John Schlitz Biography
by Mike Reilly
The following article was printed in 1897 in a book called Cleveland Und Sein Deutschthum. The book was about prominent Germans in the Cleveland area. Translation follows.
Translation of John Schlitz passage by Gordon Hartig Translation Services http://www.hartigtranslations.com
John Schlitz.
Mr. John Schlitz was born in the old city of Mainz on the Rhine River
on 19 September 1844. After he had completed elementary school and the upper-level classes
at the Mainz technical high school, in the process acquiring a first-rate education for
himself, he devoted himself to the merchant class.
After he had completed a three-year training period, he entered service
in Marseille, France, in a banking institution. He remained in this position for one year.
After having returned to his home town, he began working as a clerk in one of the city's
largest trading firms.
At the invitation of an uncle who lived in Milwaukee,
Mr. Jos. Schlitz, he went there for a visit in the year 1868. His stay with his relatives was so pleasant that he decided to make Milwaukee his permanent home.
Over the course of the following year he established himself there as a wine merchant
specializing in earthen jugs*, and he remained in this business until he relocated to
Cleveland in 1882.
He had two children, a daughter and a son, from his marriage in 1874 to
Miss Katchen Meyer, the daughter of the brewer Stephan Meyer of Milwaukee.
Immediately after his arrival in the city of forests, he took over the
agency responsible for the sale and distribution of the products produced by the Jos.
Schlitz Brewing Company. A few years later he gave up the distributorship, and after that
devoted himself to the restaurant** business.
Since his arrival here, Mr. Schlitz has been a member of the Cleveland
Singing Society. In all circles in which he is known, he his respected and revered.
* I don't find en Gres in my German dictionaries, but en grès is a French phrase
meaning literally "in stone jugs."
** This could also mean "restoration business."
(Note: We are not affiliated with the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. or endorsed by them. Any Schlitz trademarks displayed, or brands mentioned are the sole ownership of the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co.)