Anna Catharina "Catherine" Koch

Other Events:

• Name: Anna Catharina "Catherine" Schmidt
• Name: Catherine Koch
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-124615

Anna — Heinrich R. "Harry" "Henry" Schmidt. Heinrich was born 1807, , Germany; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Catherine Deichert
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-86053P
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Catherine — Henry J. Deichert. Henry (son of Nicholas Deichert and Anna Elizabeth Weil) was born CALC 29 Jan 1826, , Germany; died 20 May 1873, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Maria Zinkann
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-52357
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

Maria — Johann N. "John" Zinkann. Johann (son of Johannes "John" Zinkann and Maria Elisabeth Nahrgang) was born 1 Nov 1835, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was christened 20 Mar 1836, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 8 Jan 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-79693
• Residence: 1863, Philipsburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1891, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Laborer
• Residence: 1891, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1901, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Occupation: 1911, Philipsburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1911, Philipsburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

John — Catharina "Catherine" Schmidt. Catharina (daughter of Heinrich S. Schmidt and Anna Barbara "Barbara Lippert) was born 12 Aug 1842, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada; died 19 Feb 1903, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Zion Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery, Philipsburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Henry K. Schmidt
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-235846
• Occupation: 1871, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1871, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1880, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; farmer
• Occupation: 1881, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Occupation: 1889, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Deputy Reeve of Wilmot

Heinrich married Christine Hoerle 26 Sep 1867, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Christine (daughter of Johann Conrad "Conrad" Hoerle and Gertrude Frolich) was born 1847, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Maria Deichert
• Name: Maria Diechert
• Name: Mary Peine
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-84895P
• Residence: 1877, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1877, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1877, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1891, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1911, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Mary married Reeve Louis Peine 9 Sep 1877, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Louis (son of Frederick Wilhelm Heinrich "Henry" Peine and Caroline Engelhardt) was born 10 Jan 1856, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 25 May 1925, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Catherine Peine
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-149550P
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Notes:

Mrs. Henry Peine Died in Detroit

The death occurred in Detroit last Friday of Catharine Deichert, widow of the late Henry Peine after a lingering illness. The deceased was a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Henry Deichert and was born in New Hamburg 73 years ago. She was married fifty years ago to Henry Peine and for many years resided in Zurich and London. Since the death of her husband twenty-six years ago she made her home in Detroit. The deceased was a faithful adherent of the Lutheran church. There are left in deep bereavement two sons and two daughters, namely, Olide and Edward at home, Alfred, of Kent, Washington and (Helma) Mrs. Hegstion, Detroit and two grandchildren. She also leaves four sisters, Mrs. L. Peine and Misses Margaret and Lovina Deichert, of this town and Mrs. D. Weismiller, of Toronto. The remains were brought to the home of the Misses Deichert from where the funeral took place on Monday. The service was conducted by the Rev. Mr. Mosig, of Trinity Lutheran Church and interment took place in the family plot in Riverside Cemetery.

New Hamburg Independent, February 7, 1930

Catherine — Henry Peter Peine. Henry (son of Frederick Wilhelm Heinrich "Henry" Peine and Caroline Engelhardt) was born 1857, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 5 Mar 1903; was buried , Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-125635

Other Events:

• Name: Louisa Weismiller
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-149734
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Louisa — David Weismiller. David (son of John Weismueller and Sophia Elisabetha Holzschuh) was born 22 Jan 1859, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 1920, Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada; was buried , Park Lawn Cemetery, Toronto, York Co., Ontario. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-85822P

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-86055P
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-86056P
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1901, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Saddler

Notes:

H. DEICHERT.

The man who is geniunely in love with his calling is usually a marked success. This applies to Mr. H. Deichert, whose handsome show room and workshop is on Peel St. Mr. Deichert is a New Hamburg boy and has been in business for 18 years. He is an enthusiastic saddler and shows with commendable pride a large number of tools and dies used in making up stylish harness. His equipment in this connection is far superior to anything found in the ordinary harness shop. lie enjoys a large patronage in and for many miles around the town. This is borne out when it is stated that he shipped nearly 40 sets of harness last year to outside points. A further criterion of his good work is the fact that he sells and resells to the same customer many times. A large and handsome dust proof cabinet contains many samples of his best work. Two men besides himself arc kept busy. A full line of trunks, bags and valises is also carried.

