Everyone is familiar with the world-famous Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis, but few people know there was another, smaller Busch brewery fifty miles west in Washington, Missouri. The John B. Busch Brewing Co. was the second of three breweries to carry the Busch name in Missouri. The first was Busch’s Brewery, established in 1848, at 134 South Third and Plum Streets in St. Louis.

It’s no coincidence the three breweries shared the Busch name. They were founded by brothers: Adolphus, John B., and George. The family’s early history comes from Ulrich W. Busch, Jr., of Washington, D. C. He is the grandson of John Baptiste Busch, or "John B." as his grandfather was known.

John B. was the second oldest son of Ulrich and Barbara (Pfeiffer) Busch of Mainz, Hesse-Darmstadt, in the Rhineland area of Germany. Adolphus Busch, co-founder of Anheuser-Busch, was the next to last of the couple’s 15 children. Adolphus was born in 1839 and arrived in America in 1857. The father, Ulrich Busch, was successful in the lumber, wine and brewing supplies business. Some measure of success is noted in his private life as well. He fathered 22 children between two wives. While no documentary evidence exists positively proving George Busch was also a brother, strong circumstantial evidence does exist.

John B. Busch was born in 1832 and came to the United States when he was 17. He settled in St. Louis to learn the brewery business from his brother, George, then a brewer at what was probably the first Busch Brewery on Plum Street. John B. worked two years with George, and in 1852, attended McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois, for two years. He spent another year at Howard College in Fayette, Missouri, to learn the English language. From there is moved to Washington and lived with his brother, Henry.

John B. established his "Washington Brewery" in 1854 or 1855 (historical records differ) as a partnership between John B., brother, Henry, and Fred Gersie (also spelled Gansie in some early company records). An early history of the area gives 1855 as the founding date, although Busch used 1854 on company stationary. Perhaps Busch dated the founding from the time he got the idea to own a brewery while in college. In later years, the founding date was changed to 1855.

It was a good time to start a brewery in Washington. The town had a large German population and grew rapidly from 1850 to 1860 during construction of the Missouri Pacific Railroad line. By 1864, Washington had a population of 1,415. Local citizens already had a taste of locally brewed beer. Heinrich Tamm established the first brewery in Washington in 1843. This brewery was at the base of a large hill on the south edge of town near a spring and alongside a spring-fed branch of Dubois Creek (The branch is now called Busch Creek). Horsepower was used at first.

The partnership at the new Washington Brewery continued for five years. Early company records show the brewery to be a Busch family affair, with Ulrich, Joseph, Henry, George and occasionally Adolphus (through Wattenberg, Busch & Co., a wholesale commission house of which Adolphus Busch was then a partner) all mentioned as either employees, having an account with the brewery, or having loaned it money. In a ledger entry dated July 21, 1862, a payment of $4.30 was made to the account of Wattenberg, Busch and Co. and paid to Adolphus Busch.

Charles A. Fritz is also mentioned in pre-Civil War brewery records. Fritz was a prominent brewer and a partner with George Busch in the Fulton brewery at St. Louis in the late 1850s. George’s original brewery on Plum Street had been sold in 1854. These men seem to be the same ones mentioned in the Washington brewery records, further evidence that George Busch was a brother to Adolphus and John B. Busch. Fritz apparently thought highly of John B. since he co-sponsored his U.S. citizenship in 1855 and loaned the brewery $5,000 in 1856.

John B. Busch married Antonie Krumsick in 1858. She was born in Brunswick (Braunschweig), Germany, and immigrated with her family to the United States eventually settling east of Washington. Antonie became brewery vice president.

The couple had seven children: George U., John B. Jr., Julius W., Ulrich W. Sr., Anton, Walter and Lily. George, Walter, Anton and Julius left Washington and were employed by Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis. John B. Busch Jr., worked for a time at the Adolphus Busch Glass Manufacturing Company in Belleville, Illinois, then returned to Washington to manage and operate the family brewery with Ulrich W. Sr. and Lily.

According to Anheuser-Busch’s chief archivist, William J. Vollmar, Ph.D., Adolphus and John B. had brothers with the first names of Ulrich, Joseph, Henry and George. Ulrich and Adolphus Busch married the sisters, Lily and Anna Anheuser, in a double wedding ceremony in 1861.

John B. and Adolphus had greatly different personalities, according to John B’s, grandson, Ulrich. While brother Adolphus in St. Louis dreamed of expansion, the John B. Busch family in Washington became affluent, but they weren’t concerned with going statewide or nationwide. They just took care of Franklin County. The brewery’s total output never exceeded 10,000 barrels a year.

