Jacob Moritz

Jacob Moritz (February 1849 – June 1910) was a brewer and businessman in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He founded the Salt Lake Brewing Company, which became one of the largest breweries in the western United States. Moritz is also the subject of local folklore, with his resting place, often referred to as "Emo's Grave," being the center of various urban legends.

Early life

Jacob Moritz was born in Germany in February 1849. Some sources give Ingenheim as his birthplace, others Bavaria. He immigrated to the United States in September 1865 at the age of 16. After spending a few years in New York City working at the F.M. Schaefer Brewing Co., Moritz moved to St. Louis, where he worked for Anheuser-Busch. He later tried his hand at mining in Helena, Montana.

Salt Lake Brewing Company

In 1871, Moritz relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he opened the Little Montana Brewery. This quickly became successful, leading Moritz to establish a larger facility on 10th East and 5th South, which he renamed the Salt Lake City Brewing Co. Part of this brewery still stands today, housing the Anniversary Inn.

The Salt Lake Brewing Company, founded by Moritz in 1891, became one of the largest breweries outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with an annual capacity of 100,000 barrels of beer. Moritz managed the brewing process and the distribution, owning 36 saloons across Utah that exclusively sold his beers, including "American Beauty" and "Budweiser". During this period, "Budweiser" was considered a style of beer, and Moritz later challenged Anheuser-Busch over the exclusive rights to the name, though he eventually lost the legal battle.

In 1903, Moritz emphasized the quality of his brewery's beer in a letter to his trade partners and urged support for local industry. He highlighted the new machinery added to their brewing and bottling processes and the use of select imported Bavarian hops.

Moritz's Salt Lake Brewing Company was significant in Utah's economy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. When Utah banned alcohol in 1917, many of the state's breweries, including Moritz's, adapted by producing soda pop instead.

Community involvement and later years

Moritz was involved in the Salt Lake City community. In 1889, he married Lahela Louisson from Hawaii, who became a leader in the Hebrew Ladies' Relief Society. Moritz served as president of the Salt Lake City B’nai Israel Temple branch and was active in Utah politics as a member of the Liberal Party. Despite his involvement in alcohol production and liberal politics, he was well-regarded by Utah's predominantly Mormon population.

In October 1909, facing declining health, Moritz and his wife traveled to Europe, hoping that rest and the local mineral springs would help him recover. By June 1910, they had reached Germany, where Moritz succumbed to lung and stomach cancer. His wife and siblings were at his side when he died at the age of 61. His remains were cremated, and his ashes were interred in a mausoleum in the Jewish section of the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Emo's grave

Despite the actual history of the tomb, the resting place of Jacob Moritz, often referred to in local folklore as "Emo's grave," has become the center of various urban legends. According to these, if someone circles the grave six times while shining lights or chanting "Emo" repeatedly, they might witness supernatural phenomena like red eyes glowing in the tomb's grate or a ghostly face in the mausoleum window. Some stories even claim that the grave glows at night or associate "Emo" with different personas, such as a miner or a figure involved in dark rituals.

Moritz's tomb, in the Jewish section of the Salt Lake City Cemetery, originally housed his ashes. Later, the urn containing Moritz's ashes was removed and turned over to his family, and the current whereabouts of his cremains are unknown.

References

See also

* Utah folklore

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1849 births
1910 deaths
American brewers
German expatriates in the United States