Special Industrial souvenir number of New Hamburg: containing a comprehensive review of the natural advantages and resources of the village of New Hambug, 1908, Berlin Daily News, Berlin, Ontario

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-125641

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-149737P
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-86057P
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-52358
• Occupation: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Dress Maker, Private
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-78735
• Occupation: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Dress Maker, Private
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

Other Events:

• Name: Henry S. Zinkann
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-79436
• Occupation: 1891, Lisbon, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1891, Lisbon, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1901, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Traveller
• Occupation: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Traveller, Furniture
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Swedenborgian

Heinrich married Caroline Marie Riener 18 Mar 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Caroline (daughter of Matthias Riener and Maria "Mary" Novock, daughter of Mathias Reiner and Maria Nowak) was born Aug 1861, Wien, , Wien, Austria; died 1940; was buried , Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Charles Zinkann
• Name: Karl Zinkann
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-38773
• Occupation: 1886, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Merchant
• Residence: 1886, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1886, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1901, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Butcher

Notes:

J. N. Zinkann.

As you enter the village from almost any direction on either of the four public highways that concentrate here, the large new brick mercantile establishment and residence combined, owned by the above named gentleman, looms up conspicuously. The structure is two stories in height with a frontage of 60 feet and a depth of 73 feet. The mercantile. department was erected about eight years ago, and the residence addition about one year ago. The former is a commodious affair, and probably contains as much floor space any other village mercantile establishment in the Province. Mr. Zinkann commenced business here fifteen years ago. He is a man who can not be credited with having spent any of his time in idleness since his boyhood days. He was born at Hamburg in 1839 Until he was able to take care of himself he spent his life upon the farm. His ambition seems to have drifted toward dairying, and he is to day about as extensively engaged in that industry as any other one man in the dairy districts. Prior to coming here he was engaged in cheesemaking and farming at Lisbon, and now owns a fine farm of 154 acres near that village which is under the management of his son, Charles S. He also is the owner of a farm of 100 acres, a short distance south of Crosshill, managed by Mr. William Beilstein. Mr. Zinkann is also Secretary and Treasurer of the Crosshill Creamery Co. The greater portion of his time is now taken up in buying up for export the output of the various creameries throughout Waterloo, Wellington, Huron, Grey and Bruce. During the course of a year his purchases of butter are very extensive. His family has all grown up, and he is now ably assisted in his vast business interests by several of his sons. His father was for many years a prominent and well known carpenter of Hamburg. The mercantile business is under the management of Mr. Eph. Zinkann, his son. The latter was born at Lisbon in 1866, and through a thorough training derived from the ripe experience of his father, he has achieved good success as a business man. To take a glance at the great array of staple goods in the general; merchandise line, the neatness with which they are arranged, and the fresh, clean appearance of the large sales- room will convince one of that fact. The stock comprises dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, hats and caps, hardware, glassware, queensware, crockery, etc; in fact, anything required in a modern general mercantile establishment can be found here, and as cheap as it can be found anywhere. They both wholesale and retail. Io connection there is a well equipped dressmaking emporium, where the ladies of the surrounding community can be accommodated with the latest patterns in fabrics and neat fitting wearing apparel. The dry goods department also contains a very large stock of tweeds, worsted goods, gents' furnishings, etc. It is not an exaggeration to say, considering the large and endless variety of his stock, that Mr. Zinkann is the Wannamaker of this section.

Waterloo County Chronicle, 14 Jul 1898, p. 8

Carl married Eugenia Attella Doering 20 Oct 1886, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Eugenia (daughter of Carl Doering and Catherine, daughter of Carl "Charles" Doering and Catherine Hoerle) was born 3 Jan 1865, Philipsburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was christened 26 Aug 1870, Church Of New Jerusalem, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown; was buried , Buffalo Cemetery, Cheektowaga, Erie, New York, USA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-52359
• Occupation: 1901, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Clerk
• Occupation: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Traveller, White Wear
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]
• Occupation: 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; License Inspector, Government
• Residence: 1921, 296 Frederick St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

Notes:

When bootleggers reigned, bullets flew over Waterloo

By Greg MercerRecord Reporter
Fri., Dec. 19, 2014

WATERLOO - It was late afternoon on Erb Street in the heart of Waterloo when bullets ripped across the roadway, chasing a truckload of whisky. Crowds scattered in the dust. It's July 18, 1921.

