The Scharffs: Love (and Money) in a Time of Malaria

In 1897 a man who had been jilted by his 19-year old wife, sued Lazarus Scharff, a prominent St. Louis whiskey dealer, age 51, for alienation of affection.  The suit likely was occasioned by Lazarus’ considerable wealth.  Much of his riches had been gained by selling a “cure” for malaria at a time when no one really knew what caused it,

The scandal over the alienation accusation, shouted from newspaper headlines, rocked St. Louis.  Lazarus, with his brother, Adolph,  created a liquor house in the mid-1870s that had grown to be the largest in St. Louis and the Scharffs were well-respected local businessmen.   The suit was brought by Ulysses S. Altheimer who three years earlier had impregnated and then eloped with a 16-year-old girl named Ophelia.  Ophelia was Adolph’s daughter; Lazarus’ niece.

The marriage had been a stormy one, lasting only a year before Ophelia left her husband in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, took her baby, and went back to live with her father and mother.  Only months later, when his estranged wife sued for divorce, did Altheimer file suit against Lazarus.  In it he alleged that the uncle was responsible for weaning Ophelia’s affections away from him and demanded monetary damages.  The St. Louis Post Dispatch headlined: “Her love was worth $50,000.”

The Post Dispatch story recounted that the family knew nothing about the suit until a reporter went to Ophelia’s home to inform her.  Her response was:  “It was just what we expected, though.  We thought he’d file the suit.  That family is mercenary.”  Her mother upon being informed of the news had a single comment, “Umph.”  Eventually the lawsuit was thrown out of court and Lazarus was exonerated.

Lazarus was born in Essingen, Bavaria, in 1846, the son of Aaron and Lena (nee Rose), Scharff, and educated in local schools.  His early working career appears to have been in the lively wine trade of that region.  At the age of 25, unmarried, he immigrated to the United States in 1871.   He headed immediately to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where an older brother, Nicholas, had established a wholesale boot and shoe business.  Instead of going to work with his brother, Lazarus almost immediately opened a wine and liquor business in Vicksburg. 

He also found a bride there.  She was Clara Eisman,  They were wed in Fayette, Mississippi, in June 1876.  The couple would be married for more than 50 years and produce a family of six children, one daughter and five sons.  Shortly after their marriage the couple relocated to St. Louis.  Whether the move was occasioned by poor prospects for expanding a liquor business in Vicksburg, or by the growing prohibition movement in Mississippi, or other unknown personal reasons, the choice of “The Gateway to the West” would prove to be an excellent oneJoined by Adolph, the brothers foundedtheir liquor house as L. & A Scharff Co.  Lazarus was president;  Adolph was secretary and treasurer.  Their company featured multiple brands of whiskey, including “Old Velvet Bourbon 1873,” “Pretoria Rye,” “Ameliorated,” Blue Lodge,” "Camp Spring,” "Captain Jack,” "Delmonico Rye,” “Eagle,” “Old Maple Hollow,” "Nelson Creek,” “Pretoria,” and "Spring Hill.”  Several of these brands the company trademarked in the early 1900s.

The Scharffs were “rectifiers,” not distillers, blending whiskeys received in barrels on premises to achieve desired taste, smoothness and color.  They primarily were drawing their liquor from a distillery known in federal records as #RD 112, 8th District, in Anderson County, Kentucky. It was owned by James Ripy of the famous Ripy whiskey clan under the name “T.B. Ripy’s Cliff Springs Distilling Co."

After the blending process the liquor was decanted into both glass and ceramic containers, as shown here, a glass flask for Pretoria Rye and a ceramic mini-jug for Old Maple Hollow.  The Scarffs also issued advertising shot glasses for a number of brands that would have been given to saloons, restaurants and hotels featuring their whiskey.  Examples are shown throughout this post.

Important as these liquor labels were to the Scharffs’ profits, the “cash cow” of the organization was their “Royal Pepsin Bitters.”  The brothers advertised this nostrum as “Without a peer for the cure of malaria as well as a variety of stomach ailments.”  Shown below are two Royal Pepsin embossed glass bottles, considered “scarce” by collectors.  The clear version recently sold for $510.

In the late 19th Century malaria had spread from the American South into the  Midwest, including Missouri.  Moreover, the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904 brought people from a number of malarious countries into the city for the seven months duration of the exposition.  A resident doctor at St. Louis City Hospital later wrote:  “Our local mosquitoes naturally became carriers for almost all types of malaria….During the late spring, summer, and fall of 1905, we frequently averaged 25 to 35 or more malaria patients daily, mostly residents of our local territory.”  Some died.  Recognizing that medical science still was unaware of the cause, the Scharffs felt comfortable advertising their Royal Pepsin Bitters as a “cure.”  Embossed on the bottles was the French phrase, “Honi soit qui mal y pense,” meaning “Shame on him who thinks evil of it.”

A specialist on bitters, Ferd Meyer has commented:  “Lazarus and Adolph Scharff tried hard to promote the medicinal values of their product and even sold it in drug stores, but make no mistake, this was a spirit that should have been and probably was sold at liquor stores.  The label does try hard to say the medicinal powers of the product, but if it looks like a duck, swims like duck, 

and quacks like a duck.…”

That “duck” helped make the Scharffs rich.  In addition to achieving a wide customer base for Royal Pepsin Bitters on its purported ability to “cure” malaria, their nostrum,despite its strong alcoholic content, was taxed at a significantly lower rate than whiskey.  Their profits from bitters thereby were higher.

The firm continued to grow over the years as the Scharffs needed increased room for their operations and sales.  Opening on North Main Street, after four years they moved to South Second Street and two years later back to Main, where the company resided for 16 years before National Prohibition, opening other outlets in the meantime on both South Fourth Street and Clark Avenue.

Meanwhile, in 1906 Congress passed what became known as the Pure Food and Drug Act.  An immediate effort of the enforcing authorities was to eliminate the word “cure” from nostrums that purported to eliminate diseases like malaria and cancer, where the cause was still unknown.  Six years later the feds dealt Scharff’s Royal Pepsin Bitters another blow.  It classified the remedy by name among those termed “booze medicines.”  The medicinal ingredients found in their nostrum were so small when compared to the alcoholic content as to be negligible.  It became illegal for druggists to sell Scharff’s bitters without paying a special tax as a retail liquor dealer.

The brothers continued to manage their liquor business until forced to close in 1919. Neither would live to see the end of National Prohibition.  As he aged, Lazarus’ health faltered and in April 1930, he died, age 83, at his residence in the Brandscome Hotel.  He was survived by his widow, all six children, thirteen grandchildren and one great grandchild.  He was buried at New Mount Sinai Cemetery and Mausoleum in Afton, St. Louis County.  Adolph, his elder by three years, joined him at the graveyard 17 months later.  He lived to be 88. Their headstones are shown here.

Regarding the other individuals involved in the alienation charges against Lazarus:  Ophelia received her divorce from Ulysses Altheimer and married again, becoming Mrs. Herman J. Elson.  She had no other children other than the baby, named Virginia, whom she had snatched from Altheimer’s home.  As for Ulysses Altheimer, records indicate he ever married again.  Perhaps he had discovered that love was not worth $50,000 or any amount.

Note:  Much of the material for this vignette is from articles in the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the Peachridge Glass website of Ferdinand Meyer V.  As has happened frequently in the past, when I became interested in the Scharffs’ story I found that Ferd had featured their Royal Pepsin Bitters in a post dated 15 April 2013.  I am, as always, grateful for his information and images.