Lager, Lymph, Germans and Templars in Manchester -- Part 4 of 6
by Ray Berg and Alan Dyer
Continuing with the story of the Michigan Southern Brewery in Manchester and the opposing temperance and prohibition movements…
John Koch
The Michigan Southern Brewery was taken over by John Koch in late 1884. Koch was born in 1840 in Ulm, Bavaria, and emigrated to Detroit in 1865. He established the thriving 12,000 barrel per year Ulmer Lager Beer Brewery behind his home at 244 Russell, operating it there from 1871-1883. After selling out, he relocated to Manchester and immediately began to expand and improve the Michigan Southern Brewery. Steam-powered engines and pumps were installed, and several buildings were relocated and renovated. Excess hops, barley, and other grains were sold rather than being discarded as waste.
In April 1887, the Wurster Bros. purchased the Manchester Bottling Works from William H. Lehr, and the company was moved to the Southern Brewery. Koch could now offer beer by the barrel, keg, and in bottles. Both companies benefited from the arrangement, especially after Koch made the Wursters the general agents for the Michigan Southern Brewery. A May 12, 1887 advertisement is shown as Figure 8.
Koch’s production and sales numbers indicate the business was thriving during this time period, due in part to an expanded product line and markets. In April 1888 he advertised “our best Champagne Cider, which we offer by the barrel at 10 cents per gallon, for two weeks only.” By September 1889 Mat Blosser reported that the brewery was shipping large quantities of beer to Jackson and other cities: “The quality is said to be equal to the best made in the state. Mr. Koch is an experienced brewer and has ample capital to carry on the business.” That the amount of ice taken by him from the River Raisin for the brewery was double the amount typically taken in the 1870s is further proof of Koch’s success.
Figure 8 – Michigan Southern Brewery and Bottling Works – May 1887
But success also created a problem, namely a continuous and reliable supply of ice. The brewery was competing with Rehfuss’s Meat Market and other merchants who also needed ice for their operations. In September 1889, Koch considered constructing another large ice house at his brewery. He also talked of buying an ice making machine, before concluding that the River Raisin remained his best source of supply. In March 1890, although he had a large number of men and teams at work cutting, hauling, and packing ice from the river, he found it necessary to lease a small lake south of the village to further augment his supply. In order to increase the thickness of the ice, he employed a fire engine to pump additional water on the lake’s surface before the cutting began. As his production expanded, so did the brewery’s need for water. Consequently, in September 1890, Koch hired Charles Kreitner to install “a splendid flowing well” to ensure an adequate supply.
Two incidents, neither of which threatened the profitability of the brewery, are worthy of mention. The first was reported by the Enterprise on March 27, 1890: “On Saturday night last burglars gained entrance to the boiler room of the southern brewery, just outside of the corporation limits, by prying open a window. Once in the building, they entered the office where the safe stood, and with drills bored two holes in the safe door and blew the safe open with powder. They then demolished the inside of the safe securing about $40 in cash, an elegant pair of gold bracelets, a fine gold ring with garnet sets, unique pair of gold earrings and pin, a pearl opera glass gold trim with a case, and other jewelry, besides all his valuable papers, etc.
“Not a sound was heard by any of the family during the night, save the barking of the dog which was in the yard. The burglary was discovered by workmen in the morning and Mr. Koch and family at once informed. Tools, such as are used by the railroad section men, were found in the office, and a chisel and brace nearby. The iron box had been taken from the safe and was found at the hand car house just above Jackson street, broken open and the papers it contained scattered about…No clew [sic] has been found of the burglars who robbed John Koch’s safe.
“Mr. Koch, feeling the loss of the jewelry, as it had belonged to his first wife, and was being kept for his daughters, offered a reward of $50 for arrest of the thieves and return of the jewelry. Officers here and at all surrounding cities were notified but nothing has yet been heard of the rascals. The chisel and brace have been found to be the property of Fred Neyer, and were stolen from Joe. Kramer’s shop on Ann Arbor street, which makes it appear more as if it was the work of home talent.”
