Emma Alvarene Devitt was born October 17, 1860 in Waterloo, Ontario to parents Benjamin Devitt and Nancy L. Bowman. She married Louis Jacob Breithaupt of Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario April 5, 1881 and the couple had 8 children: Louise Evelyn; Friedrich Adolph; Emma Lillian; Martha Edna; Rosa Melvina; Louis Orville; William Walter; Catherine Olive; and Paul Theodore. Emma died June 12, 1925 in Belmont, Massachusetts and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener. Louis died in St. Petersburg, Florida March 6, 1939 and was also buried in Mount Hope.

Emma Lillian Breithaupt was born in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario May 28, 1884, the daughter of Louis Jacob Breithaupt and Emma Alvarene Devitt. After studying at local public schools, she attended the Ontario Ladies College in Whitby, Ontario. Emma was active in many church groups in Kitchener, Ontario, and was a leader in the local cultural community. Emma died September 9, 1951 in Kitchener and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery.

Ezra Carl "Carl" Breithaupt was born February 10, 1866 in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario ,the son of Philip Ludwig (Louis) Breithaupt and Catherine Hailer. After attending local schools in Berlin, he took a general course at the evangelical NorthWestern College in Naperville, Illinois from from 1883 to 1887. In the autumn of 1890 he began the two-year course in applied electricity offered at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He was certificated in applied electricity in 1892, returned home and entered the Breithaupt Leather Company, of which he became a director, and the Berlin Gas Company, in which he combined professional and family interests.

Carl became the manager of the Berlin Gas Company. The firm began generating electricity, and in 1895, with power from Berlin Gas, they converted two horse-drawn streetcars owned by the Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway Company to electric power; also lighting eight arc street lamps in Waterloo. Carl became the president of BWSR, expanding both the railway and the gas company, building a large gas tank and extensive additions to the powerhouse and plant for Berlin Gas and installing new rails and two new electric cars for the street railway.

Carl was prominent in the local community serving as a member of the local Board of Trade's financial committee in 1893, and as vice-president the following year, and in 1896 sat on its council. He also served as choirmaster and a Sunday school teacher at Zion Evangelical Church.

Carl died January 27 1897, at 30 years of age, from injuries sustained in an explosion in the new gas tank he had built for Berlin Gas. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener.

Frederick Albert was born July 29, 1902 in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario, the first child of Albert Liborius and Lydia Louisa Anthes. He married Frances Marian Bean on June 25, 1930 which whom he has two children. Frederick died in 1983 and was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener.

Friederich Adolph "Adolph" Breithaupt was born August 25, 1875 in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario to parents Philip Ludwig (Louis) and Catherine Hailer. He died as a child on June 21, 1883 while visiting family with his mother in Cleveland, Ohio. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener.

Herbert Caskey Breithaupt was born February 22, 1927 in Kitchener, Ontario to parents Louis Orville Breithaupt and Sara Caskey. His siblings were Louis Paul; Mary Scott; Sara (Sally) Caroline.

John Christian Breithaupt was a businessman and politician born in Buffalo, New York, February 27, 1859, the son of Philip Louis Breithaupt and Catherine Hailer. He and his family emigrated to Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario circa 1862.

John married Caroline Catherine "Carrie" Anthes on January 27, 1892 and the couple had six children: John Edward; Louise Catherine (Geil); Carl Louis; Freida Caroline (Harris); Walter Hailer; and Helena Esther (Duffield). John worked in the family leather tanning business.

John first served on the Berlin council in 1890-1891. He was elected first deputy-reeve in 1893, and reeve in 1894. Following in his brother Louis's footsteps, he ran for and was elected Mayor of Berlin serving 1896-1897. He went back as a councillor and served until 1898, during which time the Berlin water works were purchased by a committee of which he was a member. In 1899, he was elected a member of the first water board.

John died September 14, 1951 and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener. Caroline died May 18, 1963 and was buried with him in Mount Hope Cemetery.

