Adam Lemp had a successful career in St. Louis for the first 20 years of his tenure. His vinegar and brewery were flourishing, and his real-estate holdings in St. Louis Commons were generating large capital that could be used for the expansion of his primary investments. It must have been hard to remember the bankruptcy and the flight from debt in Eschwege. Court records show that Lemp had some of his old habits from Germany. Despite his success, Lemp could not avoid being sued for the most bizarre and trivial of offenses.
These lawsuits reached the Missouri Supreme Court on appeal and reveal interesting details about his business. They also highlight key historical moments in Western Brewery’s history. They also show a man who was in trouble for insignificant amounts of money in comparison to the wealth he had amassed. It is interesting to note how far advanced Missouri’s legal system was in just two or three decades of statehood. This is also a testament to how white men can expect their rights to be protected in America early on.
Adam Lemp Sr. loved his second wife Justina even though he had left him the year before he gave birth to Jacob. Charles Streiblein was a fellow Hessian and was returning to Kassel (the capital of one of the two halves of the German Territory of Hesse) to retrieve his family. Lemp then asked him to bring William back. According to the power of attorney signed by Lemp and Streiblein, William was still known in 1846 as Jacob. Although it sounds easy, complications quickly developed when Streiblein reached Kassel. The first was that the eight-hour walk to Eschwege where Justina and William lived, took them about ten hours (according to Google Maps). Despite popular images in American Western movies, most people could not afford horses in the 19th century, and Streiblein was forced to walk to and from the small town in what was a then-poverty-stricken region of Germany.
Worse, the contingency for what would happen next was not included in the contract, and power-of-attorney Lemp, Streiblein signed back at St. Louis. Justina refused Willian’s release into Streiblein’s custody. He tried again several times and finally traveled by coach one time. Streiblein returned to St. Louis, along with his family, but Lemp refused to pay him $100, arguing that he was unsuccessful. Streiblein filed suit, claiming that no one had informed him that Lemp’s ex-wife would refuse to let William go. A jury trial resulted in a settlement of $75.
Lemp refused to let the matter go. He appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court. His appeal was based on the definition of a German Verb in the original power of attorney. abholen means to fetch or obtain, the Anglophone Supreme Court justices wondered. This begs the interesting question: Did Lemp or Streiblein speak English at the time they signed the original legal agreement? What was the date that Lemp learned English, or when did he learn it? Contemporary commentators have spoken of how while walking down Second Street, the brewery was located, one could only hear German being spoken.
Lemp lost the appeal and had to pay Streiblein $75. I think it is fair. Streiblein found out that Lemp’s ex-wife had not consented to William going to America after he walked eight hours one way. Justina was also convinced by Lemp. Lemp was making deals that were worth thousands of dollars. His appeal must have been far more costly than just paying the amount he agreed to.
A grand jury indicted Lemp in 1851 for selling a “gill” of whiskey to Francis Jones, a liquor control agent. On July 6, which was a Sunday, Lemp was indicted for causing “the peace and dignity to the State” to be violated. Lemp was released after being guaranteed $100 by Louis Bach, his former business partner, and friend. Lemp was also charged with selling liquor without a license. It is unclear why he did not have a license while running a well-known brewery in St. Louis. Lemp was found guilty. He immediately appealed.
Lemp claimed that he only made beer and ale and sold only those beverages in his appeal. Jones claims beer is liquor. A discussion follows about whether the hops or barley used in the brewing process of the beer were grown in Missouri. The logic prevailed. The judge intervened and ordered the jury to ignore the beer’s ingredients and assume that the beer is an intoxicating drink.
