The story of Hieronymus Mueller and his interest in automobiles is pretty well known by those of us with an interest in Mueller history. Hieronymus earned a spot in automotive history through this success in America’s first auto race in 1895.

2011 marks the 100th anniversary of Fredericka Bernhardt Mueller’s death on January 26, 1911. The cause of her death is recorded as a cerebral apoplexy which may have meant a number of things but was most likely a stroke.

In the summer of 1911, Decatur newspapers were filled with the buzz of the new state law abolishing the public drinking cup. “The Cup of Death”, would soon be a thing of the past.

While we cannot say with certainty when and how Minnie and Adolph met, we do know from the local newspapers that the two were firmly in each other’s social circles. The two were both graduates of Decatur High School – Adolph belonged to the Class of ’88… 1888 that is! Minnie Bachman graduated with the Class of 1889.

The name Hieronymus, in the Latin, means “holy name” or “with a sacred name.”

In the early 1900s the Mueller Co. began a search for an engineer to redesign and modernize its line of pressure regulators. It found such a man in the person of A.W Cash, a Boston engineer who had made his reputation by developing pressure reducing valves for the Boston Pneumatic Street Car Co.

In the 1920’s the Mueller Company started giving gifts to Mueller employees upon their marriage. Each new bride was given a rocking chair and belonged to the Rocking Chair Club.