Acey and Laura Brown

Asa Whitacher Brown was named for his great-Uncle Asa, who was well-loved back in Licking County. His life would not be colorful and he would not have a whole lot of fame, or even recognition, in life, and would die early. Yet, Asa and his wife Laura, bring together two families of great distinction.

After Asa's father died, the family stayed in Louisa County until 1869, then moved to Ringgold County, Iowa. Asa made that move, but after 1870, left for Indiana. Asa's three youngest brothers went to California after 1880 - first to Mono County, then moved closer to civilization in Fullerton, California, then a booming city with oil and citrus.

Asa's mother, her brother Francis Gibboney, and four older siblings stayed, more or less, to southern Iowa with John going to Nebraska. This group remained active in farming.

Asa went to Pierson Township in southern Vigo County, Indiana, and lived with his cousins until he could purchase his own farm. To understand this, we need to go back to Bazzel Brown, Asa's grandfather. N. T. Brown, our ancestor, was born in 1820. Two years later, Bazzel and Abigail had a second child, James Sutton Brown. James was born just after the family arrived in Missouri and like his brother, N .T., would count Ohio as his boyhood home. As a teenager, he moved to Illinois with his parents; as an adult, he chose to move to Vigo County to farm. In Indiana, he married Rebecca Forbes on December 22, 1864. The 1880 Census for Pierson Township, Vigo County, Indiana, gives us an idea of this family,

Name         Role Sex Age Birthplace

James S Brown Self M 57 Missouri

Rebecca Brown Wife F 47 New Jersey

William Brown         Son M 14 Indiana

Abigal Brown         Daughter F 13 Indiana

Elizabeth Brown Daughter F 11 Indiana

Tighlman Brown Son M 7 Indiana

The youngest, formally George Tighlman "Tighl" Brown was born December 18, 1873, on his father's farm. He married Hannah Elizabeth "Lizzie" Richey. This couple becomes important to our immediate branch in a few years.

 

Asa Brown and Laura Jane Van Cleave circa 1877

Asa met Laura Jane Van Cleave, daughter of a local farmer and veteran of the Civil War. Laura's father, Henry, represented a history that rivaled Asa's and is told in another section. It is hardly surprising that the couple met. Family lore suggests they met at Fletcher Chapel Methodist Church. Geography is a better clue. In an 1874 Map of Pierson Township, Asa's 40 acre farm was on the border with Sullivan County to the south while James Sutton Brown owned the 40 acre farm on Asa's north line. To the northeast of James was John S. Van Cleave's 80 acre farm - John was Laura's oldest brother - on the opposite side of the road from his father's farm, that is Henry Van Cleave's farm, Laura's dad's farm, was northeast less than a mile away. Fletcher Chapel was just across the street from Asa's farm. The couple was married on August 9, 1877, at Fletcher Chapel in southern Vigo County, near Pimento, Blackhawk, and Farmersburg. One last note, James Sutton Brown's farm was previously owned by Wells. Research has yet to connect them to the Wells family from Licking County, Ohio.

By the 1880 Federal Census, Asa and Laura are listed in Linton, Indiana, with their son Nick. The 1890 Federal Census is lost to us in a fire, but the 1900 Federal Census gives a fairly complete view of the family,

Household         Role Sex Age Birthplace

Asa W Brown             Head M 48 Iowa

Laura J Brown             Wife F 43 Indiana

Nicholas H Brown         Son M 22 Indiana

Ethel B Brown             Daughter F 19 Indiana

Dora M Brown             Daughter F 17 Indiana

CHARLIE T BROWN Son M 16 Indiana

Laura B Brown         Daughter F 13 Indiana

Roy T Brown         Son M 7 Indiana

Robert R Brown         Son M 6 Indiana

Esther E Brown         Daughter F 3 Indiana

NOTE: Laura B Brown went by her middle name, Blanche. Robert R Brown went by his middle name, Ross.  The only family member missing is Iva Doin Brown who was born a couple months after the census on June 7, 1900.

 

Asa, Laura, and Family, Fall, 1900.

On April 27, 1902, tragedy struck. Asa died. The family held together. Nicholas married and started his own farm and family. The girls married, but did not move too far away. Charlie went to work in a factory, married, and had two sons. Ross worked for the Terre Haute Water Plant, married, but had no children. The Van Cleaves had family reunions throughout the 1920s that have been documented by photographs.

 Laura Brown and her family, circa 1908

On October 15, 1921, a sad story took place. While returning from a house call late at night, Laura's brother, Dr. Robert H. Van Cleave of Farmersburg, was returning from a late night house call. At the crossing with the Illinois Central, he was struck and killed by a high speed passenger train. Robert had never married and had no children leaving Laura, his sister, as next-of-kin. Laura received a settlement of $10,000. One of Laura's son-in-laws talked Laura into letting him use the money for a business, but lost it in the Great Depression. This caused many people around Terre Haute to believe that the Browns were wealthy and caused at least two divorces in the family.

