Henry Straus was born in Steinach, Bavaria, Germany. His family emigrated to America in 1839 and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. Soon after arriving in Baltimore he married Wilhelmina Marcus, a lifelong union that produced five children.

In the 1840s Henry with his younger brother Levi established the H. Straus & Brother Retail & Wholesale Grocery Company. Near the end of the Civil War the Straus brothers passed their grocery business down to Henry's children and opened a malt house. The malting company grew quickly and soon they were supplying a large share of the Baltimore breweries. After the Panic of 1873 the brothers had many outstanding bills for malt sold on credit that were going unpaid.

One of these debtors was the Darley Park Brewery on Harford Road, which had gone into receivership after the death of its owner Conrad Siegmann. The brothers took over the brewery and ran it for a profit and gradually made it central to their business interests, which grew to be many. Henry eventually became director of the German Bank of Baltimore, and treasurer of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum.

It was to the latter organization which he bequeathed the bulk of his estate upon his death on November 25th of 1881. The brewery he rescued from bankruptcy eventually went on to become a part of the Gottlieb Bauernschmidt Straus conglomerate and was closed in 1912.

Levi Straus was born in Padberg, Bavaria, Germany. He emigrated to America at age 17 with his family and they settled in Baltimore, Maryland. He began his career with his brother Henry in the grocery business. They operated under the name H. Straus & Brother on the corner of Broadway and Shakespeare Street.

After a successful career of twenty years the grocery business was transferred to Henry's sons and the brothers formed the Straus Bros. malting business. In 1876 they brought in partner Alexander Bell and renamed the firm Straus Bros. & Bell. Through this malt house the firm obtained leverage over several Baltimore breweries after the Panic of 1873. One of these was the Darley Park Brewery, which had just been put into receivership after the death of its owner Conrad Siegmann. The Straus brothers took over the recently enlarged brewery and ran it for a profit. In 1889 they sold their company to the British syndicate Baltimore United Breweries, and by 1892 Levi had retired from the brewing business altogether.

Levi married Leonora Marcus in 1844, and their union produced nine children over 22 years. He was at one time president of the Hebrew Congregation. He belonged to the Phoenix Club and was a founding member of the Hebrew Hospital. In the first days of January, 1902 Levi Straus, now age 86, grew ill and became bedridden. He passed his 87th birthday unconscious and died just 30 minutes after midnight the following day. His wife Leonora died the next year. The brewery Levi and Henry nursed through the Panic operated until 1912 when it was forced closed during the run-up to National Prohibition.

Conrad Siegmann was born in Hannover, Germany. he came to America in 1844 and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. His first profession here was a dealer in spices, but in 1872 he took an opportunity to purchase the small Darley Park Brewery on the corner of Harford and North Avenue. He died a few months later, however, and the brewery expansion he had just completed was now be enjoyed by the next owners, the Straus Brothers.

The too-big-to-fail Jay Cooke & Company bank declares bankruptcy and sets off a rapid chain reaction of bank runs and failures in what would become known as The Panic of 1873.  Over 18,000 American businesses would fail in the economic Depression that followed.

The brewery trust known as the Maryland Brewing Co. begins the process of bankruptcy.  It will get reorganized under the name "Gottlieb-Bauernschmidt-Straus Brewing Co." by the end of the year.  The Darley Park branch will not reopen.

Despite being unable to pay their creditors, the Maryland Brewing Company trust vows to continue the price war that has in part helped cause their current financial situation.