History of Detroit, a chronicle of its progress, its industries, its institutions, and the people of the fair City of the straits, / by Paul Leake ... [Vol. 3]

1056 HISTORY OF DETROIT
August Friedrich Diederich was born in the town of Wiedenbriick,
on the river Ems, in the province of Westphalen, Prussia, and the year
of his nativity was 1819. He was a scion of one of the old and influential families of that section of the great empire of Germany, and
his father, Philip Anton Diederich, served for a number of years in
an important government office at Gottingen, in the kingdom of Hanover.
He was a man of prominence and wielded much influence in connection
with civic affairs, the while he exemplified the highest integrity and commanded unequivocal esteem, both he and his wife, who was Baroness
Wilhelmine von und zu Gilsa, continuing to reside in their native land
until their death.
In the excellent schools of his fatherland August F. Diederich, to
whom this memoir is dedicated, received a liberal education, and it was
the wish of his parents that he should enter the Prussian army and make
his career one of military order. His tastes and ambitions, however,
did not lie in this direction, though he received military training, and in
1846, when about twenty-seven years of age, he severed the home ties
and set forth to seek his fortune in America, as he had become convinced
that in this country were to be secured for better opportunities for the
winning of advancement through personal endeavor. He first established his residence in New York City, and there he engaged in the cigar
and tobacco business, in which he built up a prosperous enterprise.
He successfully continued this business for a period of six years, at
the expiration of which, through the destruction of his establishment by
fire, he lost virtually all he had accumulated. Under these conditions
he decided to seek a new field of endeavor in the west, and as very
many of his countrymen had settled in Wisconsin he started forth with
the intention of locating in the city of Milwaukee, that state. En route
he passed through Detroit, where he tarried for a short time and where
he became greatly impressed with the attractions and advantages of
the city, but he continued his journey to Milwaukee. Soon afterward,
however, he decided that he greatly preferred to establish his home
in Detroit, to which city he returned in 1852. Here he finally engaged
in the wholesale liquor trade in company with his brother Wilhelm,
and they established their business on Woodward avenue. Later his
brother removed to the west and was succeeded by Edward Melchers,
a relative of the subject of this review, the two having been associated
in a prosperous business for a number of years. Finally Mr. Melchers
sold his interest in the enterprise to Leo Breisacher, and the partnership thus formed proved of the most grateful order, as the two interested principals were brothers-in-law as well as business associates. The
firm of Diederich & Breisacher became one of the foremost in its line of
business in the city and controlled a large and successful trade
under the above title until the death of the junior partner in 1887.
The loss of Mr. Breisacher was a severe blow to Mr. Diederich and
rendered disconsolate he soon retired from active business. He had
previously suffered the maximum bereavement of his life, in that his
cherished and devoted wife had been summoned to eternal rest in 1879,
her death having occurred in Germany, where she had accompanied her
daughters Emmy and Adele to visit her daughter Minnie, who was
at the time attending the leading conservatory of music in the city of
Leipzig. After the death of his wife, Mr. Diederich, though unobtrusive in his sorrow, depended more and more for consolation and companionship upon his friend and business associate, Mr. Breisacher, so it may
well be understood that lie was grievously bereft when the latter, too,
passed away, though in his venerable age he bore himself with fortitude
and resignation, the while he retained to a marked degree his physical