Laura lived out her life as a widow and seemed to prefer her independance. Sometime around Christmas, 1932, Laura became ill and started staying with her oldest daughter Ethel on the southeast side of Terre Haute until her death. Here is the death notice from a Terre Haute newspaper,

Mrs. Laura Brown

Mrs. Laura Brown died at 9:15 o'clock Tuesday morning at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Ethel Campbell, 2611 [3611? - TEB] Franklin avenue. She is survived by six children, Mrs. Ethel Campbell, Ross Brown and Charlie Brown, all of Terre Haute; Mrs. Dora Bailey of Linton, Ind., and Mrs. Esther Commuins and Mrs. Iva Findley, both of Shelburn. The body was taken to Allen funeral home at Farmersburg and will be returned Wednesday afternoon to the home of the daughter, Mrs. Campbell. Funeral services will be held at the Fletcher chapel, three miles east of Farmersburg, at 11 o'clock Thursday morning.

A more formal obituary appeared a day later,

Mrs. Laura Jane Brown was born Jan. 5, 1857 and died May 2, 1933 at the age of 76yrs., 3 mo., and 28 days.

She was the daughter of Henry S. and Matilda Jane Vancleave. She was married to Asa W. Brown, Aug. 9, 1877. To this union were born nine children: Roy, Nicholas, and Blanche who preceeded her in death. Surviving are Mrs. Ethel Campbell, Ross and Charlie Brown of Terre Haute, Mrs. Dora Bailey of Lizton Ind., Esther Cummings and Iva Findley of Shelburn — also 19 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren and a host of relatives and friends.

She belonged to Fletcher Chapel church since early childhood and always loved the work of the church, doing what she could as long as her health permitted. Death came peacefully after almost four months of suffering. As the poet said:

No one heard the door that opened,

No one heard the gentle call,

But soft as the loosened leaves of roses,

One by one we answer the call.

When Laura's estate was settled, the $10,000 settlement from the Illinois Central for the death of Dr. Van Cleave, Laura's brother, was not there. Parts of the family stopped talking to each other. Only now are long-lost cousins beginning to speak to each other.

The Children of Asa and Laura Brown

i Nicholas H Brown, b

ii Ethel B Brown, b

iii Dora M Brown, b

iv CHARLIE T BROWN, b

v Laura B "Blanche" Brown, b

vi Roy T Brown, b

vii Robert R "Ross" Brown, b

viii Esther E Brown, b

ix Iva Doin Brown, b

C H A R L I E   a n d   L U L U   B R O W N

For all the rich farmland and solitude of southern Vigo County, Charlie chose to live in a quiet suburb beside Otter Creek on the north side of Terre Haute.  This was my father's (Charlie's grandson) favorite get-away, for all the tumult in his ancestor's lives, Charlie chose to live a quiet life. For this, we have Charlie and Lulu Brown.

Columbian Home Products, makers of Graniteware, Terre Haute, Indiana, 1902.

Charlie was born on his father's farm in southern Vigo County, the fourth of nine children, the second son. His older brother, Nick, would become a farmer, but Charlie had other plans. Terre Haute was growing into a bustling city with colleges and businesses in what must have seemed like a very modern world. Charlie got a job in a factory that was known nationwide for their graniteware.

At some point, Charlie met Miss Arlulu G. Richey. The introduction may well have come through Tighl and Lizzie Brown, Charlie's cousins. The Browns and the Richeys became uniited by a couple of marriages. To understand this, here are the children of Abijah and Purlina Richey.

The Children of Abijah and Purlina Richey

i James H. Richey, b 1868

ii Mary Jane Richey Molzen, b 1868

iii Lee Anna Richey Smith, b 1872

iv Adrian Beecher Richey, b 1874

v Eli Noble Richey, b 1876

vi Elizabeth Hannah "Lizzie" Richey Brown, b May 23, 1879; m November 22, 1899, George Tighlman "Tighl" Brown, son of James Sutton Brown

vii Lula G. Richey Brown, b October 6, 1881; m December 7, 1904, Charlie T. Brown

viii Delma Andrew Richey, b 1884

Tighl Brown was a both a cousin, brother-in-law, and friend of Asa's family, and a friend of Charlie's. Till had grown up next his cousin Asa's farm. Till lived on the north side of Terre Haute with his wife Lizzie. They ran a grocery store there.

