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.
The papers of the Weisgerber brothers of Lewiston, owners of Idaho's first brewery, were given to the University of Idaho Library by Philip 0. Weisgerber and his two sisters, Mrs. Edith C. Taylor and Mrs. Marie E. White, grandchildren of Christ Weisgerber. They are contained in one large archival file box.
Included in the material are legal documents, financial journals, and photographs. The legal documents include over fifty deeds dating from 1863 to 1906, the naturalization papers of Ernst Weisgerber, the last will and testament of John Weisgerber, and abstracts of title for property purchased by Christ Weisgerber. There are seven financial journals, a collection of photographs of the C. Weisgerber Brewery and early Lewiston, several newspaper clippings, and a map of the Park Addition to the City of Lewiston.
The material in this archival group was organized by type of material. The deeds had been numbered in ink by the Weisgerber family and were left in this numerical order; this is, with a few exceptions, a chronological order. Since each financial journal contains a different type of information these were placed in roughly chronological order. Although it was decided to remove the photographs from the archival group and interfile them with the Special Collections photographs, they are listed in this inventory.
Defenbach, Byron.
Taylor, Edith C. (Weisgerber), Philip 0. Weisgerber, and Marie E. (Weisgerber) White.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
This series consists mainly of the deeds for property purchased by the Weisgerber brothers, beginning with Ernst's purchase of the California Brewery in 1863, and includes the subsequent purchases of the surrounding lots to enable the business to expand. Among the other items included in this series are Ernst Weisgerber's certificate of citizenship, the will of John Weisgerber and documents relating to the settlement of his estate, and several abstracts of title to property purchased by Christ Weisgerber.
The photographs which belong with this archival group have been removed from the archival box and are filed with the regular photograph collection. Listed below is a brief description of each photograph; the number in parentheses is the catalog number for the picture.
Small letterhead paper of C. Weisgerber
Typed translation of a letter from Pastor Weber of the Protestant church in Wachtersbach to Christ Weisgerber dated 12-29-1911, containing the parish records pertaining to the Weisgerber family
Newspaper article from the Lewiston paper March 3, 1940, showing an old picture of the Grostein & Bimard store which also shows a corner of the Weisgerber Brewery