An active still in Scott County, Virginia. From left: "Wild Bill" Daughtery Henk Addington
and Hugh Jack Addington. Mel Dixon is standing behind with his foot on the furnace.
The other two men are unidentified. (Courtesy of Paul Addington.)
Tales from the Moonshine Trade
By Kathy Shearer Softcover, 6" x 9", 240 pages Stories and pictures gathered from all around far Southwest Virginia give the details of old-fashioned moonshine making in the secretive hollows of Appalachia. ISBN 978-097247656-0 Clinch Mountain Press 2011 Available at Amazon.com ~ $13.99 https://www.amazon.com/Tales-From-the-Moonshine-Trade/dp/0972476563 Margie Hayes Lawson, daughter of moonshiner James Hayes said: "A farm don't make no money. Grow corn and get money in a jar!"
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The Scots-Irish farmers in the Virginia mountains made whiskey for generations prior to Prohibition, and they weren't about to halt that home craft when the government enacted laws against it. The making of moonshine in the hills and hollows is recalled by the storytellers, many of whom have first-hand knowledge.
Moonshiner James Hayes, shown here with his wife, Mary Grizzle Hayes, and children, about 1911, provided for his large family on Brushy Ridge in Dickenson County by selling his whiskey to the Clinchfield Coal Corporation officials and doctors in Dante, in Russell County. (Collection of Margie Hayes Lawson)
Moonshiner James Hayes, shown here with his wife, Mary Grizzle Hayes, and children, about 1911, provided for his large family on Brushy Ridge in Dickenson County by selling his whiskey to the Clinchfield Coal Corporation officials and doctors in Dante, in Russell County. (Collection of Margie Hayes Lawson)