Charlie, Lulu, and Paul Brown, about 1906

Charlie and Lulu Brown moved into their house in North Terre Haute, near Till and Lizzie. Two doors down, their neighbor was Gordon Reeve, who would, in a couple of decades, become related by marriage. Two years later, on February 7, 1906, they had their first child, a son, whom they named Paul Maurice Brown. Later in life, Paul would say he felt like an only child growing up. Charlie and Lulu would not have their second child, also a son, until Hubert Eugene Brown was born on December 27, 1912, some six years later.

Paul and Hubert Brown about 1923

Charlie and Lulu would live out their lives there, through two World Wars and the Great Depression. Charlie would change jobs a become and coal truck driver for Indiana State Teacher's College, the precursor to Indiana State University. Lulu was a natural cook and worked in the kitchen of Reeves Hall, the women's dormitory, named for Helen Reeves, Gordon Reeve's sister.

 

Charlie and Lulu Brown

It was a nice, easy life. Charlie and Lulu had a back yard filled with flowers. There was always a good dinner coming every evening. The boys attended the local schools, Paul played saxophone in the band at the local church. Then, the dream came to the end.

Doctors had determined that the only way to find out why Lulu was sick and losing weight was to do exploratory surgery. They took her into the hospital, opened her abdomen and almost immediately closed her up. Lulu had inoperable cancer and was not given much time to live. Lulu was discharged to her sister Lizzie's house so her sister could tend to her during the time she had left.

On the evening of December 19, 1946, Charlie and Paul were visiting Lulu. Lulu remarked that she heard bells that no one else heard. Thinking this an omen of her impending death, Charlie and Paul said their goodbyes to Lulu and went home. There, Charlie and Paul each had a cigar before retiring for the night.

The next morning, when Paul woke up, he did not hear his father stirring. Paul went to Charlie's bedroom to find his father had passed away in the night.

The funeral was held at Thomas Funeral Home at Twelve Points on the north side of Terre Haute. Before the funeral began, an ambulance took Lulu to an upstairs room so she could hear the funeral, then, after everyone left, Lulu was brought down on a stretcher to see her Charlie one last time. Lulu would survive to see the flowers bloom one last time before passing away on May 22, 1947. Lulu was laid to rest beside her husband in the Brown family plot at Roselawn in North Terre Haute, Indiana.

The Children of Charlie and Lulu Brown

i PAUL MAURICE BROWN, b February 7, 1906, Vigo County, Indiana

ii Hubert E Brown, b December 27, 1912, Vigo County, Indiana

The Whiskey Papers #14 - The Van Ness Tobacco Factory

The Whiskey Papers #14 - The Van Ness Tobacco Factory

St. Albans Township has been home to a variety of crops - grains grown for human need and livestock feed, berries both wild and cultivated, orchards, and even stands of maple trees for sugar.  Yet, our farmers have grown some unorthodox crops as well.  Hemp was grown along the east side of Mounts Road from Alexandria to Lobdell Road.  The hemp was harvested, dried, and the fibers twisted into rope.  Today, it is illegal to grow hemp.  The Great Mulberry Silkworm Experiment had run its course after causing stained shoe soles in the Spring for nearly every one in town.  Tobacco was even grown.  Today, Ohio officially discourages the growth of tobacco, but there was a time when Ohio tobacco competed with Virginia, Maryland, and Carolina tobacco.  At one time, Alexandria had a Cigar Factory.  Consider this,

During the late 1700s and the early 1800s, [...] Ohioans also planted tobacco. The crop never gained the popularity among Ohio farmers as it did among farmers further south, but a commercial market did develop for Ohio-grown tobacco. Ohio farmers continue to grow tobacco today. In 1992, Ohio farmers produced almost twenty-one million pounds of tobacco.

Ohio Historical Central, downloaded 2021

An old-time tobacco cutter.

Cigars can be anything from simple to complex.  A stogie - more formally, a Conestoga - is a long thin, untapered roll of tobacco wrapped with tobacco leaf.  The Kentucky Cheroot is a form of stogie that has been soaked in sugar water before the final drying.  More expensive is usually more complex.  These cigars come in a bewildering variety of styles and sizes.  These cigars share a common formula.  A core of fine, expensive tobacco is surrounded by a filler before being wrapped in tobacco leaf.  Ring gauges are used to size the cigar's diameter while a mold or ruler measures length.  A simple sharp knife is used for finish work.  Climate control is essential to keep the leaves from turning to dust.

A cigar factory has simple requirements.  A small desk-sized table is used for rolling.  There might be a display case and sales counter.  Perhaps room for some hogshead sized barrels for pipe tobacco and chewing tobacco, if offered.  Maybe a desk for running the business.  A small frame building would supply that.  What does take space is a somewhat specialized drying barn and processing shed.  One of Alexandria's lots could supply all the space required for a small tobacco business.  Several acres of farmland can supply plenty of room for planting sufficient amounts of tobacco to supply a small market.

