in 1872, christian went into a partnership with a man named paul ritter. together, they leased a brewery from george schnell at 1219 20th street, nw washington, d.c. within a year, mr. schnell had died and the partnership between the two men had dissolved. in his 1934 autobiography, "aus meinem leben," heurich writes that he was the one who did most of the labor of brewing, while schnell entertained customers. christian married the widow of mr. schnell, amelia mueller schnell on september 9, 1873. in 1884, amelia died of pneumonia.