A year and a half into Prohibition, America was dying for a drink. All across Ontario, where the unpopular Temperance Act meant making booze was legal but selling it was tightly restricted, armed liquor inspectors roamed towns looking for citizens flouting the ban on alcohol.

WATERLOO \emdash It was late afternoon on Erb Street in the heart of Waterloo when bullets ripped across the roadway, chasing a truckload of whisky. Crowds scattered in the dust. It's July 18, 1921.

A year and a half into Prohibition, America was dying for a drink. All across Ontario, where the unpopular Temperance Act meant making booze was legal but selling it was tightly restricted, armed liquor inspectors roamed towns looking for citizens flouting the ban on alcohol.

It was a strange time in the region's history, when gangsters were said to roam the streets, gunplay occasionally echoed, and people engaged in cat-and-mouse games with authorities to skirt the rules.

In Waterloo, a distillery and brewery town, people grumbled about the provincial laws. Booze-making brought jobs, and voters here had more lenient attitudes to alcohol than some of their counterparts in other parts of the province.

Others saw an opportunity. While in Ontario it was still legal to produce booze for export or for medical purposes, just across the border in the United States, Prohibition demanded an all-out ban.

There was, if you were entrepreneurial enough, money to be made.

Zinkann and his men complained that illegal shipments were being snuck out of the Seagram's plant on a daily basis. For bootleggers, it had become a game. Trucks loaded with empty cases as decoys were used to draw away the inspectors, and smugglers bought customized cars that could outpace the police.

At the time, Waterloo was still a small town, with just two police officers to patrol the entire community. But booze was big business \emdash J. E. Seagram and Son's distillery and Kuntz Brewery, just down the road on King Street, were big employers and among the largest producers in North America.

Local bar owners were dragged before the courts, accused of selling beer above the allowed two per cent alcohol. Authorities tried to revoke the brewing licence of Lion Brewing \emdash Waterloo's first brewery, which still operates today \emdash because it was accused of making suds that were too strong.

Large stashes of contraband booze, much of it straight from the Seagram's distillery, were seized from barns and homes around the region. Just a few weeks after he shot up Erb Street in broad daylight, Zinkann raided a house on Homewood Avenue in Kitchener and nabbed 53 cases of local whisky and 45 ten-gallon kegs of rye.

The booze was destined to an address in St. Clair Beach, a short boat ride across the river from Detroit, according to Waterloo's Chronicle-Telegraph newspaper.

Zinkann and his men were not warmly welcomed wherever they went. At a home on Guelph Street where a barrel of mash, used to make whisky, was found, he had his glasses broken by an axe-wielding housewife and bricks tossed his way.


Occasionally, the "game" got even more dangerous.

On April 24, 1919, a gunfight erupted between police and four men who tried to off-load $10,000 worth of liquor from a railcar sent from Montreal.

Two officers sprang a trap on the men as they crept into the Grand Trunk rail yard just before midnight. Shots were exchanged and three of the four escaped. One man, a Bulgarian named Nichol Evanoff, was thrown in jail on $200 bail.

One the oldest hotels in Waterloo, the Huether, had a cold cellar in the basement that bootleggers reportedly used to store beer. An underground tunnel, filled in by city workers in the 1960s, led across the street to the Waterloo Garage at the corner of King and Princess streets.

The busy auto shop was rumoured to be a hub for some armed, well-dressed men who worked unusual hours. Allan Buehler, a local Mennonite man, wrote in his memoirs that he was a night watchman at the garage and said it was crawling with gangsters.

Buehler claimed "a branch of the Al Capone gang" set up shop in the garage's basement, and would make nightly shipments of liquor from the Seagram's distillery on Erb Street to a hidden warehouse somewhere north of Elmira.

"These were no petty bootleggers, but professional gangsters, and they all carried revolvers," he wrote. "It was my job to open the doors and let them in. Many times I saw bullet holes in the back and sides of the truck where the police had tried to stop them."

Others backed up his story. Decades later, a pub owner renovating the former garage found bullet holes in vintage car parts buried underneath his patio. Kelly Adlys, owner of the Huether Hotel, says there were also the scars from bullets found in the hidden tunnel door that led to his business.

"We were dealing with some pretty big mobsters, right here in small-town Waterloo," said Karen Vandenbrink, manager of heritage services at the City of Waterloo.

