Louis A. Wehle

This is the first autobiography that I scanned. It is This Was My Life (1960) by Louis A. Wehle. He brought Genesee Brewing Company back after prohibition to make it a major brewery in the US.  He was the brewmaster for Genesee Brewing before prohibition. During prohibition he was in the bakery business. Then he heard that prohibition might be ending and bought the brewery and modernized it.

Mr. Wehle was the chairman of the campaign for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (AKA Polio) from 1942 to 1954. He was also interested in fishing and hunting and became the New York Conservation Commissioner in 1955. He published New York fishing guides for many years. You can find those on eBay by searching for “Wehle fishing guide.” Those fishing guides were given out for free by Genesee Beer distributors.

The first 181 pages of the book are text. He mentions lots people that managed the departments at the brewery (even the company nurse). He also had contacts with many politicians. The second half of the book is pictures, newspaper articles, and even invitations to the White House. The pictures aren’t the best. That is because I scanned the pages from Xerox copies.

This book was privately published and probably very copies were printed. I looked on WorldCat and there are two copies of this book in libraries. One is in the Chili Public Library in a locked cabinet. The other one is in the Rare Books Department of the Rush Rhees Library of the University of Rochester. Both of those library catalogs say the book was published in 1959. I found two references where Mr. Wehle mentions things happening in 1960.

Louis A. Wehle died in Nov. 1964 at aged 75. He is buried in the Mumford Cemetery. The brewery business remained part of the Wehle family until the year 2000.