Do not be deceived.  I grew up thinking the small building next to the Alexandria Museum was the Alexandria Tobacco Factory.  In fact, that humble building served as Dr. Laycock's Physician's Office.  Those who told me this believed it as well.  The reality is a little different.  The house that currently houses the Alexandria Museum was, some 150 years ago, was a larger structure.  At some point, the western portion was removed, trundled off, and set up to become the first house on the South Road after Granville Road forks off.  The house also has an extension in the rear for the kitchen.  This was a prudent safety feature of the time.  It is in the basement, below the kitchen, that the Alexandria Tobacco Factory could be found.  This was the house of Stephen I. Van Ness.

Stephen was from old Knickerbocker Dutch stock.  He was born in New Jersey, where so many of New York's Dutch had moved.  Stephen was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution; likely his grandfather served in the American Revolution.  Stephen married Rachel Ann in New Jersey and at some point after marriage and before 1850, made their way to Alexandria.  Together, this couple had four children - George, John, who died shortly before his third birthday; Sarah, who married her stepbrother; and Clara, who died at the age of 19.  Rachel Ann died in 1857, the same year Clara was born.

Stephen remarried, this time to a widow, Eliza Hubbard.  Eliza brought her own children to the marriage - Henry, John, and Seldon.  Sarah Van Ness would go on to marry Henry Hubbard.  Stephen died in 1889.  Along the way, Federal Census records list Stephen as a farmer.

George B. Cash provides some details of the inner workings of the cigar factory.  In an article prepared for the Alexandria Literary Society, Cash explains that the girls of the family would hand roll the cigars in the basement.  Heavier work was saved for the boys.  Further, they had a large knife used to cut chewing tobacco, although Cash was unsure how it  was cut.

As a young teenager, I was always a bit careful when I rode my bike downtown to get the mail.  Fortunately, I could dart down an alley if I saw Sarah Hubbard.  Sarah Hubbard would talk my ear off about people I knew nothing of.  To me, I did not care.  The people I cared about lived in western Indiana and eastern Illinois.  I am a Hoosier farmboy at heart.  As a young boy, I had other interests than to listen to Sarah Hubbard.  I apologize.

Sarah was widowed in 1937 when her husband Harry Hubbard died.  Harry's father was Henry Hubbard, stepson of Stephen Van Ness.  Sarah passed in 1975.

To be sure, it is likely that most tobacco users in the area chewed their tobacco.  It was the most convenient way to consume.  Cigarettes had not really been invented and pipes were usually reserved to relax with.  Cigars were also common too.  Any general store worth its salt would have carried plug tobacco.  This is tobacco that has been compressed into a bar.  The tobacco supplier would also provide a plug cutter through which the proprietor would slide the plug until the ordered amount, measured in inches, showed through the end.  A slicer then sliced the plug, much like an old-fashioned paper cutter, to produce a well-cut, saleable good.  The customer could then bite off a piece to chew or cut some off for his (or her) pipe.

The Van Ness Tobacco Company/Cigar Factory as it appeared in 2019.

I have always heard of Van Ness' business as "The Cigar Factory."  After researching this article, I cannot tell you how many cigars he made or who he marketed to.  I might suggest that Van Ness grew tobacco, processed some into plugs, some into cigars, and sold the remainder wholesale to other tobacco producers and retailers.

The Whiskey Papers #2 - The Good Tavern

The Whiskey Papers #2 - The Good Tavern

What makes for a good, successful Inn or Tavern in the 1800s?  There are many factors.

Mount Washington Tavern, Pennsylvania

A close relationship with local agriculture.  For an Innkeeper to succeed, the larder must be stocked.  The miller sold the Innkeeper Whiskey and grain for breadmaking.  The livestock farmer sold joints of meat, poultry, and game for roasts and other prepared meat.  The local butcher comes into play here as well.  Sausages could be produced by either the butcher or the Innkeeper.  Further, the local merchants could provide those items otherwise not available.  St. Albans was also rich in orchards that not only provided fresh fruits but could produce pie fillings and ciders.  Finally, Alexandria had its own Tobacco Factory to provide local cigars, chewing and pipe tobacco.  In short, the Innkeeper had to have a wide array of supply channels.

A close proximity to roads.  Innkeepers generally do not rely on local customers.  Although Innkeepers did not turn away local business, Innkeepers were there to provide a place for travellers to eat, drink, and sleep.  To do this, an Inn or Tavern would be next to the road.   St. Albans three Taverns -- The Edge of the Woods, Buxton's Tavern, and Blood's Tavern -- were all located along major teamster routes between Newark and Columbus.  These Taverns could supply the teamster's needs, not just for the drivers but for the horses as well.  Roads and travellers were the bread and butter of the Tavernkeeper's business.

