Dr. John E. Wurm graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph in 1902. At the time of his registration he was resident of Ubly, Michigan.  He was born in Bingham Township, Huron County, Michigan in Nov of 1878 to John Wurm and Katherine Hoffmeyer.

These photos are one of several resources that ultimately led to linking the families of Henry Wurm and Elizabeth Lein of Zurich, Ontario to the families of Daniel Wurm and Catharine Erb of Michigan. While studying in Canada, John Wurm maintained contact with the Ontario branch of the family. These photos were received from the daughter of Edmund Daniel Wurm who recalled that Dr. Wurm was a relative but the actual relationship was by then unknown.

Dr. Wurm married Sarah Elizabeth Munroe on 3 Jan 1906 in Millersburg, Michigan. Sarah was born on 19 Dec 1869 in Elgin, Ontario and died on 3 Jun 1928 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan.

On 25 Sep 1929, Dr. Wurm married Lulu Goulet. Lulu was born on 1 Jun 1888 in Toledo, Ohio and died in 1947 at Caseville, Huron County, Michigan.  Dr. Wurm died on 7 Jun 1945 in Pigeon, Huron County, Michigan.  At the time of his death, Dr. Wurm was President of Farmers and Merchants State Bank and President & General Manager of the Sebewaing Brewing Company.

Dr. Wurm led the brewery for nearly a decade through some difficult years.  From 1936 to 1945, the brewery was still defining itself.  It made the transition from the goose in flight as a mascot to real lions!  Dr. Wurm was responsible for bringing live lions to the brewery in 1939.  For more on this, see this story here.  A few years after his death, the brewery made another mascot transition from the lion to the well known pheasant.  With World War II, there were material shortages of rubber, metal, and other resources for such things as delivery of beer and the metal int eh bottle caps.  This guy was a remarkable man!

In a Google publications via the University of Michigan Library, a document titled “Brewery Highlights” was discovered listing the labels of beer available nationwide in 1957.  In it, there are three labels of beer printed that were brewed by the Sebewaing Brewing Company.  On pages 94, 95, and 96, the labels documented are Club, Sport, and Sebewaing.  Click on the page number to see the published page.

This publication helps to establish what labels were available at the time of the publications.  To date, documentation has not been located to establish definitive dates as to when Old Style, Stock Ale, and Brewers’ Best ended and when other labels like Sport, Club, Golden Pheasant, and Sebewaing began.  Pride of Michigan definitely has a start date tied to the name change in 1964.

In the same publication, an interesting chart displays the brewery decline from 1945 to 1957.  The chart is pictured on the left and can be seen clearer by clicking on it.  The publication can be seen in its entirety at this link.

These old documents help to piece bits and pieces of information to narrow down facts and timelines.