This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------517C632B35C1 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello All, My KERR ancestors were "manufacturers of whiskey", and they were licensed to distill it. My 3rd greatgrandaddy left his "best still" to one son along with his "corn and grist mill" and the other still to his other son and daughter. In talking with my cousin about this he sent me the following: Linda Roberts Neal --------------517C632B35C1 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; name="Whiskey.txt" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline; filename="Whiskey.txt" >Jack Goforth wrote: >> FWIW dept. Did you know for the first 20 years or so of Tennessee's >> economy that whisky was the states largest export? There were four >> very good reasons for this. 1. 70% of the first settlers of East Tennessee were Scots-Irish. Even before coming to this country the Ulster Scots were known for making whisky. (The "still" was not an American invention.) One of the first "insurrections" facing the new American Government after the revolution was the "Whisky Rebellion." This was brought on mostly by the Scots-Irish living in NJ and Penn. They became very upset that the new American government had started to tax whisky. (They saw this a return to the kings whisky taxes imposed on them in the old country) 2. Corn would grow profusely in East Tennessee. The long hunters learned from the Indians that corn planted one year, if left undisturbed in the field and shuck would be eatable even up to a couple of years later. Both the Indians and the long hunters planted corn on hunting trips as "markers," as well as to provide a later supply of food.(The Indians also planted corn when they killed a deer as an offering to the great spirit for providing the deer, and as food for the other deer. 3. Early Tennessee had almost no wagon roads, only trails, especially out of or across the mountains. Any cash money had to come into the area from over the mountains or from down the rivers. 4. Corn, the ideal crop to grow in East Tennessee was worth much more money by the barrel and in liquid form than corn in dry weight. Whisky was Tennessee's first "cash crop." You didn't have be concerned with rats, bugs or mold if you shipped your corn in liquid form and it would provide a much higher price or barter items. Tobacco later became a big ET "cash" crop as well. --------------517C632B35C1--