Benjamin was successful, but he died in 1715 around age 40. His son (also named Benjamin) sold the brewery and moved the family to North Carolina. He is also credited with starting the family legend that alcoholism runs in the family. (They didn't really know about alcoholism back then, but Benjamin's writings made it clear that the Fordham's in his day apparently tended to overdo it when it came to drinking.)
This son Benjamin married the daughter of a Hueguenot missionary (Martha LaPierre), -- which might have had something to do with the legend, too.
This Benjamin is buried in Craven County North Carolina. He and Martha had a son whom they named Benjamin Jr., who had a son named Benjamin III who moved to Sourthern Georgia. Benjamin III had a son named Zenus, who had a son named Jim Zenus Fordham, who had a son named Jean Fordham, whose son was Lawrence Fordham. Lawrence was my dad.
Getting back to the story: A few years ago, in 1995, a wealthy lawyer in Annapolis decided to try his hand at microbrewing. This fellow is not related to the family that we know of. (Even if he were, few of us would admit having a lawyer in the family.). This lawyer purchased an old building at 33 West Street in downtown Annapolis to hold is microbrewery and pub. The building dates from around the time of the American Revolution. He planned to call his microbrewery "Rams Head Tavern". Being a lawyer, he did his own title search, and discovered that this very plot of land was the plat chartered to Benjamin Fordham in 1703! It is uncertain (and unlikely but entirely possible) that the building (shown below in the photo I took this evening) is the original one owned by the Benjamin from Nottinghamshire.
After discovering the original ownership of the land, the lawyer decided to name the brewing portion of the operation "Fordham Brewing".
The specialized recipe for the flavored "Wisteria" beer (flavored with wisteria blossoms and real honey), and the dark lager "14 barrels" brew, supposedly were found in the British archives with Benjamin's commission papers. The success of those beers quickly far outstripped the capacity of the microbrewery, so the owner built a much larger operation in Dover, Delaware. (Why Dover? I have no idea, and no one else that I spoke with knows either.)
Today after my conference presentation in Dover, I drove across town and took the Saturday tour of the current operation.
In 2009, the Fordham Brewing Company purchased the Dominion Brewing Company, including its trademarks, recipes, and rights to the Dominion brands of Ginger Ale, Root Beer, Orange Soda, and other soft drinks. So this factory now produces both lines of products. Personally, I found the Root Beer a little too light for my taste, even though it is made with real sugar and no high-fructose corn syrup. But it was still fun taking the hour-long tour! This brewery now makes 29,000 barrels of beer a year (a barrel is 31 gallons... do the math! It's a bit more than Benjamin made in 1703!)
1 comment:
Ooo, I'd love to try the ginger ale/root beer!
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