Remembering the H.P. Deuscher Co.

By Sam Moore
Published on May 7, 2015
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Captain Henry P. Deuscher.
Captain Henry P. Deuscher.
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Deuscher employees, 1915.
Deuscher employees, 1915.
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A circa 1930 photo of a school room outfitted with “fashion” desks.
A circa 1930 photo of a school room outfitted with “fashion” desks.
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The H.P. Deuscher Co. factory.
The H.P. Deuscher Co. factory.
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A Deuscher ad from the Sept. 23, 1897, issue of Farm Implement News.
A Deuscher ad from the Sept. 23, 1897, issue of Farm Implement News.
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Image from an H.P. Deuscher trade card dating to about 1890.
Image from an H.P. Deuscher trade card dating to about 1890.

From my “Forgotten Farm Machinery Manufacturers” file is the H.P. Deuscher Co., Hamilton, Ohio. Henry P. Deuscher was born May 24, 1829, in Wettingen, Baden, Germany, and came to southwestern Ohio when he was 7.

He grew up on a farm, worked for a while as a butcher in Trenton, Ohio, and in 1857 bought a 481-acre farm. During the Civil War, Deuscher served as captain of Company G, 83rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and saw service in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

After the war he returned to farming, built a Victorian Italianate brick home (which is still standing) and was involved with a couple of stores in Trenton. From 1882 to 1889, Deuscher owned Eagle Brewery in Hamilton and had interests in other breweries as well. In about 1874, he and partner Israel Williams took over an empty brewery in Hamilton, Ohio, remodeled the place and equipped it for malting grain, with a capacity of 50,000 bushels.

Malted grain is used in breweries and distilleries and in certain foods. The malting process consists of several steps. The grain is first soaked in water until it begins to sprout. Then it must be dried and roasted. In a pneumatic malt house such as Deuscher’s, that was accomplished by large fans that first dried the sprouted grain and then blew hot air through it to roast the kernels to the required color.

Beating the odds

It seems that whatever experience Henry Deuscher had with farm machinery he gained on his own farm. However, he was a businessman, and Variety Iron Works, a 5-acre foundry in Hamilton, was available. So in 1879, “the Captain” (or “Cap,” as he was called after the war) consulted his banker about buying the foundry as a base for manufacture of farm machinery.

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