Adolphus Busch I

Philanthropy From his early years, Busch contributed generously to charitable and education needs. With a lifelong interest in his homeland, he assisted in repairing devastation from the 1882 flooding of Mainz-Kastel by the Rhine River. He donated $100,000 (equivalent to $ million today) to San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake - $50,000 personally and $50,000 from his company.

Busch contributed a total of $350,000 (equivalent to $ million today) to Harvard to endow a Germanic museum, named Adolphus Busch Hall. in St. Louis, Missouri.

Nellie Busch (1863 - 1934) Edward Busch (1864 - 1879) August Anheuser Busch Sr. (1865 - 1934) Adolphus Busch, Jr. (1868 - 1898) Alexis Busch (1869 - 1869) Edmee Busch (1871 - 1955) Emilee Busch (1870 - 1870) Peter Busch (1872 - 1905) Martha Busch (1873 - 1873) Anna "Tolie" Louise Busch (1875 - 1936) Clara Busch (1876 -1959) Carl Busch (1882 - 1915) Wilhelmina "Minnie" Busch (1884 -1952), she commissioned Schloss Höhenried

The Busches often traveled to Germany where they built their mansion. They named it the Villa Lilly for Mrs. Busch. It is located in Lindschied near Langenschwalbach, in present-day Bad Schwalbach. He was survived by his widow, five daughters and two sons, August A. and Carl Busch, both of St. Louis. His body was brought back to the United States in 1915 by ship, and transported by train to St. Louis.

Almost thirty thousand people paid their respects to Adolphus Busch when his body lay in state in the family mansion in St. Louis. Notable guests included the U.S. secretary of agriculture, the president of Harvard University, and the president of the University of California. The procession consisted of twenty-five trucks that were needed to transport all the flower arrangements to the cemetery as well as a 250 piece band that led the funeral procession. The procession spanned twenty miles, from No. 1 Busch Place to Bellefontaine Cemetery, Adolphus' final resting place. As many as 100,000 mourners lined the streets for the procession. Five minutes of silence were observed at the request of Mayor Henry W. Kiel and the lights were turned off at the Jefferson and Planter's House hotels. Streetcars were also halted.

Lilly Anheuser's parents had built a mausoleum at Bellefontaine Cemetery, but she felt that Adolphus needed something grander. She tore down the original structure, and had the other family members reinterred outside. She had Thomas Barnett design a new mausoleum in the Bavarian Gothic style. Constructed of stone quarried in Missouri, and completed in 1921, the new building cost $250,000 (equivalent to $ million today). It features grapevines representing both Adolphus' birthplace in German wine country, and his favorite beverage. Julius Caesar's words, "Veni, Vidi, Vici," or "I came, I saw, I conquered" are inscribed on the lintel.

Lilly died of a heart attack and pneumonia on 17 February 1928, in Pasadena, California. Her body was brought back to St. Louis, and was buried beside her husband.