Ulrich said his grandfather operated more like the small German brewers who primarily supplied beer to a local area and were interested in local affairs. John B. was a founder of the Bank of Washington and was closely involved in the church, Turnverein (German gymnastic and dramatic society) and the waterworks. He was innovative and a prime mover from that standpoint. Antonia Busch Hayes, John B. Busch’s granddaughter, still lives in Washington. She said her grandfather didn’t take credit for things that happened in the community. "He always took a back seat, and never said ‘I did this’."

Civil War comes to Missouri and John B. answers the call

In 1862, John B. entered the Union Army as a first lieutenant in Company L, 54th Regiment of the Enrolled Missouri Militia. He leased the brewery and equipment to his brother-in-law, George Krumsick, for two years at $240 a year. This was possibly to insure the brewery’s operation would continue if John had to leave. The Enrolled Missouri Militia was organized for state defense. Its members were not mustered into military service beyond the state.

The company’s second cash ledger book has an entry dated April 30, 1862, showing a payment of $4.50 to have Adolphus Busch’s horse shipped back to St. Louis.

The Washington Brewery started out as a lager beer plant, but was modified in the early 1860s to also brew ale. An April 11, 1864, ledger entry shows an expense of $3.55 for lumber for an ale cellar. Several entries in March 1864 show the brewery also had expanded by planting a vineyard with 200 seedlings.

Early in its history, the brewery conducted business with other area breweries. A December 5, 1863, ledger entry records a $500 payment to the Fritz and Wainwright Brewery in St. Louis for supplies. The Franklin County Observer stated that Busch and Krumsick purchased premium barley from Adolphus Fricke of nearby Campbellton in 1869. The German-language newspaper reported on April 23, 1886, that John B. Busch had a visit from his brothers Adolphus and Anton Busch. Company records show the Washington Busches made many trips to visit the St. Louis Busches.

While the brewery was established as the Washington Brewery, the 1860 ledger was titled, "Cash book from the Washington Brewery from John B. Busch & Co.". The Busch name was not emphasized until the early 1870s when the brewery was called the John B. Busch Washington Brewery and Malt House. A letterhead from the 1890s shows both the John B. Busch Brewing Company and Washington Brewery and Malt House. An advertisement in 1889 called it the Washington Brewery by John B. Busch. In 1894, the business was incorporated as the John B. Busch Brewing Company, the name it used until it folded 60 years later.

The year John B. became sole owner of the brewery seems to be in dispute. Some records list him as sole owner in 1866, but an 1874 newspaper report noted that Busch and Krumsick bought out the interest of Henry Busch and Gersie in 1865. Yet, when Krumsick leased the brewery from Busch in 1862, the lease agreement made no mention of Busch’s brother and Gersie.

Peace brings expansion, pond, park, problems and prosperity

The period following the Civil War was one of prosperity in Washington. The brewery made about 3,000 kegs (about 1,500 to 2,000 barrels) a year during the post-Civil War period. In 1877, the German-language paper, Die Washingtoner Post, reported that Busch had improved his brewery by adding steam engine power for grinding malt and pumping water. That May, the Post noted that the brewery had passed the usual bock beer. John B. Busch built a one and one-fourth-acre pond at the brewery in 1878 to cut ice from during the winter for the icehouse. It was to be filled with spring and rain water and was stocked with fish, according to Die Washingtoner Post. The Washington Journal reported in 1879 that beer made by John B. Busch was sold widely in Missouri, Minnesota, California and elsewhere throughout the West. "It is of very fine quality," the newspaper reported.

A newspaper advertisement from the Franklin County Observer in 1889 stated that lager beer and bottling was a specialty. "Our bottled beer is absolutely pure and wholesome and is highly recommended by physicians as a strengthening beverage for convalescents. Will be shipped to any part of the country." Another advertisement noted, "The bottled beer is always a pure, fresh article and highly recommended as a tonic and can be used in families and wherever it is impossible to keep keg beer in fresh condition."

In 1896 the Washington Journal wrote: "One of the most enterprising and progressive establishments in our city is the John B. Busch Brewing Company. They are using the waste water from the brewery by running it into a large pond, which they propose to stock with fish of the bass and crappie variety. Thus, in a few years, they can have plenty of good fishing right at home. The pond now has about six feet of water and covers fully an acre in extent."

The brewery’s 1897 advertisements advised, "No household should be without a supply of John B. Busch’s famous bottled beer. It is the healthiest and best drink you can offer your friends. It is preferable to strong drinks and people generally prefer it to wine."

Over the years, the pond built by John B. in 1878 was used for fishing, ice-skating and social gatherings. The area was a park with a Turkish pavilion on an island in the middle of the pond. Evidently the pond became a favorite swimming hole and, in 1869, newspapers published warnings by Busch against swimming in it. Busch also warned the public against skating on it in large numbers, but it remained a favorite place of skaters in the winter. From June 22 to July 14, 1891, Kickapoo Indians of the Sioux tribe held pow-wows for the public on the grounds of the brewery.

