Theodore O. Morath, 1868–1942

Theodore Otto Morath and family were well-known businesspeople in the St. Louis coffee and tea industry from the early to mid-1900s. Theodore (Ted) was the son of August Huber Morath (1837–1922) and Mathilda Bender (1840–1875). August was the son of Elisabeth Huber and the well-known beer brewer Michael Maurath (1806–1884) from Baden, Germany, who settled in Columbus and Newark, Ohio, around 1832. Michael’s “cousin” Felix Maurath left Ohio and came to St. Louis in the late 1830s. Michael’s branch of the family let the spelling of their surname evolve from Maurath to Morath.

Michael Maurath’s grandson, Theodore Otto Morath, was born in Newark, Ross County, Ohio, on 23 May 1868. At age seven, he and his youngest brother, Charles, were temporarily placed in an orphanage when their mother died prematurely at age thirty-five. When he was fifteen, Theodore started learning the coffee and tea business and later became a travelling salesman. While coming through Missouri in 1893, he met Alice S. Swaney (1870–1930) from Jefferson County, Missouri. They fell in love, married, and later settled in St. Louis.

Sometime around 1904–1906, they founded Morath Coffee & Tea Company, located at N. 9th St. at St. Charles St. north of downtown. Their only son Maurice Morath (1897–1942) joined the business when he was nineteen years old, after graduating from Emerson School on Page Ave. The Moraths dealt in fine coffee, tea, spices, and “fancy” groceries. According to old St. Louis newspaper articles, Morath had become “the largest retail coffee and spice dealer in St. Louis.” Indeed within a few years of opening, the business grew rapidly and expanded, with slight interruption during World War I. The business kept growing and expanding until 1929. Then the Depression took its toll on their business. They hung on until 1941 when they finally decided it would be prudent to temporarily close and revamp the business.

They planned to re-open the following year as a wholesale firm, but both Theodore and son Maurice died in 1942. Maurice’s wife, Etolia Wood-Morath, subsequently reorganized the business, but coffee rationing during the war by “cousin” Victor Maurath, further burdened the company. Etolia persisted, but with increasing crime in the area and competition from other coffee firms, she was finally forced to sell the business around 1950. Etolia died in 1965. This line of the Morath family in St. Louis is buried at Valhalla Cemetery on St. Charles Rock Rd.

Interesting to note, that Theodore’s brothers, Ed and Fred Morath, were founders of the Pike’s Peak “AdAmAn Club” at Pike’s Peak, Colorado. Theodore’s youngest brother, Charles William Morath, was involved with Mississippi Valley Trust in St. Louis, but moved to Arizona because of a scandal with that organization and his poor health. He died young. Theodore’s nephew, Max Morath, son of Fred, was the well-known ragtime piano player, who sadly died in June 2023 at age 96, and is considered to be one of the founding pioneers of PBS.

Written by John L. Maurath
December 2023

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