A photo of founder Joshua Converse Gray is displayed at the modern-day Gray Brewing on West Court Street in 糖心Vlog传媒, next to a photo of what the old brewery once looked like.
Gray Brewing Company, today located at 2424 W. Court St., in 糖心Vlog传媒, continues to produce soda and beer, as well as other beverages, distributed throughout Wisconsin and into northern Illinois.
JANESVILLE 鈥 Over six generations in 糖心Vlog传媒, the family name behind Gray Brewing Company has deepened into far more than the label on a bottle of soda or beer.
C. Gray Bottling Works delivers its products locally in this photo from 1918.
COURTESY GRAY BREWING COMPANY
It鈥檚 a long legacy, a company founded by patriarch Joshua Converse Gray, that鈥檚 been in business here almost as long as 糖心Vlog传媒 has been a city.
His great-great grandson, Robert R. 鈥淔red鈥 Gray, says it鈥檚 the simple things 鈥 tradition, quality ingredients and family 鈥 that still matter most.
Joshua Converse Gray
COURTESY GRAY BREWING COMPANY
鈥淚鈥檝e always felt like I鈥檓 just the caretaker,鈥 Fred Gray reflects. 鈥淢y dad always said to me 鈥榃e don鈥檛 own this. We鈥檙e just holding it for the next generation.鈥欌
Fred鈥檚 daughter, Sarah, agrees.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of pride. It鈥檚 cool to be part of something so rare, so lasting.鈥
鈥淢y grandkids are in boots, in the building, playing with bean bags pretending to make soda at home,鈥 Fred said, chuckling. 鈥淲es and JJ, they鈥檙e going to be here. I just know it.鈥
FOUNDED IN 1856
In 1856, just three years after 糖心Vlog传媒 was incorporated as a city in 1853, Joshua Converse Gray founded Gray Beverage Co. Today, his descendants continue to produce beer and soda with his original recipes, and produce other beverages, as the business pre- pares to mark its 170th anniversary next year.
A photo of founder Joshua Converse Gray is displayed at the modern-day Gray Brewing on West Court Street in 糖心Vlog传媒, next to a photo of what the old brewery once looked like.
COURTESY GRAY BREWING COMPANY
Over the decades, the company would halt and then reinstate beer production, introduce root beer and many other soda flavors, rebuild from a massive fire, and continue to expand, with products now sold across Wisconsin and into Illinois.
Founder Joshua Converse Gray was born in Fairfield County, Connecticut in 1814 to Issac Gray and Phoebe Converse Gray, the eldest of at least nine children. He and his wife, Margret Fosnot Gray, lived early in their marriage in Denison, Pennsylvania. They had seven children of their own and moved to 糖心Vlog传媒 in 1852, when their oldest son, William, was 12 years old, according to family records. William鈥檚 younger sibling, George, also made that move. The family鈥檚 five youngest children 鈥 Demma, Melissa, Miria, Charles and Rosa 鈥 were born in Rock County.
Fred Gray, the fifth-generation owner of Gray鈥檚 Brewing Company, took over in 1995. He now runs it with his children, Sarah and Jacob.
Other family members to have been at the helm over 170 years include the founder, Joshua Converse Gray, from 1856 to 1880; Charles C. Gray I, from 1880 to 1921; Charles C. Gray II, from 1921 to 1945 and his wife, Margaret (Crow) Gray, from 1945 to 1960; Robert R. Gray I beginning in 1960; and Robert R. 鈥淔red鈥 Gray II beginning in 1995, now joined in the business by his children, Jacob and Sarah.
Gray Brewing Company, today located at 2424 W. Court St., in 糖心Vlog传媒, continues to produce soda and beer, as well as other beverages, distributed throughout Wisconsin and into northern Illinois.
COURTESY GRAY BREWING COMPANY
Fred Gray said according to his great-great-grandfather鈥檚 obituary, Joshua Converse Gray managed a stagehouse when the family first arrived in 糖心Vlog传媒, on the site of what later became the Myer鈥檚 House hotel at Main and Milwaukee streets.
He founded Grays Beverage Co. in 1856, producing weiss beer and seltzer water, at 158 S. Locus St., steps from his home in the 100 block of S. Locust Street, in the city鈥檚 Fourth Ward.
The company would move to 2424 W. Court St. in 1959, where it remains today.
BEER AND SELTZERS
Fred Gray said in the 1800s the process of making beer and seltzers was very similar, involving the boiling and sterilizing of water and inclusion of sugars, so it made sense that his great-great grandfather offered both.