Liborius Breithaupt was born in 1797 in Allendorf an der Werra, Kurhessen, Germany to Martha Elisabeth Kroschell, age 20, and Johann Christian Breithaupt, age 22. He married Barbara Catharina Goetz on October 24, 1826 in Allendorf. The couple had a son, Philip Ludwig (Louis) born November 8, 1827, also in Allendorf. A daughter Marie Elisabeth Frederica, born June 14, 1829, died May 13, 1834. In 1843, Liborius, Catharina and Louis emigrated from Hesse, Germany to Buffalo, New York. While there, they had another daughter, Catharina, born February 18, 1847. A fire damage report dated October 14, 1850 by Liborius lists extensive damage to his "sheep skin factory" on Steuben Street in Buffalo. Liborius died in Buffalo in May of 1851. Around 1861, Catharina moved to Berlin, Ontario where her son Philip Louis had been living since his marriage to Catherine Hailer in 1853.

Louis Jacob Breithaupt was an industrialist and politician. He was born March 3, 1855, in Buffalo, New York, the son of Philip Ludwig (known as Louis) and Catherine Hailer. The family moved to Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario in 1857. He married Emma Alverene Devitt on April 5, 1881 and the couple had 8 children: Louise Evelyn; Emma Lillian; Martha Edna; Rosa Melvina; Louis Orville; William Walter; Catherine Olive; and Paul Theodore.

Louis took over the family business and served as Mayor of Kitchener from 1888-1889. He represented Waterloo North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1899 to 1902 as a Liberal member. Louis died March 6, 1939 in St. Petersburg, Florida and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener.

Louis Orville Breithaupt was born October 28, 1890, the son of Louis Jacob Breithaupt and Emma Devitt of Berlin (later Kitchener), Ontario. He married Mabel Louis White October 14, 1915. She died during premature labour on June 27th, 1916 giving birth to their first child, who also died. Louis remarried to Sara Caskey of Toronto on November 21, 1919. The couple had four children: Mary Scott; Louis Paul; Sara (Sally) Caroline and Herbert Caskey.

L.O. as he was commonly known, was educated at the University of Toronto. He became head of his family's leather business, Breithaupt Leather Company and was a Kitchener alderman for four years before becoming the youngest mayor in the city's history in 1923. He was a Liberal Member of Parliament from 1940 to 1952 and served as Lieutenant Governor of Ontario 1952 until 1957. Breithaupt was active in many service organizations, such as the YMCA and Rotary Club. In 1959, he became Chancellor of Victoria University, Toronto.

Louis died in Toronto December 6, 1960 and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener. Sara died February 14, 1989 and was buried with him.

Louis Paul Breithaupt was born in Kitchener, Ontario on June 25, 1922 to parents Louis Orville Breithaupt and Sara Caskey. Louis attended Queen's University where he became President of his year. He left in 1943 to join the R.C.A.F. and was discharged in 1945. He married Elizabeth Caroline Massey in Toronto on April 10, 1948 and the couple resided in Kitchener where Louis worked for the Breithaupt Leather Company until its sale in 1968. They had three sons: Louis M., Timothy H., and Gary S.

Louis was active in community organizations such as: the Kitchener Rotary Club, Kitchener Chamber of Commerce, Public School Board, Boy Scouts (Medal of Merit), Gyro, Flying Club, Public Utilities Commission, and Probus. He died June 9, 2005 in Kitchener and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery with his wife Elizabeth who died in 2013.

Lydia Louisa Breithaupt was a homemaker in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario. She was born March 27, 1877 in Berlin Ontario to parents John Schmitt Anthes and Lydia Catherine Herlan. She married Albert Liborius Breithaupt on June 2, 1901 and the couple lived in Kitchener. The couple had six children: Frederick Albert; Maria Martha Louise; Rudolph Anthes; Ruth Anna Catherine; Arthur Liborius; David John. Lydia died June 18, 1942 in Toronto, Ontario. She was interred at Mount Hope Cemetery in Kitchener.

Mabel Louise White was born in Milton, Ontario on April 5, 1894. She married Louis Orville Breithaupt on October 14, 1915. Mabel and their first child died on June 27, 1916 during premature labour. She was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in what is now Kitchener, Ontario.

Marie Elisabeth Fredericka Breithaupt was born on June 14,1829, in Allendorf an der Werra, Kurhessen, Germany, the second child of Liborius Breithaupt and Barbara Catharina Goetz. She died as a young child on May 13, 1834.

Martha Edna "Edna" Breithaupt was born July 26, 1885 in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario to parents Louis Jacob and Emma Devitt. She had seven siblings: Louise Evelyn; Emma Lillian; Rose Melvina; Louis Orville; William Walter; Catherine Olive and Paul Theodore. As a girl, Edna, as she was known, spent her summers at the Breithaupt family cottages, "Riverbend" on the Grand River near Bridgeport (now part of Kitchener), and "Bayview" on Georgian Bay in the Penetanguishene area, where her father had opened a second branch of his tannery business in 1885. The Breithaupts were devoted members of Zion Evangelical church in Kitchener and Edna was involved in many church activities during her formative years. After high school she attended the Ontario Ladies' College in Whitby, where she majored in art.

