John P. Grasser
John P. Grasser, a prominent business citizen of Delaware, senior member of the cigar manufacturing firm of Grasser & Haas, was born in Bavaria, Germany, July 10, 1858. and is a son of Michael and Eva ( Bayerlein) Grasser.
The father of Mr. Grasser was also a native of Bavaria, where he was a man of considerable importance, being a general farmer and owning 100 acres of land, a very large amount in that country of small farms. He never came to America, but survived in his own land into advanced age, dying December 14, 1903, when 83 years old. He married Eva Bayerlein, who died in 1893, aged 75 years. Their family consisted of six sons and two daughters, two of the former coming to America, John P, and John George.
John P. Grasser was reared in the town of Neudorf and was educated in the parochial school, his parents being of the Catholic faith. He assisted his father on the home farm until 1882, when he crossed the Atlantic and joined his brother, who had settled at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1872. After a visit of two months there, Mr. Grasser came to Ohio, reaching Delaware November 27, 1882. He continued to be active in various lines of industry at Delaware until 1886, when he hecame a stockholder in the Delaware Co-operative Cigar Company and went to work for this concern. In 1893 he formed a partnership with August Dauernheim under the firm name of Dauernheim & Grasser and they purchased the business of the Delaware Co-operative Company and continued together until 1897, when Mr. Grasser bought out his partner's interest. He continued to carry on the business alone until 1898, when he admitted W. E. Haas to partnership and the firm style became Grasser & Haas. Employment is given to about nine people and 400,000 cigars are annually turned out. The leading brands are the Henry Gray, the Ripper and Tom Watts, the last being a ten cent cigar.
In 1903. Mr. Grasser re-visited his native land and while there made some investigations into his ancestry. He found it easy to trace back to Hans Grasser, a senator in Nurnberg in 1452. The family own a coat of arms which displays the symbols of eagle, sickle and crown, each of which have a distinctive significance.
In politics, Mr. Grasser is a Democrat. He is a member of the Catholic Church and of many of its strong organizations, including the Catholic Society, of which he has been secretary and treasurer at various times; of the Knights of Columbus; of the Catholic Knights of Ohio, of which he is treasurer. He is treasurer also of the Federation of Catholic Societies. He is a member of the fraternal order of Eagles. He is a public-spirited, progressive man, one who has prospered through his own efforts. He has literary tastes and takes pride in his private collection of well-assorted literary works.
From 20th Century History of Delaware County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, Edited and compiled by James R. Lytle, Delaware, Ohio, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908