The second occurred on March 11, 1891 and was reported in the Enterprise the following day: “About 11 o’clock last night a fire was discovered in the boiler room of the southern brewery. Mr. Koch and family and workmen hustled out of their beds and set to work extinguishing the flames, which was done before a damage of over $150 was made, which is fully covered by insurance.”
Figure 9 – The Nine Steps to Ruin
Koch’s Lymph
The August 20, 1891 issue of the Enterprise included a report on the Manchester German Day parade. The Michigan Southern Brewery was represented by a wagon that carried two large barrels with the words “Koch’s Lymph” painted on them. Koch’s Lymph was a medical treatment, devised by Dr. Robert Koch of Germany, that claimed to detect, cure, and prevent tuberculosis, and enjoyed world-wide demand from 1890-1892. This product, a glycerin-based extract of tubercle bacilli, was considered a breakthrough, and Dr. Koch was already renowned as the discoverer of the microbial causes of anthrax, cholera and tuberculosis, as well as an expert in the field of vaccination. Manchester’s John Koch had evidently taken this opportunity to advertise his version of “Koch’s Lymph,” in an attempt to suggest that his lager beer also provided health benefits for its consumers. Clearly, the medical version was well enough known in Manchester that the connection was made by the parade’s viewers. That many of them were German, and undoubtedly proud of Dr. Robert Koch’s achievements, was an added bonus.
Dr. Koch’s discovery, which received international press coverage, had been welcome news for millions of tuberculosis sufferers. As a result, by the summer of 1891, his “medicine” was in large demand throughout the world. Unfortunately, by 1892, Koch’s Lymph had been proven to be effective at detecting tuberculosis, but not at curing or preventing it. In fact, its use often worsened patient health, and it soon fell from favor.
Brewery Changeover
While it was theft and fire that plagued the brewery in 1890 and 1891, malfunctioning equipment caused a near disaster in February 1892. As Mat Blosser reported: “They had quite hurrying times at the southern brewery last Saturday. The injector refused to work and the water in the boiler got low, the steam raised [sic] rapidly and was oozing out at every joint filling the building like a fog. The men became alarmed and ran to the house and informed Mr. Koch who was sick. He hastily dressed and going to the brewery attached the steam pump, probably just in time to avoid an explosion.”
John Koch died on March 19, 1892 of heart disease at age 51. His son John Koch, Jr. came to Manchester from Iron Mountain with the intent of continuing the family business. Other family members also came to Manchester, but Mrs. Koch and her daughters wished to sell the property and business, and return to Detroit. By May 12, 1892, the Michigan Southern Brewery had been sold to Charles Adrion and Co. Adrion would take over as prohibition, rather than temperance, became a more dominant strategy for eliminating the “immorality and curse” of alcoholic drinks.
Prohibition Movement Heating Up
Prohibition forces had gained sufficient power to force a county-wide vote by 1888. It was expected that the county would go “wet”, but not by as large a majority as the vote showed (1,633). In Bridgewater totals were 124 wet, 69 prohibition. The totals were similar in the other three surrounding townships: Freedom 283 - 8, Manchester 342 – 159, Sharon 145 – 82. This proposal had also introduced politics into the equation when the Sharon Board of Trustees refused to take a stand on the issue, claiming it was a political, not a prohibition question. Consequently, the trustees had refused to use the churches as gathering places for discussions of the impending vote.
By the early 1890s, references to the temperance movement in the Enterprise had decreased appreciably. Manchester saloons continued to prosper and their failure to obey village ordinances continued. The German desire for lager beer, of course, remained unabated. But times would change as the 20th century approached, and the prohibition forces gathered strength.
Figure 10 – An 1890s Message for Alcohol Drinkers
Coming Next…
In the next two parts of this series, we will review the final days of both the Michigan Southern Brewery and Prohibition, and show how Manchester maintained its reputation as a wet town that everyone visited, right up to the last minute of legal alcohol sales (and afterwards too).
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