The road from Granville was miserable.  After leaving Granville, the road followed the Raccoon Creek flood plain.  At the Alexandria end, there was a steep, muddy, and treacherous uphill climb out of the flood plain followed by plateau, then another uphill into Alexandria proper.  Buxton's Tavern must have been a welcome relief to man and horse alike.

A tavern and a bar are two different entities.  As demonstrated in a later paper, Blood's Tavern played host to the local Freemason activities.  Blood's Tavern was considered a 'destination' for young men from Newark, and it has been said that many unofficial parties from Denison University were held at Blood's.  Meanwhile, Buxton's Tavern was a polling place in local elections and a place where real estate and other transactions took place.  Because Buxton's was in town and centrally located in St. Albans, many locals made use of Buxton's to conduct business.

This is a far cry from a place to go drink alcohol.  Had that been the case, how can we explain the lack of Taverns north of town?  It has been said that 150 years ago, the people north of Alexandria were 'louder' than their more solemn neighbors south of town.  In other words, if you wanted whiskey, you went a few miles north of Alexandria.  True or not, I cannot say, but if the Tavern were considered a bar, then we could expect to see taverns north of town.  Instead, we find the farming neighborhood of Hardscrabble.  Continuing north, you found New Way and Brooks' Corners.  I find no evidence of these locales as whiskey producers.  If they uncorked a jug, it was likely at someone's house, and the whiskey likely did not flow so liberally as said.

Before railroads, the Tavernkeeper was an important member of the Community.  The Innkeeper not only had customers, the Innkeeper was a customer.  For a family that stopped at one of our taverns, the Innkeeper wanted the business so that when their guests wrote home, St. Albans would be remembered as a place to stop for the night.  Word of mouth is the best form of advertising.  Therefore, the Innkeeper needed the best the community could offer to serve to guests -- this applies to a good whiskey as well as a good roast beef dinner.

For St. Albans, the ralroad helped sign the death sentence for the Taverns.  Teamsters disappeared from the roads as good were carried in what railroads called LCL freight.  LCL -- Less Than Carload -- was a bread and butter item for railroad.  Today, the railroad might set out a boxcar at an industry, the industry packs the boxcar full of freight, then the car is attached to a train and taken to a destination.  It is a business to business affair.  But what if you order a stove, you know, one of those heavy cast iron monsters?  The railroad would load it in an LCL boxcar.  When the train stopped in Croton, it dropped off a new plow.  At Johnstown, a crate of new china plates and a cider press were dropped off.  In Alexandria, the stove was unloaded and a wagon picked up the stove and delivered it to your home.  This is how LCL works.  At no time was a Tavern involved.

The Demonized Tavern.  The other movement that signed the death warrant for the Tavern was the Temperance Movement.  Alcoholism is a disease, make no mistake.  I have seen firsthand how alcoholism affects a person and it is not pretty.  On the other hand, the Temperance Movement in the Railroad era called for complete abstinance.  This had the effect of causing many Tavernkeepers, most of whom held strong religious beliefs, to reconsider their business and made the way for people like S. S. Anderson to open a hotel.

Some historical background.  When the Fitch family, early settlers in St. Albans, entered Licking County, after leaving Schodack, New York, on July 7, 1836.  They stopped in Newark on Monday, July 25, after completing their journey by canal.

On reaching Newark, we went to  the Green Tavern, called so from the color of the house, on the east side of the square.  Here we had dinner and then went up to Granville.  Here we stopped at the Boardman Hotel, now owned by Ewing.

So here we have the words of Mary Fitch as she describes a tavern.  It was a place for the weary traveller to rest and refresh.  Although the Fitches went that extra mile to make Granville, they did so to be that much closer to their new home.

The Tavern was a way of life.  It was a home to the keepers.  It was a source of revenue and a business center.  It was a focal point to local and traveller alike.  It is an era gone by and one which today, we scarce understand.  It is not about whiskey, it never was.  It is about community and comfort in a harsh world.

What Taverns, Inns, and Hotels were in St. Albans?  We can establish three main taverns within St. Albans and Alexandria,

⦁ Blood Tavern/Widow Blood's Tavern - This is the second oldest known tavern in St. Albans.  Further discussion of this tavern is in Paper #7.

⦁ The Old Red Tavern/Buxton's House - There is some ambiguity about the actual name and location, but you will find an explanation in Papers #8 and #8A.

⦁ Edge of the Woods - Located on the old Worthington Road, this presents a very enigmatic and intriguing tavern.  This tavern is covered in Paper #9.

There were other taverns that left no record,

⦁ Mills' Tavern - Located on Blood Hill, three cabins provided the earliest tavern in St. Albans.  These are briefly covered in Paper #8.

⦁ Samuel Moore's Tavern - This tavern was the only structure between the Fitch land and Alexandria.  No records are found beyod the property map.

