Moonshining in Franklin County, Virginia

Moonshining in Franklin County, Virginia Interviewer: Ashley Alexander Interviewee: Cecil Love Instructor: Amanda Freeman February 10, 2016 Alexander 2 Table of Contents Statement of Purpose 3 Interviewee Release Form 4 Interviewer Release Form 5 Biography 6 “Moonshine in Rural Virginia” 8 Interview Transcription 16 Interview Analysis 51 Works Consulted 56 Alexander 3 Statement of Purpose The purpose of this oral history project and interview with Cecil Love is to create a primary source document on Moonshining in Franklin County, Virginia. By reading this oral history project, an individual will learn about a piece of the Southern culture of Virginia and the aspect of the illegal economy that was underground. Alexander 4 Interviewee Release Form Alexander 5 Interviewer Release Form Alexander 6 Biography Mr. Cecil Love was born on February 11, 1928 near Briar Mountain in Franklin County. He was born to Emmett and Ellen Love. Cecil had 11 siblings; one sister died at an early age and two brothers were killed in World War II. Cecil’s father, who came from West Virginia to Virginia, worked in the lumber business doing sawmilling, etc. His mother was a strong Christian woman. He and his family lived in a small frame house. Mr. Love attended school, but his education stopped after the seventh grade at Briar Mountain School. It was at this time that he began his moonshining “career”. He started as a blackberry picker and “dropping fertilizer”. He really got noticed when he took a huge load of wood across a creek to a man’s still. He earned $100 and “got hooked.” He took a break from moonshining and entered the Korean War in 1952 until 1953. He received a Purple Heart after being shot in the right leg. Mr. Love continued to be heavily involved in the moonshine trade when he returned home. He made it, transported it, and sold it. He never was caught moonshining until June 13, 2011, at the age of 83. Prior to this, he Alexander 7 had never even had a traffic ticket! He was placed on probation and fined $250. Mr. Love currently lives in Rocky Mount, Virginia with his wife, Geraldine. They have been married over 60 years and have two children. He has been featured on Discovery Channel’s “Moonshiners” series and is known as the “King of Moonshiners”. Alexander 8 Moonshining in Rural Virginia Did you know that NASCAR started after moonshiners modified their cars so they could outrun the law during their midnight transportation of moonshine (NASCAR)? Moonshining started during the Prohibition Era when alcohol was illegal to drink. The illegal manufacturing and sale of liquor went on throughout the decade, along with the operation of smuggling of alcohol across state lines and the informal production of liquor (“moonshine” or “bathtub gin”) in private homes (“Prohibition”). Moonshine caused many problems in society, especially violence. Therefore, in order to understand the perspective of someone who participated in making moonshine, it is important to first examine the history of alcohol, Prohibition, and the resulting problems such as bootlegging and gang violence. Before Prohibition occurred the problem with alcohol became more serious. Americans were drinking alcohol, more so than in any other period of history. In the years between 1800 and 1830, Americans drank more hard liquor than any type of alcohol. With people ingesting this amount of alcohol came the problem of drunkenness, which caused “hardships in families being affected by their father’s drinking” (Blumenthal 18-19). Abraham Lincoln said, “ Many were greatly injured by it… but most problems were caused not “from the use of bad things, but from the abuse of a very good thing” (Blumenthal, 19). Excess alcohol consumption also increased the level of violence. As a result, many people began to look for ways to reduce or stop people from drinking alcohol because the problem was increasing, and families were being torn apart. Another problem emerged with the consumption of alcohol when the government decided to tax alcohol as a way of raising revenue for the government. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, asserted, “ For a man trying to raise money necessary to run a Alexander 9 government, that made alcohol the very model of a taxable item” (Okrent 53). Hamilton also found the social value in taxing alcohol as doing so might curb drinking. Even before the temperance movement gained popularity, many people supported Hamilton’s belief that a tax on alcohol was justified. However, there were many people who opposed the tax. To the rye farmers of Western Pennsylvania, alcohol was a “ portable cash crop” (Okrent 54). The excess tax on whiskey led to the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. George Washington raised a small army who put down the rebels. However, the Whiskey Rebellion, just like Shay’s Rebellion before it, had a major impact on government. Shay’s