Busch’s pond didn’t provide enough ice for the growing business, so workers also cut ice from the nearby Missouri River and stored it at the brewery. Busch also purchased train carloads of ice from as far away as Omaha, Nebraska. Some winters it was necessary to purchase ice from colder areas, and on February 28, 1890, the brewery imported 65 carloads of northern ice. Early in 1891, ice-making equipment was purchased from Sulzer and Co. of Switzerland at a cost of $25,000. A refrigeration company from St. Louis installed the 25-ton capacity equipment. Later that year, John B. Busch used his ice machine to create cold air for his beer cellar. The ice plant was enlarged in 1895.

The brewery sometimes fought to keep its accounts. A beer war in Washington in the summer of 1891 appears to have ended with Busch’s beer on tap at all the city’s saloons. A misunderstanding in 1895 had local saloons shift to the popular Lemp beer from St. Louis instead of the local Busch beer. In that same year, J. B. Busch made headlines for winning a silver goblet, lined with gold, as the prize in a competition against six other Missouri breweries. The event was probably held at Morrison, Missouri, and included Lemp of St. Louis and brewers from Hermann, Jefferson City, Sedalia, and Kansas City. In June 1892, the brewery received a new brewing kettle with a 75-barrel brewing capacity.

Founder John B. passes away; Busch brewery passes to sons

John B. Busch Sr. died at age 62 in 1894 after a long illness. The obituary in Die Washingtoner Post described him as "an open and free person, and his occasional hastiness was not malicious. He had a tender heart for the needy who never went empty-handed. He was a Turner (German gymnastic and dramatic society member) and belonged to several secret orders. His funeral April 19, 1894, at the Odd Fellows cemetery was very largely attended and a funeral march was played. He leaves a widow, six sons and one daughter."

According to the April 20, 1894, obituary in the Tribune-Republican, published in nearby Union, Mo., the "deceased has been in poor health for several years, but not dangerously ill until a few weeks before his death. His disease was dropsy. The Journal extends sympathy to the bereaved wife and children. . . ." Citizens of Union had good reason to mourn John B. Busch. He and his beer were both well-known in this town. Company records listed many retail accounts in that part of Franklin County, with the town’s baseball club one of Busch’s major customers of keg beer.

The grandson, Ulrich W. Busch Jr., described his grandfather as an affable man who lived life to the fullest. "John B. (senior) weighed 375 pounds when he died. In his later years, specially-made chairs were crafted, whereby two regular chairs were cut partially down, then the larger pieces were glued together to make one extra-wide chair. When he died, his funeral casket required eight pallbearers. They had to take the front doors off their hinges to get the casket out of the Busch mansion."

His son, John B. Busch Jr., moved back to Washington in 1894 and became company president. He was president until his death in 1937, when Ulrich W. Busch Sr. took over. At some point in time, Walter A. Busch, John B. Sr.’s youngest son, was president. When he died in 1947, his obituary identified him as the local distributor of Anheuser-Busch products.

Ulrich W. Busch Jr. and Antonia Busch Hayes played in the brewery as young children. The whole atmosphere was that workers were part of the family. It wasn’t, "I’m your boss. You’re working for me. The family was interested in its employees and their families. If they came there, they stayed," Mrs. Hayes recalled. Valentine Huber, born in 1841, was brewmaster. A Mr. Manhart was the wagon driver who also drove the family. Walter Stumpe was bookkeeper until Otto Brauer took that job in mid-1800s. Company records show he was still on the job in the 1890s.

According to local gossip, brewmaster Huber was known as an extraordinarily frugal man. Brewery workers once gathered around, betting him he wouldn’t eat a worm for a dollar. Huber is said to have taken great delight in having won this wager.

The Adolphus and John B. branches of the Busch family were close for many years. Adolphus and some of his descendants made frequent trips to Washington to hunt, fish and visit from the late 1850s through the 1930s. In 1915, both Anheuser-Busch and John B. Busch were using the same motto on their letterheads, "Brewers of Fine Beers Exclusively."

Busch sold beer under a number of different brand names: Washington Lager Beer and Busch Beer in the early years, and later, Culmbacher and Busch’s Pilsner. A May 1877 announcement in Die Washingtoner Post noted that the brewery was selling its usual bock beer. The Busch Beer name was used many years before Anheuser-Busch introduced Busch Lager near beer during Prohibition, and later, Busch Bavarian. Ironically, the John B. Busch Brewing Company closed in 1954, the same year Anheuser-Busch introduced its popular-priced Busch Bavarian beer.

