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Joseph Schlitz, the founder of Schlitz Breweries
Joseph Schlitz
B. May 15,1831 – d. May 7,1875
Joseph Schlitz was a German entrepreneur who made his fortune in the brewing industry.
A native of Mainz, Germany, Schlitz emigrated to the U.S. in 1850. In 1856 he assumed management of the Krug Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1858 he married Krug's widow and changed the name of the company to the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. He became more successful after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, when he donated hundreds of barrels of beer as part of the relief effort. Many of Chicago's breweries that had burned were never to reopen; Schlitz established a distribution point there and acquired a large portion of the Chicago market. (Full article...)