The Red Flannel Rag

the night, he told me, ‘As I passed by the graveyard, I saw a big white bird rise up and

take flight.’” Again Alice warned him to stay home and again he refused.

Two days later, on August 10, 1936, Tom was shot and killed while he worked at

his still. Dad and Uncle Shirley told me the story many times. “It was just another

moonshine day,” began Uncle Shirley. “It all happened in the Hog Pens. Me and

another man was making whiskey up Little Hog Pen Run. Your daddy and Clint Ray

were making moonshine up Big Hog Pen Run. Tom Crawford and Harold Lam were

making moonshine in the main Hog Pen Run.

Rob Crawford was posted at the mouth of Hog Pen Run with a stick of dynamite

to explode if he saw the revenuers coming in that direction. We posted Rob Craig at the

upper end of the Hog Pens where the revenuers came in. They parked at Clint Ray’s

house and crossed the mountain,” continued Uncle Shirley. “Rob Craig saw them and

ran to warn us. He got to me and then went on to tell your daddy and Clint Ray. We

poured our whiskey out, cleaned up, and hid our still.”

When the revenuers entered the Hog Pens, they came in below where Dad, Clint

Ray, and Uncle Shirley were making moonshine. According to Uncle Shirley, “They

heard Harold Lam chopping wood for the still, turned right, and walked down through

Big Hog Pen Run. They could have just as easy turned left and found us. Tom was

scraping dough off the still cap when the revenuer snuck up behind him. Without any

warning, the revenuer shot Tom through the back of the neck. He died on the spot. The

other revenuer caught Harold as he tried to run away.”

Tom Crawford was twenty-three years old when he was shot. He had a wife and

two small boys, and his wife was pregnant with his third son.

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