John Derst (3 May 1838 – 16 July 1928) was a German businessman based in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, United States. A prominent baker, his product, Captain John Derst's Good Old-Fashioned Bread, is still produced by Savannah's Derst Baking Company, which he founded in 1867. He was also a city

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

for four years.

Life and career

Derst was born in

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

, Germany, in 1838, to Justus Derst and Catherine Krug. In 1855, he emigrated to the United States with his parents and three older brothers (Jacob, George and Peter), and settled in Savannah, Georgia, via New York City. His father died when John was sixteen years old. He served four years for the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Captain of the German Volunteers (in which he served alongside his good friend

Cord Asendorf Sr. Cord Asendorf Sr. (27 January 1858 – 6 January 1944) was a German–American businessman based in Savannah, Georgia. A prominent merchant, he is also noted for designing Savannah's "Gingerbread House", at today's 1921 Bull Street, in 1899. L ...

), he was stationed for two years at Fort McAllister, before becoming a baker at a Confederate hospital in Atlanta. After the war, he protected the flag of his old company, the DeKalb Rifiles, from occupying forces by hiding it in the Planters Hotel, at the corner of

Bryan Street Bryan Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Bay Street (Savannah, Georgia), Bay Street to the north and Congress Street (Savannah, Georgia), Congress Street to the south, it runs for about from a cul ...

and

Barnard Street Barnard Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Jefferson Street to the west and Whitaker Street to the east, it runs for about from West Bay Street in the north to West 52nd Street in the south. ...

in Savannah. In July 1867, after starting out as a barber, he opened a small bakery, under his own name, on Savannah's

Broughton Street Broughton Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Congress Street to the north and State Street to the south, it runs for about from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the west to East Broad Stre ...

, at the corner of

Abercorn Street Abercorn Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Drayton Street to the west and Lincoln Street to the east, it runs for about from East Bay Street in the north to Harry S. Truman Parkway (State Rout ...

, across from The Marshall House. He was elected an

in 1883, and served until 1887. He was also a trustee of the Lutheran Church of the Ascension from 1878. He married twice – firstly, in 1863, to compatriot Caroline Kraft (daughter of Justus Kraft), who died in 1893, aged 49. They had two children, daughters Henretta and Katie. He remarried, to Emma E. Hartfelder, with whom he had three known children: Edward John (born 1896), John Frank (1897) and Karl Koerner (1910). Edward became chairman of the board of his father's baking company, then the largest independently owned bakers in Georgia, upon his father's retirement in 1917. It was incorporated as the Derst Baking Company in 1925, a year after it had moved to larger premises at

Oglethorpe Avenue Oglethorpe Avenue is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located, in its downtown section, between York Street to the north and Hull Street to the south, it runs for about from the Atlantic Coastal Highway (U.S. Route 17) ...

and Habersham Street. The bakery moved to its current location, on Mills B. Lane Boulevard, in 1949.

Death and legacy

Derst died on 16 July 1928, aged 90, as possibly the last Confederate veteran in Savannah. He was interred beside his parents and brothers in Savannah's

Laurel Grove Cemetery Laurel Grove Cemetery is a cemetery located in midtown Savannah, Georgia. It includes the original cemetery for whites (now known as Laurel Grove North) and a companion burial ground (called Laurel Grove South) that was reserved for slaves and fr ...

. His second wife, who survived him by a decade, was buried in the city's

Bonaventure Cemetery Bonaventure Cemetery is a rural cemetery located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah, Georgia. The cemetery became famous when it was featured in the 1994 novel ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' by John Berendt, ...

. It is not known if she remarried after becoming a widow. Derst's bread, now known as Captain John Derst's Good Old-Fashioned Bread, is still produced by the Derst Baking Company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derst, John 1838 births 1928 deaths German bakers 19th-century German businesspeople 20th-century German businesspeople People from Savannah, Georgia German emigrants to the United States People from Worms, Germany Foreign Confederate military personnel