Hello Kay - Your response regarding the breweries is very interesting - especially the comment "(strange family, the Lemps)"; so what, pray tell, strange things did they do? I had lunch in the Lemp house a few years ago. Were the Lemps any more strange than the Busch family? I should think someone would have written a book about the beer-drinkers/makers in St. Louis by now. I've read the one on the Busch family. Maureen (native of Kirkwood, now in CA)

Maureen, The Lemp Mansion is purported to be "haunted". Despite their extraordinary success in the brewery business, their wealth and their social prominence, their personal lives are full of tradgedy. There were scandals, divorces, suicides, etc. There are some interesting books out there, some of them dones just recently. The following link should take you to a site that kind of encapsulates some of what happened to them. www.legendsofAmerica.com/mo.lempmansion2.html Having grown up in South St. Louis I heard some of the rumors.I had gotten my great grandfather's Civil War Pension file from NARA. He had filed for a pension after his right leg was finally amputated as a result of the gunshot would he had sustained in 1865. The leg had not been treated properly at the time. Apparantly, it had also not been documented properly either. After 20 something years, he had to try to locate army mates who could attest to the fact the wound actually occurred as a result of battle. Former employers also attested to the fact that he had always limped, and when asked said it was from a gunshot would gotten during the Civil War. Everyone also had to attest to his character and integrity. At the time he was working for William Lemp II, whose affadavit was also included. Because they thought so much of him, the Lemps continued to pay my g-grandfather for almost a year after the amputation in hopes that he would be able to return to his job, but due to fi! nancial strains the brewery was undergoing at the time, they had to discontinue. At any rate, my g-grandfather finally proved his claim and collected his pension, but seeing the affadavit from William Lemp II recalled the rumors and I did some research. It appears the Lemp family's business and personal problems started about this same time, including a nasty divorce, the suicide of William Lemp, Sr., and the downhill spiral of the rest of the Lemp family. Many exhibited strange behaviors that we now associate with bi-polar disorder or manic depression. There are some interesting books out there - some written recently. I have also read the Busch family book (and they certainly did some strange things, too). However, after reading the Busch family chronicle, I felt no real sympathy for them. They impressed me as being ruthless and willing to do anything to get what they wanted. I did feel sorry for the Lemps and what happened to them, perhaps because they suffered from a then unknown mental disorder that caused them to self destruct. Happy reading! Spaghettitree@aol.com wrote: Hello Kay - Your response regarding the breweries is very interesting - especially the comment "(strange family, the Lemps)"; so what, pray tell, strange things did they do? I had lunch in the Lemp house a few years ago. Were the Lemps any more strange than the Busch family? I should think someone would have written a book about the beer-drinkers/makers in St. Louis by now. I've read the one on the Busch family. Maureen (native of Kirkwood, now in CA) ==== GERMANS-STLOUIS Mailing List ==== RootsWeb's mailing lists are filtered and attachments are removed. A virus that is distributed as an attachment will not reach you through a RootsWeb mailing list. For further information about Viruses, Trojans, Worms etc., go please to: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/virus.html. ============================== Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Y! Messenger - Communicate in real time. Download now.