wbond
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Oct 2010
Location: Christiansburg,VA
Posts: 6289 |
White Lighting a Dying Art
Meet many a moonshiner when I was a boy threw my granddad and great uncle I used to love to listen to there stories
Franklin County is known as the moonshine capitol of the world and they are now making a movie about called the wet est county but ranking of moonshine producing areas was
1. Fulton County, Georgia
2. Haleysville, Alabama
3. Knock County, Tennessee
4. Cocke County, Tennessee
5. Franklin County, Virgina
6. Johnston County, North Carolina
this list was put out in 1950's by the revenuers
But Franklin County had some of the best whiskey drivers and nascar drivers in the nation to name a few Otis Martin, Paul Radford, Curtis Turner, Sam Dehart, Raymond "Rocket" Carter, Peanuts Chitwood, Junior Johnson, Robert Vernon Smith, Coy Bowling, Eddie Sessler, Eddie Bennington, John Abe Short and a bunch of others
Some of you may remember Sam Dehart from Floyd County, Virgina he coon hunted Black and Tans on April the 6th 1973 he and Samuel Rakes were caught at the largest submarine stills ever captured in Floyd County 22 800-gallon black pots 18,000 gallons of fermenting live mash and 1,300 gallons of untaxed whiskey.
They always thought there was 4 at the still that day because of 4 jackets left hanging in the tree's
One of my favorites was Smoky Joe Smith he lived at the foot of Christiansburg mountain Smokey Joe was a moonshiner a guitar player , ballard singer, bible totin bootlegger, road house owner and junk dealer. He kept me entertained for hours with stories about jumping on coal trains with moonshine to sell in West Virginia and brushes with law enforcement. The only man I ever knew who would sell you a quart of shine and try to get you saved all at the same time. He dyed at 82 and was a bootlegger all of his life
PS Heather that was some good pics Ilyle the vidio was great Linkous is the best gator wrestler I know
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"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."
Thomas Jefferson
Last edited by wbond on 05-29-2011 at 05:26 AM
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05-27-2011 03:28 PM
My Big Beautiful Late Blue Dawg, Wyatt treed on the cat on the barn roof... WHAT A VOICE!!!
