VALENTINE WALTER DOERR JR. was the son-in-law of Christopher L. Dietz, who came to was was then Stockton in the early 1890s. Philadelphia Directories from 1885 through 1888 have Christopher L. Dietz at 2510 Kensington Avenue, operating a lager beer saloon. He then moved to 160 Lehigh Avenue, where he ran a restaurant specializing in oysters from 1889 into 1891, before moving to New Jersey.

Christopher L. Dietz came to what is now known as the Cramer Hill section of Camden by the time the 1892 Camden City Directory was being compiled. This neighborhood and what is now referred to as East Camden the comprised the town of Stockton, which was annexed by Camden in the Spring of 1899.

Christopher L. Dietz first appears in the Camden City Directories in 1892, as the proprietor of the Union Hotel, at Union Street and River Road.

Union Street was renamed North 26th Street after the annexation, and River Road was renamed River Avenue, although to this day most people call this thoroughfare River Road. This building was given the street address of 948 North 26th Street. after the annexation as well.

In 1893 Christopher L. Dietz moved one block, to the corner of River Road and Fulton Street (present-day 1001 North 25th Street), where he founded the Crescent Bottling Company. His daughter Catherine and her husband, Valentine Doerr Jr., who had come to Camden around the same time, stayed at the Union Street and River Road house, where they operated a retail business selling cigars and "notions" until 1898, when Doerr was granted a retail liquor license. Sadly, Valentine Doerr Jr. passed away on October 10, 1899, leaving his widow and young children.

Shortly before the 1896 City Directory was compiled, Christopher L. Dietz hired John Schimpf to work as a driver for at the Crescent Bottling Company. John Schimpf eventually took over management and ownership of the business, which is still at the same location, albeit in a more modern building, in 2013. Christopher L. Dietz passed away on September 1, 1900 at the age of 61.