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 president...