The mystery of Hermann Jaeger, the savior of French wines!

 

     

 

 

 

       Wine has an ancient history, dating back some six to eight thousand years before Christ. By the time that Jesus walked the earth as a man, wine had become a well-known drink.  Wine as we know it traveled from Italy to France Today, French wines are considered among the world’s finest but had it not been for a man from Neosho, the French wine industry may have died on the vine more than a century ago.

 

            Hermann Jaeger was a Swiss immigrant who moved to the United States following the Civil War. He and his brother, John, came to Newton County to plant vineyards, side by side about 4 miles east of Neosho along what is now Highway 86. Their first efforts were planted in 1866 and the brothers soon combined the farms.  In between raising families, they worked at developing new grape varieties, which was Hermann’s area.  He took tough Missouri wild grapes and grafted them with both Concord and Virginia grapes.

            In his development and experimentation, Jaeger worked with notable scientists of the date including Missouri entomologist George Hubbard.  At the World Fair held in Vienna, Austria in 1851, Missouri wines took top honors, winning 8 of 12 medals.  French vineyards, which had suffered a few setbacks in recent years, bought rootstock but instead of prospering, the new rootstock brought a parasite called phylloxera that systematically all but destroyed the French vineyards.

            Jaeger sent large quantities of his hybrid rootstock that combined traditional grapes with the hardier wild Missouri varieties and in doing so, he saved the French wine industry. With gratitude, France made Jaeger Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, the highest award the nation could provide. He became a hero, at least in the wine industry. That was in 1893.

            His fame, however, was short-lived. Jaeger suffered some financial problems and on top of that, a local law was passed that prohibited the sale of alcohol in Newton County, a definite damper for a vineyard owner and wine maker.

            The Jaeger family moved to the Joplin area to start a new vineyard.  Other legal issues arose and on May 16, 1895, a Thursday morning, Jaeger headed for Neosho driving a wagon and team to appear in court. He didn’t return and a few days later, his wife received a letter postmarked Kansas City that was printed in the Newton County News, translated from the German in which it was written. It read:

            "My Dear, Good Elise: When you read these lines, I won’t be no more alive. The more I think over everything, the more my mind get troubled. It is better I make an end to it, before I get crazy. Since for a length of time I am not able to attend to business. I as a food but I meant it good. Do not hunt for me. I hope to end some place where nobody can’t find me. Dear Elise, you deserve better luck. I hope you will have it yet. Kiss the children. Your unlucky Hermann"

                His family never heard from him again and it was believed that, in despair, he had committed suicide. Other stories suggest he may have vanished to start over again somewhere else, under another name but no one knows for sure.

            One of the historical markers in Big Spring Park tells his story and Jaeger is still remembered for his role in saving the French wine industry.

 

 

            Hermann Jaeger remains a local unsolved mystery, one unlikely to ever be explained. Sometimes his name is Americanized to Herman Yeager but it’s the same man, unlucky Hermann, who was awarded France’s highest honor for ensuring that French wines would continue forever.