Today is the birthday of Henry C. Berghoff (January 6, 1856-June 28, 1925). He was an American politician, lawyer, and businessman. Berghoff was born in Dortmund, in what today is Germany, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1872, when he was sixteen years old. He settled in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and along with his brothers co-founded the Herman Berghoff Brewing Company in 1887, and in 1888, they opened their first Berghoff Brewery in Fort Wayne, serving Dortmunder-style Berghoff’s Beer. It seems to have remained in the family although Berghoff went through a number of name changes over the years, but in 1954 appears to have been sold to Falstaff, who used it to brew various brands over the years before closing it in 1991.

Here’s part of his biography, from his Wikipedia page:

Berghoff was born January 6, 1856, in Dortmund, Kingdom of Prussia (now Germany), and immigrated to the United States in 1872, settling in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He, along with his brothers, also German immigrants, founded the Herman Berghoff Brewing Company in 1887, and in 1888, they opened their first Berghoff Brewery in Fort Wayne, serving Dortmunder-style Berghoff’s Beer. Henry Berghoff held positions in and established various other local businesses throughout his career. A lifelong Democrat active in the party’s local leadership, he also became involved with local Fort Wayne politics, serving for three terms as Treasurer of Fort Wayne from 1883 to 1889 and Comptroller of Fort Wayne from 1896 to 1901. He mounted an unsuccessful campaign for Indiana State Treasurer in 1890. In 1893, he assisted the county sheriff in putting down a local riot. From 1900 to 1902, he served as Chairman of the Allen County Democratic Committee.

In the 1901 Fort Wayne mayoral election, Berghoff received the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Fort Wayne. He went on to defeat Republican Charles E. Reese and Socialist Martin H. Wefel in the general election after a heated campaign in which his Republican opponents harshly criticized his German background. He took office upon being sworn in on May 9. As mayor, Berghoff presided over the opening of the first electric interurban railroad in Fort Wayne in 1901, the completion of the current Allen County Courthouse in 1902, the completion of the South Wayne Sewer at the end of 1902, and the appointment of the first Fort Wayne Board of Parks Commissioners in 1905. However, he came under controversy for his handling of the threat of a water famine in 1901, his refusal to approve the bond of Robert B. Dreibelbiss for his appointment to the Fort Wayne Municipal Court in 1902, and his approval of an ordinance granting a municipal franchise to the Fort Wayne Electric Light and Power company in 1904. In 1905, Berghoff was defeated in a bid for City Councilman-at-large. Berghoff left office on January 1, 1906, after serving a four-and-a-half-year term as mayor of Fort Wayne (the only mayor of Fort Wayne to do so).

After his mayoralty, Berghoff returned to business with the Berghoff Brewery and various other local establishments, most notably the German-American National Bank, which he had co-founded in 1905. Berghoff died on June 28, 1925, in Fort Wayne, after suffering an apoplectic stroke, survived by his wife and several children.

Here’s Berghoff’s obituary from the Journal-Courier in 1925:

And here’s another obituary, this one from the Star Press:

And here’s an account of the brewery from the Fort Wayne Daily News on July 11, 1895: