John Abraham Sprenger Jr. was born in Reading, Pennsylvania.  He was raised in his family's brewery in Lancaster and took it over from his mother Elizabeth in 1867.  He ran the firm until 1873, when demand forced him into a newer and larger manufactory.  He purchased Philip Frank's brewery on 205 South Locust & Lime Streets and renamed it the Action Brewery.  This brewery bore the Sprenger name for the next 78 years.

In 1882 the brewery fell into arrears and it was sold at auction.  Through some legal effort John's ex-wife Adaline took ownership of the firm and the debt was written off.  She kept her ex-husband on as an agent and ran the brewery, now named the Excelsior, until her death in 1892.

John Abraham Sprenger Jr. died on August 28th, 1914 at the age of 85.  The Sprenger Brewery ultimately closed in 1951.

Adaline Ehrisman Sprenger was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  In 1852 she married brewer John Abraham Sprenger, Jr. and apparently became herself interested in the business of brewing.  In 1880 Adaline rescued the her husband's brewery from bankruptcy by divorcing him and arranging to purchase the property the following year when it was auctioned for debts on the courthouse steps.

Adaline ran the brewery until her death on June 5th, 1892, after which her ex-husband once again took it over.  The brewery she rescued survived as the Sprenger Brewery until 1951.