Newspapers: BRENNER 1927 CUYAHOGA COUNTY OHIO *********************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ *********************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Submitter: Email: Cbm1189@aol.com Date:21 March 2000 *********************************************************************** THE GERMANS IN CLEVELAND Published in the Cleveland Press on December 12, 1927 by Dan W. Gallagher...copyright , 1927 Article No. 12---Mine Host Brenner and His Famous Smoked Sturgeon The most genial German boniface of the long ago was Charles F. Brenner. His tavern, known as the HARVEST HOME, situated on the road to Lorain, was famous throughtout the state. It was kept open all night in order that travelers journeying by night might be accorded the same comforts as those arriving by day. The bountiful table Brenner set won him renown. His dinners, with smoked sturgeon as the chief dish, were acclaimed by his patrons. Tavernkeeper Brenner bought up fresh catches of sturgeon from the lake and superintended their smoking. He also had a big farm in connection with his business, raising large quantities of vegetables. Here is a description of the now exterminated sturgeon, as published in 1837. "The sturgeon, with a form as terrible and a body as large as the shark, is yet harmless. Incapable and unwilling to injure others, it flies from the smallest fishes. It is a harmless fish, in no way voracious. It never attempts to seize any of the finny tribe. It lives by rooting at the bottom where it makes insects and waterplants its whole substance. This great fish must therefore be a slender feeder. Hence has arisen the German proverb, which is applied to a man extremely temperate, when they say 'he is as moderate as a sturgeon'. The sturgeon ought to be as numerous as it is powerful. For Leuwenhoek professes to have reckoned one hundred and fifty thousand millions of eggs in a single roe. This seems extravagance, yet Catesby declares that the female frequently contains a bushel of spawn. Either estimate is surprising." In winter, HARVEST HOME was the destination of a majority of sleighing parties out of Cleveland. And every evening during the summertime, scores of rigs stood in the tavern yard while swain and their sweethearts dined at the famous resort. Brenner was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, July 22, 1830. While still a boy, his parents brought him to America. They were seven weeks and two days on the Atlantic, making the passage in a sailing vessel. The family lived in Philadelphia, where Charles started to learn the trade of hatmaking. Becoming an expert in this industry, he met and married Sophia Dueringer, a native of Barbarie, Germany. Stories having reached them concerning opportunities for advancement to be found in Cleveland, they set forth with the view of establishing their home here, arriving in Cuyahoga county in 1849. Brenner followed his trade for a time in Cleveland. When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the seventh New York Infantry. He served throughout the conflict, taking part in many battles. When he mustered out, he was a second lieutenant. Following the war, he opened his tavern, twelve miles from Cleveland on the road to Lorain, and the place soon became noted for its hospitality. In politics he was a Democrat. And during the Hayes-Tilden campaign in 1876, he raised a "hickory pole" in front of his tavern, a big throng from Cleveland and other places attending. Brenner was a member of the Masonic order, being affiliated with the Concordia lodge. He was also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He died at the age of 64 and surviving members of his family ultimatly exchanged the tavern and farm for property in Cleveland. --------OHFOOTSTEPS Mailing List--------