Seagram's worked to distance itself from these unsavoury connections to prohibition and organized crime. Oddly, the company declared no profits between 1920 and 1927, and yet shareholders were reaping mysterious dividends.

A rum runner's game

To find out how Seagram's whisky and Kuntz beer ended up in the throats of thirsty Americans during Prohibition, you can start by looking at an outfit called the Erie Transit Company.

The shell company owned a warehouse on the shoreline in Windsor, and used a system of fraudulent export papers, extensive bribery of customs officials and switching railroad cars to smuggle millions of dollars worth of liquor into the U.S.

The operation was run by Harry Low, at the time one of Windsor's most notorious booze barons. He started as a low-grade bootlegger, canoeing boxes of liquor across the Detroit River to Michigan, but soon developed an empire that made him immensely wealthy and a close associate with American gangsters.

The economics of Low's smuggling business were simple. The same bottle of Seagram's whisky that would fetch $2.50 in Windsor was worth $10 just across the water in Michigan. A case of Seagram's whisky that cost $35 in Waterloo, including $14 in excise tax, would fetch about $150 in New York City.

Waterloo had the booze. America had the customers. Plenty of middlemen helped connect the two, but perhaps none more than Hamilton's Rocco Perri Susino, the leader of a small Calabrian mob who worked under the guise of a macaroni salesman.

Authors James Dubro and Robin Rowland, writing in their 1988 book "King of the Mob," say Waterloo Region was the apex of a "bootleg triangle" that stretched from Hamilton to Toronto which Perri and other gangsters used to run a sophisticated smuggling outfit.

Perri's gang had a huge \emdash and extremely profitable \emdash operation buying alcohol from Waterloo's Kuntz Brewery and Seagram's, creating fake export papers showing the liquor was being shipped to far-flung places like Cuba. Since it was perfectly legal to export alcohol to countries where there wasn't prohibition, Canadian officials looked the other way.

Of course, Waterloo's whisky and beer was not headed for Cuba. Instead, Perri and his cohorts used rail lines to ship liquor to the U.S., often disguised as shipments of sugar, turnips, hay, paper or leather.

Whole boxcar loads of beer were being sold right out the backdoor of the brewery, to anyone paying with cash, and no sales records were kept on the company books.

Richard Joyce, an American consul in Hamilton, was suspicious of all these shipments. He and a U.S. special agent staked out the Waterloo rail yard where barrels of beer from the nearby Kuntz Brewery were being loaded onto trains.

The beer was shipped to London, Ont., where it was given documents that claimed the boxcar contained scrap leather from the Kitchener Rag & Metal Company, bound for a company called American Tanners in Pittsburg.

American Tanners didn't exist. Instead, when police raided the boxcar in the Pittsburg rail yard, inside they found 278 barrels each containing 30 bottles of beer, all made in Waterloo.

A federal audit that followed found that a full quarter of the beer being produced by Kuntz Brewery during Prohibition had gone missing. Paid for in cash by men who showed up at the brewery, the beer simply vanished \emdash snuck away by rail and straight into the bellies of Americans across the border.

"It was unaccounted for. Basically, they loaded it onto boxcars, it was added to a train, and it would disappear," Rowland said. "They were laundering in boxcars."

Government investigators from a royal commission found that the Waterloo brewery was the largest exporter of beer into the U.S. during Prohibition, shipping an average of 630 cases a day. Many uncomfortable questions were asked about phone records showing Herb Kuntz, the brewery's owner, talked regularly with Perri.

"Based on evidence at the royal commission, (Perri) was probably on personal terms with Seagram's until it was sold, and the Kuntz brewery people," Rowland said.

In 1927, Perri was convicted of perjury, and was given six months at the provincial jail in Guelph. His testimony helped the government pursue $79,900 in back taxes from Seagram's and $124,000 from Kuntz Brewery.

Ottawa later sued the brewery for unpaid excise taxes, then the Depression hit, which ultimately meant the beginning of the end for Kuntz. The brewery was sold in 1929, and eventually demolished in 1993. One of the original buildings from the King Street site is now part of the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home.

A westward funnel


For years, both Seagram's and Kuntz enjoyed their slice of the booming bootleg industry. As Americans clamoured for a drink, neither were about to let their competitors make all the money.

"Every brewery and distillery in Ontario was involved in some way or another," said Marty Gervais, a Windsor-based journalist and author of "Rumrunners, a Prohibition Scrapbook."