Prohibition presents difficult obstacle to brewery’s survival

Civil War, fires, and floods were occurrences the brewery survived. The greatest test came with the 18th Amendment. Before it’s ratification, The Franklin County Observer announced, "The J.B. Busch Brewing Co. stopped manufacturing beer and near bear last Saturday midnight in response to the presidential proclamation issued September 16. The Washington brewery, under normal conditions, employs about 30 men. The brewery now has about 3,000 barrels of beer in its cellars and this supply is thought sufficient to last until next July 1, at which date the sale of intoxicating liquors is prohibited until after demobilization has been completed."

Busch ceased brewing beer in November 1918. Being enterprising people, the family stayed in business by diversifying. They operated an ice business for many years under the name of Crystal Ice Company. Later they took a giant step for better health by offering ice from "pure" distilled water. The company made a near beer called Buscho. Busch’s normal beer was about 5 percent alcohol, but Buscho was one-half of 1 percent after an expensive process to remove the alcohol.

An advertisement for Buscho in 1917 hailed it as a non-intoxicating cereal beverage. "A delicious health drink--a satisfying liquid food--that can be used daily by all members of the family with good results, all the year round. The public takes to Buscho ‘like a duck to water.’ It has just the properties they want--have been looking for--but have never found in any other beverage. Buscho is a delightfully refreshing beverage that satisfies the craving for stimulants, quenches thirst and supplies needed food value. It appeals to all consumers of temperance drinks and never fails to give that satisfaction that (illegible) want more."

Unfortunately, people didn’t take to Buscho like a duck takes to water, so it was discontinued.

People in Washington (and around the nation) started making their own home beer during Prohibition. A 1928 brewery ad offered barley malt syrup produced by Anheuser-Busch. This syrup was crucial to the flourishing home brew trade. Ulrich Busch noted there was no way to filter the yeast, so many times the caps blew off the bottles. The company also distributed Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser beverage through much of Prohibition.

Soda-making kept the Washington Busch company in operation for many years. Ulrich W. Busch Jr. has fond memories of this part of the operation. It (the soda) was made with distilled water which enhanced the flavor of the drink. It had excellent keeping qualities, Busch explained.

His father blended the soda to his taste and bought the best syrup possible. Some of the flavors included lemon, orange, grape, cherry and root beer. The root beer particularly became a popular drink in Washington. It was made under the Dr. Swett’s brand name, distributed by another brewery trying to survive the dry years, the Primalt Products Company of Chicago. It wasn’t syrupy sweet, so it filled the gap when beer wasn’t available. One tavern sold 60 cases a week, Ulrich noted. Quality was always the bottom line for the products made, handled and distributed here, he stressed.

Equipment sold; family turns to bottling Anheuser-Busch beers

After Prohibition arrived, the Busches sold their brewing equipment to a brewery in British Honduras. The copper brew kettles and other equipment filled 15 to 16 train cars. That brewery offered Ulrich W. Busch Sr. a fabulous salary to set up and get the Honduran brewery started. He turned down the offer because he didn’t want to leave his family and Washington, his son noted.

With Repeal in 1933, the family felt it was too expensive to buy new brewing equipment. Instead they continued as distributors for Anheuser-Busch. They began to bottle beer in Washington produced by Anheuser-Busch, labeling it as Busch Beer. A statement to Anheuser-Busch, dated June 18, 1934, shows the John B. Busch Brewing Co. as bottlers of Busch and distributors for Budweiser. The same statement shows the brewery purchased seven barrels of AB Standard Draught Light for bottling from Anheuser-Busch. John B. Busch continued to bottle and market beer under the Busch name until December 1940.

The Washington and St. Louis Busches maintained a close working relationship into the 1930s, as illustrated in 1938 when the Busch bottled beer became cloudy shortly after bottling, Anheuser-Busch sent a chemist to locate and correct the problem at no charge. The John B. Busch Brewery was allowed to bottle Anheuser-Busch beer as Busch beer because John B. Busch II of Washington and August A. Busch Jr. of St. Louis were close friends. It was strictly a family deal, Ulrich W. Busch Jr. explained.

The business closed in 1954 after 100 years of operation, with Ulrich W. Busch Jr. as president. The Anheuser-Busch distributor (territory) rights were sold to the distributor in Jefferson City, Missouri. Julius Busch went to work in the city sales department of the Anheuser-Busch distributorship in Granite City, Illinois. Walter Busch found employment marketing Budweiser in Chicago, Ill. Anton Busch went to the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis, where he was put in charge of the wash house.

The family mansion was sold to its present owner, the Max Mueller Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The brewery was sold many years ago and in recent years was renovated as a restaurant, bar and banquet hall. It also houses a comedy club, art gallery, shops and offices.

Today, the nation’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch, advertises that its Budweiser is beechwood aged. Records show that its smaller ancestor, the John B. Busch Brewery in Washington, Missouri, was using beechwood chips as a clarifying agent during the lagering process as early as the 1860s.

This article appeared in the American Breweriana Journal issue 86, May-June 1997 By Suzanne Hill and Donald Roussin