Bob Francis about Whisky






Fellow researchers,

The following articles on Bourbon whiskey gives a wide picture of the whiskey making profession in Bourbon, Nicholas, Harrison, and etc. counties. Many of the old family names are represented herein, so it should be of interest to most of you. This is taken from a series of articles in the Kentuckian-Citizen, Paris, Kentucky, in February-April, 1957.

Bob Francis

EDITOR'S NOTE - We are indebted for the followlowing article to Wayne Cottingham, a former resident of Paris who is now, we are told, Night Chief for the Associated Press in New York City. Cottingham, who graduated from Paris High school in the Class of 1914, was working on the staff of The Kentuckian-Citizen at the time (1917) he wrote the summary of the distilling industry here. Later he worked for the Lexington Leader, and for the AP in Knoxville, Tenn., before assuming his present post with the news service in New York. His comments on what was once a big local industry are both informative and amusing:




The present agitation in Congress over the manufacture of whiskey during the period of the war seems to sound the death knell of what was at one time the most important industry in Bourbon County, Kentucky. Kentucky in the old days was famous the world over for her pretty girls, fine thoroughbred horses and old Bourbon whiskey and this county did more than its "bit" in establishing this reputation for the State.

But, although she is still noted for her beautiful girls and fine horses, in the last few years Kentucky has lost her prestige as a whiskey state and even the picture of the Kentucky Colonel, seated on a riding horse which was as full of spirit as he was of "spirits" has lost its color.

Natural facilities made Bourbon county an ideal place for the manufacture of whiskey. Situated in the heart of the Bluegrass where grain could be grown easily, possessing a plentiful supply of limestone water which is necessary to give the characteristic flavor of the product and having excellent means of transportation, the whiskey industry in this county early became important and for many years "Old Bourbon" whiskey was renown the world over, having graced the tables of many European emperors.

Commercially, the whiskey manufacture and sale was of importance (words missing) it is from this (illegible) that this industry will be discussed.

Whiskey Made Early
From the earliest settlement of Bourbon county, the manufacture of whiskey was numbered among the important industries--fact for a number of years it was the most important. When the pioneers first settled here they were chiefly concerned with the growing of grain, but because of the richness of the soil they soon found that they could grow more than there was a ready market for, so in order to keep the grain until it could be sold, they began to convert it into whiskey.

A number of distilleries with a capacity of only a few barrels a day, sprang up at almost the same time and it is not known with any degree of certainty who started the first one. According to the historian Collins the first plant for the manufacture of whiskey was erected in 1790 by Jacob Spears and others from Pennsylvania, but the exact location is not known.

Others claim that Captain John Hamilton, who ran away from Pennsylvania on account of his participation in the whiskey insurrection, distilled in Bourbon be fore Spears. To whom the credit belongs for being the first to manufacture a product which was to make the county noted the country over, is not known, but the fact remains that the manufacture of whiskey was begun very early and continued until a few years ago.

Pioneer Distillers
Emanuel Wyatt operated a small distillery in a very early day or the land owned by the late Cassius M. Clay. Benjamin Bedford was also an early distiller. In 1806 Robert Owen built a small distillery near North Middletown and several were already in existence in what is now known as Centerville.

Those were days of "honest whiskey" when a bushel of grain would make two gallons that would retail for twenty-five cents a gallon. The gentle art of mixing water with the liquor, which has proved popular in recent times was not known then.

Uncle Sam was a disinterested partner in the making of whiskey at that time and everyone had the privilege of openly making and selling as much as he desired. The sun then served as light to work by and the distiller could se everything that went into the whiskey was pure, instead of having to take the chances of getting impurities in because of the pale light furnished by the waning moon, as is the case at the present time in some parts of Kentucky.

Whiskey-Powder Combination
Benjamin Bedford enjoyed the distinction of carrying on an industry of the most combustible nature ever conducted in Paris, in the form of a distillery and Powder mill combined. The powder manufactured was used in the War of 1812, while the whiskey-well, the whiskey was used in camphor bottles. Among the largest distilleries ever operated in the county were the following: White's Distillery, at Paris; the Paris Distillery, at Paris; Ford & Bacon, at Ruddles Mills; and George Pugh and Gus Pugh & Company, in the northern part of the county. The most famous brands were "Sam Clay," Chicken Cock," and "Peacock."

Amazing Number of Distillers
In 1810, the first public survey of native industries was undertaken through the census. Kentucky enumerators were very lax in omitting many manufactures which we know were carried on. However, they reported that in Bourbon county there were 128 distillers making 146,103 gallons of whiskey valued at $48,701. Considering the large size of families at that date and the number of employees or slaves, one might arrive at the conclusion that about one of every four or five farmers was a distiller. While it rated third place as a productive industry it certainly had the largest number of individuals engaged in it. Because of its superior quality Bourbon whiskey became known all over the world. For this reason we have given some time and space to recounting the names of those who helped to establish its international reputation.

In 1811, a part of John Rice's estate consisted of a 120 gal. still, one of 80 gallon capacity, 16 mash kettles, and a supply of tubs.

At the time of his death at Ruddell's Mills in 1812, Isaac Ruddle owned two, stills, two flake stands, and a boiler, which sold for $157.50. He had been the military leader of those who had taken refuge in his unfinished fort in 1780 and had vainly tried to protect them from the brutality of their captors. One of his babies was killed, two of his young boys captured and adopted by the Indians.

Another Missionary
When they grew up both of them married squaws and one, Stephen Ruddle, became an early missionary to the Indians sent by the Cooper's Run Baptist church of Bourbon county. During the War of 1812 he performed a valuable patriotic service in acting as interpreter and in enlisting Indian aid against the British. Isaac's wife, Elizabeth Bowman Ruddle, achieved local fame when she refused to allow him to sell any of his land for a proposed county seat at the junction of Stoner and Hinkston. After her bitter experiences and long captivity she craved peace and quiet. And especially did she wish to save her peach orchard from the probable raids of juvenile delinquents who might grow up around a town.

The Use Of Steam In Distilling
The Ruddle boiler, mentioned above, is the earliest local reference to the use of steam in distilling. The process was invented by Dr. Samuel Brown, a teacher of chemistry and physics at Transylvania College, Lexington, in 1798. His service in introducing small-pox vaccine into the United States is probably better known than his agricultural experiments but he taught Kentucky farmers to use fertilizer, then called "plaister," and devised a method of clarifying ginseng, a popular export to China.

In the eastern part of the county John Phelps was both miller and distiller before his death in 1814. In the Little Rock vicinity Lot Hayden had two stills, and kettles which sold for more than $200 that spring. John Swiney, probably near North Middletown, also used two stills.

Clement Ross owned 7 mash tubs and other equipment in 1814. George Mountjoy appears to have invested his earnings from two stills in a gig, one of the first in the county. Richard Smith owned 12 barrels of whiskey in "cags" and Sandford Gorham's 14 barrels sold for $275.62 at the rate of 35¢ a gallon. He also had on hand three barrels of cider, sometimes called cyder oil or cider royal.

John Miller, the founder of Millersburg, died in 1815 owning two stills and 15 mash tubs which sold for $142.75. In 1816 Jonathon Musick owned two stills,

Free Whiskey
One could go on in this vein at great length. A strange custom of the times was to serve free whiskey at administrator's sales in the hope, I presume, of inducing spirited bidding (if you will pardon a poor pun). For instance at one average sized sale in 1799, those who attended consumed 8 gallons, 3 quarts of liquor. Such items were considered part of the necessary expense of the occasion and allowed as such by the court.

References used: Bourbon County Court Records; files of the Kentucky Gazette, Lexington; Kerr's History; Arts and Manufactures by Tench Coxe, 1814.



Distilling in the issue of February 8, Mr. Brannon reprinted an excellent article about the distilling industry, written by Wayne Cottingham, which mentions a half dozen of the early distillers and eight of the better known plants of later years. As a footnote to his remarks, I can supply the names of a few more of the early ones.

Jacob Spears
When Clay Sutherland told me last summer that the Chamber of Commerce had received a request for information on the use of the name Bourbon, I could only repeat the Collins History story that Jacob Spears was the first distiller, as far as I knew. His home was the place where Callie Jones lives on the Clay and Kiser Pike and the little stone storehouse where the barreled whiskey was stored was in full view across the road. With some additions it is used as a barn by Herman Kearns. Jacob Spears also had a mill which may have been near the point where Cooper's Run empties into Stoner. A fragment of the old dirt road leading from his house to it was until 1925 clearly visible behind the voting booth for that precinct just north of the Cooper's Run bridge on the Cynthiana Road. Our farm neighbor, Mr. Joe Florence, and my husband agreed to divide the space it occupied and turned it into our respective farms. We used the remnant of rock wall that had bordered it to patch our other stone fences.

I have always been told that his son, Noah Spears, floated the whiskey to New Orleans, walking home after its sale by way of the robber and Indian infested Natchez trace. He made this trip as many as thirteen times. Once he was accompanied by his younger brother, Abraham, who at sixteen, was ready for adventure. A souvenir which corroborates this incident is a beautiful miniature of the latter, owned by Mrs. Woodford Spears, which was painted by either John B. or William E. West, Lexington artists who had gone to Tennessee and worked in the river towns of the deep south. Their progress downstream was leisurely enough to allow the painting to be done on the way. The danger surrounding their return is attested by news stories of the killing of road crews by the Indians. Despite alert guards who watched while they worked at marking the trace and clearing the undergrowth, the mortality rate was high on the stretch of the path in Tennessee.

Since Noah Spear' wife, born in 1792, was a half-sister of my great-great grandmother (who once owned the land where the strip of mill road could be seen) the story has come down fairly directly. It was she who claimed that the superiority of their whiskey, labelled Bourbon, established the demand for it under that name.

By an advertisement of the Kentucky Gazette I can corroborate the story of Jacob Spears a fine horse to tend, too, but that properly belongs to another chapter. His liesure time, about which Mr. Cottingham amusingly speculates, was employed in taking an interest in public affairs. At least, it would seem so from the meeting at his house to nominate representatives to the Constitutional convention, advertised for the 14th day of February, 1799.

Later, Jacob Spears' son, Solomon, carried on the distilling business using the fine still-flowing spring at "Sunny-side" in its manufacture. He built his home there, a part of which is incorporated in the rear part of Mr. R. B. Rendrew's house. When the present owner bought the place a brick granary which had formerly served as a warehouse still stood. The racks for holding the barrels were gone but the large timbers which had held them were in place. A door elevated in the wall was used for unloading directly from wagons onto a floor built about four feet above the ground. The old rope wind(?)ass employed in raising the barrels to the wooden loft was usable. The age of the loft was shown by the rough timbers sixteen or eighteen inches in diameter, hewn only on two sides.

Other Early Distillers
Who were some of the other early distillers? Matthias Lair and Isaac Keller made whiskey before 796. Lair has bought the part of Captain Isaac Ruddle's land which included the tract where Ruddles' fort stood in 1780 when attacked and destroyed by the British and Indians. Readers not familiar with his dramatic chapter of Kentucky history would enjoy its story, written by a Lair descendant, Mrs. Maude Ward Lafferty, of Lexington, published in 1957 by the Kentucky Historical Society in both paper back and cloth bound editions. Built in 1794, the mansion house, though heavily damaged by fire, stands about a mile from Lair Station in what is now Harrison County, then Bourbon.

The Whiskey Tax
In assuming that there was no tax on whiskey in early times Mr. Cottingham was in error. In 1793 a meeting was called at Lexington to protest the federal excise tax on liquor and especially the provision that it must be paid in specie, which in the west was almost non-existent. Almost all businesses were conducted by giving notes and when the local merchants made their annual trips to Philadelphia to buy new stock they posted notices to that effect several months in advance asking their patrons to come in and settle so they could buy new goods. Later we shall discuss the kinds of produce accepted in payment of goods.

The first reference I found in the Bourbon county records to the payment of this tax was in the accounts of the settlement of George Lail's estate when it mentioned two pounds sterling, and seven shillings tax, on whiskey in 1800. George Lail and his wife were other survivors of the siege t of Ruddles' Fort, at which time two small sons were captured. One was recovered by trading a blanket for him, the other was adopted by the Indians who tested his stoicism by rolling him down a bank. The George Lail house in the edge of Harrison County, formerly Bourbon, is on a farm which belongs to Mr. Logan English.

References used: Bourbon County Court Records, files of the Kentucky Gazette, Collins' History of Kentucky and Kerr's History Of Kentucky.


"Did Bourbon Whiskey Get Its Unique Flavor By Accident?"
By EDNA TALBOTT WHITLEY

From some source, not now recalled, Mr. Brannon says that he heard that the use of charred barrels to add flavor to whiskey came about by an accident, a fire in which oak casts were burned but not consumed. We are reminded of the classic story of how primitive man found that cooked pork was edible. His pet pig was burned alive in a fire that destroyed the house. In attempting to rescue it he burned his fingers. Automatically he thrust them into his mouth to ease the pain. When he did this his taste buds were treated to a perfectly new sensation and ever afterwards he burned down his houses to enjoy roast pig when hunger overtook him.

The First Bourbon Maker
Collins' History says that the first Bourbon whiskey was made in Scott County by Rev. Elijah Craig in 1789. If so, why didn't they call it "Scott" or "Woodford" for that is where it would have been at that date? If this is true, how was our busy young friend, Jacob Spears, employing his time after returning from the Sandusky campaign in 1782? In June, 1786, the Bourbon County Court set the rates which innkeepers could charge for rum, brandy, wine and whiskey so it was known and served here at that time. Perrin says, that Peter Houston built a malt house in 1787 to furnish malt to neighboring distillers.

In February, 1798, the distillers around Lexington held a meeting at Brent's stone tavern, Whether it was political in Purpose, directed toward finding a candidate for Congress who would favor repealing the excise tax on vvhiskey, I do not know. The federal money was all being spent for improvemerits in the east while the Kentucky farmers had no outlet for their crops. They had a point in opposing Alexander Hamilton's revenue measures. In a very modern fashion of merchandising Andrew McCalla's Drug Store advertised a long list of distillers' supplies, among others aniseed water, orange water, clove water, and juniper berries (for flavoring gin). In addition they furnished instructions for making some of these drinks. In other columns coppersmiths advertised stills.

Wine Making
At that time the Kentucky Gazette carried a long article on grape culture written by John James Du Four, one of a group of enterprising Swiss emigrants who had settled in a colony in Jessamine county. An organization was formed to develop wine-making on a commercial scale, but the differences in climate made the grapes fall off before ripening, in some cases, and the movement failed. Later the Swiss went to Vevay, Indiana, to repeat their experiment.

In Kentucky wine-making remained a family industry, usually supervised by the women of the pioneer home. It would be interesting to discover who in Bourbon County has the oldest recipes for making dandelion, alderberry (or is it alderblossom?) wine or any other of the delicacies served to visitors. In many a household blackberry cordial was a soverign remedy for "virus x," carefully set aside for that purpose.

Other Distillers
Did the tax have something to do with Laban Shipp's offering his place for sale, July 4, 1799? In describing it he wrote that his orchard contained 400 to 500 apple trees and 400 bearing peach trees. His stillhouse was equipped with stills of 96 and 118 gallons capacity and 30 mash tubs. Actually he did not sell and go to Hopkinsville until much later, but that is another story.

William Griffith, one of six Bourbon county representatives to the Second Constitutional Convention in 1799, died the next year. His crop of corn and all of the stills and vessels necessary for carrying on that part of the farming operation were bought by his son, Samuel.

Robert Clarke, the builder of a blockhouse where neighbors could take refuge in time of Indian attack, owned a small still and vessels which sold for five pounds sterling and eight shillings in 1801. A part of his fort on the Hume and Bedford Road is incorporated in the farmhouse still owned by his descendants, the Misses Clarke of Duncan Ave.

Tight Money
How long credit had to be extended is shown in the final paymerit in 1801, after four years of waiting, for 278 gallons of whiskey sold by the estate of John Ruddle for 55 pounds 12 shillings.

At the time of nis death in 1803, Christian Spears had on hand more than a thousand gallons of cider, five hundred of whiskey, and forty-nine of brandy. His son-in-law, Peter Smith, bought his equipment. Spears and his wife were in the group of prisoners taken at Ruddle's Fort and marched to Detroit. Enroute the Indians killed Mrs. Spears. After her death he became the protector of young Anna Mary Burger who had been separated from her family. Thus he was able to save her from mistreatment by the Indians. Later, while still in captivity, they were married.

Early Missionary From Bourbon
At James Alexander's sale in 1805 the still and kegs, appraised at $25, were knocked off to John Alexander for $43.50. Living at "Cherryvale" near Gass's spring on the Hancock or Clay farm, this family furnished a son, Wm. Patterson Alexander, to the Presbyterian ministry. After teaching for a period at Cooper's Run school house he became a missionary, the first ever to go to Hawaii.

When Daniel Call died in 1807, his widow, Hannah, bid in the Still, mash kettles, and tubs for $121, it may have been her main chance to support her family.



The Kentuckian-Citizen, March 1, 1957
"Distillers, Dissenters, & Writers of Odes" by Edna Talbott Whitley

Some of our discriminating readers have probably noticed the two spellings of Isaac Ruddell's name in one sentence in our last story. For this we have a precedent in Collins'
History which, indexed Ruddell's Mills in contrast to Isaac and rnost of his kinsmen as
Ruddle. By the time I could consult that gentleman's will to see how he signed his own name the paper had gone to press. So, Ruddle's Fort Homemakers please take note. A third colloquial version of the name used to be Riddle's Mill perhaps used derisively to indicate a small place where nothing happened, like Timbuktu, about which Dr. Pittenger is an authority.

Steam Distilling and Inventors
When referring to distilling with steam as the invention of Dr. Samuel Brown I should have said it was based in part on Edward West's invention of a steamboat model which ran on Town Fork, Lexington, in 1794. Rather belatedly a patent for it was issued in 1802. Distillers using steam were warned in October, 1811, not to infringe on the patent right of Edward West, Samuel Brown and Thomas West. Edward West was a talented silver and gunsmith who patented three other very useful inventions that same year, a gunlock, a nail cutting machine, and one which would cut and head nails at the same time. Earlier than this most building had to be ne with wooden pegs. Another invention of West's was advertised the Kentucky Gazette of December 11, 1799, metallic rings to cure rheumatism. Nine long testionials as to their efficacy were included, among them one from Jesse Williams of Bourbon county. The credulity of the public is ever present but it was a time when medical knowledge was in a primiwe state of development and when herb doctors and Indian remedies flourished.

Thomas West who had a part, perhaps a financial interest, in the distilling patent had moved to Paris before 1788 where he conducted a tavern opposite the courthouse. Serving Bourbon to his customers and chatting with the makers had convinced him, no doubt, of the usefulness of the invention. To a mere housewife the distilling process sounds very complicated. Usually stillhouses were built below a hill so that a gravity feed could bring the water down from the spring. The coldness of the water was important in helping to condense the vapor from the still. The grains used were corn (51 to 75 per cent), rye, and barley malt. Probably the proportions were then a carefully guarded secret as they are now. Do you not suppose that farmers who got together at sales, elections, and other public occasions debated the merits of relative proportions of grain and compared recipes much as their wives traded cooking secrets?

Eighteen to twenty gallons of hot water was poured over each bushel of ground cornmeal. It was boiled and cooled. Rye meal was added, brought to a high temperature, and cooled again. Then malt made from barley (by spouting it in cold water) was added at a specified temperature for twenty minutes to change the starch to sugar. No other sweetening was used. This mixture went through a fermenting process for three or four days and was called "beer".

After being heated to near the boiling point it was put into the still. Finally it was stored in charred white oak barrels to age. The kegs or barrels were elevated on racks to provide an even flow of air at all times. Our changing climate is supposed to add something to the flavor.

Published List of Distillers
Under the history of different precincts Perrin mentions the following distillers: John Miller, Robt. McClelland, and Wm. Turner in the Millersburg precinct; one on the Ellison land at Flat Rock; Robert Owen and John Lander near North Middletown. Near Clintonville were Wm. Tillet, Henry Sagester, one of the Dennisons, someone on the Jake Epperson land; and Daniel Thatchel (before 1817). Around Jacktonville were (Christian?) Bowman,Ben and John Shropshire and S. B. Clarkson on Silas Creek, all from 1815-1818. He quotes someone who said every house on Townsend Creek had its distillery and mill. At Ruddell's Mill, Ruddell and Mulharen, (son-in-law of Isaac Ruddell) made pumpkin brandy.

The Liquor Tax and The Whiskey Rebellion
At the time Kentucky became a state Congress had just passed the excise tax in an effort to meet Alexander Hamilton's budget for getting a system of government under way. When the Pennsylvanians rioted as a demonstration of their unwillingness to conform several thousand federal troops led by Hamilton invaded that state to quiet the turmoil. Kentuckians were terribly excited and rather expected the same thing to happen here. Owners had to pay a tax of 54 cents per gallon on the capacity of the still and a 7 cent per gallon production tax. The flow of oratory and the fountain of print was terrific. Some hid their stills out, that is, did not report them, others met the payments. Some had to be sued.

Except for the 1937 flood which destroyed the whiskey tax records in the basement of the Revenue building at Louisville we would have a complete list of early distillers. But a few are recovered from a list of one hundred and seventy seven Kentuckians who were sued in Federal Court. Judge Harry Innes was an intelligent person far better informed of the actual conditions under which Kentuckians suffered than the law makers in the east. Almost invariably he let the distillers of half of their tax and gave them thirty to ninety days in which to raise the money. Twenty-three were from Bourbon, County:

John Shawhan 1794, Thomas Jones Sr. 1797, James Rule 1794, James Henry 1799, James Ingalls 1799, Thomas Hinkston 1798, Alexander Robinson, 1799, John Shaw 1798, Hugh Duffin 1799, John McCrackin 1798, David Hanaway 1798, Israel Gilpin 1798, Alexander Caldwell 1798, Samuel Lyon 1798, Daniel Ronderbush 1798, Thomas Rule 1796, Joshua Harlan 1799, Elijah Fishback 1795, James Hutcheson 1795, John Gregory 1798, Robert and James Caldwell, dates missing. Another name which might be added to the list is that of Edward Ragland, 1790, who lived in the part of Bourbon which became Clark County. Some had to be hauled to court more than once, for they considered the whiskey tax a sectional discrimination and an invasion of their freedom. These names are taken from W. R. Jillson's "Early Kentucky Distillers, 1783-1800."

In East Paris on the road going towards Millersburg and Maysville was an old frame building called the "Blue House" used by Mr. Ellerbeck as a brewery in 1805, says McCann in his recollections of Paris of that date. (Keller & McCann's "Sketches of Paris," 1876.)

More Distillers in County Court Records
Richard B. Smith had three stills of 60, 106 and 130 gallons capacity and 33 tubs in addition of 12 barrels of whiskey in "Cags" when he died in 1816.

Two years later when Thomas Chaney's two stills were sold, John Esham bought both the little and big flake stands for $56 land $122 respectively. Jesse Hildreth, Josiah Swearingen, Elisha McCelland and Jonas Weatherford each bought four tubs. They appear to be from the vicinity of Cane Ridge or Jackstown.

Rudolph Mock, a pioneer of German descent, had turned his still and vessels over to his son, Rudolph, Jr., before his death in 1817 but they were not entirely paid for. His still had a capacity of 64 gallons.

A 75 gallon still with cap and worm, appraised at $50, brought $75 at the sale of Samuel Call near North Middletown in 1818. The successful bidder was John Stewart. His 125 gallon still brought $71.25. Tom Parrish and Thomas Carter bought his mash tubs and Samuel Rash bought the "boyler."

Melikiah Crouchman, another early German settler, had stilling equipment. Lloyd Ralls bought tubs and Andrew House his apple mill in January 1810. Apparently he lived in the south end of the county, toward Fayette.

Moses Thomas, a Revolutionary soldier and early settler, owned three mash tubs and nine barrels indicating some activity along this line before his death in 1818, but his main crop was tobacco.

A Few Dissenters
After reading all these names of persons engaged to some extent in distilling one might suppose it had the unanimous endorsement of all farmers, but such was not the case. There were some who weighed its disadvantages against its so-called benefits. One whose name is not recorded for posterity, expressed himself in an ODE to WHISKEY. After starting off with "Great Spirit hail!" and a little pro and conning he gives us these lines:

"We owe, great Dram; the
trembling hand to thee,
The headstrong purpose, and the
feeble knee
The loss of honor, and the cause
of wrong;
The brain enchanted, and the
faltering tongue;
Whilst fancy flies before there,
Unconfined
Thou leavest disabled prudence
far behind.
In thy pursuit our fields are
left forlorn;
Whilst giant weeds oppress the
pigmy corn.
Thou throwest a mist beforetbe
planters eyes;
The plow grows idle, and
the harvest dies . . . "

References used: Bourbon County Court Records; files of the Kentucky Gazette and the Kentucky Reporter; Perrin; Kellar and McCann; and W. R. Jilson as mentioned in narrative.



A report of manufacturing in 1810 is our only reliable source of information about the quantity of early whiskey made in Bourbon county. Since there were fifty-four counties in the commonwealth at that date, we appear to have made more than our share, one sixteenth of the total output of the state. The War of 1812 brought a number of new excise taxes and increased the rate of the whisky tax from 7 to 20 cents a gallon. How long it remained at this level I do not know. Once raised, it seems difficult to get any tax down again, for we constantly demand new services which absorb the revenue from it.

As time went on and markets for other agricultural products fewer farms engaged in distilling. It may be that the smaller plants were gradually absorbed by the sale of equipment to larger ones. Though there was an embargo on importing a number of foreign manufactures one Lexington firm, Trotter and Tilford, offered suitable for making stills in 1808 and recommended its wearing qualities.

When Mrs. Margaret Rannells, widow of Rev. Samuel Rannells, died soon after her husband, her two still tubs were bought in 1821 by Hezekiah Martin and her son, William Rannells, bought six barrels of cider. Anthony Thornton's estate sold, in 1822, two stills of 120 and 65 gallons capacity each, a boiler holding 150 gallons, and 20 mash tubs. In addition there were 5 barrels of whiskey on hand.

Amounts for the sale of Jacob Custer (Custard) were not settled until 1822 some seven years after it was held. George Custer, who may have grown up in this interval to manage this branch of the family business, bought the still and worm for $126. At Larkin Field's auction in September 1823, tkirty-six gallons of whiskey was sold. Mrs. Winny Webb had four barrels of cider, a keg of wine, a two and a half gallon bottle of current shrub, a keg of cherry bounce, and "two bottles containing something" when her personalty was sold that year. (Can't you see they sniffin hopefully?)

Mrs. Webb's array of homemade company refreshments reminds us of the little four year old boy who was included in a spend-the-day party which his family attended in honor of visitors long ago. When homemade wine was passed at the conclusion of the meal a minute portion was served to him. Attention was drawn to him when he closed his eyes tight while sipping with evident relish. "Why Edward", they said "why are you drinking with your eyes shut"? "Soloman says look not upon the wine when it is red" was his lisped explanation.

In November 1823 Joseph Cummins' sale found a new owner in George Standiford for his small still, worm, and flakestand. Gus Pugh bought a "cag" and barrel and Joseph Shawhan two copper funnels. George Baylor bid in the large still, worm, flake stand and 21 tubs sold that year at William Hutchison's sale. Abraham Spears gave $9 for the lot of wood stacked at the still house and Robert Trabuc bought six barrels.

Chas. Menary's still sold to John Caul (Call?) and four of his tubs went to James Bryan, two to Joel Bates, six to John Maginnis, one to Charles Menary (Jr.?) and two to Leonard Dunivin. Ralph Jacoby's personalty included fourteen barrels when his estate was appraised in 1823.

