Joseph A. Mayer was born in Baden, Verden, Niedersachsen, Germany. He was the oldest son of Ignatius Mayer. In 1847 the Mayer family emigrated to America and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where they resumed the business of farming.

In 1864 Joseph was joined in marriage to Agnes Harmeyer.  His brother Jacob married her sister, Christiana B. Harmeyer, a year later.  In all, the Harmeyer/Mayer marriages would produce 21 children.

In 1868 the two Meyer families moved north to Menasha, Wisconsin and purchased the Island City Brewery on Lake Winnebago. Despite being the older of the two brothers Joseph was the "& Co." in the newly renamed firm Jacob F. Mayer & Co.. In 1875 Jacob left the company and Joseph ran it as its sole proprietor for the next four years.

In 1879 the brothers sold the brewery to Habermehl & Mueller for $20,000 and moved west 120 miles to Spencer and established another, but sold out less than a year later to Eichert & Frothinger. Joseph A Mayer died just a few months later on the 14th of February, 1882. He was 41 years of age.

Habermehl & Mueller completely rebuilt the Menasha brewery, but were unable to pay their debts and were forced out of business in 1886. The brewery then ran through two more owners before being purchased by investor Frank Fries, in 1888, for the bargain price of $9000.

Fries brought in two friends, the highly regarded brewers brewers Christian and Martin Walter, and the newly named Walter Bros. Brewing Company was finally a success. On the strength of its product and reputation the brewery fought off its massive Milwaukee competitors and carved out a sizable regional market. The firm survived Prohibition and finally closed in 1956. The brewery in Spencer was eventually purchased by another Walter brother named John, who ran the brewery until it burned down in 1889. He went on to create the Walter Brewery in Eau Claire.

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