H. BRUNHAUS

H. Brunhaus.  The appetising samples of culinary excellence served 
to the hundreds of patrons of the Caucasian Lunch Counter have gained 
for Mr. Brunhaus, the genial proprietor thereof, an enviable 
reputation among the lovers of good edibles in Wheeling.  Many 
admirable general traits and accomplishments place this caterer to 
healthful and diversified tastes among the progressive and reliable 
factors in the growth and welfare of the city.

A native of Westphalia, Germany, Mr. Brunhaus remained among the home 
surroundings until his fifteenth year, and his landing in New York, 
in 1866, was in answer to a conviction that the new world contained 
greater and more promising opportunities.  Upon journeying to St. 
Louis, Missouri, he was rewarded by various chances to promote his 
ambition, and for twelve years he found the Missouri city a 
profitable and pleasant home.  For the following two years he 
traveled around in search of an even more desirable residence and 
found himself in Philadelphia the year before the great Centennial 
Exposition.  With a keen year to business, he argued that there would 
come craving appetites with the enthusiastic sight seers, and that a 
little place of business along that line would not be amiss.  His 
success was on a par with that of the average venturer at such times, 
who is prone to overestimate the receipts from a tourists when taken 
in connection with the inevitable competition in feeding them.  With 
the turning out of the lights, the passing of the spectators and the 
downfall of the exhibits, the Quaker city was overcome with 
depression and in the sulks, and after making a critical survey of 
the situation Mr. Brunhaus betook himself to Pittsburg.  For two 
years he filled the position of superintendent of the culinary 
department of the Monongahela House, and afterward served as steward 
of the McLure House in Wheeling, under the management of E. S. 
Norton, for ten months.  For the following fifteen years he ran a 
lunch counter in the Second Ward Market House, and met with a 
gratifying degree of success.

Having disposed of his interests in Wheeling, Mr. Brunhaus removed, 
in 1896, to Washington, D. C., and conducted a lunch counter there 
for a couple of years.  While in the capital he experience a somewhat 
troublesome time, owing to his stand in regard to the race question,-
-his argument being that colored people should have separate 
entertainment.  Having won a suit involving this question, he pulled 
up stakes and come to Wheeling, where he established a lunch counter 
in a bowling alley on Market street.  At the end of a year he changed 
his location to his present place on Eleventh street, and is now 
feeding more people than any other eating house in the city.  To him 
is credited the invention of the Brunhaus coffee urn, the utility of 
which is tested by all patrons of the place, and they agree that no 
better cup of coffee could be found in the entire country, for the 
urn is so constructed as to insure a retention of the aroma.

In March, 1878, Mr. Brunhaus married Louisa R. Beissel, a native of 
Pittsburg, and a daughter of Christ Beissel, who, with his wife, is 
long since deceased.  Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Brunhaus, namely:  William H., who is connected with the mercantile 
agency of R. G. Dun & Company, at Wheeling; Walter, who is assisting 
his father in the restaurant business; Clara, who is also in business 
with her father; Ettie, who is attending the high school and will 
graduate in 1903; Henry; and Ulrich.  Mrs.  Brunhaus is a member of 
the German Methodist Episcopal church.  Mr. Brunhaus is a Mason, and 
has taken the degrees pertaining to the Commandery and Shrine.  He 
has experienced many ups and downs during his active career, but has 
gained the reward due to honesty of purpose and a determination to 
succeed.

From "History of Wheeling City and Ohio County, West Virginia and 
Representative Citizens," by Hon. Gibson Lamb Cranmer, 1902.

(Janice Davis)