Bootlegging Program on August 15, 2019

If you have read Thomas Cahill’s book, How the Irish Saved Civilization, you know that Irish monks and scribes played a critical role in preserving ancient Greek and Latin, pagan and Christian texts, during the Dark Ages. Given the climate in Ireland and Scotland, copying texts was cold and hard work. The climate would not support vineyards for wine production so around the year 1200, Irish and Scot monks adapted a 3000 year old distillation process devised by the Mesopotamians to manufacture perfumes to create “uisce beatha” or “water of life” from three basic ingredients: barley, water and yeast.  

Unfortunately barley was in short supply in parts of America but corn grew most everywhere. Thus, enterprising Irish, Scots-Irish, and Scot settlers used the corn on hand to create invigorating beverages instead. It was a lucrative business. Drinking alcoholic beverages was a social tradition. Settlers could manufacture as much as they wanted - as long as none was sold or given to Native Americans or the enslaved - until 1791. 

Cash strapped and broke from the costs of the Revolutionary War,  the United States government decided to place a tax on distilled products in 1791 to raise money. Some settlers strenuously objected and in 1794 President George Washington authorized militia troops into the Pennsylvania frontier to quash the Whiskey Rebellion. Two men were convicted of treason but President Washington pardoned them. Annoyed but not deterred, some citizens began making liquor illicitly to evade the tax. 

Call the product moonshine, white lightning, mountain dew, hooch, juice, or corn liquor as you like. Illicit liquor production in Beaufort County and beyond is the topic that Col. Baxley will discuss on August 15, 2019. 

Lt. Col. Baxley is a native of North Carolina. He spent 4 years in the Marine Corps before joining the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Department more than 35 years ago. In 2013, Col. Baxley was put in charge of Beaufort County’s Emergency Management Division. In his spare time, he studies and writes history. He’s given presentations at the South Carolina Archives and area museums and libraries. He’s authored two books about the Civil War so far: Walk in the Light: The Journey of the 10th and 19th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (2013) and No Prouder Fate: The Story of the 11th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (2009). 

This local history program is free and open to any teen or adult interested in the topic.  Seating is first come, first seated. Doors to the Beaufort Branch Meeting Room will open about 20 - 25 minutes before the lecture is scheduled to begin.  Please note: The meters owned by the City of Beaufort adjacent to the Library building are enforced until 7 pm each evening. 

Though it's not a local history program, Lt. Col. Baxley will be at Beaufort Branch on Monday, August 5, 2019 at 5:30pm to discuss how to prepare for Hurricane Season 2019. We are about to enter the peak period for hurricane formations that have struck this area in the past. Come learn about severe weather preparedness, the Smart 911 Service, and essential planning.