Often it was French-Canadians in small towns around Chatham, Ont., who received the liquor at rural drop-off spots and trucked it to the riverfront near Windsor, Gervais said.

Windsor was a well-lubricated pipeline for bootlegging. In the first seven months of 1920, at the start of Prohibition, Canadian customs officials recorded about 900,000 cases of liquor shipped into the city for supposed "private consumption."

A young farmhand during Prohibition told Gervais that Seagram's whisky used to arrive at his father's farmhouse at Amherstburg, Ont., in the trunks of Reo Speed Wagons and "Whiskey Six" Studebakers. The men who brought it carried guns, and would load the booze into boats in nearby canals to be spirited across the river.

On the other side of the border, Detroit and its gang-controlled speakeasies and blind pigs had an unending appetite for Canadian-made alcohol. Seagram's, like most other distilleries, didn't ask too many questions about where their whisky was ending up.

"Four-fifths of all the liquor that went into the United States came through here. Seagram's was doing business here. They were doing business with Al Capone," Gervais said. "They weren't doing anything illegal, but the people taking the liquor were doing something illegal with it."

Americans had no trouble finding alcohol brought by legions of bootleggers who exploited loopholes that allowed Ontario's hooch to sneak across the border. Under the law, it was legal to export liquor from Canada to any country that didn't have prohibition \emdash so rum runners simply made up fake destinations.

"It was very easy to get Canadian liquor. If it was summer, you'd take your rowboat over to Windsor, buy your beer, and tell customs you were taking it to Cuba," said Mickey Lyons, a Detroit historian and tour manager for the Detroit Bus Company, which runs a popular series of Prohibition tours.

"It was almost a game because there was no enforcement."

At its peak, Detroit was estimated to have as many as 15,000 speakeasies, or underground bars, where you could easily get a highball cocktail made with Seagram's or a cold Kuntz beer.

As a steady stream of beer and whisky flowed out of Waterloo, occasionally the police would catch a bootlegger and the story would be splashed across the front page.

"Hot chase thru streets of city ends in arrest of two swift beer runners," barked the headline in The Record on May 7, 1927, after police had a high-speed chase with two Hamilton men that wound through Victoria Park and down Courtland Avenue.

Needing a drink

Ontario's Temperance Act, which banned the sale of alcohol in bars and restaurants within the province, was far from an all-out ban on booze.

People in Waterloo Region could easily order alcohol for "home use" or a get a doctor's prescription for it, according to Vandenbrink.

"There were so many loopholes with temperance that it made it quite easy for the distilleries to operate," she said. "The factories worked within the parameters of the law."

Both Seagram's and Kuntz used mail-order services based in Quebec to get around the temperance bans. Customers sent off their money to an address in Montreal, and had Waterloo-made beer and whisky delivered right to their door.

If you were lucky enough, you could even get an export licence, and pick up cases of whisky right at Seagram's distillery. What happened to it after that was your business.

By 1927, many people in Waterloo Region were celebrating the end of restrictions on alcohol in Ontario, Vandenbrink said. Kitchener soon had its first LCBO, and residents could once again legally buy booze and carry it in public.

But the smuggling of alcohol into the U.S. continued to be a lucrative, and increasingly dangerous, business until American Prohibition was repealed in 1933. Seagram's and Kuntz were no different than many other Canadian liquor companies who supplied the massive, underground operations.

Seagram's made an effort to publicly distance itself from illegal trafficking, but were at a loss to explain revenues that weren't recorded in their books. In 1927, a federal audit found the Waterloo distiller had avoided $156,600 in taxes and duties.

In 1928, the company "wanted to get out of what was becoming an unsavoury business," according to a history of temperance in Waterloo Region written by James Doyle. It sold to Samuel Bronfman, making Seagram's part of the largest liquor company in the world.

Bronfman took the smuggling business to new heights. By 1930, the company was using the island of St. Pierre as its distribution centre for American bootleggers, an arrangement that stockpiled millions in offshore accounts.

Thanks to an elaborate smuggling system, complete with shell companies, forged customs papers, bribed officials and extensive money laundering that hid enormous profits, whiskies made in Waterloo were becoming some of the most popular brands in dry U.S.

When Prohibition ended, the Bronfmans were investigated, arrested and eventually tried in court. But the judge threw the case out because key shipping records had gone missing. The company managed to walk the thin line between both sides of the law.

