Seven woman brewers nobody remembers

© Copyright 2019 Timothy R. Gaffney

On October 7, 1861, an advertisement appeared in the Springfield Republic over the name M. W. Vorce. “Springfield Brewery!” its headline trumpeted. What followed was a notice to settle claims against the estate of the brewery’s deceased owner, S. A. Vorce.

But the ad made it clear the brewery wasn’t closing: “I am now prepared to pay cash prices for Barley and Rye,” it announced, adding, “I keep constantly on hand, and for sale, a pure article of Ale and Beer, also Barley and Rye Malt and Hops.”

In a male-dominated society, anyone spotting that ad—then, or more than a century and a half later, as I did last year at the Clark County Historical Society—might assume M. W. Vorce was the deceased owner’s brother or son. But the title after the name gave it away: “Executrix.” M. W. Vorce’s first name was Martha. She was Silas A. Vorce’s widow, and she was one of several Miami Valley women who became brewery proprietors or the presidents of incorporated brewing companies decades before U. S. women even had the right to vote.

They went unheralded in their time, enjoying none of the recognition their male counterparts received from local newspapers or history books. And they remain unrecognized today, their stories hidden in records made and forgotten in the century before Prohibition.

I pieced together obscure clues to them over the past two years from census, land and tax records, business directories, brewing journals and newspaper reports in research for my upcoming book Dayton Beer: A History of Brewing in the Miami Valley (The History Press, 2019.) The book isn’t scheduled for release until the week of July 22, but since today is International Women’s Day, I’m raising my glass to these women.

Martha W. (Gardner) Vorce (1819-1900): Martha Vorce inherited the Springfield Brewery when her husband Silas died in 1860. Perhaps by necessity, or perhaps following the wish in her husband’s will to “carry on my business of brewing,” Martha ran the brewery as sole proprietor until 1866. She sold the brewery but took it back three years later. Her son-in-law, William Blee, joined her in the business in 1870. But Martha owned the brewery, and the business operated as “Vorce and Blee” until 1890, when international investors bought it.

Agnes Anastasia (Wehner) Schwind (1823-1885): Agnes Schwind took over the Main Street Brewery in Dayton after her husband Joseph died in 1867. The 1870 census gave the title of “brewer” to her son William, but business indexes listed the brewery under her name from 1868 through 1882, except for the year 1875, when it listed her son Adolph as proprietor for one year. The brewery appears to have closed after 1882, and Agnes died in 1885. Her obituary made no mention of her years as a business woman and brewery owner.

Christina (Latin) Schwind (1835-1907): Christina Schwind was married to Joseph Schwind’s brother Coelestin. He became one of Dayton’s prominent brewers, starting out with the Canal Brewery in the 1850s and building the Dayton View Brewery on the west bank of the Great Miami River in 1869. He incorporated the brewery as the Schwind Brewing Co. in December 1892 with himself as president. Coelestin died the next year, and the president’s position stayed vacant until Christina succeeded him in 1895. She held the position until 1900, when the company reorganized and she stepped down at age 65. When she died, a brief death notice identified her simply as Coelestin’s widow.

The Hollencamp women: Anna Hollencamp (1843-1907) succeeded her husband, Theodore Sr., as president of the Hollencamp Brewing Co. in Dayton in 1901, and she remained so until her death in 1907. Her son Theodore D. succeeded her and was president until his death in 1935, but several Hollencamp women held executive seats in the company for decades. Theodore D.’s sister Anna L. (1871-1957) became vice president in 1919 and then president after her brother’s death.

 Anna Catharine (Waterman) Schneyer (1828-1910:) In Piqua, Anna Schneyer carried on the Spring Street Brewery after the death of her husband, John L., in 1882. Eight years after she had taken over the brewery, a local business profile couldn’t be troubled to mention her by name: “... one of the most prominent breweries in this section of the state is that of J. L. Schneyer. He is now deceased, having died in 1882, but the business is carried on by his widow. Her son, C. L. Schneyer, is the general manager,” reported the 1890 General Business Review of Miami County.

Mary A. (Myers) Wagner (1839-1918): When Sidney beer magnate John Wagner died in 1881, the business continued, incorporating in 1895 as the Wagner Sons Brewing Co. But the sons, Henry and Edward, were vice president and secretary-treasurer, respectively; the president was their mother, Mary A. Wagner. She remained president at least until 1914, when she was about age 75, after which Henry succeeded her.

Please share your own stories about the Miami Valley’s brewing history. And look for Dayton Beer in July to learn more about these remarkable women, their families and others who built the region’s brewing industry.