As an adult in Toronto, Edna founded the Art Students' League bringing art education to local children. She was an artist and patron of the arts throughout her life purchasing Giant’s Tomb Island, with the intention of establishing an artist’s colony; she even has a namesake island, "Aunt Edna’s Island" on Georgian Bay. In the 1940s, Edna established Wakunda Lodge at Sawlog Bay in the 1940s where she ran an art school with students staying for weeks at a time. She was also instrumental in forming the Kitchener-Waterloo Centre of Community Arts. Edna died April 13, 1963 and was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener.

Paul Theodore Breithaupt was born September 9, 1903 in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario to parents Louis Jacob and Emma Alvarene Devitt. Paul joined his sister, Edna, in active support of the fine arts, including the Grange Studios and the Art Students' League in Toronto during the early 1930's. He married Margaret Jean Alexander July 17, 1937 and the couple had three children: Paul Alexander; Emmy; E.A. Kirby. They lived in Pickering, Ontario and later Guildwood Village, Scarborough, the residential community his sister Rosa and her husband Spencer Clark were involved in creating that was adjacent to their arts community, Guild of All Arts.

Paul died in 1961 and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener with his wife who died in 1969.

Philip Ludwig (Louis) Beithaupt was born in Allendorf an der Werra, Kurhessen, Germany on November 8, 1827 to parents Liborius Breithaupt and Barbara Catharina Goetz. The family moved to Buffalo, N.Y. in 1843, where his father owned a sheep skin processing factory. After the death of Liborius in 1851, Louis, as he was known, continued his father's business and spent time working as a carpenter. On a visit to Berlin, Ontario he met Catherine Hailer, to whom he was married February 8, 1853. Together Louis and Catherine had ten children, seven of whom survived to adulthood, and some of whom played an instrumental role in the growth and development of what is today Kitchener, Ontario.

The family lived in Buffalo until relocating to Berlin in 1861, where Philip established a leather business followed by the establishment of a tannery. He became one of the leading businessmen in Berlin, serving as Mayor from 1879 until his death in1880. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener.

Philip William was born December 16, 1898 in New York City, New York to parents William Henry Breithaupt and Martha Cunningham Murphy.

Rudolph Anthes "Dolph" Breithaupt was born in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario October 21, 1906 to parents Albert Liborius and Lydia Louisa Anthes. He became a Major in the Canadian military a member of the Scots Fusiliers of Canada receiving the Order of the British Empire. He married Marion Elizabeth Roos on August 24, 1928. Dolph died March 21, 1960 and was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener.

Sara Caskey was born March 2, 1895 in Youngstown, Ohio to parents Herbert C. Caskey and Mary McElwey. She married Louis Orville Breithaupt of Kitchener on November 27, 1919 in Toronto. The couple had four children: Mary Scott; Louis Paul; Sara (Sally) Caroline and Herbert Caskey. Sara died in Kitchener February 14, 1989 and is buried with her husband in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener.

William Henry Breithaupt was an engineer born in Buffalo, New York January 25, 1857 to Philip Louis (Ludwig) and Catherine Hailer. The family moved to Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario in 1861. He attended Berlin Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, Ontario, Commercial School in Toronto and then North Western College, Naperville, Illinois. He entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, New York in September of 1877. He worked in construction on the New York, West Shore and Buffalo railroad August 1881, working mainly on the West Point tunnel. in January 1883 he was appointed bridge inspector for the Pennsylvania railroad company and in October of the same year assistant engineer for C. Shaler Smith of St. Louis, Missouri. In 1886 he had his own company Breithaupt & Allen, civil engineer based in Kansas City, Missouri.

William married Martha Cunningham Murphy February 1, 1898 in Montreal, Quebec. The couple had three children: Philip W,; Margaret Catharine and Martha Elizabeth. In 1907 William was in a partnership with E.H. Keating in Toronto, Ontario. The couple moved to Berlin, Ontario. William was an entrepreneur and professional engineer, and his diaries contain notes on town planning in Kitchener, environmental protection of the Grand River watershed and early local public works projects such as public transportation, the Berlin and Waterloo Railway, the Bridgeport Line, and also water and power supplies. The history of the Berlin Gas Works is documented in the diaries and also in correspondence with his brother, Ezra Carl, also an engineer, who died in 1897 in an explosion at the gas works. William also served as President of the Waterloo Historical Society.