⦁ "Orlando Dumbauld" Tavern - The only thing, as far as I know, that Orlando Dumbauld had to do with this is that the property he owned once played home to a tavern.

⦁ Santee's Tavern - This tavern was across from the present firehouse on Lot 8.  This was the old hemp and rope factory.  Little more is known.

Additionally, Alexandria had hotels,

⦁ The Patterson Hotel - The earliest hotel in Alexandria, some dispute exists over location.  This was purchased by an interim owner before S. S. Anderson purchased the establishment.

⦁ The Alexandria House - For a brief time, Ezekiel Whitehead ran a hotel in the old Van Ness house.  See Paper #14.  This is now the Alexandria Museum.

⦁ S. S. Anderson 1, 2, and 3 - Sam Anderson ran a hotel in at least two locations.

To sum it up.  The tavern was a vital institution from the early history of the colonies, through the western expansion, until the arrival of the railroads.  It was both customer and provider in the community.  It has dissappeared from today's society and has no replacement.

The Whiskey Papers #4 - The Great Awakening

The Whiskey Papers #4 - The Great Awakening

The Great Awakening was based on Biblical scripture.  Specifically, it was based on Isaiah 66:8 (Geneva Translation, 1599) "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? shall the earth be brought forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."  The Awakening was based on the concept of 'a nation born at once,' the United States of America.  This became the subject of pioneer revivals as the frontier went west and crossed the Ohio River.  The sense was that God would not bless a bunch of drunken idiots.  The Temperance Movement was born, mostly by women.

Temperence poster from 1874.

The Temperance Movement was exactly that.  It pointed out the problems of alcoholism but did not seek to ban alcohol.  Then, the Abolitionist Movement -- the Anti-Slavery Movement -- took center stage.  It was not until after the Civil War that the Temperance Movement began a concerted, concentrated, and coordinated effort.  In Ohio, Westerville took the lead.  There was the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded in 1874, and the Anti-Saloon League (ASL), founded in 1893, which advocated for dry laws everywhere.

Their point was no longer one of temperance.  Instead, the WCTU and ASL wanted nothing less than abstinence enforced by government.  Perhaps they rode on the success of the Abolitionists, perhaps the gained fervor, but following the American Civil War, the Temperance Movement now sought a total ban on all alcoholic beverages.

Little attention was paid to backlash.  Nothing but total abstinence was required.

To be sure, alcoholism is not pretty.  It is a disease.  Alcoholics Anonymous would not otherwise exist were alcoholism were but a fancy, like going to the zoo or something.

The framers of the Constitution made no provision for alcohol.  Rum trade was vital to this new country's survival.  Whiskey trade was also essential for slightly different reasons.  Rum was a commodity while whiskey served more humble and essential needs.

Following the American Revolution, the several States were in varying degrees of debt.  To solve this, Alexander Hamilton assumed the debt at a national level, then levied a regressive tax on whiskey.  The Whiskey Rebellion, while about taxation without representation, gained a bad name in public perception when George Washington stepped in to put it down.  Whiskey became fair game.

The Great Awakening was an influence on the Temperance movement.  The success of Federal government was an influence on the Temperance movement as well.

After the Civil War, the Temperance movement had room to grow.  After decades of meeting, lectures, and events, the Temperance movement made gains.  Soon enough, Townships, then Counties voted themselves dry.  The movement met with success in rural areas, but closing bars in cities proved a difficult obstacle for the Temperance movement.

By 1919, a sufficient number of States approved a Constitutional Amendment to ban alcohol, whether produced by distillation or fermentation.  This ushered in nothing less than an underground culture that ignored the law and continued pursuing alcohol through a variety of methods.  Ultimately, the government recognized the futility of the law and repealed it.

This allowed the Tenth Amendment to work as designed.  State and local governments were free to regulate alcohol.

By now, the damage was done.  For example, Terre Haute was, in pre-Prohibition times a major center for distilleries.  Now, grain that made Terre Haute's stills run is shipped to Kentucky's Whiskey Row.  Mash bills have been lost.  There are a few boutique distilleries that still produce a pre-Prohibition product...   Jim and Ellen Hough own one of these.  I am proud to be their friend.

The Whiskey Papers #5 - Dying For A Drink

 The Whiskey Papers #5 - Dying For A Drink

In many ways, Terre Haute, Indiana, is my hometown.  I loved going downtown to Schultz's.  In fact, a large portion of my coolest Hot Wheels were bought at Schultz's.  But that was by day...   in the 1960s.  Decades earlier, at night, Terre Haute was "Sin City."