But for Seagram's and Kuntz Brewery, the party was already long over, anyway.



When bootleggers reigned, bullets flew over Waterloo. (2014). Retrieved 22 August 2020, from https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2014/12/19/when-bootleggers-reigned-bullets-flew-over-waterloo.html

______________

J. N. Zinkann.

As you enter the village from almost any direction on either of the four public highways that concentrate here, the large new brick mercantile establishment and residence combined, owned by the above named gentleman, looms up conspicuously. The structure is two stories in height with a frontage of 60 feet and a depth of 73 feet. The mercantile. department was erected about eight years ago, and the residence addition about one year ago. The former is a commodious affair, and probably contains as much floor space any other village mercantile establishment in the Province. Mr. Zinkann commenced business here fifteen years ago. He is a man who can not be credited with having spent any of his time in idleness since his boyhood days. He was born at Hamburg in 1839 Until he was able to take care of himself he spent his life upon the farm. His ambition seems to have drifted toward dairying, and he is to day about as extensively engaged in that industry as any other one man in the dairy districts. Prior to coming here he was engaged in cheesemaking and farming at Lisbon, and now owns a fine farm of 154 acres near that village which is under the management of his son, Charles S. He also is the owner of a farm of 100 acres, a short distance south of Crosshill, managed by Mr. William Beilstein. Mr. Zinkann is also Secretary and Treasurer of the Crosshill Creamery Co. The greater portion of his time is now taken up in buying up for export the output of the various creameries throughout Waterloo, Wellington, Huron, Grey and Bruce. During the course of a year his purchases of butter are very extensive. His family has all grown up, and he is now ably assisted in his vast business interests by several of his sons. His father was for many years a prominent and well known carpenter of Hamburg. The mercantile business is under the management of Mr. Eph. Zinkann, his son. The latter was born at Lisbon in 1866, and through a thorough training derived from the ripe experience of his father, he has achieved good success as a business man. To take a glance at the great array of staple goods in the general; merchandise line, the neatness with which they are arranged, and the fresh, clean appearance of the large sales- room will convince one of that fact. The stock comprises dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, hats and caps, hardware, glassware, queensware, crockery, etc; in fact, anything required in a modern general mercantile establishment can be found here, and as cheap as it can be found anywhere. They both wholesale and retail. Io connection there is a well equipped dressmaking emporium, where the ladies of the surrounding community can be accommodated with the latest patterns in fabrics and neat fitting wearing apparel. The dry goods department also contains a very large stock of tweeds, worsted goods, gents' furnishings, etc. It is not an exaggeration to say, considering the large and endless variety of his stock, that Mr. Zinkann is the Wannamaker of this section.

Waterloo County Chronicle, 14 Jul 1898, p. 8

Ephraim married Emily Kane 29 Jun 1911, Kingston, Frontenac Co., Ontario, Canada. Emily was born 1874, , Ontario, Canada; died 1969, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-52360
• Occupation: 1901, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Clerk

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-52361

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-188235
• Occupation: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Clerk, Shoe Store
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-188236
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-52362

Notes:

Helena Zinkann - Helena Zinkann died Tuesday in the Pinehaven Nursing Home, Waterloo, following a brief illness. She was 94. Miss Zinkann was born in Lisbon, Ont., and had resided in the Twin cities for more than 60 years. She was a member of the Church of the Good Shepherd. Miss Zinkann, a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Zinkann, was the last surviving member of her family. She was predeceased by four brothers and four sisters. A graveside service will be held at Mount Hope Cemetery, Thursday at 11 am, Rev. Paul Zacharias of the Church of the Good Shepherd will officiate.

Unidentified Newspaper Obituary

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-188239
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-50554
• Occupation: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Merchant, Store
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

Milton — Annie Elizabeth Pieper. Annie (daughter of William Pieper and Elizabeth Fink) was born May 1883, , Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Elizabetha Schmidt
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-367934

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-79695
• Residence: 1891, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1911, Philipsburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Domestic, at Home
• Residence: 1911, Philipsburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-367941

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-367937

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-367936

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• Name: Lizzie Schmidt
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-79696
• Residence: 1891, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1911, Philipsburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Domestic, at Home
• Residence: 1911, Philipsburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-285452
• Residence: 1891, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-220218
• Residence: 1871, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-124610

