28 Facts About Adolphus Busch

Adolphus Busch was the German-born co-founder of Anheuser-Busch with his father-in-law, Eberhard Anheuser.

Adolphus Busch introduced numerous innovations, building the success of the company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Adolphus Busch became a philanthropist, using some of his wealth for education and humanitarian needs.

In 1857, at the age of 18, Adolphus Busch emigrated with three of his older brothers to St Louis, Missouri which was a major destination for German immigrants in the nineteenth century.

Adolphus Busch was an employee at William Hainrichshofen's wholesale company.

Adolphus Busch partnered with Ernst Battenberg in St Louis to found the first of his businesses, a brewing supply company that sold to the three dozen breweries in the city.

At the death of Eberhard Anheuser in 1880, Adolphus Busch became president of the business, and became wealthy due to the success of the brewery.

Adolphus Busch soon acquired breweries in Texas which allowed his operation to distribute to Mexico and California.

Adolphus Busch was an early adopter of bottled beer and founded the Adolphus Busch Glass Company to make bottles for his product.

Adolphus Busch bought bottling factories, ice-manufacturing plants, stave makers, timberland, coal mines, and a refrigeration company.

The Adolphus Busch family acquired hop farms in the area near Cooperstown, New York.

Adolphus Busch's focus on the business extended to the flavor of the beer itself.

Adolphus Busch studied the pilsner process in Europe, which was used for brewing Budweiser.

Adolphus Busch bought the rights to Budweiser from Conrad in October 1882 when Conrad went bankrupt.

In 1895, Adolphus Busch joined Washington University in St Louis's Board of Directors.

Adolphus Busch would continue to serve on the Board until his death in 1913, at which point his son, August Busch, Sr.

Adolphus Busch served as the president of the South Side Bank and the Manufacturers Railway.

Adolphus Busch had helped organize the latter as a short-line rail serving local industry.

In 1909, Adolphus Busch was the leading investor when a consortium of St Louis capitalists purchased Laclede Gas from North American, a public utilities conglomerate, which owned Union Electric and United Railways, the consolidated streetcar company in St Louis, which operated as St Louis Traction Company.

Adolphus Busch invested in new buildings and businesses in Dallas, Texas, which was growing rapidly in the early 20th century as an industrial city.

From his early years, Adolphus Busch contributed generously to charitable and education needs.

Adolphus Busch donated $100,000 to San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake - $50,000 personally and $50,000 from his company.

Adolphus Busch married Elise "Lilly" Eberhard Anheuser, the third daughter of Eberhard Anheuser, on 7 March 1861, at a Lutheran church in St Louis, Missouri.

Adolphus Busch's body was brought back to the United States in 1915 by ship, and transported by train to St Louis.

Lilly Anheuser's parents had built a mausoleum at Bellefontaine Cemetery, but she felt that Adolphus Busch needed something grander.

Adolphus Busch tore down the original structure, and had the other family members reinterred outside.

Adolphus Busch had Thomas Barnett design a new mausoleum in the Bavarian Gothic style.

Adolphus Busch's body was brought back to St Louis, and was buried beside her husband.