The Marine Room at the Terre Haute House in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Billed as the "Crossroads of America," Terre Haute hosted the intersection of US 40 "The National Road" and US 41.  Crime Bosses from the Chicago Syndicates traveled south while East Coast Bosses traveled west.  They met, so it is said, at the Marine Room, located on the ground floor of the Terre Haute House, a five-star hotel.  Many of their 'associates' resided nearby at the Terre Haute Federal Correction Unit.  Terre Haute was filled with all sorts of illicit behavior.  Edith Brown (no relation) was a prominent madam whose 'hospitality' was known far and wide. Terre Haute was home to one of the largest whiskey makers in the country.  Whiskey money helped the Hulman family acquire the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - you have, no doubt, heard of the Indianapolis 500.  To be fair, the Hulman's also owned Clabber Girl Baking Powder and gave my mother and her sister their first paychecks.  Terre Haute had gambling, illegal boxing matches, and law enforcement agencies that turned a blind eye towards all this and more.  How could I call Terre Haute home?

Newark, Ohio, was not much better.  In some ways, it was worse.  I still shudder when I see childhood images in my mind of the orphanage, but I digress.

Licking County voted to go dry -- that is, to ban alcohol production and sales -- in 1909.  Many saloons, especially in Newark, disregarded the vote and remained open.  The mayor of Newark was fine with that, and consequently, so were the police.  The Licking County Sheriff did not seem to want to enforce dry laws either.  In 1910, a Columbus temperance organizer, Wayne B. Wheeler of the Anti-Saloon League, hired some detectives from Cleveland to come to Newark to close these bars down.  Warrants were issued by Dr. E. J. Barnes, the mayor of Granville, who also swore the detectives in as officers of the law.  Granville was strongly temperate at that time.

One night, July 8, 1910, the hired detectives met their match.  The detectives were overwhelmed in a saloon brawl.  Carl Etherington, a 17-year-old who had lied about his age to join the detective force, managed to escape the melee and run down the street in escape.  According to one source, a retired Newark policeman and bar owner, William Howard, stopped Carl.  Carl shot William Howard.  Another source states the saloon was run by Lewis Bolton and William Howard caught and beat Carl.  Either way, Carl claimed self-defense.  William Howard would later die of his injuries.  Carl was taken to jail.

By 9:00 PM, a crowd, estimated to be 5,000 in number, gathered outside the jail in retaliation to the Anti-Saloon League's interference in local matters and the shooting of Howard.  Before 10:30 PM, a group stormed the side doors of the jail and took Carl.  By 10:35 PM, Carl Etherington was hanging dead, having been beaten to death by hammer blows to the head, from a telegraph pole at South Second Street and South Park Place -- the southeast corner of the Courthouse Square.  Carl was lynched.

Governor Judson Harmon (D), a Denison University alumnus (Class of 1866), intervened to restore order in Newark.  Governor Harmon removed Mayor Herbert Atherton and Sheriff William Linke from office and charged them with dereliction of duty.  The event received national attention.  Of the mob, 25 were indicted on charges of murder in the first degree, ten more were brought on charges of assault and battery, an additional 21 townsmen were charged with rioting, and two more perjured themselves.  How could I call Newark home?

Immediately, we should ask, 'How did it get to this?'  To answer, we must go back a hundred years or so.

300 Drys on South Liberty Street.

On Tuesday, December 8, 1908, 300 St Albans residents paraded through Alexandria to celebrate the passing of dry laws.  Licking County would pass dry laws in 1909.  The dry laws, as exhibited, faced opposition in urban areas, especially in Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.  On January 16, 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified.  This amendment banned the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes[...]"  Temperance had succeeded.  By December 5, 1933, the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment.  From that time, the Temperance Movement waned in power and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments -- which allowed state and local governments to make their own decisions -- have been sufficient to provide law.

I think back to Terre Haute.  Terre Haute sits very close to Illinois.  Indiana laws were more restrictive.  We all knew that all you had to do was cross the border and go to Paris or Marshall, Illinois...  but, the police knew it too.

So how did we get here?  A pendulum swinging between good and evil?  Decades of pressure on politicians or populist fervor?  Doing the right thing?  You decide.  I will not tell you what to think...  All I know is that Carl Etherington died for a drink.

The Whiskey Papers #6 - Rose Whiskey

The Whiskey Papers #6 - Rose Whiskey

Today, whiskey seems to have one purpose for its existence.  This has not always been the case.  In pre-Prohibition times, whiskey was considered a necessity around the house.  If your child had a sore throat, whiskey was mixed with honey or apple cider or even maple syrup to produce a cough medicine.  Cut yourself on a rusty nail?  Pour some whiskey on it to clean out the wound.  Wild Turkey a bit gamey?  (Pun intended)  There is an old British recipe that uses a whiskey brine to tame the game.  Doctor taking off a limb?  Here's a shot of whiskey.  Short on cash?  A jug of whiskey can get you some chickens.  In fact, in nearby Union Township, the first still was fired up in 1809.  Several more followed in as many years there.  As you will see, there was method to this madness.

