Today is the birthday of Andrew W. Leicht (June 5, 1817-February 12, 1884). He was born in Schotte Stein, Germany, which is located in Bavaria. I’m not sure when he arrived in the U.S., but he became a naturalized citizen in 1840. He married Maria Semler Leicht and the couple had six children. He joined his son-in-law at his brewery, John Roemmelt & Co., which Roemmelt had founded New York in 1854. By 1858, Leicht brought in another partner, Anton Hupfel, and a few years later he bought out Leicht. In the meantime, Leicht and Roemmelt opened another brewery across the river, in Jersey City, New Jersey, which they called the Hudson County Brewery.

Here, Tavern Trove picks up the story:

Apparently, Leicht was the owner, as the 1860 census lists Leicht owning an estate of $25,000 and Roemmelt having no estate of value. The 1870 census states that Leicht and Roemmelt owned a combined estate value of $300,000 with personal estates totaling $200,000. But the Panic of 1873 hit hard, and the business never recovered. In 1875 their brewery declared bankruptcy, and Roemmelt left the firm. Leicht consolidated and carried on the business without him, but the newly-organized business failed again in 1879, and Leicht was declared bankrupt.

Leicht passed away in February of 1884, when he was 66 years old.