Talk:Henry Weinhard

Conflicts in Oregon section
The brewery names and timeline in the Oregon section do not completely match those in the List of breweries in Oregon article. Per the latter article, this article should read "Henry Weinhard and George Bottler established Portland's second brewery, City Brewery in 1856. In 1862 Henry Weinhard bought Liberty Brewery, Portland's oldest brewery, established in 1852 by Henry Saxer."

From the first reference (also the [|Henry Weinhard bio on rootsweb]: " Weinhard, Henry, the leading and oldest brewer of Portland, was born in Lindenbroun, Wurtemberg, Germany, February 18, 1830. After serving a regular apprenticeship and working at the trade of a brewer in Stutgart and other places in Germany he came to the United States in 1851. He first secured employment at his trade in Philadelphia where he remained a year. He then went to Cincinnati and at the end of two hears removed to St. Louis, where he remained until 1856, when he came to California and for a short time was located at Sacramento City. In March, 1857, he entered the employ of the John Meney a brewer at Vancouver, Washington Territory, and superintended the erection and fitting up of a new brewery. In 1859 Mr. Weinhard bought the brewery from Mr. Meney, and for some four years successfully carried on the business at that point. In the meantime, in 1862, he bought out the Henry Saxer Brewery, the first established in Portland, and soon after, in partnership with George Bottler, established his present brewery, having at the time a controlling interest in the three breweries in this section of the country. In 1864 he sold out his brewery in Vancouver, and from that time has exclusively confined his operations to Portland. In 1866 Mr. Weinhard bought the interest of Mr. Bottler, and immediately commenced to improve and enlarge the plant, and from that time to the present has constantly been increasing his facilities for meeting the demands of his trade. Refrigerating machines, malt and brew houses and cellars are models of their kind, and in their arrangements, throughout are as perfect as in any establishment in the country. The buildings are all of brick, and present a handsome and imposing appearance. The brewery occupies a whole square, and is the largest plant of its kind on the Pacific Slope north of San Francisco. In 1870 the output was less than 2,000 barrels, while for 1889 the total output was 40,000 barrels. With the exception of six years, when William Dillenger was a partner, Mr. Weinhard has been sole proprietor of 1866.

Mr. Weinhard was married in 1859 to Louisa Wagenblast. They have two daughters, the eldest of whom is the wife of Paul Wessinger, who is connected with Mr. Weinhard in the management of the brewery. As a business man Mr. Weinhard has been very successful. He is a member of the Masonic Order, and of various German societies in the city which are maintained for social purposes, and for the relief of distress countrymen. He is a man of generous impulses, and toward every benevolent enterprise cheerfully contributes. Among his own countrymen his popularity is very great. Every project to advance the interests of Portland finds in him a warm friend. [Harvey Scott. History of Portland, Oregon with illustrations and biographical sketches of prominent citizens and pioneers. Syracuse, New York : D. Mason & Co., 1890. pp. 637-638]"

If Weinhard moved from Sacramento to Vancouver, WA in March of 1857, it seems highly unlikely that he would have founded City Brewery in Portland in 1856.

In 1856 / 1857, Weinhard worked in Vancouver, WA for either John 'Meunich', John 'Meney', or 'Meunch' []. "In March, 1857, he entered the employ of the John Meney a brewer at Vancouver, Washington Territory, and superintended the erection and fitting up of a new brewery" has a different nuance than "The next year in March he relocated to Vancouver, Washington in what was then the Washington Territory where he began working at a brewery owned by John Meunich and helped construct a new brewery". I suggest "In March 1857, he relocated to the Washington Territory (in what is today Vancouver, Washington) where he worked for six months for Vancouver brewer John Meunich superintending the construction of a new brewery". This text would be further improved by the inclusion of the name of the new brewery.

In the Fall of 1857 (??), he moved to Portland, Oregon, and with George Bottler founded Portland's second brewery, City Brewery.[2] (I'm not quite sure how the following fits in, but from []: "Blitz-Weinhard brewery, recognized April 1, 1856, as the start of the West’s oldest, continuously operating brewery. It operated at its West Burnside location from 1864 through September 1999.".)

In early 1858 (??), he sold out to Bottler, moved back to Vancouver, and returned to working for Meunich / Meney / Meunch.[2]

In 1859, he bought Meunich’s / Meney's / Meunch's business and named it the Vancouver Brewery.[1][2]

In 1862, he moved back to Portland and bought the city's oldest brewery [], Henry Saxer / Liberty Brewery (founded in 1852 by Henry Saxer). He also partnered again with Bottler to build a new brewery in what is now Northwest Portland,[1] and moved permanently to Portland.[2]

In 1864, he sold the Vancouver Brewery [to ??].

In 1864 / 1866, he bought out Bottler's share of what was then called the City Brewery.[1][2]

By 1890 the brewery was the largest in the Pacific Northwest and had grown from producing 2,000 barrels per year to 40,000 barrels.[1]

From references such as [] it appears that Henry Saxer founded Liberty Brewery in 1852, Weinhard and Bottler founded City Brewery in 1856, Weinhard bought Liberty Brewery from Saxer in 1862, and Weinhard bought Bottler's share of City Brewery in 1864. Not sure how to fit in Weinhard's time in Vancouver or the new brewery construction in 1862. Perhaps he moved to Vancouver, WA in 1856?Penelope Gordon (talk) 02:13, 21 February 2013 (UTC)


 * There just isn't evidence that Saxer actually established his brewery in 1852. I've looked... From the Brewing Industry in Oregon https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/brewing-industry-in-oregon"The Oregonian wrote in his [Saxer's] December 11, 1895, obituary that 'Mr. Saxer came…to Oregon in 1852. He was engaged in the brewing business, and, on reaching Portland, he established what was then known as the Liberty brewing,' leaving it unclear whether Saxer opened a brewery in the city in 1852 or at some later date. The first published advertisement for Liberty Brewing was in the July 26, 1856, Weekly Oregonian, which listed Saxer and Louis (Lewis) Behrens as proprietors of a lager beer brewery." A land claim in 1956 from George Flanders to Henry Saxer and Louis Beherns recorded that Flanders sold Saxer & Behrens the land for the brewery. "Saxer sold the Liberty Brewing to Henry Weinhard in 1862, and by 1866 was the owner of the California Wine Depot." Osu.archivist.tem (talk) 03:36, 24 January 2023 (UTC)

Vancouver BC
I still recommend clearly stating that the Vancouver in question is not Vancouver BC in Canada. Stating 'Washington Territories' only clarifies for those readers who know the boundaries of the Washington Territories in the 1800s. Regardless, since many readers (such as myself) will connect 'Vancouver' to the Canadian version regardless of the subsequent Washington Territories reference, I feel that the sentence is much clearer when written 'Vancouver, Washington'. Even better would be to write "in the Washington Territories in what is today Vancouver, Washington" - or perhaps "at Fort Vancouver in the Washington Territories (in what is today Vancouver, Washington)".Penelope Gordon (talk) 09:09, 21 February 2013 (UTC)

Civil War Section
This should be deleted. I can't find any information on the source, and the content seems made up. A Google of the source brings up nothing. Mpfliger (talk) 03:18, 24 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Yes - I haven't seen anything to indicate he was involved in the US Civil War. Osu.archivist.tem (talk) 03:29, 24 January 2023 (UTC)