rebellion showed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and the need for a national army (Okrent 55). The Whiskey Rebellion showed how the government became stronger and was able to put down the rebellion. The Whiskey Rebellion also led to the formation of political parties because many people felt the whiskey tax interfered with states’ rights. The tax on alcohol continued to remain a problem. The tax was suspended in 1802 but was reinstated under James Madison to pay for the War of 1812, suspended in 1817, and then brought back by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 to finance the Civil War (Okrent 54). The tax remained after the Civil War, and for most of the next 30 years the tax on alcohol “annually provided at least 20% of all federal revenue, and in some years more then 40%” (Okrent 54). By the end of the first decade the 29th century, the tax’s continuation was “ the most intensely debated issue in American public life” (Okrent 55). However, government deemed the tax necessary to finance the American government. Concerns about excessive drinking led to the growth of temperance societies. The temperance movement was “a pledge to not drink at all, totally abstinence from all liquor including beer, cider, and wine” (Blumenthal 19). Alexander 10 The Women Christian Temperance Union played a major role in this movement because one of its primary functions was to protect women and children from the abuse related to alcohol use. (Women’s Christian Temperance Union). The group met in churches to pray and marched to different saloons to ask them to close their businesses. The group became the first national female political powerhouse (Behr 37). This organization would forever change the way generations looked at drinking alcohol and the influence of women. The WTCU gained the support of schools and religious adults with its motto: “God gives us the only drink- tis pure, cold water” (Behr 39). The WTCU and other temperance groups handed out a pledge for those at the saloon to sign. People who agreed to sign a pledge of total abstinence were written in a ledger and a “T” was placed in front of their name, indicating their “total” commitment. That is where the term “teetotalers” came from (Blumenthal 19). Due to the pressure from these organizations and from the leadership of such women as Mary Hunt, who got schools to place a primer educating students on the effects of alcohol“, states began to adopt the notion of ‘going dry”(Blumenthal 19). By 1906, more than thirty states had adopted laws that gave towns or counties the right to vote themselves dry, and hundreds have done so” (Blumenthal 45). Temperance also created a divided society, those who indulged in drinking and those who fought to stop the drinking. By 1908, one third of the U.S population- some 33 million people were living under so called prohibition laws” (Blumenthal 45). Gaining widespread attention, the issue of alcohol became a major issue in politics. The Anti- Saloon League also continued to fight for Prohibition. The League used its publishing company, “American Issue”, to produce magazines, posters, and flyers in order to bring the anti- alcohol message to the American public (“The Fight for Demon Rum”). Anti- alcohol organizations, Protestant ministers, and other supporters believed that Prohibition would Alexander 11 increase worker productivity and create more stable lives for families. By 1916, 23 of 48 states passed anti-saloon legislation (“18th and 21st Amendments”). Then, after the senate elections of 1916, two-thirds of the newly elected senators were “ dry members” (“18th and 21st Amendments”). Finally, in 1919, Prohibition became the 18th amendment of the Constitution. The ratification of Prohibition had a major social and economic impact in America. In 1919, when the 18th amendment became the law of the land, ““the manufacture, sale and disputation were banned” (“Prohibition”). People could no longer drink alcohol in their homes, and any violation of this ban was punishable by up to 6 months in jail, and a fine up to $1,000 dollars (“Prohibition”). The accompanying Volstead Act outlined the specifics of the 18th amendments. Representative Andrew Volstead was the key component of this act, which stated “any beverage of an alcohol content of more than ½ of 1% was considered intoxicating” (Blumenthal 55). Wilson vetoed the act, but “ 3 hours after the president vetoed prohibition enforcement bill, the House passed it over his veto by a vote of 176 to 56. The following day, the Senate did the same thing by a vote of 65 to 20, more than was needed (Hayti Herald Newspaper). Prohibition was supposed to lower crime and raised taxes that were needed to support social programs and programs for the poor, but instead, Prohibition transformed American’s attitudes toward authority figures, such as law officers and politicians.

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