As we all probably know, Union County, and the rest of Appalachia for that matter, has a long history with moonshining. In fact, Maynardville's own main street and Highway 33 is called Thunder Road in recognition of its bootlegging past- the moonshine "pipeline" between Middlesboro and Knoxville. I was born on Thunder Road in the back of my grandfather's car, but that's another story. If we look back at our history, even to colonial times and the earliest habitation by European settlers, distilled spirits have been produced by mountain people, both legal and illicit. Given the preponderance of settlers from the British Isles, those particularly of Scottish and Scots-Irish ancestry, whiskey, or whisky in Scotland, was a common libation, especially for the hardy settlers in the Overmountain settlements. The Whiskey Rebellion, in the early 1790s, is an example of "backwoods" settlers avoiding taxation on their production. So essential to Celtic societies was "usquebaugh", that its name literally translates to "water of life". In order to differentiate moonshine from any aged, charcoal-filtered Tennessee liquor, I should establish that it is made in secret, not taxed or regulated, highly proofed and not aged or charcoal-filtered.

I don't personally have much history with moonshining or moonshiners, except to say that I grew up with a boy that got arrested when we were teens for making "white liquor" along with his father in their barn. My father, on the other hand, has told a story for years about a "run-in" with moonshiners in Chesney when he was a kid, around the time of World War II. The story he relates is as follows: he stumbled upon a couple of moonshiners on the ridge above their house, and they held him for the rest of the day, only to send him home later. It doesn't sound very traumatizing, but I'm sure it had an impact, as he was a child and times were much different some 75 years ago. In fact, I would dare say that many Appalachians have turned a "blind eye" to moonshining, often seeing it as a "victimless" crime.

"From Hearth And Hoe" gives us a specific look at Union County's connection to the making of illicit liquor: "One important source of income for many Union Countians, although illegal, was moonshining. In 1918, Congress approved the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the export, import, manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States and its territories. This piece of legislation stimulated the production of bootleg liquor. Whiskey was made in three basic steps: mashing, fermenting, and distilling. First, whiskey makers soaked grain in hot water to make mash; then added malt to change grain starch into sugar; next, they added yeast to the mash and allowed the mixture to ferment. The fermentation changed the sugar into alcohol. Union Countians had been distilling liquor for home consumption for generations and the enactment of the new law stirred little interest. When the making of whiskey was legal in Union County, a number of distilleries were in operation. They made whiskey and hauled kegs to Knoxville, where it was sold. In 1920, the prohibition of distilled liquor forced many of the legal operations out of business, although one distillery in the county continued to operate until federal authorities moved in to shut it down. By that time, many illegal stills had been set up in the county and the manufacturing of liquor continued. Farmers depended on the sale of bootleg whiskey to support their families during the period preceding the Depression, and after the hard times began. Corn, which was produced on the farm, and sugar, which was cheap, constituted the two basic ingredients and could be hauled or carried to still sites with little chance of detection. Local sheriffs were not interested in traveling mountain sides in search of stills set up by local residents. Occasionally raids were made, but only after complaints were filed at the sheriff's office by concerned people. Many law officers were aware of illegal operations, but chose to ignore them."

To be continued over a 3 or 4 part series.