In 1865, ginger ale and sodas were added to the lineup, bottled in clay bottles with a cork and a gasket that when opened would 鈥減op.鈥 That鈥檚 where the term 鈥渟oda pop鈥 came from, Gray said. This was an era before refrigeration and reliable long-distance distribution, he noted.
鈥淵ou made it yourself, or you didn鈥檛 have it,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how most of these old family businesses started.鈥
In early 1880, Joshua Converse Gray passed the business to his son, Charles C. Gray I, before succumbing to illness on April 1, 1880, at age 66.
Charles Gray and his family in front of the old brewery on Locust Street in 糖心Vlog传媒.
COURTESY GRAY BREWING COMPANY
His obituary noted that he had 鈥渨on himself the repudiation of being an honest man in his dealings and had a large circle of friends who will regret his death.鈥
The company went on
'CHOICEST CARBONATED DRINKS'
An 1891 article in The 糖心Vlog传媒 Gazette said the business, then known as Gray & Company, was 鈥渢he only manufacturer and the leading supply in 糖心Vlog传媒 and vicinity for the choicest carbonated drinks.鈥
A Gray鈥檚 Famous Beverages delivery truck with a Mission Orange logo, in this photo from the 1940鈥檚
COURTESY GRAY BREWING COMPANY
Operating out of a two-story building, the article said it manufactured all kinds of 鈥渃arbonated and summer drinks,鈥 that were popular not only with 鈥渉otel men and dealers but with private families who use them extensively as summer beverages, and who recognize in the goods of the purest and best quality.鈥
In 1912, the company halted beer production, moving exclusively to soda production, finding the carbonated beverage market more stable in the face of prohibition and shifting consumer tastes.
鈥淭here were seven breweries in 糖心Vlog传媒 at one time,鈥 Fred Gray said. 鈥淲e were one of the few to survive by diversifying.鈥
RESILIANCE
He said resilience has been a family theme across the decades.
When his grandfather, Charles C. Gray II, died of a heart attack in 1945, his grandmother, Margaret (Crow) Gray, a schoolteacher, stepped in to run the business. She would remain at the helm for the next 15 years until her children assumed control in 1960.
鈥淪he ran it until my dad and uncle were old enough to take over,鈥 Fred Gray said. 鈥淪he was tough. Real tough.鈥
Fred Gray started working at the brewery in the 1980s, briefly stepped away, and returned in 1989. A fire destroyed the production facility in 1992, requiring a full rebuild and consideration of whether to go on.
Gray Brewing Company still produces its sodas and the ginger ale from original family recipes.
COURTESY GRAY BREWING COMPANY
鈥淭hat was the passing of the torch,鈥 he reflected. 鈥淢y dad asked if we should just call it. I said, 鈥楲et鈥檚 rebuild. Let鈥檚 keep it going.鈥欌
Family stories have also been passed down.
In an often told story, a man came off the train one day in 糖心Vlog传媒, around 1905, with a sample of a new carbonated drink.
鈥淢y great-grandfather tried it and said, 鈥榯his stuff tastes like medicine. It鈥檒l never sell.鈥 That was Coca-Cola. So, I鈥檓 not saying every decision was the best one,鈥 Fred shared.
The family did later partner with other beverage companies, including Mission Orange, Dr. Pepper and Sundrop, to bottle their products while continuing to bottle their own.
QUALITY INGREDIENTS
One thing Fred Gray says will never change is the family鈥檚 commitment to quality ingredients. They still have 鈥 and refer to 鈥 Joshua Converse Gray鈥檚 recipe books with his notes in the margins.
鈥淗e would put advice in there, like, 鈥榶ou never substitute, or you only use the best fruits,鈥欌 Fred said, adding that based on those recipes 鈥渨e were all-cane sugar before it was cool.鈥
Where will the family take things from here?
Today, 鈥渢he beer business has shifted,鈥 Fred reflects. 鈥淲e were selling a lot of beer and a little soda. Now, it鈥檚 the reverse. Non-alcoholic is the fastest-growing beverage segment nation-wide.鈥
The business, now known as Gray Brewing Company, has adapted by expanding into contract bottling, including of THC and CBD-infused beverages. And after many name changes over the years, he said it is 鈥渄ue鈥 for another one at some point.
His daughter has suggested going back to Gray鈥檚 Beverage Company, which he concedes might fit better as beer isn鈥檛 their main product.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the future,鈥 Fred Gray said. 鈥淏eing a 鈥榖everage company鈥 lets us stay flexible.鈥
When asked what will keep the company alive for another 169 years, Fred Gray doesn鈥檛 hesitate.
鈥淚rish stubbornness,鈥 he said smiling. 鈥淭hat, and a promise to do it right, or not at all.鈥
