St. Paul's Daniel Aberle: Potables, Parks, & Politics

 Arriving on these shores from Germany in 1870 at the age of 22 and likely speaking little or no English, within a few years Daniel Aberle had established his own liquor store.  After moving his business to St. Paul, Aberle carved out a career there that saw him appointed park commissioner, become a power in the Democratic Party, and accounted among the “Leading Men of the State of Minnesota.”   Aberle’s is another American success story based on selling whiskey.

Daniel Aberle was born in 1848 in Baden, Germany, the son of Lazarus and Karoline Mayer Aberle.  Educated in the good German schools, at the age of 22 he decided to seek his fortune in the United States, boarding a ship that took him to New York City.  He must have seen what he liked in the Big Apple because he stayed for the next seven years.  Aberle’s employment during that period has not come to light but my surmise is that for at least some of the period he was working in the liquor trade.

In New York he met Amelia Stern, born in New York,.  The 1870 census records her as a girl of sixteen working as a clerk, almost certainly in the “fancy goods” store run by her 46-year old mother, Barbara, a German immigrant.  Although no man was recorded as present in the Stern household, Barbara is listed by the census having six children, ranging in age from eighteen to one year.  A puzzle.

Daniel and Amelia were married in Manhattan in 1878.  Almost immediately after, apparently being aware of an opportunity, the newlyweds left New York City and headed 1,200 miles west to St. Joseph, Missouri.  "St. Joe", as it was commonly called, was a jumping-off point for migrants headed to West.  Pioneers would stay and purchase supplies before they heading out in wagon trains across the Great Plains. Although this traffic had slowed after the Civil War, the city had continued to grow steadily.

Aberle is reported to have opened a wholesale liquor store in St. Joseph in 1878 and pursued the business for about next six years.  The couple’s first two children would be born there, David W. in 1879 and Edward M. in 1881. The 1880 census found the family in St. Joseph, along with Amelia’s younger sister, Emma, and three of Daniel’s adult cousins, Morrris, Sidney and Iela Flarsheim, The Flarsheim men apparently were working as salesmen for Aberle.  The busy household was completed by a live-in maid.

Business in St. Joseph apparently was not up to Abele’s expectations.  In April 1882, Aberle moved his family and liquor house 425 miles almost directly north to St. Paul, Minnesota.  It would be his last move.  The 1883 St. Paul city directory records D. Aberle & Company “Wholesale Wines and Liquors” at 409-411 Sibley Street.  Morris Flarsheim now was in management.  By 1886, an apparent need for more space prompted a move to 236 East Seventh Avenue.  A postcard view of that block reveals an Aberle sign at the far left of the image.

Aberle early showed a flair for advertising his products.  Show here is a bottle of “Golden Wedding” whiskey, a brand from the Joseph Finch distillery in Pittsburgh [See post on Finch, January 31, 2015.]  Aberle has wrapped it in a distinctive ceramic  jug from the Fulper Pottery in Flemington, New Jersey.  He also was providing wholesale customers such as saloons, hotels and restaurants with attractive glass “back of the bar” decanters to advertise his “Aberle’s Melbrook” and “Loring” brand whiskeys.  I can find no evidence that Aberle trademarked any of his proprietary labels.

As Abele’s stature as a St. Paul businessman grew, so did opportunities for community service.  From 1973 to 1891 the St. Paul City Council, in charge of planning city parks, had accomplished little.  In 1991 a separate commission assumed entire charge of parks.  It was led by a dynamic superintendent of parks named Frederick Nussbaumer, a man credited with “great taste and ability in the construction of landscape work” who decidedly improved the the city’s park system.  Both originally from the same part of Germany, Nussbaumer in 1901 tapped Aberle as a member of the commission.  Serving at least six years and likely beyond, the liquor dealer worked closely with the superintendent for the development of the 402 acre Como Park, then and now a St. Paul showpiece.

Aberle also was becoming a major figure in Minnesota’s Democratic Party, rising eventually to the executive committee and for a time serving as state treasurer.  He was chosen as a delegate to the 1900 Democratic National Convention, where the only candidate was William Jennings Bryan, making his third unsuccessful try at President.  Although the 1904 Democratic Convention, shown below, was contested among eight candidates, the eventual nominee, Judge Alton Parker, also lost.  As a member of Minnesota’s slate of electors for Parker, Aberle watched from the sidelines as Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated.

Parks and politics apparently never distracted Aberle from his main concern — selling liquor.  By 1901, the year of his parks appointment, he had taken on a partner named Westheimer.  His eldest son, David, was now the secretary of the liquor house.  By 1905 Westheimer had departed and Aberle’s second son, Edward, joined the firm.  David became vice president; Edward, secretary and treasurer.  Incorporated and moved to 138 Third Street, the company name was changed to Daniel Aberle & Sons. 

 

These changes were reflected in a tray-shaped saloon sign, featuring a woman dressed in a fancy gown and well-quaffed hair preparing to drink a shot glass full of whiskey while a bottle of “Golden Link” sits nearby on a dresser.  The motto is “Worth Asking For.”  My educated guess is that it refers to the liquor rather than the lady.  The brand also was advertised in a back-of-the-bar bottle.  Another Aberle label was "Governors Special Bourbon."

Aberle continued to manage the wholesale liquor business until his health failed. He died in 1916 and was buried in Mount Zion Temple Cemetery in St. Paul. A large monument denotes the spot.  Eight years later Amelia would join him there. The Aberle sons continued to manage the liquor house until shut down by National Prohibition in 1919.  Subsequently, David became president of a wholesale confectionary company and Edward maintained an office in St. Paul’s Pioneer Building.

The story of Daniel Aberle’s rise from penurious German immigrant to wealthy and influential American citizen was captured in two 1907 publications.  In one Aberle was counted among the “leading men of Minnesota.”  In the other, he was featured as one of “the big folks in Minnesota.”  In short, he had come a long way from Baden.

Note:  The two books alluded to above are “The Book of Minnesotans:  A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Men of the State of Minnesota” by Albert Nelson Marquis, and “Sketches of Big Folks in Minnesota,” transcribed by  Marilyn Clore.  Both 1907 documents provide details of Aberle’s life.