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• Name: Theodore Schmidt
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-124611

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• Name: Elisabeth Henrietta "Lizzie" Wiederhold
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-32790

Elisabeth married Henry R. Wiederhold 7 Dec 1898, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Henry (son of Jacob Wiederhold and Caroline Ratz) was born 1872, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada; died 17 Jun 1945, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; was buried , Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. [Group Sheet]

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• Name: Henry Nicholaus Schmidt
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-78201
• Occupation: 1908, Woodbridge, York Co., Ontario, Canada; merchant

Notes:

Henry married Edna Earles Hallett (b. 1883) in Woodbridge and had two daughters \endash Vera Gladys and Katherine Isabella. He is buried in Christ Church (Anglican) in Woodbridge. Isabella married a Welsh fellow named Jack Powlesland \endash they had 4 kids \endash Joan, James, Anne & Bill. Vera married a pharmacist (who started the Conservation authority in Woodbridge after Hurricane Hazel) named P. Grant Henderson \endash they had one daughter \endash Susan. Joan married Roger Reid-Bicknell and they had 4 girls \endash Kathy, Susan, Jennifer and Sarah.


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Henry married Edna Earls Hallett 2 Sep 1908, Woodbridge, York Co., Ontario, Canada. Edna was born 1882, of, Woodbridge, York Co., Ontario; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-149537
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1891, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-406237
• Occupation: 1901, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Stationer
• Occupation: 1911, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Salesman - Book store
• Residence: 1911, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Notes:

Fred Peine Dies From Pneumonia - ILL ONLY A FEW DAYS - It was with deep regret that the news spread about town on Wednesday afternoon that Mr. Fred L. Peine, well known stationer and insurance man, passed away at his home on Jacob street. It had been known that he was seriously ill with pneumonia, but the best was hoped for. He took to his bed last Saturday and besides the local doctor, Dr. Glaister, of Wellesley, was called in consolation. A specialist from Toronto arrived on Wednesday morning, but nothing could be done and death claimed him shortly before one o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. The late Mr. Peine was born in New Hamburg on February 19th, 1878, and was a lifelong resident of this town. He was a son of the late Louis Peine and Mrs. Peine. After his public school education he attended the Galt Collegiate Institute and then entered his father's business here as stationer, insurance, C. P. R. telegrapher and ticket agent. This business he continued with his brother, Ted, after their father's death, five years ago. He was a faithful member of Trinity Lutheran Church and was superintendent of the Sunday School for the past five years. He was also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and in politics a staunch Conservative. The deceased was married in 1902 to Miss Marian Schaaf, daughter of the late Wm. Schaaf and Mrs. Schaaf. He leaves his sorrowing widow, his mother, one brother, Theodore, and two sisters, Misses Charlotte and Henrietta, all of this town, to mourn his sudden demise. The funeral will take place from his late home at 1.30 o'clock on Saturday, December 20th, to Trinity Lutheran Church for se-vice, followed by interment in Riverside Cemetery. The bereaved ones have the sympathy of the whole community in their sad loss.

New Hamburg Independent - Dec 19, 1930, pg 5

Fredrick married Marion "Mary Ann" Schaaf 29 Apr 1903, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Marion (daughter of William Schaaf and Louisa Gartung) was born 28 May 1879, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 26 Jun 1969, Winston Hall, Bridgeport (Kitchener), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-84919P
• Residence: 1891, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1911, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-150499

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-84922P
• Residence: 1891, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1901, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Student

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• Name: Henrietta Louisa Zilliax
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-238750P
• Residence: 1911, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Henrietta married Charles William Zilliax 28 Jun 1937, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Charles (son of Henry Zilliax and Christina Lein) was born 23 Aug 1893, Elmira, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 12 Jan 1959, Hanover, Bentinck Twp., Grey Co., Ontario, Canada; was buried , Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-149551
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

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• Name: Elmore Roy Zinkann
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-38776

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-38777

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• Name: Elisa Maria Zinkann
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-38778

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• Name: Doris Emily Durrant
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-323301
• Residence: 1921, 296 Frederick St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

Doris — George Bertram "Bert" Durrant. George (son of John Ade Durrant and Agnes Adamson Callaway) was born 9 Aug 1912, Winterbourne, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 1995, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-215241

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-188227
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-188228
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-201346
• Adopted: Bef 1911, , Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1911, Philipsburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran