The Lemp dynasty: beer, scandal 
and a haunted mansion

Lawyers Weekly
October 23, 2025  

In 1838, Johann Adam Lemp left Germany and arrived in St. Louis, where he set the wheels in motion for the beer we still drink today.

He also gave birth to an enduring family tragedy and a haunted house. Perhaps the family’s most scandalous story involves that of grandson William “Billy” Lemp Jr. and his divorce from Lillian Handlin, “The Lavender Lady,” which dominated the headlines in 1909.

Like many business tales, the son takes his father’s creation and exponentially expands it, internet sources say. Then, for a variety of reasons, it all comes crashing down.
William Lemp Sr. turned father Johann’s beer business into an empire. Creating refrigerated rail cars, his beer, Falstaff, now traveled to all corners of our nation, dominating the market. The son even turned the home the father built into a lavish 33-room mansion, which also served as the brewery’s offices.

William Sr. had nine children; of note were William “Billy” Jr. and Frederick, the successor chosen to lead the company in the future. Sickly, young Frederick unexpectedly died in 1901 at the age of 28. His death plunged his father into a whirlpool of grief in which he slowly drowned, committing suicide in his mansion in 1904. Read more.

Cold as Ice - Unsolved Boston Murders

Discussion at Lynnfield Historical Society 

Read: "A New Chapter"  

“Who’s the No. 1 comedian working today?” Appeals Court Judge R. Marc Kantrowitz asks more than a dozen wide-eyed, mostly young law clerks seated around a long conference-room table. A few moments of tense silence follow. This, after all, is a bit less serious of a query than a judge might typically pose to a student clerk, so it takes a few seconds to warm to the task. Read more.

About the author

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R. Marc Kantrowitz is the most highly published lawyer on state law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  He has written numerous books on criminal law, motor vehicle tort law, juvenile law, evidence, and mental health, as well as numerous law-related articles.  He also writes a column entitled Law  'n History.
Read more.

With new book, attorney credits women ‘robbed’ of discoveries over time by men

Book review by R. Marc Kantrowitz
November 1, 2024

“Oh No He Didn’t! Brilliant Women and the Men Who Took Credit
for Their Work”
by Wendy J. Murphy, Cynren Press; September 2024; $20; 266 pages

For those of us (lawyerly disclaimer) who know Wendy Murphy, the word “gutsy” comes to mind, which she proves on page 2 of the introduction to her book. There, she names names — of the well-known TV reporter who shamelessly stole her scoop while working as a commentator for NBC (you’ll have to buy the book to find out who), and the attorney who hired her and another (a male) to give a talk on Title IX regulations. She was lied to and stiffed on her small fee, unlike her male counterpart.

I wish she had continued naming the sinners when she wrote about a judge ordering her into court despite the fact that she gave birth two days earlier, or another judge who refused a 15-minute break so that she could breastfeed her baby, explaining that “we don’t take breaks for that.”

I’d like to think that we’ve come a long way since those regrettable days and bigotries. Read more.

Podcasts

To listen to the latest podcast from R. Marc Kantrowitz, "Ponzi Scheme: The Notorious Namesake," click here.

For previous podcasts, click here.

Old Whiskey and Young Women

“Murder and mystery, society, sex and suspense were combined in this case in such a manner as to intrigue and captivate the public fancy to a degree perhaps unparalleled in recent annals.”  Ohio vs. Sheppard, 165 Ohio St. 293, 294 (1956).

While this should no longer occur in a criminal trial, it can in a book.  And this is the book in which it does.

Here, some of the most notorious legal cases in American history are explored.  What they have in common is that they titillated, if not repulsed, the entire nation when they first occurred.  What they still have in common is that, for the most part, they are today nearly totally forgotten.

From the unfair framing for murder of America’s most famous comedian, to America’s first capital case involving an older woman and her much younger lover murdering her husband, to Mad Harry Thaw, the wealthy and mad son of a steel magnate, killing America’s foremost architect over a beautiful woman, all come to life in gripping detail and drama.  And meet the real Norman Bates of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, whose mother fixation and real life gruesome crimes far outmatched those of any fictional character.  

This book brings to life these notorious characters and many more from the rich pages of history.  

Law 'n History

R. Marc Kantrowitz writes a column entitled "Law 'n History" for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the Patriot Ledger, and the sister publications of both. His goal for these articles is to have the reader look at history through a different view. He likes to pick topics about past events that people know little about, himself included. Through his writing he likes to show readers that people are generally the same today as they were hundreds of years ago;  the smart, wise and generous vying against the petty, vengeful and stupid. Read more.