Technically, any distillate produced from a grain is a whiskey; distilled fruit produces brandy.  Whiskey, or more formally, bourbon, is a spirit made of at least 51% corn.  Rye, obviously, is made from at least 51% rye.  Scotch is made in Scotland from malted barley.  Most whiskey mash bills use corn well into the 70% range.  Other grains make up the remainder of the mash.  When complete, the barrel strength is usually around 120-130 Proof, or about 60-65% alcohol.  Modern distillers will water this down to 80 Proof, or 40% alcohol.  Early bourbons and ryes were rarely aged...   aging came later.  This is a rather simplistic view of whiskey production.  Reality is, of course, a bit more complicated.

Why is the mash bill important?  Nearby Union Township grew corn, lots of corn.  They had an abundance of corn.  After they had enough to meet their needs, excess corn meal was used to make whiskey.  Transporting corn was not practical then and thanks to Alexander Hamilton, selling the more easily transported whiskey was not profitable.  You see, going back to the earliest estate farms over a hundred years earlier, the miller also had a still somewhere nearby.  In Union Township, when you ran out of a sack of corn meal, you took a sack full of corn and dropped it by the miller.  You also dropped a jug off in his stillhouse.  As the miller came to your sack, he ground the corn and left the sack of meal for you to pick up.  The process worked the same for your jug of whiskey.  Through good rotation, you never ran out of corn meal... or whiskey.

The Rose family were early and prominent settlers in Licking County.  Deacon Timothy Rose was one of Licking County's first Justices.

Helon Rose (Yes, HIS name is spelled H-e-l-o-n) came to St Albans Township in 1814 and introduced the first still to St. Albans some four years later.  Helon was associated with the Munson family and the Roses and Munsons were prominent in early Granville history, but that is for another time.  These families also owned hundreds of acres in St. Albans.  Not coincidently, the first grist mill began work that same year.  The still was located just east of Helon Rose's, later Lyman Carter's, house, near where the corn was.  Lyman Carter's house sat at the northeast corner of what we used to call Scott's Corners.  This was the former Helon Rose farm.  Later, the St. Albans Clock Factory would occupy this position.  The still did not operate long before it was sold to Dr. Enos Nichols, a short distance away along York Road.

Soon, more stills came to St. Albans, although the histories are rather silent about them.  Given the three main taverns in St. Albans, all along teamster and drover's routes, whiskey was probably an easy commodity to come by.  Likewise, the teamsters provided a ready demand for whiskey.  Supply and demand seem to work out quite well.  Personally, the thought of sitting on a hard wooden seat and being bounced down poorly maintained roads...   well, frequent medication might be required.

Several stories exist about young men coming from Denison University or Newark to have parties.  These stories also mention that these young men paid handsomely in good cash for their excesses.  Local tavern keepers never seemed to complain, although neighboring residents might.  Broken glassware and china littered the tavern grounds until buried by teamster traffic.

Because the road to Delaware ran from Granville through Alexandria, this road was heavily used by teamsters, often loaded dockside from the canal.  The grade from the Raccoon Creek flood plain to Granville Street remained unimproved until the Toledo & Ohio Central improved it when they crossed the old Granville Road (Raccoon Valley Road), and there was an additional hill from Granville Street to downtown, teamsters saw fit to rest their horses at the old Buxton Red Tavern.  The muddy morass that got them into Alexandria took both skill, patience, and the willpower of the team.  This was a perfect time for the teamster to self-medicate.

By the beginning of the 20th Century, Alexandria and St. Albans voted in their own Prohibition.  There is a series of popular pictures showing '300 Drys on Parade' marching on Main and South Liberty Streets before posing for a group portrait taken from the new S. S. Anderson Hotel.  No longer could whiskey be made or sold in Alexandria Village or St. Albans Township.  The Township went dry.  Lest I forget to mention, Noble Landon, the township's first clerk, had the honor of naming the township St. Albans after his native home in Vermont... in consideration of four gallons of whiskey supplied by Landon.

By 1900, Temperance Unions had painted a grim picture of whiskey as the source of violence, illness - both mental and physical, and ultimately early death.  Whiskey produced battered widows and orphans too broke to properly bury their beloved drunk.  Whiskey had gone from a pioneer necessity to the devil's drink whose absence would certainly be welcome.  By 1919, a distiller needed a special exemption to produce grain alcohol for medical needs.  The Nineteenth Amendment took effect on January 16, 1919 and banned any and all alcoholic beverages, anytime, anywhere.  This Amendment was repealed in 1933 by another Constitutional Amendment.  St. Albans has since allowed low content beverages - beer and wine - but remains dry with regard to the sale and production of whiskey.

I suspect that somewhere out there are a few old stills forgotten in time.