Ebenezer Community of True Inspiration

Freedom To Worship and Brew

The old Irr House - formerally the Ebenezer Brewery. (circa. 1930)

Religious tolerance was unknown in Europe in past centuries. Citizens were expected to conform to the religious choice of their ruler and, in most countries, that choice changed with each new ruler. The Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620 were searching for religious freedom. Over 200 years later, another religious sect, the Ebenezer Society, followed in their footsteps.

Religious persecution, first in Germany, then in Holland, prompted the Ebenezer sect to send five men to America in 1842 to seek out a new home. They left Arnsburg, Germany and, after 38 days at sea, arrived in New York City on October 27. From there they went to Albany and made a nine day trip on the Erie Canal to Buffalo.

The group, with Christian Metz as their leader, claimed 10,000 acres of land southeast of Buffalo that belonged to the Seneca Indians. This was the last of the reservation given to the tribe in the area. After many years of lawsuits and treaties, the Senecas finally gave the Ebenezers title to 5,000 acres surrounding Buffalo Creek for $50,000. Eventually, there would be four separate communities of Ebenezers on the land.

The first group of Ebenezer settlers arrived the following year and, by 1845, 500 members of the sect had firmly established their communal society near Buffalo. A mill, communal houses, and a brewery were the first buildings erected. Early maps of the community show building #52 as a brewery next to the cooper shop. Frank J. Lankes in his book, The Ebenezer Community of True Inspiration, discusses the role of the colony in the area's brewing history.

"Discussion of the brewing of beer in the colony brings to light several puzzles. It is generally believed that there were two breweries here, at Gardenville and Ebenezer respectively. Two stone walled cellars are still in evidence at these places. From examination of records left by William Noe, I come to the conclusion that these sites were not the locations of breweries, but rather the cellars used for the aging of beer which was produced here. Noe drew some interesting colored maps of all four Ebenezer communities, showing pictures of all houses, mills and factories each having a key number with its explanation on a separate sheet. He calls the beer cellar at lower Ebenezer a lager house. There is a brewery indicated in Middle Ebenezer at the corner of Race Street and Union Road. I believe that there was only one brewery and that the cellars were merely storage places for properly aging the beer. Some of the older residents recall that after the departure of the Ebenezers, the Haas Brewery operated on the Clinton Street site. It is possible that Haas bought the Ebenezer equipment and brewery over one of the old cellars."

The Ebenezer colony was not heaven on earth for everyone. Research by Lankes (as reported in his book) tell two stories of accidents at their brewery. At noon on August 28, 1852, nine-year-old Rosina, daughter of Gottlieb Kurz, was drowned in a ditch near the brewery. On July 30, 1855, a young boy, Daniel Schneider, came to the brewery with two horses and a wagon to get beer. As he turned into the driveway behind the brewery, the horses shied and the wagon was upset. The driver had the reins wrapped around his hands and was thrown violently against a pile of lumber, striking his head. He died without regaining consciousness. His skull was broken by a blow of such force that some of his hair was firmly embedded in one of the boards. Another boy, riding with him, was thrown clear and not injured.

This brewery was across from the fire house at Union Road and Race Street. On a cold and wet spring day while walking in the cemetery near the West Seneca Historical House, I came across the grave of one Daniel Schneider, dead at nine years of age. Sometimes stories touch your heart.

The "inspirationalists," as the Ebenezers were called, soon outgrew their 5,000 acres in New York. A slow exodus moved the sect to Iowa where they founded the better-known Amana colonies. By 1863, the Ebenezers were gone from New York. Their brewery passed to Gottlieb Haas, who owned a hotel on Clinton Street near Union Road, across the street and the creek from the brewery. In 1869, the Haas Brewery produced 400 barrels. Haas closed the brewery around 1875, but still operated a saloon where town meetings were held until the 1900s. The old brewery was torn down in the 1940s.

The site of the original Ebenezer lager cellar at the corner of Main Street and Union Road became a brewery owned by John Metzger. He brewed 900 barrels in 1869, the earliest date of brewing at the site. Newspaper accounts indicate the old Ebenezer cellar stayed in the beer business until 1925 when Federal agents raided the cellar and shut down one of the few breweries still in business - illegally.

"Federal Agents Seize Wet Good" screamed the banner headline on the front page of West Seneca Herald on October 22, 1925. The subhead summarized the story: "Dry Agents Raid $50,000 Plant, Seize Beer - Chance Blast of Wind Gives Tip - Subterranean Chamber Brewery 75 Years Before Volstead."

t was a remarkable feat for the brewery to operate in the seventh year of Prohibition. Getting caught was a rare coincidence. Chief Leo Regan with four federal revenue agents were driving on Union Rd. in Ebenezer, when they passed a truck going in the opposite direction. A blast of wind raised the coverings on the passing truck exposing what appeared to be beer barrels. The lawmen stopped the truck, arrested the driver, and had the brew tested. It was reported to be 4.68 over the permitted one-half of one percent alcohol.

The driver told officers where the secret brewery was located. When officers arrived, the building owner, Theodore Hornung, said he didn't have a key to the door to the basement. Officers broke the doors down and in the cellar found sixteen 1,000 gallon tanks filled with brew and brewing equipment worth $35,000. "It is the largest and best equipped illicit brewery I've ever seen," said Dry Chief Regan. The owner told officers he had purchased the building two weeks before and knew nothing about what went on in the basement. The owner and two others, all from nearby Buffalo, were arrested with bail set at $5,000 each.

The arrest permanently closed a brewery that dated back 75 years to the original Ebenezer colony. Hamlets established by the Ebenezers are now incorporated into the Town of West Seneca. The Town Hall sits above the original Ebenezer lager cellar.

*David Mik, ABA #2454, is a serious collector and historian of cans and breweriana from the Buffalo area. Members may contact him at 39 Michaels Walk, Lancaster, NY 14086-9325.