Archives West Finding Aid

Philip and Sara (Hemel) Weisgerber of Wachtersbach, Germany (located east of Frankfurt on the Main River) were the parents of nine children, three of whom were later engaged in the brewery business in Lewiston, Idaho. These sons were Ernst (parish records at the church in Wachterebach list Heinrich Ernst, born August 21, 1835), John (Johannes, born December 5, 1844), and Christ (Christian, born September 11, 1848). Because Philip did not approve of the German conscription laws he and one or two of his older sons immigrated to the United States in the 1840's. They settled in Wheeling, West Virginia where he went into business as a cheese ager. As the other sons in Germany reached conscription age they were sent to join their father. In 1862 Christ and his mother left Germany to join the rest of the family.

In Wheeling, John worked as a wagon maker while Christ was employed in both the brewery and butcher trades. Meanwhile, sometime prior to 1862 Ernst moved to Spokane, Washington, where he worked in a brewery. He arrived in Lewiston in 1862 and leased a portion of the Newell Estate containing the California Brewery. On October 16, 1863, he purchased this brewery, located on First Street, from Charles Brown for $2,600. Within a few years he had purchased much of the surrounding property.

In 1867 Christ and John went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where they established a meat market. They sold this business in 1869 and moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where they worked in a brewery for a brief time. On May 11, 1869, they were again on the road, this time by rail, to join their brother, Ernst, in Lewiston. Ernst was, at this time, operating the brewery in partnership with Godfried Gamble. Christ thought it would be more profitable to again enter the butcher's trade and he soon formed a partnership with C.P. Coburn which lasted until 1871.

In 1870 John joined Ernst in the brewery business. Christ joined them in 1871. In September 1875 Ernst sold the business to his brothers and moved east where he died a few years later. In 1877 when the brewery was enlarged the brothers built the first brick building in Lewiston. Although there was a saloon attached to the brewery most of the beer was sold to other saloons in Lewiston.

After John's death on February 3, 1890, Christ continued to operate the business, now called C. Weisgerber Brewery, until Idaho passed the Prohibition Act in 1913. The building was leased to the Mason-Ehrman Company who used it as a warehouse. On February 7, 1936 a fire destroyed this structure.

Christ Weisgerber served on the Lewiston City Council for 19 years and as mayor of the city for two (1898-1899). In 1905 he built what is known as the Weisgerber Block on the corner of 5th and Main in Lewiston. His first wife, Belle Grant, by whom he had two children, died in 1880. He then married Mary Jacobs by whom he had nine children; only five of his eleven children survived him. On February 15, 1914 he suffered a stroke which kept him bedridden until his death on November 21.