LOUIS NICOLAUS

Sacramento County

Biographies

LOUIS NICOLAUS

LOUIS NICOLAUS, one of the leading business men of Sacramento, and proprietor of the brewery corner Twelfth and I streets, is a native of Germany, born at Heugelheim, Bavaria, January 5, 1829, his parents being William and Margaretha Nicolaus, the father a farmer by occupation. Louis Nicolaus was reared and educated at his native place, and in 1846 came to America, sailing from Havre to New York, being fifty-five days on the voyage. He proceeded to Buffalo, and there entered on an apprenticeship at the cooper’s trade with Conrad Antrose. He served one year at the trade, then worked for his employer as a journeyman. In 1848 he went to Canada, but returned after one month, to Buffalo. He then went to Cleveland, where he was employed for a time, and then worked on the canal to Dresden for a few months. He then went to Cincinnati, where he spent the winter of 1848-’49. He next went to St. Louis, and from there to Lexington, Missouri. He worked out in the woods near that place that summer, splitting staves for Waddle & Co. In the fall he again went to St. Louis, and in the spring of 1850 returned to Lexington, Missouri. There a company of forty-three was organized under Captain Joe Waddle (a Mexican war veteran), for the purpose of going to California, and Mr. Nicolaus was one of the number. They proceeded to California via Ft. Kearney, Ft. Laramie, Sublette’s cut-off and the Truckee route, Mr. Nicolaus being sick most of the way. He and those with his wagon, four in all, stopped at Nevada City, and engaged at mining, continuing about two months. They went to Grass Valley next, but, getting no rain there, went up to the Little Yuba, and mined at Hess’s Crossing, in the middle of the river, until the fall of 1851. Mr. Nicolaus then came to Sacramento, and from here went up to Amador County. He mined awhile there, then started in the butcher business with a man named Broaddus. He was in business there until the fall of 1868, when he again came to Sacramento, and bought an interest in the brewery at Twelfth and I streets, in October, 1869, from Martin Arenz, and remained in partnership with him until 1873, when Wendell Kerth bought the interest of Mr. Arenz. Mr. Nicolaus has carried on the business ever since, and has practically rebuilt the entire plant. Since 1884 he has been making a beer which many people consider superior to any lager. The capacity of the brewery is fifty barrels per day, and a ready market is found in Sacramento and tributary territory. Mr. Nicholaus was married in this county to Miss Susannah Kerth, a native of Germany. They have had six children, of whom four are living, viz: Louis, Edward, Emma, and Julia. The two deceased children are: Willie and Wendell. Mr. Nicolaus is a member of Schiller Lodge, No. 105, I. O. O. F., and of the Sacramento Hussars. He is a popular man, and counts his friends by the score.

Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.

Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California. Page 752. Lewis Publishing Company. 1890.