Harvest Time and Distilling

Prior to 1900, most farms had a still house in which a wide variety of spirits were produced. Distilling was a very profitable way to convert grain into much needed cash.  Most of our ancestors used similar methods and recipes which they brought with them from Europe.

Pot still similar to those used in Scotland and other parts of Europe.

 Farmers in our rural mountain regions found it difficult to haul fully loaded wooden wagons full of grain across the mountains to market.  Those of us living today take modern roads for granted, but indeed they are a luxury item which was not available in the past.

Etching of Loaded Hay Wagon

It takes a complete growing season for grain crops to mature and ripen.  Farmers, both then and now, harvest grain crops in the fall of the year. After the crops are cut and stacked in the field to dry, the grain is removed from the sheaves or stalks by hand.  It then is put into containers [bags, barrels or baskets] which will sit into a wagon bed to be taken to market.  Normally, this coincides with the fall rainy season.

Corn shocks drying in a row.

To complicate this situation further, Richmond was basically the closest market. Our Shenandoah Valley was the wheat producing area of Virginia.  Can you imagine having to haul a few wagons fully loaded with grain over the Blue Ridge Mountain on wet muddy roads?  Now add to this, the fact that all of your neighbors were attempting to do the exact same thing at about the same time which causes the roadway to develop the texture of slippery wet cornmeal.

My grandfather [Claude A. Lilly (1893-1964)] use to tell of going to market with his grandfather  and along the way, listening to stories which his grandfather told about his own boyhood, including one about going to market with his very own grandfather. These events would have occurred seven generations ago, most probably shortly after the American Revolution.

Wooden wagon. 

Granddad always laughed as he told the story which had been told to him of wagons marring up to their hubs in the muddy dirt road. Of course, the men worked until dark trying to free the wagon loaded full of grain before they finally gave up and unhitched the team of horses trying to pull it out of the mar. Fires were built for the night and meals were prepared in the pouring down cold rain for the exhausted men.  When they awoke early the next morning they found, much to their horror, that the muddy road had frozen solid.  Hitching the team, they worked to free the wagon. Finally after hours of work, the whole bed of the wagon pulled free, spilling all of grain.

Field of rye

Due to many such problems and the fact that distilling was also more profitable as compared to the selling of grain, many of our ancestors chose the easier way of ensuring that their family's needs were met by turning their grain crop into a more portable form.  For instance, in 1880, rye sold at forty cents per bushel, while whiskey sold for between thirty-five to forty cents per gallon.  Three gallons of whiskey could be made from one bushel of rye.  By 1900 rye sold at fifty cents per bushel and whiskey was selling between two and two and a half dollars per gallon. Thus, a farmer could make fifteen times as much by distilling his crop as he could by selling the grain once he actually got it to market.

Stoneware Jug

Rye whiskey was but only one product that our ancestors distilled. Our folk also produced corn liquor, applejack [brandy] and a whole host of other varieties of beers and wines.  Of course, we all "know" because we've been told that many of our own ancestors were violently opposed to the consumption or use of alcoholic beverages in any form, unless of course, it was perhaps in the form of Blackberry, Cherry, Dandelion, Elderberry or Strawberry Wine, and of course you know that these were only used for medicinal purposes,now don't you???