Henry Koehler, who owned breweries in Davenport Iowa and St. Louis, Missouri, was born in Obersalzbach, Germany.  After his primary education he learned the art of the brewer in Brauerei Zum Wolf, in Mayence.  At age 21 Henry emigrated to America.  The country was full of opportunities for brewers and Koehler took the time to find the right one.  He worked for breweries in New York City, Lyons, New York, Cincinnati, and Louisville before finding agreeable employment at the Lemp Brewery of St. Louis.

In 1851 Henry Koehler moved 200 miles up the river to purchase the city brewery in Fort Madison, Iowa.  Its previous owner, August Trenschel, had come down with a case of "Gold Fever" and had left town to find his fortune in the hills of California.  While in Iowa, Henry met and married Miss Ottilie Schlapp, a Hessian emigree and daughter of a brewer herself.  Together they had seven children, several of whom would grow up to be captains of industry.

Eventually his younger brother Casper joined him in the brewery for a time, having completed his education in Germany.  After a few years gaining practical brewing experience, Casper left Fort Madison to purchase the Excelsior Brewery in St. Louis.  Henry Koehler ran his Fort Madison brewery for several more years before increasing pressure from local prohibitionists encouraged him to join his brother in beer-friendly St. Louis.

It was 1862, Henry was 34, and America was in the second year of what was a horrific Civil War.  Koehler leased his brewery to his father in-law George Schlapp and moved back south to a state which was at the time contemplating secession.  In St. Louis Henry joined his brother and purchased a controlling interest in the Excelsior.  The brothers ran the brewery together until about 1866, when Casper retired.  From then on Henry Koehler ran the ever-expanding business with various junior partners including Philip Hehner and Jacob Heimenz.

In 1871 Henry Koehler, leaving the Excelsior in the able hands of his employees, moved back up north to assist in his Father-in-law George Schlapp's Arsenal brewery in Davenport, Iowa.  Schlapp, who was 71 years old at the time, was surely thinking of retiring.  Koehler bought out Schlapp's interest and brought in Rudolph Lange as a partner.  At this point, Henry Koehler presided over both the Excelsior in St. Louis and the Arsenal in Davenport, and for 12 years he shuttled up and down the Mississippi River between the two towns.  In 1882 the Henry Koehler Brewing Association, as the Excelsior was now known, was closed, and Henry was able to spend more time in Davenport, where his wife's family resided. 

Henry Koehler ran the Arsenal Brewery for another 12 years amid increasing pressure from the anti-salooners.  George Schlapp died in 1891 at the age of 82.  In 1894 the Arsenal Brewery was reorganized as a branch of the Davenport Malting Co. and closed in 1896.  At age 66 Koehler retired.  In the 1900 census he listed his occupation, appropriately enough, as "Capitalist". 

Henry Koehler died on February 3, 1909.  He was 80 years of age.  He and his wife had just two years earlier celebrated 50 years together.

 

 

 

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Associated Breweries

A.B.C. Brewing Company of Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Stellern Brewing & Bottling Co. of Fort Madison, Iowa, USA
Arsenal Brewery (Knepper & Shiley) of Davenport, Iowa, USA