brewer, b. Miltenber-on-the-Main, Bavaria. He migrated to the U.S. about 1847, settling in Milwaukee in 1848, where he worked as a foreman in a local brewery. In 1851 he purchased the brewery and subsequently married the widow of its former owner. In 1874 he produced the first bottled beer in Milwaukee. As the brewing business expanded, Blatz became prominent in railroad promotion, and in commercial and real-estate operations. He served as president of the Second Ward Savings Bank (1866-1894), was Milwaukee alderman (1872-1873), and was a member of the commission to organize the Industrial Exposition of 1880 in Milwaukee. In 1889 the Blatz interests were incorporated with a capitalization of $2,000,000 as the Valentin Blatz Brewing Co. (corporate name in 1927 was the Val Blatz Brewing Co., and in 1930 the Blatz Brewing Co.). In 1891 ownership of the company was acquired by an English brewing syndicate, but Blatz remained as president until his death, when his son Albert became president. J. G. Gregory, Hist. of Milwaukee (4 vols., Chicago, 1931); B. Still, Milwaukee (Madison, 1948); Milwaukee Sentinel, May 27, 1894; WPA field notes.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]