PINE MEER FOUNDATION

William (Will) C. Schott was the youngest of Johann Michael (J.M.) Schott's five sons and his wife, Lucile (Lucia) Riedlin was the youngest daughter of William Riedlin Sr.  J.M. immigrated from Frankfurt, Germany, where he was a brewer. However, his family was originally from the Franconia area of Bavaria, where his father had been a cooper (barrel maker). When J.M. arrived in New York City in 1866 with his wife and daughter he became a cooper (barrel maker) at Scaefer's Brewing.  He met one of Christian Moerlein son's at work, who was serving an apprenticeship, and whose family had one of the largest breweries in Cincinnati. This contact provided him with employment with the Moerlein Brewery and required him to move to Ohio with his family around 1870. After working for only a couple of years at Moerlein's, he had a disagreement with his supervisor and decided to open his own firm.  He borrowed some money and established J.M. Schott & Son's Cooperage. Some time later, he also established the Cincinnati Galvanizing Co. He had five sons and two daughters. When J.M. passed away in 1903, his four oldest sons carried on his businesses. At this time Will was attending the University of Cincinnati (U.C.), graduating in 1905. He then attended the U.C. Medical College. With only one year remaining to complete his medical degree, Will left college to join the growing family businesses that needed his help. He became the General Manager of the Cincinnati Galvanizing Co. and married Lucia in 1914. The couple had two sons, Bill and Lou. 

 

In 1919, Prohibition closed the Riedlin family's Bavarian Brewery, located in Covington, KY. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavarian_Brewing_Company .)  Unfortunately,  Lucy's father and only remaining brother passed away in the same year Prohibition began. When the brewery was reopened after Prohibition by her aunt's husband, it had financial  difficulties and went into bankruptcy in 1937.  Will and three of his brothers purchased Bavarian's out of bankruptcy court in 1938 and around that time disposed of the cooperage business, but continued operating the Cincinnati Galvanizing Co. Will's son Bill had graduated from Western Hills High School just in the mid 1930's and his other son Lou graduated from the same school in 1940. Bill entered Harvard and Lou attended Dartmouth. After WWII, both Lou and Bill were working at Bavarian's and both married and had sons.  By 1950 the brewery was operating 24 hours a day and was very successful. Will's oldest son Bill became President and his youngest son Lou became Secretary/ Treasurer.

 

However, the big breweries were entering the Cincinnati market in the mid-1950's, which made it difficult for the smaller local breweries to compete. In a lawsuit pitched as David vs. Goliath, Bavarian''s attempted to keep Busch Bavarian from using the Bavarian name in 1957. They were successful in doing so, but only for the tri-state area.  In 1959 a regional brewer, International Breweries Inc. (IBI), purchased Bavarian's. Bill (William R.) Schott remained in charge of Bavarian's for several years after this acquisition while Lou left the brewery a little earlier to became Vice President of the family owned Cincinnati Galvanizing. Bill left Bavarian's in 1965, a year before IBI closed the brewery in Covington. Lou remained at Cincinnati Galvanizing until it was sold around 1967 to a company that became Textron Industries. Lou then became involved in acquiring some farmland in the region and developing excess Pine Meer acreage for single and multi-family residential use, with an effort to preserve its unique character. Will died in 1981 and about a year later Lou was successful in having the Pine Meer Manor house placed on the National Historical Register.

 

Lou and his wife, Virginia Erhardt, retired to Naples, FL in 1986. They are survived by their son, L. Ried Schott.  Bill and his wife, Sue Lake, remained in Cincinnati for their remaining years. Their son, William P. Schott, still resides in the Cincinnati area.

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By selecting the Riedlin Family and the Schott Family more information and photographs ares provided, which is contained in the story of the Bavarian Brewery on the website: www.bavarianbrewery.org.