Adolphus Busch (10 July 1839 – 10 October 1913) was a German businessman and philanthropist who, alongside his father-in-law Eberhard Anheuser, cofounded the Anheuser-Busch brewing company.
Biography[]
Adolphus Busch was born in Kastel, Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1839, the twenty-first of twenty-two children. His family ran a winery business, and he graduated from the Collegiate Institute of Belgium in Brussels. In 1857, Busch and three of his older brothers decided to come to the United States, and Busch was injured on the boat over, was insulted in the streets of New York City by nativists, and survived a riverboat fire on the Missouri River. Busch finally settled in St. Louis, Missouri, and he served in the US Army for six months during the American Civil War. Busch later met brewer Eberhard Anheuser and married his daughter, and the two became business partners as the owners of "Anheuser-Busch". He entered the brewery business under Anheuser, taking over their company when Anheuser died in 1880. Busch focused on producing a single core brand, Budweiser, which became the most common pre-Prohibition beer. He built up the success of the company and became a philanthropist, giving much of his money to educate people and to assist in humanitarian causes. He died while on vacation in Lindscheid, German Empire in 1913 at the age of 74.