick and the next week in the John Dick half of the house.
The operation of the brewery before 1875 was almost entirely carried on south of York Street. The brewery malted its own barley in the malting cellar located at the cellar level, about the level of the fermenting cellar. This malting cellar, with its sturdy brick pillars, supported the beautiful masonry of its vaulted brick ceilings.
After the stock house was built across the street in 1875, the caverns continued in use for another ten years. Then with the development of refrigeration methods, brewing became a year round business and the brewery's underground cellars were abandoned and walled off. It wasn't until 1939 when the underground cellars were rediscovered when a new loading platform was built.
Troubles Next Door
Five years after the Dick brothers built the brewery, they discovered their next door neighbor had decided to build a "Powder house" next to the brewery. John Smith lived next door to the brother's double house. Smith intended to build a brick building to store gunpowder. Needless to say, the danger of the powder house could cause the brothers with many sleepless nights and the St. Peter's German Evangelical Church was also located on the corner of 9th and York.
Finally on August 13, 1862, an injunction was ordered, restraining Smith from constructing his powder house and ordered him not to store any gunpowder.
On June 3, 1868, the Dick brothers needed to further expand their brewery and purchased the Delabar Brewery next door. Charles Delabar had his brewery in business starting 1845 and when the Dick brothers continued to outsell Delabar's beverages, he accepted the Dicks' purchase offer.
In 1870 the Dick brothers purchased the Telico roller mills, on Front Street which they retained until the end of the century. The brewery added a malting room around 1870 and has been doing its own malting up to Prohibition. Bottling was added in 1880, and artificial refrigeration was installed in 1882.
The small shack back in 1857 was eventually replaced by 27 buildings, covering nearly 10 acres of land and the mammoth brass and copper brewkettle that brewed 275 barrels every 24 hours was housed in a five story building. By 1880, Dicks lager beer was available throughout the West and Southwest. Distribution through Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, the Dakotas, Texas, New Mexico and down as far Mexico City, made the brewery well-known.
The Next Generation of theDicks Brewery
By the time the Dick & Brothers Brewing Company was producing early 100,000 barrels a year, all three brothers retired and the brewery was carried on by their descendants. The officers and managers of the brewery were. August Dorkenwald as President, Captain William Steinwedell as Secretary. Albert Dick as treasurer and Frank Dick is superintendent.
All three Dick brothers did not enjoy retirement very long. Jacob was the first brother to pass away after a long illness on December 22, 1876. John Dick died on October 30, 1889. Matthew died tragically at his home in 1885. After Matthew's retirement, he enjoyed his last years at his mansion on 1118 State Street. From his early life growing up in Ruppertsburg, he produced homemade wine in the mansion's cellar. On September 20, 1885, just before 10 in the morning, Matthew inspected his wine cellar as the new made wine was generating carbolic acid gas. Matthew suffocated when he entered the cellar and died of asphyxia.
Three years after Matthew's death, the family did not resolve the problem of his estate. Matthew did not leave a will and there was no estate filed in the court house. Herman Dick wanted his brothers and sister to sell Matthew's property containing one whole city block. They opposed this idea so Herman took them to court. Eventually Herman won and the property was subdivided into lots and sold at public auction.
When John Dick passed away, the brewery's name was changed to Dick & Brothers Quincy Brewery and kept this name from that date on. The Dick Brothers Quincy Brewery has been in existence for 31 years and was the largest business in Northwestern, Illinois. The brewery had branches in all the larger northern and western cities; they also owned their own refrigerator, freight cars; they employ over 50 men, and brought thousands of dollars into Quincy every year. The large brewery was one of Quincy's most valuable institutions.
The new Brewhouse
A magnificent new brew house of the Dick Brothers Quincy Brewing Company was completed in the spring of 1897. The new brewhouse was the tallest building in town. The following year, a new engine room, ice plant and a new bottling building was added. The entire expansion project cost the brewery $160,000. The two new buildings was built north of the new brew house. The new engine room with a towering 177 feet smokestack, and an ice plant building was added. The bottling works was just as large as the ice plant. The smokestack was the highest piece of brick work in this section of country. It took over 300,000 bricks to complete.