In Memoriam FREDERICK BAUERNSCHMIDT. In reviewing the names of native sons of Maryland of German extraction who have left an indelible mark by reason of their individuality, the name of Fred- erick Bauernschmidt deserves a promi- nent place. Mr. Bauernschmidt was born on Jan- uary 10,1864, the son of George Bauern- schmidt and Margaretha Wiessner Bauernschmidt. Both the Bauern- schmidt and Wiessner families were even at that time engaged in the brew- ing business. George Bauernschmidt, the father, was born in Germany and upon his arrival in this country had en- gaged in the brewing business first as a brewmaster and later in the brewing of beer on his own account. George Bauernschmidt's plant, at first a small one, was located on the Belair Road, in the vicinity of Schuetzen Park, not far from the brewery which Mrs. Bauernschmidt's brothers, J. Fred. and Henry Wiessner, conducted. Mr. and Mrs. Bauernschmidt had seven children: four sons, John, Fred- erick, George and William, one of whom, George, died in early manhood. All of the sons, upon reaching maturity, took places in their father's business. Miss Sarah Bauernschmidt, one of Mr. and Mrs. Bauernschmidt's three daughters, is at present, the sole sur- vivor of the family; the other two daughters, Miss Emilie Bauernschmidt (who subsequently married Harry Wehr) and Miss Elizabeth Bauern- schmidt, both are dead. With thrift and industry George Bauernschmidt succeeded in his business and as it grew his sons played active parts in their father's organization. When the George Bauernschmidt Brew- ing Company was formed, the father was President; the one son, John, was Vice- President, and Frederick was Treasurer. In this capacity he managed the finan- cial interests of the brewing company. In 1898 when the Maryland Brewing Company was formed, the George Bauernschmidt Brewing Company occu- pied such a conspicuous position in the industry that the Maryland company found it necessary to acquire this plant. George Bauernschmidt, the father, wel- comed the opportunity to dispose of his plant and retire. Frederick, however, then only thirty-four years of age, was too young and vigorous to acquiesce in this plan and he and his brother Wil- liam dissented, with the result that the father bought out the interests of all of his children in the brewing company in order that he might carry out his plan to dispose of his business and retire from active participation therein. This was perhaps the turning point in the career of Frederick Bauernschmidt. With a comparatively small capital, rep- resented by the interest which he had in his father's business, he undertook to start into business in competition with the powerful and wealthy "trust" which had purchased and consolidated all of the breweries in the City of Baltimore. He chose as a site an old Inn near the Belair Market, which had a large wagon yard for the convenience of the farmers who brought their produce to the mar- ket, and which due to changing condi- tions was no longer a profitable venture. With great care and using the knowl- edge of the business which his long ex- perience with his father had given him, Frederick Bauernschmidt undertook the construction of a modern brewery after the panic of 1897, when the business conditions of the country were still very [50] unsettled. He borrowed considerable sums in order to complete the plant and in 1899 began in a small way the operation of his American Brewery, which he proudly insisted was "inde- pendent of all trusts." The years that followed were perhaps the most difficult of his career, but slow- ly he was laying the foundations for a large, well-managed business. He ad- dressed himself to the payment of his obligations and thereafter to the exten- sion of his plant His business grew to such propor- tions that in 1918 an English syndicate is reported to have offered him three millions of dollars for his business. The adoption of the Prohibition Amendment reduced and made practi- cally worthless the large investment which he had in his business. At the time of the adoption of the Amendment, he was brewing 350,000 barrels of beer per annum—an output equal to the com- bined produce of all of the other brew- eries in the city. The wrecking of his business was a terrible blow to the owner, who was thereby faced with an enforced retirement, although only fifty- five years of age. On January 30, 1895, Mr. Bauern- schmidt had married Miss Agnes A. Wehr, the daughter of August A. Wehr, who had originally been engaged in the manufacture of brick and who later also had become identified with one of the larger breweries in Baltimore. They had no children, so that upon Mr. Bauernschmidt's retirement from the business, it was quite natural that he should direct his attention to the ulti- mate disposition of his large fortune. In this connection it is interesting to know that by his will, made on July 5th, 1921, shortly after his retirement from business, he had set up a legacy of $500,000.00 for various charities in Baltimore, in addition to a trust fund of $1,000,000.00 which was to be pay- able after the death of his wife. It therefore appears that his thoughts had turned toward philanthropy immedi- ately upon his retirement from business and he gave much thought to the prac- tical details of his charities to such an uncommon extent that he became the pioneer in the practical application of his theories and ideas to the task which confronted him. It was quite natural that a man who was making a large fortune would have to devote himself exclusively to his busi- ness. This fact of necessity would limit his social activities and his friends would likely be his business associates and those with whom he was thrown in contact in the management thereof. Mr. Bauernschmidt was no exception to this general rule. He was by nature reserved and uncommunicative but he was observ- ant and cautious in the management of his own affairs and sought advice when- ever he deemed it necessary. There can be no doubt that he talked with his physicians, particularly with Dr. J. M. T. Finney, who was at that time, as now, the Senior Surgeon and Chief of the Staff of the Union Memorial Hospital, in connection with the needs for hos- pitalization in Baltimore. The hospital had erected its new building on Thirty-third Street, not far removed from Mr. Bauernschmidt's home, and had completed its arrange- ments for the erection of the Johnson Hospital for Children. Mr. Bauernschmidt determined to undertake the erection and equipment of a building on the Guilford Avenue