The Red Flannel Rag

prison for making moonshine, but his wife, Hazel, carried on the family business until

he returned.

Not only did he make moonshine for himself most of his life, but also frequently

contracted with the Old Order Mennonites around Dayton to make some whiskey for

them. They told Uncle Jim that they never sold the moonshine, but they did enjoy

keeping it around for medicinal purposes. Uncle Jim laughed when he told stories

about spending a day or two in an Old Order Mennonite’s basement making gallons of

“medicine.”

Toward the end of his life he specialized in apple brandy. He ran a little store

across the road from his home and stocked some groceries for sale; but his specialty was

always apple brandy. He kept a hidden supply of moonshine and applejack for

customers who had a thirst. When folks came in to buy a few groceries and asked him

for a pint, Uncle Jim would call to his helper, “It’s time to water the stork” or if the

customer wanted a quart, he’d call out, “It’s time to slop the hogs!” One of my fondest

memories of him is behind the cash register, with a large drop of brown apple brandy on

his chin left over from his last big drink straight from the fruit jar.

One day the sheriff came to Uncle Jim’s house to search for moonshine. He

opened all the doors of his out buildings and let him search freely. He hid his

moonshine under a trap door in the floor of the barn. He said, “The deputy sheriff

walked all over top of my stash, but he never found it.”

Uncle Jim also hauled junked cars, coal and fruit. He never held a job other than

those activities. The state police were relentless in their search for moonshine and

stopped Uncle Jim on one of his frequent trips to haul junked cars to Pennsylvania.

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