brewer, businessman, b. Mainz, Germany. He migrated to the U.S. in 1855, settling in Milwaukee, where he was employed in the brewery operated by August Krug (established in 1849). When Krug died in 1856, Schlitz took over management of the brewery in the interests of his widow (Anna Maria Krug), purchased stock, and in 1858 married Mrs. Krug. For the next several years the company's business expanded rapidly, and in 1874 it was reorganized and incorporated as the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. The following year Schlitz was lost at sea while returning for a visit to Germany, and with his death, control of the firm passed into the hands of the Uihlein family (q.v.). A prominent Milwaukee businessman, Schlitz was vice-president of the Second Ward Savings Bank, and secretary of the Brewers' Fire Insurance Co. of America. E. B. Usher, Wis. (8 vols., Chicago, 1914); Milwaukee Wis. News, July 16, 1936; J. G. Gregory, Hist. of Milwaukee (4 vols., Chicago, 1931); WPA field notes.

View pictures relating to the brewing industry at Wisconsin Historical Images.

Learn More

Dictionary of Wisconsin History

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.

[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]