About half way to North Middletown lived William Thomas whose estate was appraised in December 1823. At his sale in the following February Kizziah and Henry Thomas got twenty of the cider barrels, Wm. Duncan eight of them, and neighbor, Hicklin bought the double barrels (Hogsheads?). In September 1823, Wm. Tillet bought John Reed's still and cap.

In the Jackstown vicinity Thomas Neal's estate listed both large and small stills with worms and caps (one worm). Near Jacksonville A. C. Respass bought Thomas Respass's three mash tubs, two barrels of whiskev and an empty barrel in March 1824. Toward Flat Rock Charles Soper's estate had 6 still tubs, of which two went to Themas Soper, three to Levin F. Hall, and one to John Letton. His twelve barrels of whiskey went to Thomas and Lawrence Soper, who also got some of the kegs and empty barrels.

George Standiford had sixty barrels of whiskey holding 34 gallons each when he died in 1824. He had a shop in Paris and may have taken some of this in trade expecting to ship it scuth. John and N. Standiford paid $469 for it at the sale in October.

Originally it was our plan not to resort to printed history until the lesser known scurces of information (court records and early newspapers) were exhausted. But I trust your patience be exhausted, too, in the process of recording our rather statistical treatment of the topic, here is one explanation of who made the first Bourbon whiskey.


The Claim of John Hamilton From Pages 657 and 658 Perrin's History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties:


Perrin's History, published in 1882, was one of many which came out in that decade on the subscription plan. Each person whose name headed a sketch furnished the material for publication. Obviously one of Capt. John Hamilton's children or grandchildren, then living in Cynthiana, wrote the sketch. Unfortunately, he or she did not state where John Hamilton settled and had his distillery, but another page of Perrin, (449) gives the clue in the Bedford sketch, when it says that Benjamin Coleman Bedford moved a short time after his marriage to a place near Paris on Houston, which was settled by Johnnie Hamilton. Benj. Coleman Bedford's first marriage occurred in September 1829, so Hamilton had given up possession of his home quite early. Mrs. William Ardery, whose researches are a valuable contribution to Kentucky history, has traced the title to the old stone house which formerly stood on the Ford's Mill Road and which was recently razed when the site became part of the Detroit Harvester property. A cornerstone or keystone, inscribed "J. H. 1803," was carefully preserved and presented to Mrs, Ardery who had it incorporated in the stone wall of the terrace back of the Anne Duncan House,

One bit of corraboration, to the theory that it is the same John Hamilton in the above sketch comes in a newspaper advertisement May 15, 1817, in our own Western Citizen when Miles Gallagher, coppersmith, announced he was moving to John Hamilton's on the Ford Mill Road and would continue to make stills and kettles. He asked also to buy old copper, brass and pewter.

One or two inconsistencies should be pointed out in the Hamilton narrative. Ruddell Station was burned in 1780 and not rebuilt. Matthias Lair who bought its site made whiskey there before his death in 1796. A descendant says he recorded in the Bible that "he sold it at Maisville for 12 1/2 cts a gallon." The whiskey insurrection in Pennsylvania occurred in 1794 which did not leave much leeway for raising a crop and converting it. Collins' History says Jacob Spears built his distillery in 1790 (Vol 2 p 67). The late Joseph H. Ewalt, born in 1866, told his wife, who grew up in the Jacob Spears house on an adjoining farm to the place which his family settled in 1788, that the first whiskey in Bourbon County was made there where her grandfather, George Thomas, later lived and distilled in the Jacob Spears distillery. In addition to being close neighbors Mrs. Jacob Spears and Mrs, Henry Ewalt were sisters-in-law, the latter being a widow of Jacob Keller, who died in 1761, before her marriage to Henry Ewalt. Without the revenue records an argument as to who was first is rather futile. But Captain Hamilton's difficulties in bringing his still to Kentucky make a vivid and colorful record of an early era and attest to his ingenuity.

References used as stated in text; Bourbon County Court Records.


See: Bob Francis & Shawhan Website

Lyrics: "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Don Gibson (But I don't think he was talking about Bourbon!)