William died January 27, 1944 due to complications from a fall at home, and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener. His wife, Martha died in 1950 and was buried with William.

William Walter Breithaupt was born in Berlin (later Kitchener), Ontario June 7, 1894 to parents Louis Jacob and Emma Alvarene Devitt. He received his education at the Kitchener Collegiate Institute, and attended both Northwestern College, Naperville, Illinois and the University of Toronto. He worked at the Breithaupt Leather company, the family business. William served in World War I as a lieutenant in the Infantry in Spring of 1916. He served in Canada in various capacities before heading to England for further training in 1918 where he was on Armistice Day. He returned to Canada where he was honourably discharged in May of 1919.

William Walter married Gertrude Irene Hughes of Toronto on December 12, 1919 in Toronto. The couple lived in Kitchener, and had two children. A son, William Ransom was born August 7, 1920. William Ransom served in World War II as a flying officer in the 239th Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force. He was shot down on September 13, 1944 near Cologne, Germany, did not survive and is buried in Rheinberg, Germany War Graves. A second son, Norman Hughes was born December 31, 1924 in Kitchener.

Gertrude died April 10, 1954 and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener. William Walter died in Scarborough, Ontario on January 7, 1977 and was buried with Gertrude.

ca. 1865: Civil War veteran David Francis Bremner (1839-1922) opened a bakery in Cairo, Illinois. David moved the bakery to Chicago, Illinois sometime before 1871.

1889-1890: The American Biscuit & Manufacturing Company was formed by attorney Adolphus Green through the amalgamation of 40 Midwestern bakeries including the Bremner bakery in Chicago, Illinois. The new company was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and David Bremner served as its President.

1898: The American Biscuit & Manufacturing Company merged with the New York Biscuit Company and the United States Baking Company to form the National Biscuit Company. The new company was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and Adolphus Green served as its President.

1902: The original Bremner Butter Wafer was created.

1905: Bremner Brothers Biscuits Company established by David Bremner's sons. This company produced the Bremner Brothers Butter Wafer, the predecessor to Bremner Wafers. At some point, the company was renamed the Bremner Biscuit Company.

1984: Bremner Biscuit Company moved to Denver, Colorado.

1999: Bremner Biscuit Company was acquired by Dare Foods Limited.

2011: The Bremner Biscuit Company plant in Denver, Colorado closed. The production of water crackers was moved to Dare Foods Limited's plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The production of Bremner Wafers was outsourced to Venus Wafers in Hingham, Massachusetts.

Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton was Commander of the Far East Air Force, the Philippines, at the beginning of World War II.

Eric Breugst was an academic advisor with the Arts Undergraduate Office at the University of Waterloo. Born in Fergus, Ontario Breugst obtained a B.A. a the University of Waterloo in 1989 and an M.A. and B.Ed. in Scotland in 1993. He retired from his role as Manager of Academic Advising at Waterloo in 2020 to focus on travelling. Breugst died while in England on August 12, 2024.

Ellen Roselia "Rosy" Cook was born June 5, 1849 in Waterloo Township, now in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, to James and Elizabeth Cook. She married Ephraim K. Bricker (1848-1925) on October 15, 1868. Rosie Bricker died January 1, 1929 in Kitchener, Ontario.

Leonard Walter Brockington was born in Cardiff, Wales, April 6, 1888 and died in Toronto on Deptember 15, 1966. He had a long and multifaceted career, perhaps best known as the first Chairman of the CBC from 1936-1939. He served as Special Assistant to Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King from 1939-1942.
See: Babe, Robert E., "Leonard Walter Brockington" (2008) in The Canadian Encyclopedia of Biography: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/leonard-walter-brockington

Matt Broman was born February 2, 1895 in Sweden. He became a landscape architect, working in and around Hamilton, Ontario. In the late 1930's, he was Superintendent of Arboriculture at the Niagara Parks Commission and was working at that time with T.B. McQuesten on designing the Royal Botanical Gardens. Matt Broman Park in Hamilton is named in his honour. He died in 1989.

