In our September 23, 2018 auction in Lambertville, NJ, we’ve got two incredible green bottles from local 19th century brewer – and military man – Captain George A. Kohl. Beyond being desirable local collectibles of high value, there’s some wonderful history behind the man whose name appears embossed on them.
George A. Kohl was born in 1802 in Easton, PA and moved to Lambertville in the mid-1830s, where he ran the George A. Kohl & Co. brewery with business partner Eden Hunt. The partnership was dissolved in 1836, and the dissolution notice appeared in an October issue of Hunterdon Gazette, but Kohl went on running the business himself.
Briefly, Kohl was the object of a bit of scandal by insinuation in 1844, when Eugene Roussel of Philadelphia appears to have accused him in a written Public Ledger ad—though he didn’t mention Kohl by name—of claiming he was trained by Roussel in the making of mineral water, a product Kohl began selling in 1843-44. In part, his accusation in the ad read:
“…certain persons have been circulating reports calculated to injure me in my business among a large number of my customers in the vicinity of the city and more particularly that a certain individual residing in Lambertville N J has had the audacity to assert that he paid me the sum of between $100 and $500 to initiate him in the art and mystery of manufacturing Mineral Waters on my improved plan, and also that he has a certificate signed by me to that effect.”
Kohl became a captain in the military in 1840 and three years later, he led a local militia called the Doylestown Guard; he also established the 80-man Lambertville Cadets, who fought in the Civil War.
An extremely successful brewer and businessman, in an 1860 census, he was reported to be worth approximately $91,700 in personal property and real estate holdings. His son John also became a brewer and established his own brewery in Boston.
George A. Kohl died at the age of 66 in 1868 in his chosen home town of Lambertville. The green Kohl bottles you see in this post that we’ll be auctioning on September 23 are estimated to be from 1843-1844.
You can find more information and see more pictures of the items we’ll be selling at this two-day seven-generation auction on my AuctionZip (Auctioneer ID# 1070). You can also follow me on Facebook (Alfred’s Auctions LLC) and on Instagram (@AlfredsAuctions) for daily updates.