Doris Lillian Brown (nee Harrison) was an Executive Director of the Young Women's Christian Association of Kitchener-Waterloo. Born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Brown studied liberal arts at the University of King's College in Halifax, graduating in 1941.

Brown's affiliation with the Y began in 1946 when she was hired as a program secretary at the Y in Halifax. While there she worked jointly with Missions to Seamen to entertain ship crew coming into the city and with the Y travellers aid program organizing English classes for new Canadians. She left Halifax in 1952 to work for a year as Executive Director in Galt and then in Toronto as membership secretary. Brown joined the YWCA of KW in 1955 as Executive Director taking responsibility for 15 members of staff and more than 150 volunteers.

Brown died in Ottawa on May 29, 2003. She was predeceased by her husband Albert Reed Brown. The couple married in 1959 and together raised a daughter.

Irene Brown was born Irene Coombs on Feb. 10, 1920 in Huddersfield in Yorkshire, England. Her youth was spent travelling with her theatrical parents. She attended Longley Hall School and after the death of her mother moved to Blackpool with her father and step-mother. At the onset of WWII she began nursing training at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport and at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. She worked in the Civil Nursing Reserve and was assigned to the Kirkham Emergency Hospital. She met and married Edward Brown and had three children. Irene and Edward Brown and their children emigrated to Canada in 1956.

James Renwick Brown was born in Edinburgh, Scotland March 5, 1831. At the age of 14 he enlisted in the 71st Highland Light Infantry and spent eleven years in this service. He came to Canada with his troop at the age of 16 and was stationed in Quebec City and Montreal. He went back to Europe to fight in the Crimean War, and then returned to Edinburgh where he married Elizabeth Oswald on April 27, 1847. He then returned to Canada and settled in Oshawa, where he joined the 34th Battalion and saw action during the Fenian Raids. He worked as a factory inspector for the Province of Ontario for seventeen years. He married Annie Riggs May 28, 1892 and together they had one son. James died November 18, 1909 and is interred at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.

Mayor of Kitchener, Ontario, 1946-1947.

The Y.M.C.A. chorus of which R. J. Brown was a member, was founded in the mid-1930s by Don McLaren. It was formed with the support of the Y.M.C.A. quartette which had been established some years earlier. The chorus was disbanded during World War II when many of the chorus members served in the armed forces. Moreover, in 1941 Don McLaren moved overseas to become a representative of the Y. M.C.A. in England.

The first year of this chorus was 1935 and as it started to grow and become more proficient, rehearsals came to be held twice a week instead of once a week. Later on a female section was added to the chorus. This included five girls and a female pianist, Miss Dorothy Schweitzer, who replaced the previous pianist, Freddie Oliver, who had moved to Toronto. The Y.M.C.A. Chorus broadcast over C.F.R.B., Toronto in both 1938 and 1939 for J. M. Schneider Ltd. The broadcasts were carried out from the Y.M.C.A. gymnasium on the corner of Queen and Weber Street in Kitchener.

Dr. Steven Brown was the nephew of Ross Dixon.

Thomas Austen Brown was the son of a drawing-master. He was a student of the Royal Scottish Academy School, and soon caught the attention of the critics at the exhibitions. His paintings, The Strawberry Harvest (1884), 'Love Lightens Toil' (1885), 'Hark! The Cuckoo' (1886) and 'Playmates' (R.A 1886) were scenes from country life, and were noted for their vibrant colours and sentimentality. As a result of his work at Cambuskenneth, Brown became closely associated with the Glasgow movement, working in both oil and watercolour. As a result, he also shared their early success in London and on the Continent. Brown later lived in the north of France, where he continued to paint in watercolour, and completed much of his later work. Brown was a successful artist, who won several first-class medals at print exhibitions in Munich, Dresden, Barcelona and Budapest (1861-1911).

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (nee Moulton-Barrett) was a British poet and activist of the Victorian period. Known for her prolific output, she was one of the leading poets of her time and was a contender for Poet Laureate. She was also a campaigner for the abolition of slavery and reform in child labour laws.

Hannah Maria Cook was born January 1, 1837 in Waterloo Township, now in the Region Of Waterloo, Ontario, to James and Elizabeth Cook. She married John A. Brubacher (1844-1837) on October 15, 1872. Hannah Brubacher died October 13, 1921.

Hattie A. Bruce was born in 1857 in or near Guelph, Ontario to George A. Bruce and Margaret Keith. She lived in Kitchener, Ontario, and supported herself independently, remaining unmarried until her death in 1930.